Thiergarten

Thiergarten was first mentioned in documents in 1138 under the old regional name “Weiler” (designation for an existing settlement with few buildings). According to local historian Michael Walter, Weiler, present-day Thiergarten, probably emerged from the settlement “Pettinwilare” as mentioned in St. Galler documents from 735, 851 and 864.

In 1275, St. Georgs-Basilika, the smallest 3-aisled Basilica north of the Alps, was first documented. It was presumably built around the year 1000 and thus belonged to the oldest houses of God in the Danube Valley between Tuttlingen and Sigmaringen.

Thiergarten bears its name from a game reserve, which Count Wilhelm from Zimmern at Meßkirch had built in 1571 below his castle Falkenstein. An old permit stated: “from the most exalted house of Austria with special grace, the exercise of game-hunting and hunting in such a game reserve was permitted for its recreation and enjoyment.”

A few years after the erection of the game reserve, complaints were filed with the Austrian government at Innsbruck with no other purpose than to abolish the game reserve. Before the Thirty-year War (1618-1648), the place was renamed “Thiergarten”.

In 1670, the ironworks of Thiergarten was built. The buildings developed in this period still stand in part today. In 1863, the work was then shut down.

In 1806, the place came to Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen possession, in 1901 to Villingen, in 1975 to Inzigkofen and since the year 1977 it belongs to the municipality of Beuron.

In the Falkenstein cave located about 2 kilometers away from Thiergarten, Eduard Peters found about 9000 tools, utensils, and jewelry in 1933, as well as the skeletal remains of one man taller than 1.7 meters, age 30-40 years old, from the mesolithic period (from around 8000 to 5000 years before Christ).

In the autumn of 1961, an interesting find was made in Thiergarten’s quarry. A jawbone was successfully worked out from the clay unscathed. The geological institute of University of Erlangen observed: it is the remains of a wild horse and a wooly mammoth from the last glacial period.

Today Thiergarten is a small, endearing town with a very good gastronomic offering.

Local Personalities:

Fritz Einwald ((June 19, 1907 in Thiergarten – 1967), from 1960 to 1964 Representative in German Parliament)