St. Märgen

Sankt Märgen is a German municipality in the middle of the Black Forest, which belongs to the district of Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald. The Kurort (spa town) is located around 25 km north of Freiburg im Breisgau.GeographyGeographical locationSankt Märgen is located on a mountain spur. The village territory extends from the Thurner Plateau in the south to the eastern foothills of Kandel to the north, which are between 570 and 1132 meters high. To the east and west its boundaries are marked by deep valleys.Municipal ArrangementAround half the residents live in the village proper. The rest are strewn across the surrounding countryside.HistoryBetween 1115 and 1118 the Augustinian monastery of Maria-Zell auf dem Schwarzwald was established by Count Bruno von Haigerloch-Wiesneck, Chancellor of Henry V and Provost of Straßburg, as competition to the Zähringen-founded Benedictine monastery of St. Peter auf dem Schwarzwald. The town and the monastery were dependent upon each other for many years. In 1716 a two-steepled Baroque monastery church was built, and the life of the community underwent a revival, until 1806 when the monastery was given up.