Breisach

Breisach
Town
View of Breisach from above. The French town of Neuf-Brisach is located in the upper left corner.
Coat of arms
Location of Breisach within Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald district
Breisach Show map of Germany Breisach Show map of Baden-Württemberg
Coordinates: 48°2′N 7°35′E / 48.033°N 7.583°E / 48.033; 7.583
Country	Germany
State	Baden-Württemberg
Admin. region	Freiburg
District	Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald
Subdivisions	12
Government
• Mayor (2022–30)	Oliver Rein[1] (CDU)
Area
• Total	54.58 km2 (21.07 sq mi)
Elevation	225 m (738 ft)
Population  (2022-12-31)[2]
• Total	15,793
• Density	290/km2 (750/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	79206
Dialling codes	07667, 07664 (Niederrimsingen, Oberrimsingen), 07668 (Gündlingen)
Vehicle registration	FR
Website	www.breisach.de

Breisach (formerly Altbreisach; Low Alemannic: Alt-Brisach) is a town with approximately 16,500 inhabitants, situated along the Rhine in the Rhine Valley, in the district Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about halfway between Freiburg and Colmar — 20 kilometres away from each — and about 60 kilometres north of Basel near the Kaiserstuhl. A bridge leads over the Rhine to Neuf-Brisach, Alsace.

Its name is Celtic and means breakwater. The root Breis can also be found in the French word briser meaning to break. The hill on which Breisach came into existence was — at least when there was a flood — in the middle of the Rhine, until the Rhine was straightened by the engineer Johann Gottfried Tulla in the 19th century, thus breaking its surge.