Since the middle of the 19th century, Neunkirch has increasingly developed outside the city walls. This is precisely why it has been possible to keep the structures that were built after 1262 largely intact. A stroke of luck – and not just from an urbanistic perspective.

Neunkirch lies in the broad Klettgau valley floor of the Schaffhausen Tafeljura, which separates the two parts of the Randen from each other. The city is located on the southern edge of the plain at the confluence of smaller streams, the Seltenbach, the Ergoltinger, the Fochtelbach and the Wydenbach. The area around Neunkirch was settled early and regularly, as evidenced by traces of settlement from various prehistoric eras. However, Neunkirch is rather peripheral, at least not directly on the old south-north connection between the Aare and the Rhine towards the Danube and Neckar, which runs on the sunny side of the plain, a connection that was accentuated during Roman times.

Once an Alemannic Hämingen?

It is unlikely that the Alemannic settlement group developed in the 5th/6th century. In the 19th century, it settled in what was to become the urban area and thus foregone the better natural protection of a slightly higher location. Therefore, the Alemannic predecessor settlements of “Neunkirch” are to be found in the southern area. Local historian Wilhelm Wildberger already assumes a Hämingen, which we do not know as a place name, but only as a field name for the striking hill range between Neunkirch and Guntmadingen (1437 Hemming). A small noble family that later died out may even have developed in Ergoltingen (1093 Adalbero de Ergoltinga). In the northern border area with Löhningen and Siblingen is also Tettlingen, which according to Rüeger was already in the 8th/9th century. A settlement (desert) that was lost in the 19th century.

Neunkirch gained increased importance in the course of Christianization after 600 - at this time a church in the Franconian regional center of Schleitheim is archaeologically documented. It is unclear when exactly the new church and the village in its immediate vicinity were built. Was there an old church on site before, or is the new church simply the second church in the region after the one in Schleitheim, perhaps founded by the Rheinau monastery? What is clear is that Niuchilchun occupies a strong position in the middle of the 9th century: in 850, the Klettgau Count Lantfrith certainly did not have his deed of donation for the Rheinau monastery issued in an insignificant area [the date - on Sunday, September 21st, under the reign of König Ludwig II the German – is not clear, 861, 867 or 872 are also possible]. Almost three hundred years later, in 1155 the Bishop of Constance owned at least one farm in Neunkirch. Prince-Bishop Eberhard II of Waldburg succeeded in further strengthening the position of Konstanz by acquiring the Bailiwick of Neunkirch from the Lords of Krenkingen after 1254/1260 - and last but not least by establishing the planned town of Neunkirch.

Planned city – uniquely well preserved

How does the planned city of Neunkirch differ from conventional cities in a phase of frequent city foundations? “Usually cities are not haphazard, but ultimately they grow organically. Around a settlement center, the alley pattern follows the course of the local terrain and water. Sometimes ecclesiastical or secular power relationships are taken into account. It runs from a castle, such as the Kyburg, or nestles up against a monastery, as in Stein am Rhein. Moving alleys and walls and irregular plots are therefore the norm,” explains Peter Jezler. It was different in Neunkirch, where the bishop deliberately chose the building site in order to be able to implement his plan without making any adjustments. Here the medieval floor plan forms an autonomous, largely right-angled rectangle with four parallel streets. Many of the plots still follow a uniform modular system today. Anyone who just wants to see coincidence in all of this will have difficulty justifying this. It is much more obvious to assume that the founding of Neunkirch was based on a full-scale - not preserved - plan that was transferred to the flat area using bracing and marked.

Since orthogonal planned cities are extremely rare, Neunkirch can become a focus of international research. “The first prerequisite for such a planned city is the revival of the scale drawings maintained in antiquity. These were first recorded around the middle of the 13th century for cathedral facades like in Strasbourg," Jezler continued. “Around 1260 we found the first rectangular walled planned cities in France, such as Monpazier in the Dordogne. The Terrae Nuove in Tuscany are well researched. There are five fortified new towns built at the end of the 13th century were founded by the city republic of Florence to secure the conquered territory.

Bishop Eberhard II as a modern builder

The city wall in Neunkirch is mentioned in a document in 1296, but research assumes that Neunkirch was founded another 20 to 40 years earlier during the term of office of Bishop Eberhard II of Waldburg (1248–1274) - and therefore not at the end, but in the middle in the short phase of planned cities. Thanks to their ties to the universal Roman Church, the bishops have an extensive network of relationships that is conducive to the exchange of new ideas. “Under Eberhard II, around 1270, with the holy grave in Konstanz Minster, Gothic architectural forms of the so-called style rayonnant arrived in the Lake Constance area for the first time,” says Jezler, pointing out Eberhard II’s architectural significance. “It is quite possible that the responsible foreman, who was trained in France, also delivered the draft of the planned city in Klettgau for his bishop.” The new city is founded as a base to secure the Konstanz territory between Randen, Rhine and Aare, with farmers and agriculturally oriented businesses who serve to take care of the fertile surrounding area and collect the income and taxes.

Vogt with its own access

The medieval town extends between the Upper Gate and the Lower Gate, which burned down in 1825. Strangely enough, the main street - the front street - is not in the central axis. Instead, this is taken up by the row of houses with the centrally located community center. There are two parallel streets on the north side of the front street and one on the south side. In the northeast corner is the Vogteisitz (Oberhof) with its own entrance through the wall, a finding that can often be observed. Although a separate chapel was built in the town, the parish rights remained with the mountain church, whose archaeological traces date back to the Carolingian period. The Diocese of Constance, which covers an area almost as large as Switzerland (36,000 km²), cannot play its role as a secular power in the long term. Not only are the human resources lacking, but also the financial basis despite extensive property ownership. In 1525 the bishop had to sell the most important rights over Neunkirch and Hallau to the city of Schaffhausen. Nevertheless, until the end of the Ancien Régime in 1798, the Konstanz cathedral monastery continued to be enfeoffed by the emperor with the regalia, the secular rulers and the blood ban in Neunkirch and Hallau. Above all, Konstanz remains an important landowner as well as a tithe and patronage lord in the entire region, even more so since Reichenau Abbey was incorporated into the diocese in 1540. Neunkirch as the administrative seat Even under Schaffhausen rule, Neunkirch remained the capital and center of the Klettgau upper or rural bailiwick. Neunkirch does not occupy a privileged position that would have allowed it to leave Hallau behind from an economic and demographic point of view. The already limited privileges are even further restricted, for example in the election of the Untervogt (municipal president). In particular, the people of Neunkirchen were denied the right to hold their own market until 1795, when there was no other option. Settling outside the city walls was also banned for the last time in 1791, which is why only a few houses or farms can be found there and the townscape only changed insignificantly until well into the 19th century. It was not until 1811, when the fortification became the property of the city of Neunkirch, that a certain movement occurred in the townscape, as larger holes were now allowed to be punched in the city wall and the city moat was filled in (1818). The Zwinghöfe, which are the open spaces between houses, ring walls and city walls, are transferred to the neighboring house owners along with the right of use. Above all, an urban-looking avenue will be created that accompanies the streets around the city area and makes the newly built, representative individual buildings outside the old town appear even more stately. Given the freedoms that now exist, the fact that Neunkirch has retained its character as a medieval planned town requires respect and recognition.