A view on the Swabian Alb with its typical hills and a juniper meadow The Albtrauf which forms the western border of the Swabian Alb The Swabian Alb (German: Schwäbische Alb) is a middle mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It extends 220 km from southwest to northeast and is 40 to 70 km in width. It occupies the region bounded by the Danube in the south and the upper Neckar in the north. In the southwest it rises to the higher mountains of the Black Forest. The highest mountain of the Swabian Alb is the Lemberg (1015 m). The profile resembles rather a high plateau, which slowly falls to the east: The western edge is steep cliff (called Albtrauf or Albanstieg, raising up to 300m, covered with forests, a spectacular sign) while the top is flat or gently hilled.
If one talks about the culture, economics, and similar, the term "Swabian Alb" includes the regions just around the mountain range as well. For theses regions, which have a lot of industry and a high population density, the Swabian Alb is a popular recreation area.
Geology
The Swabian Alb is mostly build out of limestone, which developed on the sea ground during the Jura. 50 million years ago, the sea draw back and left the swabian alb. Three layers of different limestones are stacked over each other to form the range which is up to 300m higher as the surrounding area (from bottom to top): black jura, brown jura and white jura. The white jura may be as pure as 99% Calcium carbonate. Since limestone is soluble in water, rain seeps through cracks everywhere and forms 200-300 meters below the surface subterrenean rivers flowing through a immensely large system of caves until they emerge. Thus, there are barely rivers, lakes or other forms of surface water on the Swabian Alb.
On some places, former volcanic activities left traces, such as maars and hills. In the west, the Zollerngraben (a tectonical active region) sometimes causes earthquakes, but only of medium strength. The Nördlinger Ries is a large metoried crater.
The Blautopf (literally: "blue pot"), a source which owes its name to the almost surreal blue of its water Constant rain and other weather influences more and more dissolve the entire range. Each year, it is loosing approximately 5 cm. Some millions years ago, the mountains reached up to Stuttgart. In some places, the limestone was more resistant to decay and thus the recede of the main range left some small mountains (called "Zeugenberge" - "witness mountains"; e.g. the Achalm) which testify the former territory of the mountains. The omnipresent caves are great tourist spots, beautiful and not very crowded, yielding an enjoyable afternoon. Many different types can be found, ranging from dripstone caves to caves that must be entered with a small boat. Sometimes the discharge of the water from the subterranean rivers is a spectacular sign as well, e.g. the Blautopf, an extraordinary beautiful source. Also due to the limestone, the Danube nearly disappears near Immendingen (in 1911, 1921, 1928 and 1943 it disappeared completely) just to reappear several kilometers further down. Most of the water lost by the Danube resurfaces in the Aachtopf, a spring tributing to the Rhine river.
The soil is not very fertile, the humus is often as thin as 10 cm. Many small limestones are found even on the surface.
Landscape Mostly gently hilled, in the east often flat. The hills are often covered with small forests. Many small fields (often colza and other frugal plants). Thinly populated (for German means), mostly small villages.
The tradidional landscape were green grass plains with juniper bushes. This was due to the many sheep herds, which only spared these bushes. Today, were this became a rather seldom sight, this landscape type almost disappered. However, in certain places the land Baden-Württemberg keeps it alive.
Fossils A hammer and some loose stones are all you need to find fossils Due to its history of creation, fossils can be found everywhere. Kids often play "finding fossil snails" in their backyard. But also large and important fossils were and are found here.
Culture For castles and alike, look under "touristic locations" below.
Prehistoric culture The Lion man the oldest known sculpture made by humans, found in the cave Hohlenstein-Stadel, near Asselfingen In four caves (Vogelherd, Hohlenstein-Stadel, Geißenklösterle and Hohle Fels), all just a few kilometers apart, the oldest signs of human arts were found. Best known are: a horse head, a waterbird, and two statues of a mix-being between a lion and a human (see lion man), all of surprising high quality and elaborateness and all more than 30000 years old. The oldest known music instrument was found here, too: a flute made from bones of a swan some 35000 years old.
Life in old times In old times, life was extremely hard on the Swabian Alb. The lack of water and the bad quality of soil lead to big poverty. For many villages the only possibility to get water was to send sombody with a horse chariot to get some for a place next to the Alb. Since the water often needed to be stored over a long time, it was often foul. Thus the disinfection via alcohol was very popular: "Most" (apple wine) was mix with water and given even to babies. The amount of mentally retarded children was higher than in other regions. In the late 1880, a modern water supply system was build (outstanding for its time), which eased the situation.
People Due to the harsh living conditions in the past, the swabians are notorious to this day for their closedfistedness, hard work and cleverness -- all important attributes where there are only very limited resources available.
A humorous Swabian phrase, "Schaffa, Sparra, Häusle baua" - loosely translated "work, save, build a house", reflects these attributes.
Especially in the rural regions of the Swabian Alb, they tend to be rather provincial and rough. However, straight-forwardness, pragmatism and honesty are often associated with them as well.
Dialect The swabian dialect is strong, even stronger than in the rest of Swabia. If politely asked, most are able to speak a understandable version of standard German.
Once simple thing to look for is the addition of a "-le" suffix on many words in the German language.
- Zug (train) becomes Zügle
- Haus (house) becomes Häusle
- Kerl (guy) becomes Kerlle
- Mädchen (girl) becomes Mädle
- Baum (tree) becomes Bäumle
In this light, many surnames in Swabia will also end in "-le".
Tradition
Art
Industry Since raising crops was not easy, raising sheep was popular. This yielded the development of a strong textile industry (since there was vast supply of wool). In the 1950s, Reutlingen was the German town with the most millionairs, until the decline of the German textile industry hit them as well (Hamburg took over the leading position, and claims it until today). Still, many high quality textile companies can be found such as "Hugo Boss", "Trigema", "Reusch" and others (the town of Metzingen is widely known as a "luxury outlet town", with people from all over Europe coming to buy expensive clothes cheaper).
From this, machine building and fine mechanics developed. With the invention of cars and the founding of Daimler-Benz right next to the Swabian Alb, car industry and later also electronics and computer industry developed. Most of the companies sit right next to the swabian alb. For example, the "Neckar-Alb" region is the third largest industrial zone in Germany, and the most stable. The best known company is surly still Daimler-Benz, but today known as Daimler-Chrysler.
The region has one of the highest patents-to-population-ratios of the world. A lot of products fall into the category High-Tech. The overwhelming amount of companies are medium size (100-5000 employees). In general, product are rather a bit pricy but of high quality. Several districts have won prices for their business friendliness, e.g. Reutlingen as the town in Germany where it is the most simple to open a new business. Education of people is very good. The schools and universities of the region all reach top places in German rankings. The Swabian Alb and its neighboring region developed from one of the poorest regions of Germany to one of its richest. The unemployment rate is very low.
Climate Moderate. In winter often snow, skiing is sometimes possible (though the hills are not steep or high). Often windy and a bit colder than the rest of Germany. Due to a special micro climate, a small weather station near the town of Stetten am kalten Markt is known as the "coldest spot in Germany" (beating even the Alps!).
Locations The Swabian Alb is not densely populated (by German standards). Most larger towns are just next to the Alb (yet, the are often accounted to the Swabian Alb). These towns often have some of the highest rents in Germany, while ground on the Swabian Alb itself is considered rather cheap (by south-German standards). The overwhelming amount of town names end in "-ingen". Several military training grounds, also used by NATO troups. Several larger and many small nature reserves.
Important Towns
Touristic Locations The Burg Hohenzollern at Hechingen Many castles, ruins, old towns and similar can be found. Some great monastery and churches can be visited. Here only a small selection.
Castles - Burg Hohenzollern
- Schloss Liechtenstein
- Schloss Sigmaringen
- Hohenstaufen
Churches and Monasteries - Kloster Zwiefalten
- Ulmer Münster (highest church tower of the world)
- Bebenhausen: cistercian monastery near Tübingen
Caves - Nebelhöhle (fog cave)
- Bärenhöhle (bears cave)
Towns
Misc - Blautopf
- Donauversickerung (danube disappering)
- Nusplingen (fossil searching)
Notes Note, that the translation "Swabian Alps" is incorrect, since these mountains are not part of the Alps. Though, the words "Alb" and "Alps" are of the same etymological origin.
External links - Touristical website (http://www.schwaebischealb.de/index.htm)
- List of caves and other sites (http://www.showcaves.com/english/de/region/SchwaebischeAlb.html)
- Finding fossils in Nusplingen (http://www.mitglied.lycos.de/nuspl_fossil_smns/home.htm)
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