Charming old town between the vines and the Black Forest

Gengenbach is a city whose face has been shaped by centuries. Wherever you stand, on the historic market
square, in the winding and dreamy streets, in the former Benedictine monastery, on the Bergle or in the modern
leisure pool on the island, everywhere you will find a harmonious combination of history and modern times.
Our area was already settled by the Celts in the pre-Christian century. Many names such as Kinzig remind us of
this time. The Germanic tribes who then streamed in were forced out of the country by the Romans around the
turn of the century. The actual settlement was in Roman times, 73 to 260 AD. Many finds, a richly decorated
votive column, coins and a brick oven uncovered in 1974 attest to the Roman settlement. The important Roman
road from Strasbourg to Rottweil ran through Gengenbach.
After a settlement by the Alemanni, who had sovereignty for around 200 years, they submitted to King Clovis in
486 and came to the Frankish royal court. Christianization took place under the Frankish Duke Ruthard.
He entrusted this to the missionary bishop Pirmin, who founded the Benedictine abbey of Gengenbach around
the year 725 after the Reichenau monastery.