Southern Upper Rhine
In no other region in Germany does the sun shine more frequently: the Southern Upper Rhine region extends from the Alsace up to the foothills of the Black Forest Highlands.
The second-largest of the twelve regions of Baden-Württemberg lies at the south-western edge of Germany. In the Rhine rift, the region consists of the Freiburg urban district and the rural districts of Breisgau-Upper Black Forest, Emmendingen and the Ortenaukreis. More than one million inhabitants enjoy the advantages of the proximity to France and Switzerland, the picturesque landscape and the many hours of sunshine here. Together with the Alsace, the southern Palatinate as well as five Swiss cantons around Basel, the region forms the trinational Oberrhein metropolis region.
The Southern Upper Rhine region has a well-developed infrastructure network and is sited at an important junction in Europe. All centres are well accessible on the A5 motorway which leads through the entire region and a wide network of federal roads. The same applies to the public means of transportation – Freiburg is an interface of many express train connections. The nearby airports of Strasbourg, Basel, Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden as well as the well-accessible Stuttgart airport provide connection to the air traffic. With the Rhine harbours of Kehl and Breisach, the region has two of the nine biggest Baden-Württemberg inland harbours.
The appeal of the Southern Upper Rhine region does not only lie in its situation and the cross-border neighborhood, but in a diverse offer. Especially the wonderful landscape contributes its part to that: about 90 percent of the region consists of fields, forests, meadows and vineyards. Nowhere else in Baden-Württemberg are there as many rivers and lakes. The open-minded inhabitants furthermore benefit from extensive cultural and leisure activities. Last but not least, the region is regarded as an eldorado among gourmets as well.
The economy in the Southern Upper Rhine region is characterised by a balanced industry variety and a medium-sized structure. It is striking that these small and medium-sized enterprises are frequently operated by the family and the owner. In comparison with the other Baden-Württemberg regions, the economy is characterised more strongly by the tertiary sector. However, it is typical that the part of enterprise service providers is clearly smaller. Instead of this, the services focus on the publishing industry, traffic, computer science and research.
Metal industry, personnel placement service and information service are the most important industries. Clusters that are mostly operating transnationally due to the multinationality of the region have developed around the following industries: automotive industry, biotechnology, forestry and wood, health care industry, IT, creative industry, medical technology, microsystem engineering and environmental technology.
The Southern Upper Rhine region is an excellent location in the field of universities and research institutions. A great number of on-campus and off-campus research institutions are located in the region. The Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg with two clusters of excellence, two colleges, one music university, one pedagogic university and three non-state universities are resident here.
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