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*Sonnenaufgang über blühendem Brachland*
Exactly three years ago today on the Moselle not far from the city of Trier.
A pedestrian walk- and bikeway near the Flückigersee (in English: "Flückiger Lake") in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau during the cherry-blossom season. Baden-Wuerttemberg, Germany
Some background information:
The parks around the Flückigersee in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau are lined by hundreds of cherry trees and they already bloom in the first half of March. This time we were lucky to be in Freiburg at the height of the cherry-blossom season and see the blooming of uncountable pink and white cherry blossoms. Sakura and Hanami in the far southwest of Germany.
The Flückigersee is a 10-hectare lake in the Freiburg district of Betzenhausen. It developed from the quarrying of sand and gravel by the Flückiger construction company in the 1920s. In 1986 the lake became part of the Landesgartenschau exhibition (a garden exhibition in the local area), today's Seepark. In the past there were some problems with the overpopulation of both swans and turtles. The lake’s water quality is generally good. However, cercariae live in the lake, which can cause cercarial dermatitis after swimming. Nevertheless, the Flückigersee and its shores are a rather important recreational area for the residents of the city of Freuburg im Breisgau.
Freiburg im Breisgau, commonly referred to as Freiburg, is an independent city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of about 230,000, it is the fourth largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Karlsruhe, and Mannheim. The town is located in the very southwest of Germany, in the tri-state-area near the French and Swiss border. It is also situated on the southwestern edge of the Black Forest and traversed by the Dreisam River.
Freiburg is a famous old German university town and archiepiscopal seat. It was founded by Konrad and Duke Berthold III of Zaehringen in 1120 as a free market town. This town was strategically located at a junction of trade routes between the Mediterranean Sea and the North Sea regions, as well as the Rhine and Danube rivers. In 1200, Freiburg's population numbered approximately 6,000 people. At about that time, under the rule of Bertold V, the last duke of Zaehringen, the city began construction of its Freiburg Minster on the site of an older parish church.
At the end of the thirteenth century there was a feud between the citizens of Freiburg and their lord, Count Egino II of Freiburg. Egino II raised taxes and sought to limit the citizens' freedom, after which the locals used catapults to destroy the count's castle atop the Schlossberg (in English: "Castle Hill"), a hill that overlooks the city centre. The furious count called on his brother-in-law the Bishop of Strasbourg, Konradius von Lichtenberg, for help, who responded by marching with his army to Freiburg.
According to an old Freiburg legend, a butcher named Hauri stabbed the Bishop of Strasbourg to death. But it was a Pyrrhic victory, since henceforth the citizens of Freiburg had to pay an annual expiation of 300 marks in silver to the count of Freiburg until 1368. In that year the citizens were fed up with their lords, and the town purchased its independence from them. Freiburg turned itself over to the protection of the Habsburg dynasty, which allowed the city to retain a large measure of freedom.
The silver mines in the neighbourhood of Freiburg provided an important source of capital for the town and the silver even made Freiburg one of the richest cities in Europe. In 1377, the cities of Freiburg, Basel, Colmar, and Breisach entered into a monetary alliance known as the Rappenpfennig Collective. This alliance facilitated commerce among the cities and lasted until the end of the 16th century.
In 1457, Albrecht VI, Regent of Further Austria, established the Albert-Ludwigs-Universität, one of Germany's oldest universities. In 1520, Freiburg decided not to take part in the Reformation and became an important centre for Catholicism on the Upper Rhine. Erasmus of Rotterdam moved here after Basel had accepted the Reformation. Being in need of finding a scapegoat for calamities such as the Black Plague, the city became a centre of witch-hunt in the 16th century.
The 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries were turbulent times for Freiburg: At the beginning of the Thirty Years' War, Freiburg had 10,000 to 14,000 residents, but by its end only 2,000 remained. During this war and other conflicts, the city belonged at various times to the Austrians, the French, the Swedes, the Spaniards, and various members of the German Confederation.
Between 1648 and 1805, when the city was not under French occupation it was the administrative headquarters of Further Austria, the Habsburg territories in the southwest of Germany. In 1805, the city, together with the Breisgau and Ortenau areas, finally became part of Baden. In 1827, when the Archdiocese of Freiburg was founded, Freiburg became the seat of a Catholic archbishop.
During World War II, Freiburg was heavily bombed. In May 1940, aircraft of the German Luftwaffe mistakenly dropped approximately 60 bombs on Freiburg near the railway station, killing 57 people. And on 27th November 1944, a raid by more than 300 bombers of the RAF Bomber Command destroyed a large portion of the city centre, with the notable exception of the minster, which was only lightly damaged. However, after the war, the city was rebuilt judiciously on its medieval plan.