Freiburg

Freiburg in BREISGAU, a town of Germany, in the grand-duchy of Baden, is situated on the western edge of the Black Forest, 32 miles NNE. of Basel. It is an open, well-built town; the walls and ditches with which it was formerly surrounded have been converted into promenades and vineyards. The cathedral, one of the most beautiful and perfect specimens of Gothic architecture in Germany, cruciform in shape, and built of red sandstone, was begun in 1122, but not completed till 1513. Its western steeple, 381 feet high, is remarkable for its elegance and lightness. The university, which was founded in 1455, in 1888 had 87 professors and teachers and 884 students. The chief manufactures are sewing silk, cotton and thread, buttons, artificial beads, chicory, paper, parquetry, &c. Wine and timber are the chief articles of trade. Pop. (1865) 19,085; (1890) 48,788, of whom more than one-half are Protestants. Freiburg is the seat of a Catholic archbishop. Founded in 1091 by the Duke of Zähringen, and created a town in 1115, Freiburg has repeatedly changed masters; twice it was given over to France (1679-97 and 1744-48). It also played an eventful part in the Thirty Years' War. In 1806 it fell to Baden; and in 1848 the Baden revolutionists were defeated here by the troops of the German confederation.