Schönau im Schwarzwald
Town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Schönau im Schwarzwald (German pronunciation: [ˈʃøːnaʊ ʔɪm ˈʃvaʁtsvalt], lit. 'Schönau in the Black Forest') is a town in the district of Lörrach in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in the Black Forest, on the river Wiese, 35 kilometres (22 mi) northeast of Basel, Switzerland, and 23 kilometres (14 mi) south of Freiburg.
Schönau im Schwarzwald | |
|---|---|
 Coat of arms | |
 Location of Schönau im Schwarzwald
within Lörrach district | |
 Interactive map of Schönau im Schwarzwald | |
  Location within Germany  Location within Baden-Württemberg | |
| Coordinates: 47°47′12″N 07°53′39″E | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Baden-Württemberg |
| Admin. region | Freiburg |
| District | Lörrach |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2020–28) | Peter Schelshorn[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 14.72 km2 (5.68 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 540 m (1,770 ft) |
| Population (2025-12-31)[2] | |
• Total | 2,452 |
| • Density | 166.6/km2 (431.4/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 79677 |
| Dialling codes | 07673 |
| Vehicle registration | LÖ |
| Website | www |
Energy infrastructure
After the 1986 Chernobyl disaster, a small group led by Michael and Ursula Sladek founded the Parents for a Nuclear Free Future group, to research how they could limit the community's dependence on nuclear power.[3] Their first approach was on saving energy and getting others to save energy. They reactivated small hydropower plants in the region.[3] The couple developed the idea of a power system independent of nuclear power plants, generating electric power through distributed mini power plants from renewable sources.[4] After ten years of campaigning and raising awareness, they founded the first German green power utility, the Elektrizitätswerke Schönau (EWS), in 1994.[5] They took over providing power for the community in 1997.[5][3][6][7] With a system that combined efficiency and power-saving strategies, it became possible to satisfy the power consumption of the community. Schönau was the first community in a Western country that became independent of the national power grid and could decide how its power would be produced.[4][8]
Mayors
- 1945–1946: Albert Gutmann
- 1946–1956: Karl Zimmermann
- 1957–1977: Ludwig Morath (FWV)
- 1977–1993: Richard Böhler (CDU)
- 1993–2012: Bernhard Seger (CDU)
- since 2012: Peter Schelshorn (CDU)[1]
Notable people from Schönau
- Fridolin Dietsche (1861–1908), sculptor
- Karl Geiler (1878–1953), legal scientist and politician
- Albert Leo Schlageter (1894–1923), German Freikorps fighter
- Michael Sladek (1946–2024), ecologist
Sport
- Joachim (Jogi) Löw (born 1960), German footballer and coach of the national football team from 2006 to 2021
- Markus Löw (born 1961), former footballer, now a coach, brother of Jogi Löw
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