Hirsau

Hirsau
Stadtteil of Calw
Coat of arms
Location of Hirsau
Hirsau Hirsau
Coordinates: 48°44′N 8°44′E
Country	Germany
State	Baden-Württemberg
Admin. region	Karlsruhe
District	Calw
Town	Calw
Elevation	341 m (1,119 ft)
Population  (2005)
• Total	2,260
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	75365
Dialling codes	07051
Vehicle registration	CW
Website	calw.de

Hirsau, 1907

Hirsau (formerly Hirschau) is a district of the town of Calw in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, located in the south-west portion of the country, about two miles north of Calw and about twenty-four miles west of Stuttgart.

Town

Hirsau's economy includes small retail establishments, tourism, and light industry. There is a saw mill on the Ernstmuhlerweg, the road that runs along the railroad in the post card pasted above. The saw mill is a long building at the upper edge (in the picture) of town.

The town has been called a "Luftkurort" ("air spa") for the purity of its air. The town's bridge over the Nagold River dates to the Carolingian period.

Hirsau Abbey

Main article: Hirsau Abbey

The town grew round the Benedictine monastery that is its main historical significance and was once among the most famous in Europe. It was founded in about 830 by Count Erlafried of Calw and re-founded, after a period of collapse, in 1059. William of Hirsau, abbot from 1069 to 1091, brought it to international prominence as the origin of the Hirsau Reforms. It was secularised in 1558, and the buildings destroyed by the French in 1692.

The archaeological site of Hirsau features a blend of architectural styles, with the remnants of a columned basilica, once the largest Romanesque church in southwest Germany, and the walls of a Gothic cloister. Additionally, the site includes a representative hunting lodge from the Renaissance period. Notably, the grounds once housed the renowned "elm tree" immortalized in Ludwig Uhland's eponymous poem.

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  Ruins of Monastery of St. Peter and St. Paul

References

• Baer, 1897. Die Hirsauer Bauschule. Freiburg.
• This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hirsau". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 524.
• Giseke, 1883. Die Hirschauer während des Investiturstreits. Gotha.
• Helmsdorfer, 1874. Forschungen zur Geschichte des Abts Wilhelm von Hirschau. Göttingen
• Klaiber, C.H., 1886. Das Kloster Hirschau. Tübingen.
• Steck, 1844. Das Kloster Hirschau
• Süssmann, 1903. Forschungen zur Geschichte des Klosters Hirschau. Halle.
• Weizsäcker, 1898. Führer durch die Geschichte des Klosters Hirschau. Stuttgart

External links

• (in German) Hirsau im Nagoldtal