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'Biberach' is a town in the south of Germany, capital of the district Biberach in Baden-Württemberg. To distinguish it from the other Biberachs it is called 'Biberach an der Riß' after the small river Riß which flows through the city (the Riss/Riß also gave its name to the Riss glaciation period).

Biberach is a very important town for apprentices because quite a few big companies like EnBW, Handtmann, Liebherr, KaVo, and Boehringer Ingelheim are located here.

Contents

Geography

History

Industry

KaVo

Boehringer Ingelheim

EnBW

Liebherr Biberach

Sister cities

Entertainment

Arts

Cafes, Clubs, Restaurants

"Biberacher Schützenfest"

Christmas Market

Sports in Biberach

External links

Geography

Biberach has a population of about 32,000, and is located in Upper Swabia between the river Danube and Lake Constance. The marketplace with its patrician buildings, its fountain and its renovated town hall is one of the loveliest in the south of Germany.
The districts of Biberach are the villages Rissegg, Rindenmoos, Stafflangen and Mettenberg.

History

For many centuries, Biberach was an Imperial Free City (German: ''Freie Reichsstadt'') in the Holy Roman Empire. In that role it participated in the 1792 Reichstag.
In 1803, Biberach was annexed by the Grand Duchy of Baden. In 1806, it was traded to the Kingdom of Württemberg. In 1871 it became part of the Empire of Germany.
During World War II two large camps were located here - prisoner-of-war camp
Oflag V-B for officers, and internment camp Ilag VB for allied civilians, mainly from the Channel Islands

Industry

KaVo

KaVo (Kaltenbach & Voigt) is a leading company in producing dental medicine equipment and products like instruments, dental systems, laboratory and equipment for training centers for universities. The head office is in Biberach. But KaVo has production locations and sales locations all over the world, e.g in Brazil, England, USA, Canada, Russia, France, Italy, etc. In March 2004, Danaher, an American industrial company, took over KaVo in order to improve its portfolio in terms of dental technology. Since a massive loss of jobs is expected, waves of solidarity have tried to help KaVo's workers' council. Even Walter Riester, Germany's former Secretary of Labour, is involved in that.

Boehringer Ingelheim

Boehringer Ingelheim investigates, develops, produces and commercializes drugs for people all over the world. With about 35.529 employees who are employed in 156 countries on all continents, today, Boehringer Ingelheim is part of the most research intensive enterprises internationally. Boehringer Ingelheim was founded in Ingelheim am Rhein, Germany in 1885, where the corporate headquarters are still located today.

EnBW

EnBW means "Energy Baden-Württemberg". Its corporate center is in Karlsruhe. In Stuttgart there is the "Regional Center". An exciting chapter of the success story began with the merger of Badenwerk AG and Energie-Versorgung Schwaben AG in the year 1997. The EnBW Energie Baden-Württemberg AG was born. EnBW is Germany's third largest energy company. In Biberach there are about 900 employees. The firm employs 125 trainees. Every year the EnBW gives young people the chance for a position as an apprentice. Also the EnBW is trying to protect the environment or so the company says. In a current advertising campaign it tries to sell its 30-year-old nuclear power station Neckarwestheim as a "green" source of energy. The plant is depicted as a group of trees shaped like a reactor with adjacent cooling towers. To critics this is a modern version of "Newspeak".

Liebherr Biberach

The beginning of Liebherr Biberach was in 1954. The firm produces many sorts of cranes. 1700 people and 112 trainees work there. Dr. Hans Liebherr invented the crane in 1949 in Kirchdorf/Iller. You can find Liebherr products all over the world. For example Saudi Arabia, New Zealand, the USA and so on.

Sister cities

Biberach is twinned with Asti (I), Valence/Drôme (F), Telavi (Georgia), Clacton-on-Sea, Essex (UK) and Swidnica (PL). It also has close links to Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands.

Entertainment

Arts

Biberach not only has a film festival for German films which celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2003, the "Filmfest Biberach", but - in 2004 and 2005 - also had a second, albeit short-lived, festival, the Biberach Independent Film Festival that focussed on shorts and documentaries. The festival takes place at the beginning of November.

Cafes, Clubs, Restaurants

In Biberach there are many cafés. If you want know where you can go for breakfast, for lunch, to party or only to chill in a lounge; check the website http://www.weberberg.de/, there you find a link "szeneführer" at the bottom.
Biberach also has a number of beer gardens.

"Biberacher Schützenfest"

The ''Biberacher Schützenfest'' is an historic festival for children and the town. The event starts every year in the first July week and lasts nine days. The name "Schützenfest" derives from the German verb ''schützen'', meaning ''to protect''; the festival is, therefore, a celebration of peace and expresses the hope that the town will be protected from war in the future. During the festival, there are many attractions.

★ Parade on the streets

★ Fairgrounds

★ Historical performances

★ Theme park

★ Parties in bars, cafès and so on

★ Beer tent

Christmas Market

The annual Christmas market, called "Christkindlesmarkt", which takes 16 days, is another highlight of the year. Exotic foods from Britain, France, and Italy, kitsch, and beautiful arts and crafts are there to see and buy. People meet to drink enormous quantities of mulled wine even in broad daylight and eat "Knabberfleisch" (small breaded pieces of pork eaten with a small wooden fork).

Sports in Biberach

'TG Biberach 1847 e.V.' is one of the biggest unions in the region. It has more than 6000 members and 27 divisions including american football, tennis, chess or volleyball.
'IBOT' Another important sports festival in Biberach is IBOT. It's an annual international handball tournament for youths with more than a thousand participants which takes place at Easter.

External links

★ Information from city hall

★ Biberach (alternative Website)

★ Living in Biberach

★ Town/City Guide

★ Liebherr

★ Pictures of Biberach (German/English)

★ Southern Württemberg in 1789