Trossingen

Infobox Ort in Deutschland
Art = Stadt
Wappen = Wappen Trossingen.pnglat_deg = 48 |lat_min = 04 |lat_sec = 32
lon_deg = 08 |lon_min = 38 |lon_sec = 10
Lageplan =
Bundesland = Baden-Württemberg
Regierungsbezirk = Freiburg
Landkreis = Tuttlingen
Höhe = 699
Fläche = 24.20
Einwohner = 15223
Stand = 2006-12-31
PLZ = 78635–78647
Vorwahl = 07425
Kfz = TUT
Gemeindeschlüssel = 08 3 27 049
Adresse = Schultheiß-Koch-Platz 1
78647 Trossingen
Website = [http://www.trossingen.de/ www.trossingen.de]
Bürgermeister = Dr. Clemens Maier
Partei =

Trossingen is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in a region called Baar, between the Swabian Alb and the Black Forest. Stuttgart is about an hour away, Lake Constance about half an hour, and the source of the river Danube can be reached in about twenty minutes by car.

Trossingen is renowned as a "music town". Although only around 15,000 people live here, the town is home to the renowned 'University of Music Trossingen' [http://www.mh-trossingen.de] (with its famous Early Music department), which is one of Baden-Württemberg's five state conservatories, and there are several other institutions specializing in musical education, like the 'Bundesakademie für musikalische Jugendbildung' [http://www.bundesakademie-trossingen.de] and the 'Hohner Konservatorium' [http://www.hohner-konservatorium.de] .

In 1830 Christan Messner from Trossingen a cloth maker and weaver copied a Harmonica bought to Trossingen by his next door neighbor and clockmaker, from Vienna, the beginning of musical instrument production in the town.He had such success with making such instruments, that eventually his brother and some relatives also stared to build harmonicas. From 1840 on his nephew Christian Weiss started to work on his on. So by 1855 two registered Businesses war in existence.Christian Messner & Co. and Württ. Harmonikafabrik Ch. WEISS. See German wikipedia page about Christian Messner [http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christian_Messner] .

In 1857 the Matthias Hohner company was founded. Today, Hohner harmonicas and accordions are well known all over the world. Trossingen houses the German Harmonica Museum.

Visitors of the museum for local history and culture will find a reproduction of the skeleton of the dinosaur "Plateosaurus trossingensis", found near Trossingen. Trossingen also has an historic railway: the "Trossinger Eisenbahn".

Twin towns

*Cluses, in France
*Beaverton, in Oregon, USA
*Windhoek, the capital of Namibia

External links

* [http://www.harmonika-museum.de German Harmonica Museum]
* [http://www.mh-trossingen.de Staatliche Hochschule für Musik Trossingen/University of Music Trossingen]
* [http://www.peterunbehauen.de/p/06-trossingen.html A visit to Trossingen, with special emphasis on the old Hohner factory and its influence (pictures) ]
* [http://www.study-in-germany.de/english/4.22.3.1648.html Living in Trossingen (emphasis on the city's musical endeavor)]
* [http://www.accordions.com/hohner/2007anni/08saturday.htm Hohner's 150th Anniversary Celebration - September 8, 2007]