Lahr (officially Lahr/Schwarzwald since 30 September 1978) (); ) is a town in western Baden-Württemberg, Germany, approximately 50 km north of Freiburg im Breisgau, 40 km southeast of Strasbourg, and 95 km southwest of Karlsruhe. It is the second largest city in Ortenau (district) after Offenburg, and serves as an intermediate economic centre for the cities and towns of Ettenheim, Friesenheim, Kappel-Grafenhausen, Kippenheim, Mahlberg, Meißenheim, Ringsheim, Rust, Schuttertal, Schwanau and Seelbach. The population of Lahr passed the 20,000 mark in the mid-1950s. When the new body of Municipal Law for Baden-Württemberg came into effect on April 1, 1956, the city was therefore immediately accorded Große Kreisstadt status. In addition, Lahr cooperates with the town of Kippenheim in administrative matters. Geography Lahr is located on the western edge of the Black Forest where the Schutter Valley merges with the Upper Rhine River Plains from the east. The Schutter enters the city from the southeast and runs in a northwesterly direction first through the boroughs of Reichenbach and Kuhbach, then through Lahr (proper) where the Altstadt (historic town centre) is situated on the right bank of the river. It then traverses the borough of Dinglingen where it bends north until it finally leaves the city after traversing the borough of Hugsweier. A canal for emergency relief in times of flooding branches off from the Schutter not far from Dinglingen. The city of Lahr is made up of Lahr (proper) and the formerly independent communities of Burgheim (merged with Lahr in 1899) and Dinglingen (merged in 1933). Burgheim and Dinglingen have merged with Lahr also in a geographic sense. During the last major district reform in Baden-Württemberg in the 1970s Hugsweier, Kippenheimweiler, Kuhbach, Langenwinkel, Mietersheim, Reichenbach and Sulz joined Lahr as new boroughs. Several of the boroughs include additional, geographically distinct settlements or neighbourhoods that either have a long history of their own or were created as new developments but with areal boundaries that have not been officially defined. Most of these settlements have only small populations and some have since also merged with their borough in a geographic sense. Specifically, Brudertal is part of the borough of Kuhbach; Galgenberg, Schutterlindenhof and Waldfrieden are part of Lahr (proper); Eichberg, Gereut, Giesenhof, Langeck, Poche and Schindelhöfe are part of the borough of Reichenbach; and Dammenmühle, Ernethof, Hohberg and Langenhard are part of the borough of Sulz. Neighbouring communities The following cities and towns share