Meßkirch (German: [ˈmɛsˌkɪʁç] ; Swabian: Mässkirch) is a town in the district of Sigmaringen in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.

Meßkirch
Coat of arms of Meßkirch
Location of Meßkirch within Sigmaringen district
Alb-Donau-KreisBodenseekreisBiberach (district)Konstanz (district)Ravensburg (district)Reutlingen (district)Tuttlingen (district)ZollernalbkreisBad SaulgauBeuronBingenGammertingenHerbertingenHerdwangen-SchönachHettingenHohentengenIllmenseeInzigkofenKrauchenwiesLeibertingenMengenMengenMeßkirchNeufraOstrachPfullendorfSauldorfScheerSchwenningenSigmaringenSigmaringendorfSigmaringendorfStetten am kalten MarktVeringenstadtWald
Meßkirch is located in Germany
Meßkirch
Meßkirch
Meßkirch is located in Baden-Württemberg
Meßkirch
Meßkirch
Coordinates: 47°59′34″N 9°6′45″E / 47.99278°N 9.11250°E / 47.99278; 9.11250
CountryGermany
StateBaden-Württemberg
Admin. regionTübingen
DistrictSigmaringen
Subdivisions11
Government
 • Mayor (2018–26) Arne Zwick[1]
Area
 • Total76.22 km2 (29.43 sq mi)
Elevation
616 m (2,021 ft)
Population
 (2022-12-31)[2]
 • Total8,737
 • Density110/km2 (300/sq mi)
Time zoneUTC+01:00 (CET)
 • Summer (DST)UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes
88601–88605
Dialling codes07570, 07575, 07578
Vehicle registrationSIG
Websitewww.messkirch.de
The Renaissance castle at Meßkirch

The town was the residence of the counts of Zimmern, widely known through Count Froben Christoph's Zimmern Chronicle (1559–1566).

Geography

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The municipality is composed of following villages and hamlets:

Coat of arms District Inhabitants (2010) Area
  Meßkirch (main locality)
with Igelswies   and
Schnerkingen
5660 2465 ha
  Dietershofen♯
with Buffenhofen
147 405 ha
  Heudorf† 338 787 ha
  Langenhart 235 435 ha
  Menningen‡
with Leitishofen♯
458 916 ha
  Rengetsweiler 406 505 ha
  Ringgenbach♯ 203 499 ha
  Rohrdorf 800 1611 ha

♯The Ringgenbach river flows through Dietershofen, then Ringgenbach, before its confluence into the Ablach east of Leitishofen

†Heudorf is a location on the Upper Swabian Baroque Route

‡Menningen-Leitishofen was formerly a stop on the extant Radolfzell–Mengen railway

Notable residents

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Meßkirch is the birthplace of composer Conradin Kreutzer, archbishop Conrad Gröber, writer and Georg Büchner Prize winner Arnold Stadler and, most famously, the philosopher Martin Heidegger. Also included are the well-known brewers Johann Nepomuk Schalk and his sons Herrmann and Oscar who began the Schalk Brewery in Newark, New Jersey, the first to bring lager beer to New Jersey. The town's name is also connected with a Renaissance painter whose provisional name is Master of Meßkirch. His Adoration of the Magi can be seen in the church of St. Martin. Katharina von Zimmern (1478-1547), the last abbess of the Fraumünster Abbey in Zürich, was born in Meßkirch.

Culture

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The Bodenseesender radio transmitter in the nearby village of Rohrdorf was turned off in February 2012.

History

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In 1800, the city was the site of a battle of the French Revolutionary Wars.

Campus Galli

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Campus Galli is a project to construct an authentic medieval town with a Carolingian monastery, that is located in woodlands near Meßkirch.

References

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Master of Meßkirch: Adoration of the Magi, c. 1538
  1. ^ Aktuelle Wahlergebnisse, Staatsanzeiger, accessed 15 September 2021.
  2. ^ "Bevölkerung nach Nationalität und Geschlecht am 31. Dezember 2022" [Population by nationality and sex as of December 31, 2022] (CSV) (in German). Statistisches Landesamt Baden-Württemberg. June 2023.
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