In
Early Modern times the Kniebis was a serious obstacle on the long-distance trade route from
Strasbourg to
Ulm (the so-called
Oppenauer Steige) as a result of the climb from
Oppenau up to the Kniebis pass. This trading route (also called the Swabian Way or
Schwabenweg) was controlled in
Hohenstaufen times by the
House of Zähringen. Later, it formed an important link between
Württemberg and the Württemberg estates in present-day
France. In times of war, for example during the
Thirty Years' War it was also used for troop movements. After the end of Hohenstaufen rule around 1250 the boundary between the lands of the
Principality of Fürstenberg in the Kinzig valley and Central Black Forest (which went to the
Grand Duchy of Baden in 1806) m Kniebis ) and the Duchy, later Kingdom, of Württemberg. In 1267 in Kniebis village (Württemberg Kniebis)
Kniebis Abbey was founded. It was dissolved in 1534 in
the Reformation. The pass over the Kniebis was already very important early on as a trade route between the Rhine valley and Württemberg. In the
Middle Ages it also became strategically important from a military perspective. As a result, several fortifications were built in the area of the Kniebis and to the north on the Black Forest High Road. • In 1632, a fortification called the
Kleine Schanze or
Alte Schanze was built on the summit of the mountain at the exit to the village between boundary stones 52 and 53 on the road leading to the pass in order to control it. There are no visible remains left, but an information board by the road indicates where it was. • About 1 km northwest of it on the Black Forest High Road (B 500) is another fortification, the
Alexanderschanze. On a map by Stäbenhaber from the year 1674 it is already described as "repaired", so it must be older than that date. • A further 3 kilometres further along the Black Forest High Road near the turn off to Oppenau is the
Schwedenschanze ("Swedish
Schanze) which was first mentioned in 1593. • In the immediate vicinity of the Schwedenschanze is the
Röschenschanze, built in 1794 by
Major Rösch and named after him. The Kleine Schanz(1), the Alexanderschanze(2) and the Schwedenschanze(3) are all marked on the section of the map by Stäbenhaber. From 1939 (start of construction) to 1945 (demolition by the German
Wehrmacht) there was one of
Hitler's
Führer Headquarters here, the
Tannenberg, which he used briefly in 1940. From July to the end of 1941
Gestapo prisoners from the
forced labour camp (AEL) of Kniebis-Ruhestein built a section of the Black Forest High Road on the Kniebis. Both sites belong to the municipality of Baiersbronn, which extends from the new boundaries of the borough of Freudenstadt only on a part of the areas in the south, on which there are residential house and the Alexanderschanze. From earliest days the Kniebis consisted of 3 parts, the Baiersbronn part, the Freudenstadt part (together forming the Württemberg Kniebis) and the
Bad Rippoldsau part that belonged to Baden. The boundary is still marked today by boundary stones along the "Border Way" (
Grenzweg). As a result of its division between two states an "inner Alemannic" dialect has developed between the Swabian (North Alemannic) speaking area and the Upper Rhenish, Lower Alemannic area. In 1975 all three districts were incorporated into Freudenstadt. == Gallery ==