Freiburg

Freiburg landscape

This article is about Freiburg in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. There is also a village named Freiburg (Elbe) in northwestern Germany. Freiburg (Freiburg im Uechtland) is also the (Swiss-)German name of the town of Fribourg, Switzerland.

Freiburg im Breisgau is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the Breisgau region, on the southwestern edge of the Black Forest with about 200,000 inhabitants. The town is situated at 47° 59' 43" north, 7° 51' 11" east.

It was founded in the 12th century and retains a medieval cathedral. Freiburgs Albert-Ludwigs-Universität was established in the 15th century. After World War II the city became for a short time the site of government for the German state Badenia, which was merged into Baden-Württemberg soon after.

Freiburg Münster medieval cathedral

Other notable things: there is a lot of tourism, with easy access to the Black Forest. Nearby is the longest cable car in Germany (3600m) which travels up a nearby mountain called Schauinsland. The city has an unusual system of drainage, with deep gutters throughout the centre constantly flowing with water, presumably from the small river (Dreisam) that passes through the city.

Freiburg is known as an "eco-city". In recent years it has attracted solar industries and research; the Greens have a stronghold here (up to 25 % of the votes city-wide, in some quarters they reached 40 % or more; figures from the 2002 national elections), and the newly build quarters of Vauban and Rieselfeld were developed and built accordingly to the idea of sustainability.

Mayor: Dr. Dieter Salomon (Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, elected in 2002)

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