Bühl (Baden)

The word Bühl is derived from Old German "puhil" and Middle German "buhel", meaning "hill". The three yellow hills on blue ground seen on the coat of arms (already displayed in the court seal of Bühl in 1324) confirm this interpretation.
To distinguish Bühl from other towns named Bühl, not only in Germany, but other German-speaking countries like Switzerland and Austria, the town used the denominator Bühl (Baden) or Bühl/Baden, clearly identifying Bühl in the Margravate of Baden (Baden) and later in the Grand Duchy and the State of Baden. With the unification of Baden, Hohenzollern and Württemberg in 1952 forming the state of Baden-Württemberg and later the introduction of postal codes there was no need anymore for the denominator Baden. However, it is still used frequently.

• 1148/49 Bühl is mentioned in a document for the first time "L. de buhel".
• 1200–1220 Windeck Castle was built.
• 1283 Oldest secured recording of the town's name Bühl. The esquire Burkhard of Crutenbach hands over his belongings „in banno Buhel“ to the abbey and convent of Schwarzach.
• 1324 Bühl is mentioned as a town with court-house, a mayor, twelve men at court, with a coat of arms - three yellow hills on blue ground.
• 1370/71 During a feud between the knight Reinhard of Windeck with the city of Strassburg the town of Bühl und the villages in the vicinity of Bühl were seriously affected.
• 1386 Margrave Rudolf VII. acquires the Northern part of Bühl.
• 1403 King Ruprecht of the Palatinate awarded knight Reinhard of Windeck with the right to hold a weekly market in the town of Bühl. From then on Bühl was known as market town or Flecken Bühl.
• 1514–1524 Construction of the oldest church in Bühl consecrated saints Peter and Paul (since 1880 city hall)
• 1582 Oldest record about the settlement of Jews in the town of Bühl.
• 1561 Windeck Castle is mentioned as a ruin. The knights of Windeck were living in a palace house in Bühl, nowadays the location of the hotel and restaurant Badischer Hof.
• 1592 With the death of the young aristocrat Jacob of Windeck the family of the knights of Windeck died out in their male line.
• 1622 During the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) troops from Croatia (Part of the Catholic Liga) conquered Bühl, killed numerous inhabitants, and burned the town to ashes.
• 1632–1634 and 1643 Troops from Sweden occupied Bühl.
• 1689 During the Nine Years' War (War of the Grand Alliance) the newly rebuilt town of Bühl was again destroyed completely by French troops.
• 1703–1707 During the War of the Spanish Succession Bühl became again a focal point of the war. At the so-called Bühl-Stollhofen defense line, a 20-mile-long (32 km) barricade, which was built and defended under the command of Margrave Louis William of Baden (Ludwig Wilhelm), a French army was held back successfully in 1703. The line was eventually conquered in 1707.
• 1776 With the purchase of the Southern part of Bühl, a fiefdom owned by the family of Waldersdorff at that time, through Margrave Karl Frederick of Baden (Karl Friedrich) all of Bühl was in the hands of the House of Baden.
• 1788 The county seat in Steinbach (previously called Yberg) is relocated from Steinbach to Bühl.
• 1813 The county of Bühl is converted to the district of Bühl.
• 1822/23 Construction of the synagoge, the new Jewish school.
• 1835 Grandduke Leopold of Baden awarded the Flecken Bühl the title Town with all corresponding rights.
• In about 1840 a new species of plums was found in Kappelwindeck, which was more resistant and ripened faster than other plums. It was named Bühler Early Plums (Frühzwetschge), which soon found its way into markets all over Germany and Europe. It helped the town to overcome significant financial losses after the decline of the hemp industry, a major source of income in Bühl prior to the availability of cotton.
• 1846 Bühl is connected to the train line connecting Baden-Oos and Offenburg.
• 1848/1849 Civil Revolution. Major Josef Häfelin fled Bühl
• 1856 The first Protestant church was built.
• 1863 The County of Bühl became part of the District of Baden.
• 1873–1876 Construction of the new catholic church Sts. Peter and Paul after a design by Karl Dernfeld.
• 1879–1880 Reconstruction of the old parish church into the new city hall.
• 1902 Construction of the central water system.

In 1919 the Fruit Cooperative (OAG) was founded, the next year electric light was introduced.

• 1924 The county of Achern is resolved and its remains were integrated into the county of Bühl
• 1926–1934 Construction of the sour system.

In 1927, 6–8 August, Bühl celebrated its first annual "Zwetschgenfest" (plum festival), the following year the first movie theatre opened in Bühl

• 1933 The municipal council is replaced after the Nazi party NSDAP gained control over the country via new legislation called Gleichschaltung.
• 1934 Kappelwindeck became part of Bühl.
• 1938, 10 November. The synagogue in Bühl was destroyed. Jewish citizens of Bühl were harassed.[2]
• 1939 The county of Bühl became the district of Bühl.
• 1945, 14 April, French troops marched into Bühl, in September 15, 1946 the first free municipal council was elected.
• 1971–1973: After integrating 9 neighboring villages into the town of Bühl the population reached the critical mark of 20,000 inhabitants. The government of Baden-Württemberg awarded Bühl the title "Große Kreisstadt" on 1 January 1973. The district county of Bühl was dissolved. Its area to the North was incorporated into the district of Rastatt, its Southern area incorporated into the district of Ortenau. The three towns of Steinbach, Neuweier and Varnhalt became a part of the county town of Baden-Baden.

The following towns and municipalities border the town of Bühl starting clockwise in the North. Baden-Baden (district town), Forbach, Lauf (Ortenau County), Ottersweier, Lichtenau, Rheinmünster and Sinzheim, all of them Rastatt County. The town of Bühlertal is completely surrounded by Bühl, forming an inclusion or enclave in the eastern part of the town of Bühl.

Town hall

The area of the town of Bühl is divided into downtown Bühl and the suburbs of Altschweier, Balzhofen, Eisental, Kappelwindeck, Moos, Neusatz, Oberbruch, Oberweier, Vimbuch and Weitenung. Except for Kappelwindeck, the aforementioned villages became an integral part of town of Bühl during the municipal reforms in the early 1970s. These townships are subordinated to the town of Bühl, each with its own administrative head, called Ortsvorsteher. Bühl and Kappelwindeck were already united in 1934 forming the town of Bühl, with Kappelwindeck about half the population of Bühl at that time. Some of these villages are the result of municipal reforms over the past centuries forming bigger municipalities from even smaller villages or hamlets prior to the reforms between 1971 and 1973. In many cases the names of these smaller villages, hamlets or estates–farms still exist, in some cases within defined areas, in some cases only known by their former names within undefined areas, nowadays residential areas. Balzhofen was formed by Henchhurst and Balzhofen, Eisental by the villages and/or hamlocks of Affental, Eisental, Horrenbach and Müllenbach, Neusatz by Bach, Fischerhöfe, Gebersberg, Kirchbühl, Neusatz, Neusatzeck, Waldsteg, Waldmatt and Wörth, Kappelwindeck by Brombach, Einsel/Einsiedel, Gucken, Kappel, Riegel, Hohbaum and Rittersbach, Weitenung by Elzhofen, Ottenhofen, Weitenung, and Witstung. Former estates such as Schlosshotel Bühlerhöhe, Burg Windeck (Windeck Castle), Kurhaus Sand, Schugshof, and Schweighof complete the list of names.

Population related to the respective territorial average. These figures are results of population census (¹) or official updates by the respective census bureaus (main domiciles only).

¹ result of population census