Offenburg

Offenburg - some facts:
The city of Offenburg (where my Mum lives and where I am spending time on weekends...) with its 59,000 inhabitants is located 25 kilometres
East of Strasbourg and borders on the Rhine valley and on the Black Forest.
The City is surrounded by vineyards and situated at the river Kinzig.

There are so many possibilities in and around Offenburg cause there are many places to visit in the Black Forrest and so on...

Historical background:
According to legend, the town was founded by the legendary King Offo. The roots of the town, however, reach back into the period of Emperor Nero. The Romans used to build castles along the Rhine River then - supposedly also where Offenburg is today.
In 1240, Friedrich II proclaimed Offenburg a town of the empire.
In the period of the thirty years' war Grimmelshausen, one of the most important authors of the 17th century, lived in Offenburg. He described the Ortenau countryside in which he lived until he died in 1676 in many of his works, including the novel, "Simplicus Simplicissimus".

Offenburg during the Revolution of 1848 - formulation of the human basic rights:
Not only was Offenburg one of the starting points of the revolutionary events in Baden which occurred between 1847 and 1849, but it remained at its centre right into the year 1849.
The gathering of the "Resolute Friends of the Constitution" from 12th September 1847 which took place in the "Salmen" (what is a restaurant today) was the starting point of the democratic movement in Baden and Germany. The 13 demands of Offenburg (amongst others, freedom of the press, freedom of conscience, freedom of religion, a general right to vote, fair taxation, compensation between work and capital) for the first time formulated the most important basic rights which were later included in the democratic constitution.