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Sigmaringen
	Sigmaringen
	; Sigmaringen
Coordinates	48°5′12″N 9°12′59″E / 48.08667°N 9.21639°E
	Administration
Country	Germany
State	Baden-Württemberg
Admin. region	Tübingen
District	Sigmaringen
Town subdivisions	6
Mayor	Daniel Rapp (CDU)
	Basic statistics
Area	92.85 km2 (35.85 sq mi)
Elevation	578-794 m
Population	16,582 (31 December 2006)
- Density	179 /km2 (463 /sq mi)
	Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	SIG
Postal codes	72481–72488
Area code	07571
Website	www.sigmaringen.de
Location of the town of Sigmaringen within Sigmaringen district

Sigmaringen is a town in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Situated on the upper Danube, it is the capital of the Sigmaringen district.

Sigmaringen is renowned for its castle, Schloss Sigmaringen, which was the seat of the Vichy government-in-exile during the closing months of the Second World War.

[edit] Geography

Sigmaringen lies in the Danube valley, surrounded by wooded hills in the south of the Swabian Alb around 40 km away from the Lake of Constance.

The surrounding towns are on the north, Winterlingen (in the district of Zollernalb) and Veringenstadt, on the east, Bingen, Sigmaringendorf, and Scheer, on the south, Mengen, Krauchenwies, Inzigkofen, and Meßkirch, and on the west, Leibertingen, Beuron, and Stetten am kalten Markt. The city is made up from the following districts: Sigmaringen (inner-city), Gutenstein, Jungnau, Laiz, Oberschmeien and Unterschmeien.

[edit] History

Sigmaringen was first documented in 1077 and was in the principality of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen until 1850, after which it became a province of Prussia's Province of Hohenzollern.

On September 7, 1944, following the Allied invasion of France, Philippe Pétain and members of the Vichy government cabinet were relocated to Germany. A government in exile, headed by Fernand de Brinon, was established at Sigmaringen. Pétain returned to France in April 1945. French writers Céline, Lucien Rebatet and Roland Gaucher, fearing for their lives because of their political and anti-Semitic writings, fled along with the Vichy government to Sigmaringen. Céline's novel D'un château l'autre (English: Castle to Castle) describes the fall of Sigmaringen. The city was taken by the French army on April 22, 1945.

The Castle of Sigmaringen - Photograph: Roland Nonnenmacher, D-72516 Scheer

[edit] Religions

The following religions are present in Sigmaringen:
Roman Catholic Church
Evangelische Landeskirche in Württemberg
Evangelische Militärkirchengemeinde
Freie Christengemeinde
Jehovah's Witnesses
New Apostolic Church

[edit] Infrastructure

Traffic and public transportation
Three railroads currently meet in Sigmaringen, the Danube Valley Railway leading from Donaueschingen to Ulm, the Zollern Valley Railway from Tübingen to Aulendorf and the line operated by the Hohenzollerische Landesbahn from Sigmaringen to Hechingen.
Public transport is organized by Verkehrsverbund Neckar-Alb-Donau (NALDO).

[edit] Notable residents

Sigmaringen was the birthplace of Saint Fidelis of Sigmaringen, a Roman Catholic martyr of the Counter-Reformation in Switzerland and Ferdinand of Romania, King of Romania. It is one of the residences of Prince Friedrich Wilhelm of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, the present representative of the house, who will follow the current Pretender, Michael of Romania to the throne of the Kingdom of Romania, after his demise. Frederick Miller, founder of the Miller Brewing Company, was living in Sigmaringen during the start of his brewing career.

[edit] External links

Official website
Sigmaringen castle
Modefachschule Sigmaringen (Modedesign Ausbildung)
Pictures of Sigmaringen (German/English)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Sigmaringen, Germany