Aalen
Encyclopedia
Aalen (ˈaːlən) is a city
in the German
state of Baden-Württemberg
, about 70 kilometres (43.5 mi) east of Stuttgart
and 48 kilometres (29.8 mi) north of Ulm
. It is the seat of the Ostalbkreis
district, and its largest city, as well as the largest city within the Ostwürttemberg
region. In spatial planning
, Aalen is designated a Mittelzentrum (“medium-level centre”). Since 1 April 1956, Aalen has the status of Große Kreisstadt
(“major district town”).
With an area of 146.63 km2, Aalen is ranking position 7 in Baden-Württemberg and position 2 within the Government Region of Stuttgart
, after Stuttgart. With a population of about 66,000, Aalen is on position 15 within Baden-Württemberg.
, at the foot of the Swabian Jura to the south and south-east and close to the hilly landscape of the Ellwanger Berge to the north.
In terms of natural region
s, the west of Aalen’s territory is on the foreland of the eastern Swabian Jura, and the north and north-west is on the Swabian-Franconian Uplands, both being part of the Swabian Keuper-Lias Plains
. The south-west is part of the Albuch, the east is part of the Härtsfeld, these two both being parts of the Swabian Jura.
The Kocher enters the city’s territory from Oberkochen
on the south, crosses the city district of Unterkochen, then the city centre, where the Aal flows into it. The Aal is a small river stretching only on the town's territory. Next, the Kocher crosses the city district of Wasseralfingen, then leaves the city for Hüttlingen. Rivers originating near Aalen are the Rems
(near Essingen
, west of Aalen) and the Jagst
(near Unterschneidheim
, east of Aalen), both being subsidiaries of the Neckar
, just like the Kocher.
The elevation in the centre at market square is 430 meters relative to Normalhöhennull
. The territory’s lowest point is at the Lein
river near Rodamsdörfle, the highest point is the Grünberg’s peak near Unterkochen at 733 m.
of the south-German Jurassic
: Aalen’s south and the Flexner massif are on top of the Weißer Jura (White Jurassic), the city center is on the Brauner Jura (Brown Jurassic), and a part of Wasseralfingen is on the Schwarzer Jura (Black Jurassic). Therefore, the city advertises itself as a “Geologist’s Mecca”.
Most part of the territory is on the Opalinuston-Formation (Opalinum Clay Formation) of the Aalenian
subdivision, which is named after Aalen. On the Sandberg, the Schnaitberg and the Schradenberg hills, all in the west of Aalen, the Eisensandstein (Iron Sandstone) Formation emerges to surface. On the other hills of the city, sand
s (Goldshöfer Sande), gravel
and residual rubble
prevail.
The historic centre of Aalen and the other areas in the Kocher valley are founded completely on holocenic
floodplain
loam
(Auelehm) and riverbed gravel that have filled in the valley.
Most parts of Dewangen and Fachsenfeld are founded on formations of Jurensismergel (Jurensis Marl
), Posidonienschiefer (cf. Posidonia Shale
), Amaltheenton (Amalthean Clay), Numismalismergel (Numismalis Marl) and Obtususton (Obtusus Clay, named after Asteroceras
obtusum) succeeding from south to north, all belonging to the Jurassic. They are at last succeeded by the Trossingen Formation already belonging to the Late Triassic
.
On the Braunenberg hill, until 1939 iron ore was mined (see Tiefer Stollen section).
border on Aalen. They are listed clockwise, beginning south, with their respective linear distances to Aalen city centre given in brackets:
Oberkochen
(6 kilometres (3.7 mi)), Essingen (6 kilometres (3.7 mi)), Heuchlingen
(11 kilometres (6.8 mi)), Abtsgmünd
(9 kilometres (5.6 mi)), Neuler
(10 kilometres (6.2 mi)), Hüttlingen (6 kilometres (3.7 mi)), Rainau
(10 kilometres (6.2 mi)), Westhausen (9 kilometres (5.6 mi)), Lauchheim
(12 kilometres (7.5 mi)), Bopfingen
(20 kilometres (12.4 mi)) and Neresheim
(20 kilometres (12.4 mi)), all in the Ostalbkreis
district, furthermore Heidenheim an der Brenz (18 kilometres (11.2 mi)) and Königsbronn
(10 kilometres (6.2 mi)), both in Heidenheim district
.
merged to between 1938 (Unterrombach) and 1975 (Wasseralfingen, see mergings section).
The municipalities merged in the course of the latest municipal reform of the 1970s are also called Stadtbezirk
e (city districts), and are Ortschaften (“settlements”) in terms of Baden-Württemberg’s Gemeindeordnung
(municipal code), which means, each of them has its own council elected by its respective residents (Ortschaftsrat) and is presided by a spokesperson (Ortsvorsteher).
The city centre itself and the merged former municipalities consist of numerous villages (Teilorte), mostly separated by open ground from each other and having their own independent and long-standing history. Some however have been created as planned communities
, which were given proper names, but no well-defined borders.
List of villages:
region. It’s designated catchment area
includes the following municipalities of the central and eastern Ostalbkreis district: Abtsgmünd
, Bopfingen
, Essingen, Hüttlingen, Kirchheim am Ries
, Lauchheim
, Neresheim
, Oberkochen
, Riesbürg
and Westhausen, and is interwoven with the catchment area of Nördlingen
, situated in Bavaria
, 30 kilometres (18.6 mi) east of Aalen.
The weather station
the following data originate from is located between the city centre and Wasseralfingen at about 48°51′02"N 10°05′44"E and is operative since 1991.
The sunshine duration is about 1800 hours per year, which averages to 4.93 hours per day. So Aalen is above the German average of 1550 hours per year. However, with 167 days of precipitation
, Aalen’s region also ranks above the German average of 138. The annual rainfall is 807 millimetres, which puts Aalen into the moderate middle within Baden-Württemberg.
Mean fluctuations in temperature of up to -11.6 °C in January and 32.7 °C in July result in an annual mean temperature of 9.9 °C. Here Aalen as well ranks above the German average of 8.2 °C and the Baden-Württemberg average of 8.1 °C.
and traces of human settlement of the Mesolithic
dated between the 8th and 5th millennium BC were found on several sites on the margins of the Kocher and Jagst valleys. On the Schloßbaufeld plateau (appr. 650 by 350 metres), situated behind Kocherburg castle near Unterkochen, a hill-top settlement was found, with the core being attributed to the Bronze Age
. In the Appenwang forest near Wasseralfingen, in Goldshöfe and in Ebnat, tumuli
of the Hallstatt culture
were found. In Aalen and Wasseralfingen, Golden and silver coins left by the Celts were found, who also fortified the Schloßbaufeld settlement with sectional embankments and a stone wall. Near Heisenberg (Wasseralfingen), a celtic nemeton
is situated.
, Aalen’s territory became part of the Roman Empire
, in direct vicinity of the Rhaetian Limes. The Romans erected a castrum to house the cavalry
unit Ala
II Flavia milliaria; it’s remains are known today as Kastell Aalen (”Aalen roman fort“). The site is west of today’s city centre at the bottom of the Schillerhöhe hill. With about 1,000 horsemen and nearly as many grooms, it was the greatest fort of auxiliaries
along the Rhaetian Limes. Civilian settlements were adjacent on the south and the east. Around 260, the Romans gave up the fort as they withdrew their frontier to unoccupied Germania
back to the Rhine and Danube
rivers, and the Alamanni
took over the region. Inferred from coins found related to the late 3rd and the 4th century, the civilian settlement continued to exist for the time being. However, a continuous inhabitation between the Roman era and the middle ages
is not detectable.
In the Middle Ages
, the first time a place today being part of Aalen was mentioned was 839, when emperor Louis the Pious
permitted the Fulda monastery
to exchange estate in the Hammerstadt village, then known as Hamarstat.
Aalen itself was first mentioned in an inventory list of Ellwangen Abbey
, dated ca. 1136, as the village Alon, along with a lower nobleman named Conrad of Aalen. This gender probably had its ancestral castle at a site south of today’s city centre and were probably first subject to Ellwangen abbey, later to the House of Hohenstaufen, and at last to the House of Oettingen. 1426 was the last time a member of that house was attested in connection with Aalen.
Middle-aged documents indicate that the city of Aalen was founded by the Hohenstaufen between 1241 and 1246, but at a different site than the like-named village, which is supposed destroyed in 1388 in the course of the war between the Alliance of Swabian Cities and the Dukes of Bavaria.
Later, the counts of Oettingen were rulers of the city, which is attested for the first time for 1340.
They pawned the city to Count Eberhard II
and thus to the House of Württemberg
in 1358 or 1359 in exchange for an amount of money.
In the war of the Holy Roman Empire against Württemberg, Emperor Charles IV
took the city after a siege without a fight. On 3 December 1360, he declared Aalen an Imperial City
, a city responsible only to the emperor (often misreferred to as Imperial Free City), a title it kept until 1803. In 1377, Aalen joined the Alliance of Swabian Cities. 1385, for the first time the term civitas appeared in the city’s seal. 1398, it was granted the right to hold markets, in 1401 a proper jurisdiction. However, Aalen could not acquire a large territory, it consisted only of the city itself and a few villages.
The oldest preserved city view was made in 1528. It was made as the basis of a lawsuit of the city versus the Counts of Oettingen at the Reichskammergericht
in Speyer. It shows Aalen surrounded by walls, towers and double moats. The situation of the moats, which had an embankment belt between them, is recognizable by today’s street names of Nördlicher, Östlicher, Südlicher and Westlicher Stadtgraben (Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western Moat respectively). The wall was about 6 metres tall, 1518 single paces (990 metres) long and enclosed an area of 5.3 hectares. On its foundation, the city had two city gate
s: The Upper or Ellwangen
Gate in the east, and St. Martin’s gate in the south. Due to frequent floods, St. Martin’s gate was bricked up in the 14th century and replaced by the Lower or Gmünd
Gate built in the west before 1400. Later, several minor side gates were build. The central street market took place on the Wettegasse (today called Marktplatz, “market square”) and the Reichsstädter Straße. So the market course was, as usual by then, from one gate to the other, however in Aalen it was bent L-like between southern (St. Martin’s) gate and eastern (Ellwangen) gate.
Around 1500, the civic graveyard was relocated from the city church to St. John’s Church. In 1514, the Vierundzwanziger (“Group of 24”) was the first assembly constituted by the citizens.
Delegated by Württemberg’s Duke Louis III, on 28 June 1575, nealy 30 years after Martin Luther
’s death, Jakob Andreae
, professor and chancellor of the University of Tübingen, arrived in Aalen. The sermon he held the following day convinced the mayor, the council and the citizens to adopt the reformation
in the city. Andreae stayed in Aalen for four weeks to help with adaptation. This brought along enormous changes, so the council forbade the Roman Catholic priest to celebrate masses and sermons. However, after victories of the imperial armies at the beginning of the Thirty Year's War, the Prince-Provost
ry of Ellwangen, which still held the right of patronage in Aalen, were able to temporarily restitute Catholicism in Aalen.
After military successes of the Protestant Union
, protestant church practices were instituted again.
In the night of 5 September 1634, two ensigns of the army of Bernard of Saxe-Weimar fighting in the alliance of the Swedes and retreating after the Battle of Nördlingen
set afire two powder carriages, lest ceding the war material to Croatian soldiers already entering the city and to prevent their advance. The result was a city fire
. About its extent, differing evaluations exist. According to 17th century accounts, the church and all the city’s buildings, except of the Schwörturm tower, were casualties of the fire, and only nine families survived. 19th century research by Hermann Bauer, Lutheran pastor and local historian, evaluated this as not coherent and exaggerated, but it is beyond question that the city church and buildings in a “rather large” circumcircle around it were destroyed. The fire also destroyed the city archive
accommodated in an addition to the church, with all of its documents. After the fire, soldiers of both armies went through the city looting. It took nearly 100 years for the city to re-approach its population of 2,000.
French troops traversed Aalen in 1688 in the course of the Nine Years' War, however, unlike at other places, without leaving severe damages. The French pulled through again in 1702 during the War of the Spanish Succession
and in 1741 during the War of the Austrian Succession
, the latter also caused imperial troops to traverse in 1743.
The City Church’s tower collapsed in 1765, presumably because statics was not taken into account well enough at the reconstruction after the city fire of 1634. The collapsing tower struck two children of the tower watchman who died of their injuries, and destroyed the nave, leaving only the altar cross intact. The remaining walls had to be knocked down due to the great damage. Reconstruction began the same year, creating the building still existing today.
On 22 November 1749, in Aalen, being an imperial and thus neutral city, the Aalen protocol was signed by the Duchy of Württemberg and the Prince-Provostry of Ellwangen, regulating cohabitation of Lutherans and Roman Catholics in the jointly ruled place of Oberkochen.
In the War of the First Coalition, Aalen was severely looted in 1796. The War of the Second Coalition concluded in 1801 to the Treaty of Lunéville
, which led to the German Mediatisation
of 1803 that assigned most Imperial Cities to the neighbouring principalities. Aalen was assigned to the electorate
of Württemberg (later to become the Kingdom of Württemberg) and became seat of the District (“Oberamt”) of Aalen. During the War of the Third Coalition, on 6 October 1805, Napoleon Bonaparte arrived in Aalen, carrying along an army of 40,000. This event, along with Bavarian and Austrian troops moving in some days later, caused miseries that according to the city clerk “no feather could describe”.
In 1811, the municipality of Unterrombach was formed out of some villages previously belonging to Aalen, some to the Barons of Wöllwarth, and the eastern villages were assigned to the municipality of Unterkochen.
In the age of the Napoleonic wars, the city walls were no longer of use. In the 18th century, the maintenance of walls, gates and towers was neglected more and more, so ever more components of the wall went into a state of disrepair. For thorough repairs, funds were lacking, not at least in the face of the enormous war expenditures. Starting in 1800, most towers were demolished, the other buildings followed soon, so the fortifications today are nearly completely vanished.
, Aalen’s economy was shaped by its rural setting. Many citizens were pursuing farming besides their craft. An often pursued craft was tanning
; in the mid of the 19th century, there were twelve tanneries in Aalen, an important sales market for them being Ulm
. Other focusses of craft were weaving mills
, which produced linen and woolen goods, and baking of sweet pastry and gingerbread.
In Aalen, industrialisation became noticeable only slowly. A first peak were the 1840s, when three factories for nails and some other factories emerged. It was the link with the railway network, by the opening of the Rems Railway
from Bad Cannstatt to Wasseralfingen in 1861, that brought along an industrial rise in Aalen, along with the royal steel mill
(later Schwäbische Hüttenwerke) in Wasseralfingen. The Rems Railway’s extension to Nördlingen in 1863, the opening of the Brenz Railway
in 1864 and of the Upper Jagst Railway in 1866 turned Aalen’s station into a railway hub. Furthermore, between 1901 and its shutdown in 1972, the Härtsfeld Railway connected Aalen with Dillingen an der Donau via Neresheim
. A maintenance facility, a roundhouse
, an administrative office, two track maintenance shops and a freight station with an industrial branch line
shaped the city scape, so that Aalen in that historical context is labelled by today’s historians as a “railwayman’s city”. In 1866, the Aalen gasworks
was opened and gas lighting
was introduced. In 1870, a modern water supply
system was started and in 1912 the mains electricity
. In 1935 at last, the first electrically powered street light
s were installed.
To fight housing shortage during and after World War I
, the city set up the barracks settlement areas at the Schlauch and Alter Turnplatz grounds. In spite of the industry being crippled by the Great Depression
of 1929, the public baths at the Hirschbach creek where modernized, extended and re-opened in 1931.
which resulted in 26.6 % (11.9 % nation-wide) and ahead of the Social Democratic Party of Germany
with 19.8 % (20.4 %). However, until the March 1933 federal elections, this setting had changed: The Nazi Party resulted still below German average with 34.1 % (43.9 % nation-wide), but became the by far strongest party in Aalen, followed by the Centre party unaltered at 26.6 % (11.3 %) and the Social Democrats (18.6 %/18.3 %).
During Nazi rule in Germany
, in 1936 a military district
riding and driving school was deployed in Aalen, as well as an army replenishment office (Heeresverpflegungsamt), a branch arsenal office (Heeresnebenzeugamt) and a branch army ammunitions institute (Heeresnebenmunitionsanstalt).
In 1935, mergers of neighbouring towns began. In 1938, the Oberamt was transformed into the Landkreis
of Aalen and the municipality of Unterrombach was disbanded. Its territory was mostly added to Aalen, with the exception of Hammerstadt, which was added to the municipality of Dewangen. Forst, Rauental and Vogelsang were added to Essingen (in 1952 the entire former municipality of Unterrombach was merged into Aalen, with the exception of Forst, which is part of Essingen until present).
In September 1944, the Wiesendorf concentration camp
, a subcamp of Natzweiler-Struthof
, was put up. It was designated for between 200 and 300 prisoners who were held to forced labor in industrial businesses nearby. Until the camp’s dissolution in February 1945, 60 prisoners died. Between 1946 and 1957, the camp buildings were torn down, its foundations are still in place in house Moltkestraße 44/46. Besides, several labour camps existed where prisoners of war and women and men from countries occupied by Germany were pooled, who had to work for the arms industry in major businesses like Schwäbische Hüttenwerke and the Alfing Keßler machine factory.
Aalen was mostly spared of combat activity in World War II
. It was only in the last weeks of the war that Aalen became target of air warfare
, which led to destruction and severe damage of parts of the city, the train station and other railway installations. A series of air attacks lasting for more than three weeks had its peak on 17 April 1945, when United States Army Air Forces
planes bombed the branch arsenal office and the train station. 59 people were killed, more than half of them buried by debris, and more than 500 lost their homes. 33 residential buildings, 12 other buildings and 2 bridges were destroyed; 163 buildings, including 2 churches, were damaged. Five days later, the Nazi rulers of Aalen were unseated by the US forces.
in 1952, Aalen became part of that state. With the Baden-Württemberg territorial reform of 1973, the District of Aalen was merged into the Ostalbkreis
district. Aalen became seat of that district. In 1975, the city territory attained its present dimension (see below).
The population of Aalen exceeded the limit of 20,000, the requirement for the status of Große Kreisstadt
(“major district town“) in 1946. On 1 August 1947, Aalen was declared Unmittelbare Kreisstadt (“immediate district town”), and with the coming into effect of the Gemeindeordnung
(municipal code) of Baden-Württemberg on 1 April 1956, it was declared Große Kreisstadt.
. About 25 percent belong to other or no religious community or gave no information. The city district of Waldhausen was the district with the highest percentage of Roman Catholic inhabitants 75.6 percent, the central district was the one with the highest percentage of Evangelical-Lutheran inhabitants (25.6 percent) as well as those adhering to other or no religious communities (32.5 percent).
By the help of the Duke of Württemberg, in 1575 the reformation
was implemented in Aalen. Subsequently, Aalen had been a predominantly Protestant city for centuries, with the exception of the years from 1628 until 1632 (see reformation section). Being an Imperial City, Aalen could govern its clerical matters on its own. Clerics, organists and choir masters were direct subjects to the city council, which thus exerted bishop
-like power; even a proper hymn book for Aalen did exist. After the transition to Württemberg in 1803, Aalen became seat of a deanery
, with the dean church being the City Church (with the building of constructed from 1765 to 1767, existing until present). Another utilized church is St. John’s
Church, located on the cemetery, refurbished in 1561.
As Aalen’s population grew in the 20th century, more parishes were founded: St. Mark’s
parish with its church building of 1967 and St. Martin’s
parish with its church of 1974. In the borough of Unterrombach, Aalen had implemented the reformation as well, but the community remained a chapel-of-ease
of Aalen. A proper church, the Christ Church, was erected in 1912 and a proper parish was established in 1947. In Fachsenfeld, the ruling family of Woellwarth resp. of Leinroden implemented the reformation. A parish church was built in 1591, however an influx of Catholics in the 18th century established a Catholic majority. The other districts of present Aalen remained mostly catholic after the reformation, however Wasseralfingen established a Lutheran parish in 1891 and a church in 1893, St. Magdalene’s Church. In Unterkochen, after World War II a parish was established as well and a church was built in 1960. All four parishes belong to the deanery of Aalen within the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg
. Furthermore, in Aalen there are Old Pietistic
communities.
Church in 1868 constructed by Georg Morlok. However, in 1872 Aalen got its proper parish again, and in 1913, a second Catholic church was completed, Salvator’s Church, and in 1969 the Holy Cross Church. In 1963, a second parish had already been set up, which in 1972 got a new Church, the new St. Mary’s Church, which has been erected in place of the old St. Mary’s church, which had been torn down in 1968. Another church of the second parish was St. Augustine’s Church, completed in 1970. In 1976 and 1988 at last, St. Elizabeth’s Church resp. St. Thomas’ Church were completed. Furthermore, in 1963 the St. Michael pastoral care office is existing since 1963.
Hofherrnweiler is also having its own Catholic church, St. Boniface’s
, since 1904. The villages of Dewangen, Ebnat, Hofen, Waldhausen and Wasseralfingen had remained Catholic after reformation, so old parishes and churches persist there. The Assumption of Mary Church in Dewangen has an early Gothic
tower and a new-build nave of 1875. Today’s building of the Mary’s Immaculate Conception
Church in Ebnat was constructed in 1723, but the church was first mentioned in 1298.
Hofen’s Saint George
’s Church is a fortified church
, whose present nave was built from 1762 to 1775.
Beside the church, the Late Gothic St. Odile’s Chapel is standing, whose entrance has the year 1462 engraved. Foundations of predecessor buildings were dated to the 11th and 13th century.
St. Mary’s Church of Unterkochen was first mentioned in 1248, and for long time served the Catholics of Aalen. Waldhausen’s parish church of St. Nicholas
was built from 1699 until 1716. Wasseralfingen at first was a chapel-of-ease of Hofen, but had a chapel, St. Stephen
, which was built presumably in 1353 and extended in 1832. In 1834, a proper parish was established, which built a new St. Stephen’s Church in Romanesque Revival architecture
between 1881 and 1883, which has remained the parish’s landmark until present. Fachsenfeld got its own church as well, Sacred Heart
of 1895. All Catholic parishes within Aalen are today incorporated into four pastoral care units within the Ostalb Deanery of the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, but these some of these units also comprise some parishes outside of Aalen. Pastoral Care Unit two comprises the parishes of Essingen, Dewangen and Fachsenfeld, unit four comprises Hofen and Wasseralfingen, unit five comprises both parishes of Aalen’s centre and Hofherrnweiler, unit five comprises Waldhausen, Ebnat, Oberkochen and Unterkochen.
es and other communities, including the United Methodist Church
, the Baptists, the Seventh-day Adventist Church
and the New Apostolic Church
.
in 1938, the vitrines of the three Jewish shops in the city were smashed and their proprietors imprisoned for several weeks. After their release, most Aalen Jews emigrated. The last Jew of Aalen, Fanny Kahn, was forcibly resettled to Oberdorf am Ipf, which had a large Jewish community. Today, a street of Aalen is named after her. The Jew Max Pfeffer returned from Brussels to Aalen in 1948 to continue his shop, but emigrated to Italy in 1967.
In Aalen, there is an Islamic Ditib community, which maintains the D.I.T.I.B. Mosque of Aalen (Central Mosque) located at Ulmer Straße. The mosque’s construction started on 30 August 2008. The Millî Görüş
organisation maintains the Fatih
Mosque, as well at Ulmer Straße.
and the early modern period
, Aalen was just a small city with a few hundred inhabitants. The population grew slowly and doubled back over and again due to numerous wars, famines and epidemics. It was the beginning of the industrialisation
in the 19th century that accelerated growth. While in 1803, only 1,932 inhabited the city, in 1905 it were already 10,442. The number continued to rise and amounted to 15.890 in 1939.
The influx of refugees and ethnic Germans
from Germany’s former eastern territories after World War II
pushed up the city’s population to 31,814 in 1961. The merger with Wasseralfingen on 21 June 1975 added 14.597 persons and resulted in 65.165 inhabitants. On 30 June 2005, the population figure determined officially by the Statistical Office of Baden-Württemberg by updating and by matching with other statistical offices amounted to an unprecedented 67,125 (accounting only main domiciles
).
The following overview shows the population figures of the city territory of the respective year. Until 1823, the figures are mostly estimates, thereafter census
results or official updates by the state statistical office. Until 1871, the figures were determined by non-uniform elicitation methods, since 1871 they refer to the “population present at the place”, since 1925 to the resident population and since 1987 to the “population at the place of main domicile”.
¹ Census result
On 31 December 2008, Aalen had precisely 66,058 inhabitants, of them 33,579 female and 32,479 male. The average age of Aalen’s inhabitants rose from 40.5 years on 31 December 2000 by 1.9 years to 42.4 on 31 December 2008. Within city limits, 6,312 persons of a nationality other than German were living, which is a share of 9.56 percent. Of them, the largest fraction comprises Turkish citizens (38 percent of all foreigners), the second largest fraction comprises Italians (13 percent), followed by Croatians (6 percent) and Serbs (5 percent). The remaining 35 percent have another nationality.
The number of married inhabitants fell from 32,948 on 31 December 1996 to 31.357 on 31 December 2007, while the number of divorced rose in the same period from 2,625 to 3.859. The number of unwed inhabitants slightly increased between 1996 and 2004 from 25,902 to 26,268 an, and until 2007 fell again to 26,147. The number of widowed fell from 5.036 on 31 December 1996 to 4,783 on 31 December 2007.
with Essingen
and Hüttlingen.
of 7 June 2009, the city council
consists of 54 representatives having a five year’s term of office. The seats are distributed as follows on parties and groups (changes refer to the second last election of 2004):
and the council form the head of the city. In the 16th century, the city had two, later three mayors. In 1552, the council had 13 members. Later, the head of administration was reorganised several times. In the Württemberg era, initially the mayor’s title was called Bürgermeister, from 1819 it was Schultheiß
, and since 1947 it is Oberbürgermeister. The mayor is elected for a term of eight years. He is chairman and member of the city council and has the right to vote there. He has one deputy with the official title of Erster Bürgermeister (“first mayor”) and one with the official title of Bürgermeister (“mayor”).
Heads of city in Aalen since 1802
depicts a black eagle with a red tongue on golden background, having a red shield on his breast with a silver bent eel
on it. Eagle and eel were first testified as Aalen’s heraldic aminals in the city seal of 1385, with the eagle representing the city’s imperial immediacy. After the territorial reform, it was newly bestowed by the Administrative District of Stuttgart
on 16 November 1976.
The coat of arms’ blazon
reads: “In gold, the black imperial eagle, with a red breast shield applied to it, therein a bent silver eel” (In Gold der schwarze Reichsadler, belegt mit einem roten Brustschild, darin ein gekrümmter silberner Aal).
Aalen’s flag is striped in red and white and contains the coat of arms.
The origin of the city’s name is uncertain. Matthäus Merian
(1593–1650) assumed the name to stem from the city’s situation at the Kocher river, where ”frequently eels are caught”, while Aal is German for “eel”. Other explanations point to Aalen as the garrison of an ala during the Roman empire, respectively to an abridgement of the Roman name “Aquileia” as a potential name of the Roman fort, a name that nearby Heidenheim an der Brenz bore as well. Another interpretation points to a Celtic word including the meaning “water”.
Aalen has five twin cities: Saint-Lô
(France), since 1978 Christchurch
(United Kingdom), since 1981 Tatabánya
(Hungary), since 1987 Antakya
(Turkey), since 1995. This twinning arrangement was initiated by Ismail Demirtas, who emigrated in 1962 from Turkey to Aalen and was social adviser for foreign employees. Cervia
(Italy), since 2011
lingustic enclave, 972 of them settled to Aalen in 1946. The “Wischau Linguistic Enclave Society” (Gemeinschaft Wischauer Sprachinsel) regularly organises commemorative meetings in Aalen. Their traditional costumes are stored in the Old Town Hall.
, who spent his childhood and youth in Aalen, the city endowed the “Schubart Literary Award” (Schubart-Literaturpreis) in 1955, which is one of the earliest literary awards in Baden-Württemberg. It is awarded biennially to German-language writers, whose work accord with Schubart’s “liberal and enlightening reasoning” and is remunerated with 12,000 Euros.
of the City of Aalen” exists, where today about 1,500 students are taught by 27 music instructors in 30 subjects. Since 2009, the school is being directed by Ralf Eisler.
In 1977, a symphony orchestra was founded in Aalen, which today is called Aalener Sinfonieorchester, and consists mostly of instructors and students of the music school. It performs three public concerts annually: The “New Year’s Concert” in January, the “Symphony Concert” in July and a “Christmas Concert” in December.
Beyond that, music festivals regularly take place in Aalen, like the Aalen Jazz Festival (see below).
The Aalen volunteer fire department since 1952 has a marching band
whose roots date back to 1883. In 1959, the band received its first glockenspiel
from TV host Peter Frankenfeld
on the occasion of a TV appearance.
Museum” (Limesmuseum Aalen) is located at the place of the largest Roman cavalry fort
north of the Alps until about 1.800 years ago. The museum exposes numerous objects from the time of Roman occupation. The ruin of the cavalry fort located beside the museum is open to the museum visitors. Every other year, a Roman festival is held on the museum area (see below).
In the Geological-Paleontological Museum located in the historic town hall, more than 1500 fossils from the Swabian Jura, including ammonite
s, ichthyosaur
s and coral
s, are displayed.
In the Waldhausen district the Heimatstüble museum of local history has an exhibition on agriculture and rural living.
In the Wasseralfingen district, there are two more museums: The Museum Wasseralfingen comprises a local history exhibition and an art gallery including works of Hermann Plock, Helmut Schuster and Sieger Köder. Besides, the stove
plate collection of the Schwäbische Hüttenwerke steel mill is exhibited, with artists, modellers and the production sequence of a cast plate from design to final product being presented.
The “House of Civic History” (Haus der Stadtgeschichte) opened in March 2008 and closed in 2010 featured alternating exhibitions on Aalen’s history. It was accommodated in the Renaissance Revival–style former mortuary of St. John’s cemetery.
In 1954, on the Schillerhöhe hill the city erected a bell tower as a memorial to Aalen’s victims of both world wars and to the displacement of ethnic Germans
. The tower was planned by Emil Leo, the bell was endowed by Carl Schneider. The tower is open on request. Every evening at 18:45 (before 2003: at 19:45), the memorial’s bell rings.
Church in the heart of the pedestrian area. The church, in its present shape being built between 1765 and 1767, is the only major Late Baroque building in Aalen and is the main church of the Evangelical-Lutheran parish of Aalen.
St. John’s Church is located inside of St. John’s cemetery in the western centre. The building presumably is from the 9th century and thus is one of Württemberg’s oldest existing churches. The interior features fresco
s from the early 13th century.
For other churches in Aalen, see the Religions section.
donated a Carillon
. It features a figurine of the “Spy of Aalen” and other figurines, however the latter ones were lost by a fire in 1884. Since then, the Spy resides inside the reconstructed tower and has become a symbol of the city. The building was used as the city’s town hall until 1907. Since 1977, the Geological-Paleontological Museum resides in the Historic Town Hall.
According to legend, the citizens of Aalen owe the “Spy of Aalen” (Spion von Aalen) their city having been spared from destruction by the emperor’s army:
. It has housed notable persons. Thus the so-called “Napoleon Window” reminds with its “N” painted on of the stay of French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in 1805. According to legend, he rammed his head to bleed on this window, when he was startled by the noise of his soldiers ridiculing the “Spy of Aalen”. The building was used as Aalen’s town hall from 1907 until 1975. Today it houses a cabaret café and the stage of the Theatre of the City of Aalen. The Wischau Linguistic Enclave Society the city has taken over godparenthood for stores their traditional constumes in the building.
house erected on Spritzenhausplatz (“Fire Engine House Square”) in 1702. Until 1873, it was used as civic hospital, later as a retirement home. After comprehensive renovation, since 1980 it is a senior citizen’s community centre.
”) hot spring
s are located. They were built in ancient Roman style and opend in 1985. The accredited health spa is supplied with water about 34 to 36 °C (93.2 to 96.8 F) warm stemming from about 650 metres (2,132.5 ft) underneath.
In 1705, for the water supply of Aalen a well casing was erected at the northern point of the market square, in front of the Historic Town Hall. It was a present of duke Eberhard Louis. The fountain bore a statue of emperor Joseph I.
, who was enthroned in 1705 and in 1707 renewed Aalen’s Imperial City privileges. The fountain was supplied by a wooden pipe. Excessive water was dissipated through ditches branched from Kocher river. When in the early 1870s Aalen’s water network was constructed, the fountain was replaced by a smaller fountain about 100 metres (328.1 ft) off. In 1975, the old market fountain was re-erected in baroque style. It bears a replica of the emperor’s statue, with the original being exhibited in the new town hall’s lobby. The cast iron
casing plates depict the 1718 coat of arms of the Duchy of Württemberg and the coats of arms of Aalen and of the merged municipalities.
The Reichsstädter Brunnen fountain (“Imperial Civic Fountain”) is located in front of the town hall at the southern point of the market square. It was created by sculptor Fritz Nuss in 1977 to remind of the times of Aalen being an Imperial City (1360–1803). On its circulatory frieze
, bronze figurines illustrate the city’s history.
takes visitors deep into the mountain. The City of Aalen, a sponsorship association and many citizens volunteered several thousand hours of labour to put the mine into a state of being visited. As far as possible, things were left in the original state. In 1989, a sanitary gallery was established where respiratory diseases are treated within rest cures. Thus the Aalen village of Röthard, where the gallery is located, was awarded the title of „Place with sanitary gallery service“ in 2004.
. In 2001, it was converted to a public observatory. Since then, it is managed by the Astronomische Arbeitsgemeinschaft Aalen (“Aalen Astronomical Society”). It is located on Schillerhöhe hill and features two refractive telescopes. They were manufactured by Carl Zeiss AG which has its headquarters in nearby Oberkochen and operates a manufacturing works in Aalen (see below). In the observatory, guided tours and lectures are held regularly.
began operating in early 2007. It consists of seven REpower
MM92 wind turbines with a nameplate capacity
of 2 MW each. The hub height of each wind turbine is 100 metres (328.1 ft), with a rotor diameter of 92 metres (301.8 ft).
Origin), 65 extensive natural monument
s, 30 individual natural monuments and the following two protected areas:
The 24.1 hectares (59.6 acre) large Dellenhäule protected area between Aalen’s Waldhausen district and Neresheim’s Elchingen district, demarcated in 1969, is a sheep pasture with juniper
and wood pasture
of old willow oaks.
The 46.5 hectares (114.9 acre) large Goldshöfer Sande protected area was demarcated in 2000 and is situated between Aalen’s Hofen district and Hüttlingen. The sands on a hill stemming from the Early Pleistocene
are of geological importance, and the various grove structures offer habitat to severely endangered bird species.
is playing in the 3rd German League
as of season 2010/2011. Its playing venue is the Scholz-Arena
situated in the west of the city, which bore the name Städtisches Waldstadion Aalen (“Civic Forest Stadium of Aalen”) until 2008. From 1939 until 1945, the VfR played in the Gauliga Württemberg
, then one of several parallel top-ranking soccer leagues of Germany.
In the Wrestling Federal League
, the KSV Aalen is fighting. It was German champion in team wrestling in 2010, and its predecessor, the KSV Germania Aalen disbanded in 2005, was German champion for eight times and runner-up for five times since 1976. Another Aalen club, the TSV Dewangen, was until 2009 as well wrestling in the Federal League.
Two American sports, American Football
and Baseball
, are pursued by the MTV Aalen. Volleyball
as well is playing an important role in Aalen for years. The first men’s team of DJK Aalen accomplished re-promotion for regional league in the season of 2008/09.
South of the city centre, at the northern slope of the Swabian Jura, the Ostalb ski lifts are located. The skiing area comprises two platter lift
s that have a vertical rise of 130 metres (426.5 ft) resp. 30 metres (98.4 ft), two runs of a length of 800 metres (2,624.7 ft) resp. 1200 metres (3,937 ft) and a beginners’ run.
region, and is connected with a shopping Sunday in accordance with the Ladenschlussgesetz
code. The festival is also attended by delegations from the twinned cities. On the town hall square, on Sunday an ecumenical service
is held.
, B. B. King
, Ray Charles
, David Murray, McCoy Tyner
, Al Jarreau
, Esbjörn Svensson
and Albert Mangelsdorff
. The festival is complemented by individual concerts in spring and summer, and, including the individual concerts, comprises around 25 concerts with a total of about 13,000 visitors.
were living in Aalen. With 13,946 (46.5 percent), most of them were employed in the manufacturing sector. In commerce, catering, hotels and transport, 4,715 persons (15,7 percent) were employed, in other services, 11,306 persons (37,7 percent). Besides, in 2008 there were about 16,000 employees commuting into the city and about 9,000 commuting out.
Altogether, in Aalen there are about 4,700 business enterprises in Aalen, 1,1000 of them being registered in the trade register
. The others comprise 2,865 small enterprises and 701 craft enterprises.
In Aalen, metalworking
is the predominant branch. Besides machine-building, the branches of optics
, paper
, information technology
and textile
s are relevant.
Notable enterprises include SHW Automotive (originating from the former Schwäbische Hüttenwerke steel mills and further from a mill of 1671 in Wasseralfingen), the Alfing Kessler engineering works, the precision tools manufacturer MAPAL Dr. Kress, the snow chain manufacturer RUD Ketten Rieger & Dietz and its subsidiary Erlau, the Gesenkschmiede Schneider forging die smithery, the SDZ Druck und Medien media company, the Papierfabrik Palm paper mill, the alarm system manufacturer Telenot, the laser show provider LOBO electronic and the textile finisher
Lindenfarb, which all have their seat in Aalen. A branch in Aalen is maintained by optical systems manufacturer Carl Zeiss headquartered in nearby Oberkochen.
is a regional railway hub on the Rems Railway
from Stuttgart
, the Brenz Railway
from Ulm
, the Upper Jagst Railway to Crailsheim
and the Ries Railway to Donauwörth
. Until 1972, the Härtsfeld Railway connected Aalen with Dillingen an der Donau via Neresheim
. More stations within city limits are Hofen (b Aalen), Unterkochen, Wasseralfingen and Goldshöfe station
. The Aalen-Erlau stop situated in the south is no longer operative.
Aalen station is served in two-hour intervals trains of Intercity
line 61 Karlsruhe
–Stuttgart–Aalen–Nuremberg
. In regional traffic, Aalen is served by various lines of Interregio-Express
, Regional-Express and Regionalbahn
categories. The city also operates the Aalen Industrial Railway
(Industriebahn Aalen), which carries about 250 carloads per year.
and Aalen/Oberkochen connect Aalen with the Autobahn A7 (Würzburg
–Füssen
). Federal roads (Bundesstraße
n) connecting with Aalen are B 19 (Würzburg
–Ulm
), B 29 (Waiblingen
–Nördlingen
) and B 290 (Tauberbischofsheim
–Westhausen). The Schwäbische Dichterstraße (“Swabian Poets’ Route”) tourist route established in 1977/78 leads through Aalen.
Within city limits, several bus lines operate. The Omnibus-Verkehr Aalen company is one of the few in Germany that use double-decker bus
es, it does so since 1966. A district-wide fare system, OstalbMobil, is in effect since 2007.
airfields nearby are in Heubach
and Bartholomä
.
Bicycle Route”) and the Kocher-Jagst Bicycle Route.
(local district court), chambers of the Stuttgart Labour Court
, a notary’s office
, a tax office and an employment agency
. It is seat of the Ostalbkreis district office, of the Aalen Deanery of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church and of the Ostalb deanery of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart.
The Stuttgart Administrative Court
, the Stuttgart Labour Court and the Ulm Social Welfare Court are in charge for Aalen.
Aalen had a civic hospital, which resided in the Bürgerspital building until 1873, then in a building at Alte Heidenheimer Straße. In 1942, the hospital was taken over by the district. The district hospital at the present site of Kälblesrain, today known as Ostalb-Klinikum, was opened in 1955.
, Der Bote von Aalen (“The Herald of Aalen”), was published on Wednesdays and Saturdays since 1837.
Currently, local newspapers published in Aalen are the Schwäbische Post, which obtain their supra-regional pages from the Ulm Südwestpresse, and the Aalener Nachrichten (erstwhile Aalener Volkszeitung), a local edition of Schwäbische Zeitung in Leutkirch im Allgäu
.
Two of Germany’s biggest Lesezirkels (magazine rental services) are headquartered in Aalen: Brabandt LZ Plus Media and Lesezirkel Portal.
Regional event magazines are Xaver, åla, ålakultur.
The commercial broadcasters Radio Ton and Radio 7 have studios in Aalen.
was first mentioned in Aalen in 1447; it was rearranged in 1616 and later in various buildings that were all situated near the city church, and persisted up into the 19th century. In the course of the reformation, a „German school“ was established in parallel, being a predecessor of the latter Volksschule
school type. In 1860, the Ritterschule was built as a Volksschule for girls; the building today houses the Pestalozzischule. In 1866, a new building was erected for the Latin school and for the Realschule
established in 1840. This building, later known as the Alte Gewerbeschule, was torn down in 1975 to free the area for the new town hall. In 1912, the Parkschule building was opened. It was designed by Paul Bonatz
and today houses the Schubart-Gymnasium
The biggest educational institution in the city is the Hochschule
Aalen, which was founded in 1962 and focusses on engineering and economics. It is attended by 5000 students of five faculties and employs 129 professor
s and 130 other lecturers.
The city provides three Gymnasium
s, four Realschule
n, two Förderschulen (special schools), six combined Grundschulen and Hauptschule
n and eight standalone Grundschulen. The Ostalbkreis district provides three vocational schools and three additional special schools. Finally, six non-state schools of various types exist.
The German Esperanto
Library (German: Deutsche Esperanto-Bibliothek, Esperanto: Germana Esperanto-Biblioteko) is located in the building of the city library since 1989.
broadcasting company operates the Aalen transmission tower
on the Braunenberg hill. The tower was erected in 1956, it is 140 metres (459.3 ft) tall and made of reinforced concrete
.
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
in the German
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
state of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
, about 70 kilometres (43.5 mi) east of Stuttgart
Stuttgart
Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The sixth-largest city in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 600,038 while the metropolitan area has a population of 5.3 million ....
and 48 kilometres (29.8 mi) north of Ulm
Ulm
Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...
. It is the seat of the Ostalbkreis
Ostalbkreis
The Ostalbkreis is a district in the east of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on the border to Bavaria. Neighboring districts are Schwäbisch Hall, Ansbach, Donau-Ries, Heidenheim, Göppingen and Rems-Murr.-History:...
district, and its largest city, as well as the largest city within the Ostwürttemberg
Ostwürttemberg
Ostwürttemberg is a region in eastern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the Stuttgart subdivision . It consists of the districts of Heidenheim and Ostalb...
region. In spatial planning
Spatial planning
Spatial planning refers to the methods used by the public sector to influence the distribution of people and activities in spaces of various scales. Discrete professional disciplines which involve spatial planning include land use planning, urban planning, regional planning, transport planning and...
, Aalen is designated a Mittelzentrum (“medium-level centre”). Since 1 April 1956, Aalen has the status of Große Kreisstadt
Große Kreisstadt
Große Kreisstadt is a term in the German municipal law. In some German federal states the term is used as a special legal status for district-affiliated cities or towns with additional competences in comparison with other municipalities or towns of the district. The title is based on souvereign...
(“major district town”).
With an area of 146.63 km2, Aalen is ranking position 7 in Baden-Württemberg and position 2 within the Government Region of Stuttgart
Stuttgart (region)
Stuttgart is one of the four administrative districts of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located in the north-east of the state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwestern part of Germany.It is sub-divided into the three regions Heilbronn-Franken, Ostwürttemberg, Stuttgart.- External links :*...
, after Stuttgart. With a population of about 66,000, Aalen is on position 15 within Baden-Württemberg.
Situation
Aalen is situated on the upper reaches of the river KocherKocher
The Kocher is a 168 km long right tributary of the Neckar in the north-eastern part of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The name "Kocher" originates from its Celtic name "cochan" and probably means winding, meandering river. The Kocher rises in the eastern foothills of the Swabian Alb from two karst...
, at the foot of the Swabian Jura to the south and south-east and close to the hilly landscape of the Ellwanger Berge to the north.
In terms of natural region
Natural region
A Natural region is one which is distinguished by its natural features of geography and usually more important, geology. The natural ecology of the region is likely to be significant but one of these factors tends to influence the others....
s, the west of Aalen’s territory is on the foreland of the eastern Swabian Jura, and the north and north-west is on the Swabian-Franconian Uplands, both being part of the Swabian Keuper-Lias Plains
Swabian Keuper-Lias Plains
The Swabian Keuper-Lias Plains is a major natural region in southwest Germany and includes the southwesternmost part of the Keuper Uplands, which is bordered immediately to the north by the Swabian Jura.- Natural regions :...
. The south-west is part of the Albuch, the east is part of the Härtsfeld, these two both being parts of the Swabian Jura.
The Kocher enters the city’s territory from Oberkochen
Oberkochen
Oberkochen is a town in the Ostalbkreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.-Economy:After WWII the allied troops moved parts of the Carl Zeiss Company in Jena to Oberkochen. Today the headquarter of the Carl Zeiss AG is located in Oberkochen...
on the south, crosses the city district of Unterkochen, then the city centre, where the Aal flows into it. The Aal is a small river stretching only on the town's territory. Next, the Kocher crosses the city district of Wasseralfingen, then leaves the city for Hüttlingen. Rivers originating near Aalen are the Rems
Rems
The Rems is a right tributary of the Neckar in eastern Baden-Württemberg. It is 78 km long. Its source is in Essingen, near Aalen. It flows generally west through the towns Böbingen an der Rems, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Plüderhausen, Schorndorf, Remshalden and Waiblingen. At Remseck the Rems flows...
(near Essingen
Essingen
Essingen is a municipality in the Ostalbkreis in the State of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It lies about 73 km east of Stuttgart, just outside of the city of Aalen...
, west of Aalen) and the Jagst
Jagst
The Jagst is a right tributary of the Neckar in northern Baden-Württemberg. It is 189 km long. Its source is in the hills east of Ellwangen, close to the Bavarian border. It winds through the towns Ellwangen, Crailsheim, Kirchberg an der Jagst, Langenburg, Krautheim, Möckmühl and Neudenau...
(near Unterschneidheim
Unterschneidheim
Unterschneidheim is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, in Ostalbkreis district....
, east of Aalen), both being subsidiaries of the Neckar
Neckar
The Neckar is a long river, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, but also a short section through Hesse, in Germany. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the River Rhine...
, just like the Kocher.
The elevation in the centre at market square is 430 meters relative to Normalhöhennull
Normalhöhennull
Normalhöhennull or NHN is a standard reference level, the equivalent of sea level, used in Germany to measure height....
. The territory’s lowest point is at the Lein
Lein (Kocher)
Lein is a river of Baden-Württemberg, Germany....
river near Rodamsdörfle, the highest point is the Grünberg’s peak near Unterkochen at 733 m.
Geology
Aalen’s territory ranges over all lithostratigraphic groupsGroup (stratigraphy)
A group in stratigraphy is a lithostratigraphic unit, a part of the geologic record or rock column that consists of defined rock strata. Groups are divided into formations and are sometimes themselves grouped into "supergroups"....
of the south-German Jurassic
Jurassic
The Jurassic is a geologic period and system that extends from about Mya to Mya, that is, from the end of the Triassic to the beginning of the Cretaceous. The Jurassic constitutes the middle period of the Mesozoic era, also known as the age of reptiles. The start of the period is marked by...
: Aalen’s south and the Flexner massif are on top of the Weißer Jura (White Jurassic), the city center is on the Brauner Jura (Brown Jurassic), and a part of Wasseralfingen is on the Schwarzer Jura (Black Jurassic). Therefore, the city advertises itself as a “Geologist’s Mecca”.
Most part of the territory is on the Opalinuston-Formation (Opalinum Clay Formation) of the Aalenian
Aalenian
The Aalenian is a subdivision of the Middle Jurassic epoch/series of the geologic timescale that extends from about 175.6 Ma to about 171.6 Ma . It was preceded by the Toarcian and succeeded by the Bajocian.-Stratigraphic definitions:...
subdivision, which is named after Aalen. On the Sandberg, the Schnaitberg and the Schradenberg hills, all in the west of Aalen, the Eisensandstein (Iron Sandstone) Formation emerges to surface. On the other hills of the city, sand
Sand
Sand is a naturally occurring granular material composed of finely divided rock and mineral particles.The composition of sand is highly variable, depending on the local rock sources and conditions, but the most common constituent of sand in inland continental settings and non-tropical coastal...
s (Goldshöfer Sande), gravel
Gravel
Gravel is composed of unconsolidated rock fragments that have a general particle size range and include size classes from granule- to boulder-sized fragments. Gravel can be sub-categorized into granule and cobble...
and residual rubble
Rubble
Rubble is broken stone, of irregular size, shape and texture. This word is closely connected in derivation with "rubbish", which was formerly also applied to what we now call "rubble". Rubble naturally found in the soil is known also as brash...
prevail.
The historic centre of Aalen and the other areas in the Kocher valley are founded completely on holocenic
Holocene
The Holocene is a geological epoch which began at the end of the Pleistocene and continues to the present. The Holocene is part of the Quaternary period. Its name comes from the Greek words and , meaning "entirely recent"...
floodplain
Floodplain
A floodplain, or flood plain, is a flat or nearly flat land adjacent a stream or river that stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls and experiences flooding during periods of high discharge...
loam
Loam
Loam is soil composed of sand, silt, and clay in relatively even concentration . Loam soils generally contain more nutrients and humus than sandy soils, have better infiltration and drainage than silty soils, and are easier to till than clay soils...
(Auelehm) and riverbed gravel that have filled in the valley.
Most parts of Dewangen and Fachsenfeld are founded on formations of Jurensismergel (Jurensis Marl
Marl
Marl or marlstone is a calcium carbonate or lime-rich mud or mudstone which contains variable amounts of clays and aragonite. Marl was originally an old term loosely applied to a variety of materials, most of which occur as loose, earthy deposits consisting chiefly of an intimate mixture of clay...
), Posidonienschiefer (cf. Posidonia Shale
Posidonia Shale
The Posidonia Shale is a Lower Jurassic geological formation famous for its exceptionally well-preserved complete skeletons of fossil marine fish and reptiles. The Posidonienschiefer as German paleontologists call it, takes its name from the ubiquitous fossils of Posidonia bronni that characterize...
), Amaltheenton (Amalthean Clay), Numismalismergel (Numismalis Marl) and Obtususton (Obtusus Clay, named after Asteroceras
Asteroceras
Asteroceras is an extinct genus of cephalopod belonging to the Ammonite subclass. Asteroceras fossils may be found at Lyme Regis in the Asteroceras obtusum zone of Upper Sinemurian age.-Species:* Asteroceras confusum* Asteroceras obtusum...
obtusum) succeeding from south to north, all belonging to the Jurassic. They are at last succeeded by the Trossingen Formation already belonging to the Late Triassic
Late Triassic
The Late Triassic is in the geologic timescale the third and final of three epochs of the Triassic period. The corresponding series is known as the Upper Triassic. In the past it was sometimes called the Keuper, after a German lithostratigraphic group that has a roughly corresponding age...
.
On the Braunenberg hill, until 1939 iron ore was mined (see Tiefer Stollen section).
Extent of the city’s territory
The maximum extent of the city’s territory amounts to 18 kilometres (11.2 mi) in north-south dimension and 25 kilometres (15.5 mi) in east-west dimension. The area is 14,662.8 hectares, which includes 42.2 % (6,186.2 hectares) agriculturally used area and 37.7 % (5,534.9 hectares) of forest. 11.5 % (1,692.3 hectares) are built up or vacant, 6.4 % (932.8 hectares) is used by traffic infrastructure. Sporting and recreation grounds and parks comprise 1 % (152.7 hectares), other areas 1.1 % (163.9 hectares).Adjacent towns
The following municipalitiesMunicipality
A municipality is essentially an urban administrative division having corporate status and usually powers of self-government. It can also be used to mean the governing body of a municipality. A municipality is a general-purpose administrative subdivision, as opposed to a special-purpose district...
border on Aalen. They are listed clockwise, beginning south, with their respective linear distances to Aalen city centre given in brackets:
Oberkochen
Oberkochen
Oberkochen is a town in the Ostalbkreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.-Economy:After WWII the allied troops moved parts of the Carl Zeiss Company in Jena to Oberkochen. Today the headquarter of the Carl Zeiss AG is located in Oberkochen...
(6 kilometres (3.7 mi)), Essingen (6 kilometres (3.7 mi)), Heuchlingen
Heuchlingen
Heuchlingen is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, in Ostalbkreis district....
(11 kilometres (6.8 mi)), Abtsgmünd
Abtsgmünd
Abtsgmünd is a municipality in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, in Ostalbkreis district. Abtsgmünd has got two confluent streams, the Lein and the Kocher.Famous locals include Patrick Benedict Zimmer who was born in the town....
(9 kilometres (5.6 mi)), Neuler
Neuler
Neuler is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, in Ostalbkreis district....
(10 kilometres (6.2 mi)), Hüttlingen (6 kilometres (3.7 mi)), Rainau
Rainau
Rainau is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, in Ostalbkreis district.-External links:*...
(10 kilometres (6.2 mi)), Westhausen (9 kilometres (5.6 mi)), Lauchheim
Lauchheim
Lauchheim is a town in the Ostalbkreis district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the river Jagst, 12 km northeast of Aalen....
(12 kilometres (7.5 mi)), Bopfingen
Bopfingen
Bopfingen is a small city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in the Ostalbkreis, between Aalen and Nördlingen. It consists of the city Bopfingen itself and its suburbs Aufhausen, Baldern, Flochberg, Kerkingen, Oberdorf, Schloßberg, Trochtelfingen, and Unterriffingen.Bopfingen is famous...
(20 kilometres (12.4 mi)) and Neresheim
Neresheim
Neresheim is a town in the Ostalbkreis district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated northeast of Heidenheim, and southeast of Aalen....
(20 kilometres (12.4 mi)), all in the Ostalbkreis
Ostalbkreis
The Ostalbkreis is a district in the east of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on the border to Bavaria. Neighboring districts are Schwäbisch Hall, Ansbach, Donau-Ries, Heidenheim, Göppingen and Rems-Murr.-History:...
district, furthermore Heidenheim an der Brenz (18 kilometres (11.2 mi)) and Königsbronn
Königsbronn
Königsbronn is a municipality in the district of Heidenheim in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany.Königsbronn as an administrative community also includes the villages of Itzelberg, Ochenberg and Zang. It lies in the Brenz valley within the hills of the Swabian Alb, a landscape shaped by karst...
(10 kilometres (6.2 mi)), both in Heidenheim district
Heidenheim (district)
Heidenheim is a district in the east of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Ostalbkreis, Dillingen, Günzburg, Alb-Donau and Göppingen.-History:...
.
Boroughs
Aalen’s territory consists of the city centre (Kernstadt) and the municipalitiesmerged to between 1938 (Unterrombach) and 1975 (Wasseralfingen, see mergings section).
The municipalities merged in the course of the latest municipal reform of the 1970s are also called Stadtbezirk
Stadtbezirk
A Stadtbezirk is a form of German city district, an administrative unit within a larger city. In Germany Stadtbezirke usually only exist in a metropolis with more than 150,000 inhabitants....
e (city districts), and are Ortschaften (“settlements”) in terms of Baden-Württemberg’s Gemeindeordnung
Gemeindeordnung
-Germany:Historically, the Gemeindeordnung was state law. During the Weimar Republic, it became federal law named Deutsche Gemeindeordnung. The Nazi regime made several revisions to comply with their political and legal philosophy....
(municipal code), which means, each of them has its own council elected by its respective residents (Ortschaftsrat) and is presided by a spokesperson (Ortsvorsteher).
The city centre itself and the merged former municipalities consist of numerous villages (Teilorte), mostly separated by open ground from each other and having their own independent and long-standing history. Some however have been created as planned communities
Planned community
A planned community, or planned city, is any community that was carefully planned from its inception and is typically constructed in a previously undeveloped area. This contrasts with settlements that evolve in a more ad hoc fashion. Land use conflicts are less frequent in planned communities since...
, which were given proper names, but no well-defined borders.
List of villages:
| Borough | | Coat of arms | Area in km2 | Residents (1 July 2011) | | Villages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City centre |  |
30,62 | 34.466 | Hammerstadt, Hofherrnweiler, Mädle, Mantelhof, Neßlau, Oberrombach, Unterrombach, the latter also known as Weststadt (“western city”) |
| Dewangen | 16,53 | 3.183 | Aushof, Bernhardsdorf, Bronnenhäusle, Degenhof, Dreherhof, Faulherrnhof, Freudenhöfle, Gobühl, Großdölzerhof, Haldenhaus, Hüttenhöfe, Kleindölzerhof, Kohlhöfle, Langenhalde, Lusthof, Neuhof, Rauburr, Reichenbach, Riegelhof, Rodamsdörfle, Rotsold, Schafhof, Schultheißenhöfle, Streithöfle, Tannenhof, Trübenreute | |
| Ebnat | 21,16 | 3.327 | Affalterwang, Diepertsbuch, Niesitz | |
| Fachsenfeld | 3,95 | 3.605 | Bodenbach, Hangendenbuch, Himmlingsweiler, Mühlhäusle, Scherrenmühle, Waiblingen | |
| Hofen | 12,58 | 2.080 | Attenhofen, Fürsitz, Goldshöfe, Heimatsmühle, Oberalfingen, Wagenrain | |
| Unterkochen | 21,44 | 4.927 | Birkhöfe, Glashütte, Neukochen, Neuziegelhütte, Stefansweilermühle | |
| Waldhausen | 24,38 | 2.335 | Arlesberg, Bernlohe, Beuren, Brastelburg, Geiselwang, Hohenberg, Neubau, Simmisweiler | |
| Wasseralfingen | 15,97 | 11.767 | Affalterried, Brausenried, Bürgle, Erzhäusle, Heisenberg, Mäderhof, Onatsfeld, Rötenberg, Röthardt, Salchenhof, Treppach, Weidenfeld |
Spatial planning
Aalen forms a Mittelzentrum (“medium-level centre”) within the OstwürttembergOstwürttemberg
Ostwürttemberg is a region in eastern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the Stuttgart subdivision . It consists of the districts of Heidenheim and Ostalb...
region. It’s designated catchment area
Catchment area (human geography)
In human geography, a catchment area is the area and population from which a city or individual service attracts visitors or customers. For example, a school catchment area is the geographic area from which students are eligible to attend a local school...
includes the following municipalities of the central and eastern Ostalbkreis district: Abtsgmünd
Abtsgmünd
Abtsgmünd is a municipality in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, in Ostalbkreis district. Abtsgmünd has got two confluent streams, the Lein and the Kocher.Famous locals include Patrick Benedict Zimmer who was born in the town....
, Bopfingen
Bopfingen
Bopfingen is a small city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated in the Ostalbkreis, between Aalen and Nördlingen. It consists of the city Bopfingen itself and its suburbs Aufhausen, Baldern, Flochberg, Kerkingen, Oberdorf, Schloßberg, Trochtelfingen, and Unterriffingen.Bopfingen is famous...
, Essingen, Hüttlingen, Kirchheim am Ries
Kirchheim am Ries
Kirchheim is a town in the district of Ostalbkreis in Baden-Württemberg in Germany....
, Lauchheim
Lauchheim
Lauchheim is a town in the Ostalbkreis district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated on the river Jagst, 12 km northeast of Aalen....
, Neresheim
Neresheim
Neresheim is a town in the Ostalbkreis district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated northeast of Heidenheim, and southeast of Aalen....
, Oberkochen
Oberkochen
Oberkochen is a town in the Ostalbkreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.-Economy:After WWII the allied troops moved parts of the Carl Zeiss Company in Jena to Oberkochen. Today the headquarter of the Carl Zeiss AG is located in Oberkochen...
, Riesbürg
Riesbürg
Riesbürg is a town in the district of Ostalbkreis in Baden-Württemberg in Germany.The city has a beautifully restored 1847 synagogue....
and Westhausen, and is interwoven with the catchment area of Nördlingen
Nördlingen
Nördlingen is a town in the Donau-Ries district, in Bavaria, Germany, with a population of 20,000. It is located in the middle of a complex meteorite crater, called the Nördlinger Ries. The town was also the place of two battles during the Thirty Years' War...
, situated in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, 30 kilometres (18.6 mi) east of Aalen.
Climate
As Aalen’s territory sprawls on escarpments of the Swabian Jura, on the Albuch and the Härtsfeld landscapes, and transcends a difference in elevation of 355 metres, the climate varies from district to district.The weather station
Weather station
A weather station is a facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for observing atmospheric conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate. The measurements taken include temperature, barometric pressure, humidity, wind speed, wind...
the following data originate from is located between the city centre and Wasseralfingen at about 48°51′02"N 10°05′44"E and is operative since 1991.
The sunshine duration is about 1800 hours per year, which averages to 4.93 hours per day. So Aalen is above the German average of 1550 hours per year. However, with 167 days of precipitation
Precipitation (meteorology)
In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation In meteorology, precipitation (also known as one of the classes of hydrometeors, which are atmospheric water phenomena is any product of the condensation of atmospheric water vapor that falls under gravity. The main forms of precipitation...
, Aalen’s region also ranks above the German average of 138. The annual rainfall is 807 millimetres, which puts Aalen into the moderate middle within Baden-Württemberg.
Mean fluctuations in temperature of up to -11.6 °C in January and 32.7 °C in July result in an annual mean temperature of 9.9 °C. Here Aalen as well ranks above the German average of 8.2 °C and the Baden-Württemberg average of 8.1 °C.
First settlements
Tools made of flintFlint
Flint is a hard, sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as a variety of chert. It occurs chiefly as nodules and masses in sedimentary rocks, such as chalks and limestones. Inside the nodule, flint is usually dark grey, black, green, white, or brown in colour, and...
and traces of human settlement of the Mesolithic
Mesolithic
The Mesolithic is an archaeological concept used to refer to certain groups of archaeological cultures defined as falling between the Paleolithic and the Neolithic....
dated between the 8th and 5th millennium BC were found on several sites on the margins of the Kocher and Jagst valleys. On the Schloßbaufeld plateau (appr. 650 by 350 metres), situated behind Kocherburg castle near Unterkochen, a hill-top settlement was found, with the core being attributed to the Bronze Age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...
. In the Appenwang forest near Wasseralfingen, in Goldshöfe and in Ebnat, tumuli
Tumulus
A tumulus is a mound of earth and stones raised over a grave or graves. Tumuli are also known as barrows, burial mounds, Hügelgrab or kurgans, and can be found throughout much of the world. A tumulus composed largely or entirely of stones is usually referred to as a cairn...
of the Hallstatt culture
Hallstatt culture
The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Central European culture from the 8th to 6th centuries BC , developing out of the Urnfield culture of the 12th century BC and followed in much of Central Europe by the La Tène culture.By the 6th century BC, the Hallstatt culture extended for some...
were found. In Aalen and Wasseralfingen, Golden and silver coins left by the Celts were found, who also fortified the Schloßbaufeld settlement with sectional embankments and a stone wall. Near Heisenberg (Wasseralfingen), a celtic nemeton
Nemeton
A nemeton was a sacred space of ancient Celtic religion. Nemeta appear to have been primarily situated in natural areas, and, as they often utilized trees, they are often interpreted as sacred groves. However, other evidence suggests that the word implied a wider variety of ritual spaces, such as...
is situated.
Roman era
Around 150 ADAnno Domini
and Before Christ are designations used to label or number years used with the Julian and Gregorian calendars....
, Aalen’s territory became part of the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
, in direct vicinity of the Rhaetian Limes. The Romans erected a castrum to house the cavalry
Cavalry
Cavalry or horsemen were soldiers or warriors who fought mounted on horseback. Cavalry were historically the third oldest and the most mobile of the combat arms...
unit Ala
Ala (Roman military)
An Ala was the term used during the mid- Roman Republic to denote a military formation composed of conscripts from the socii, Rome's Italian military allies. A normal consular army during this period consisted of 2 legions, composed of Roman citizens only, and 2 allied alae...
II Flavia milliaria; it’s remains are known today as Kastell Aalen (”Aalen roman fort“). The site is west of today’s city centre at the bottom of the Schillerhöhe hill. With about 1,000 horsemen and nearly as many grooms, it was the greatest fort of auxiliaries
Auxiliaries (Roman military)
Auxiliaries formed the standing non-citizen corps of the Roman army of the Principate , alongside the citizen legions...
along the Rhaetian Limes. Civilian settlements were adjacent on the south and the east. Around 260, the Romans gave up the fort as they withdrew their frontier to unoccupied Germania
Germania
Germania was the Greek and Roman geographical term for the geographical regions inhabited by mainly by peoples considered to be Germani. It was most often used to refer especially to the east of the Rhine and north of the Danube...
back to the Rhine and Danube
Danube
The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....
rivers, and the Alamanni
Alamanni
The Alamanni, Allemanni, or Alemanni were originally an alliance of Germanic tribes located around the upper Rhine river . One of the earliest references to them is the cognomen Alamannicus assumed by Roman Emperor Caracalla, who ruled the Roman Empire from 211 to 217 and claimed thereby to be...
took over the region. Inferred from coins found related to the late 3rd and the 4th century, the civilian settlement continued to exist for the time being. However, a continuous inhabitation between the Roman era and the middle ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
is not detectable.
Foundation of the city
Archeologists regard findings of alamannic graves originating from the 7th century as the root of the village of Aalen. In the northern and western walls of St. John’s church, which is located directly adjacent to the eastern gate of the Roman fort, Roman stones were incorporated. The building existing today probably dates to the 9th century.In the Middle Ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
, the first time a place today being part of Aalen was mentioned was 839, when emperor Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious
Louis the Pious , also called the Fair, and the Debonaire, was the King of Aquitaine from 781. He was also King of the Franks and co-Emperor with his father, Charlemagne, from 813...
permitted the Fulda monastery
Fulda monastery
The monastery of Fulda was a Benedictine abbey in Fulda, in the present-day German state of Hesse. It was founded in 12 March, 744 by Saint Sturm, a disciple of Saint Boniface, and became an eminent center of learning with a renowned scriptorium, and the predecessor of the Fulda...
to exchange estate in the Hammerstadt village, then known as Hamarstat.
Aalen itself was first mentioned in an inventory list of Ellwangen Abbey
Ellwangen Abbey
Ellwangen Abbey was the earliest Benedictine monastery established in the Duchy of Swabia, at the present-day town of Ellwangen an der Jagst, Baden-Württemberg about 100 km north-east of Stuttgart.-Imperial abbey:...
, dated ca. 1136, as the village Alon, along with a lower nobleman named Conrad of Aalen. This gender probably had its ancestral castle at a site south of today’s city centre and were probably first subject to Ellwangen abbey, later to the House of Hohenstaufen, and at last to the House of Oettingen. 1426 was the last time a member of that house was attested in connection with Aalen.
Middle-aged documents indicate that the city of Aalen was founded by the Hohenstaufen between 1241 and 1246, but at a different site than the like-named village, which is supposed destroyed in 1388 in the course of the war between the Alliance of Swabian Cities and the Dukes of Bavaria.
Later, the counts of Oettingen were rulers of the city, which is attested for the first time for 1340.
They pawned the city to Count Eberhard II
Eberhard II, Count of Württemberg
Eberhard II, called "der Greiner" , Count of Württemberg from 1344 until 1392.Eberhard II was son of Count Ulrich III of Württemberg and Sofie of Pfirt. He married Countess Elizabeth von Henneberg-Schleusingen on September 17, 1342...
and thus to the House of Württemberg
House of Württemberg
The Württemberg family is a European royal family and a German dynasty from Württemberg. The House has its origins, according to recent research, probably in the vicinity of the Salian dynasty.-History:...
in 1358 or 1359 in exchange for an amount of money.
Designation as Imperial City
In the war of the Holy Roman Empire against Württemberg, Emperor Charles IV
Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Charles IV , born Wenceslaus , was the second king of Bohemia from the House of Luxembourg, and the first king of Bohemia to also become Holy Roman Emperor....
took the city after a siege without a fight. On 3 December 1360, he declared Aalen an Imperial City
Free Imperial City
In the Holy Roman Empire, a free imperial city was a city formally ruled by the emperor only — as opposed to the majority of cities in the Empire, which were governed by one of the many princes of the Empire, such as dukes or prince-bishops...
, a city responsible only to the emperor (often misreferred to as Imperial Free City), a title it kept until 1803. In 1377, Aalen joined the Alliance of Swabian Cities. 1385, for the first time the term civitas appeared in the city’s seal. 1398, it was granted the right to hold markets, in 1401 a proper jurisdiction. However, Aalen could not acquire a large territory, it consisted only of the city itself and a few villages.
The oldest preserved city view was made in 1528. It was made as the basis of a lawsuit of the city versus the Counts of Oettingen at the Reichskammergericht
Reichskammergericht
The Reichskammergericht or Imperial Chamber Court was one of two highest judicial institutions in the Holy Roman Empire, the other one being the Aulic Council in Vienna. It was founded in 1495 by the Imperial Diet in Worms...
in Speyer. It shows Aalen surrounded by walls, towers and double moats. The situation of the moats, which had an embankment belt between them, is recognizable by today’s street names of Nördlicher, Östlicher, Südlicher and Westlicher Stadtgraben (Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western Moat respectively). The wall was about 6 metres tall, 1518 single paces (990 metres) long and enclosed an area of 5.3 hectares. On its foundation, the city had two city gate
City gate
A city gate is a gate which is, or was, set within a city wall. Other terms include port.-Uses:City gates were traditionally built to provide a point of controlled access to and departure from a walled city for people, vehicles, goods and animals...
s: The Upper or Ellwangen
Ellwangen
Ellwangen an der Jagst, officially Ellwangen , in common use simply Ellwangen is a town in the district of Ostalbkreis in the east of Baden-Württemberg in Germany...
Gate in the east, and St. Martin’s gate in the south. Due to frequent floods, St. Martin’s gate was bricked up in the 14th century and replaced by the Lower or Gmünd
Schwäbisch Gmünd
Schwäbisch Gmünd is a town in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of around 62,000, the town is the second largest in the Ostalbkreis and the whole region of East Württemberg after Aalen...
Gate built in the west before 1400. Later, several minor side gates were build. The central street market took place on the Wettegasse (today called Marktplatz, “market square”) and the Reichsstädter Straße. So the market course was, as usual by then, from one gate to the other, however in Aalen it was bent L-like between southern (St. Martin’s) gate and eastern (Ellwangen) gate.
Around 1500, the civic graveyard was relocated from the city church to St. John’s Church. In 1514, the Vierundzwanziger (“Group of 24”) was the first assembly constituted by the citizens.
Reformation
Delegated by Württemberg’s Duke Louis III, on 28 June 1575, nealy 30 years after Martin Luther
Martin Luther
Martin Luther was a German priest, professor of theology and iconic figure of the Protestant Reformation. He strongly disputed the claim that freedom from God's punishment for sin could be purchased with money. He confronted indulgence salesman Johann Tetzel with his Ninety-Five Theses in 1517...
’s death, Jakob Andreae
Jakob Andreae
Jakob Andreae was a significant German Lutheran theologian, involved in the drafting of major documents.-Life:He was born in Waiblingen, in the Duchy of Württemberg. He studied at the University of Tübingen from 1541...
, professor and chancellor of the University of Tübingen, arrived in Aalen. The sermon he held the following day convinced the mayor, the council and the citizens to adopt the reformation
Reformation
- Movements :* Protestant Reformation, an attempt by Martin Luther to reform the Roman Catholic Church that resulted in a schism, and grew into a wider movement...
in the city. Andreae stayed in Aalen for four weeks to help with adaptation. This brought along enormous changes, so the council forbade the Roman Catholic priest to celebrate masses and sermons. However, after victories of the imperial armies at the beginning of the Thirty Year's War, the Prince-Provost
Prince-Provost
Prince-Provost is a rare title for a monastic superior with the ecclesiastical style of provost who is a Prince of the Church in the sense that he also ranks as a secular 'prince' , notably a Reichsfürst of the Holy Roman Empire, holding a direct vote in the Reichstag assembly coequal to an actual...
ry of Ellwangen, which still held the right of patronage in Aalen, were able to temporarily restitute Catholicism in Aalen.
After military successes of the Protestant Union
Protestant Union
The Protestant Union or Evangelical Union was a coalition of Protestant German states that was formed in 1608 to defend the rights, lands and person of each member....
, protestant church practices were instituted again.
City fire of 1634
In the night of 5 September 1634, two ensigns of the army of Bernard of Saxe-Weimar fighting in the alliance of the Swedes and retreating after the Battle of Nördlingen
Battle of Nördlingen (1634)
The Battle of Nördlingen was fought on 27 August or 6 September , 1634 during the Thirty Years' War. The Roman Catholic Imperial army, bolstered by 18,000 Spanish and Italian soldiers, won a crushing victory over the combined Protestant armies of Sweden and their German-Protestant allies .After...
set afire two powder carriages, lest ceding the war material to Croatian soldiers already entering the city and to prevent their advance. The result was a city fire
Conflagration
A conflagration or a blaze is an uncontrolled burning that threatens human life, health, or property. A conflagration can be accidentally begun, naturally caused , or intentionally created . Arson can be accomplished for the purpose of sabotage or diversion, and also can be the consequence of...
. About its extent, differing evaluations exist. According to 17th century accounts, the church and all the city’s buildings, except of the Schwörturm tower, were casualties of the fire, and only nine families survived. 19th century research by Hermann Bauer, Lutheran pastor and local historian, evaluated this as not coherent and exaggerated, but it is beyond question that the city church and buildings in a “rather large” circumcircle around it were destroyed. The fire also destroyed the city archive
Archive
An archive is a collection of historical records, or the physical place they are located. Archives contain primary source documents that have accumulated over the course of an individual or organization's lifetime, and are kept to show the function of an organization...
accommodated in an addition to the church, with all of its documents. After the fire, soldiers of both armies went through the city looting. It took nearly 100 years for the city to re-approach its population of 2,000.
French troops traversed Aalen in 1688 in the course of the Nine Years' War, however, unlike at other places, without leaving severe damages. The French pulled through again in 1702 during the War of the Spanish Succession
War of the Spanish Succession
The War of the Spanish Succession was fought among several European powers, including a divided Spain, over the possible unification of the Kingdoms of Spain and France under one Bourbon monarch. As France and Spain were among the most powerful states of Europe, such a unification would have...
and in 1741 during the War of the Austrian Succession
War of the Austrian Succession
The War of the Austrian Succession – including King George's War in North America, the Anglo-Spanish War of Jenkins' Ear, and two of the three Silesian wars – involved most of the powers of Europe over the question of Maria Theresa's succession to the realms of the House of Habsburg.The...
, the latter also caused imperial troops to traverse in 1743.
The City Church’s tower collapsed in 1765, presumably because statics was not taken into account well enough at the reconstruction after the city fire of 1634. The collapsing tower struck two children of the tower watchman who died of their injuries, and destroyed the nave, leaving only the altar cross intact. The remaining walls had to be knocked down due to the great damage. Reconstruction began the same year, creating the building still existing today.
On 22 November 1749, in Aalen, being an imperial and thus neutral city, the Aalen protocol was signed by the Duchy of Württemberg and the Prince-Provostry of Ellwangen, regulating cohabitation of Lutherans and Roman Catholics in the jointly ruled place of Oberkochen.
Napoleonic era
In the War of the First Coalition, Aalen was severely looted in 1796. The War of the Second Coalition concluded in 1801 to the Treaty of Lunéville
Treaty of Lunéville
The Treaty of Lunéville was signed on 9 February 1801 between the French Republic and the Holy Roman Emperor Francis II, negotiating both on behalf of his own domains and of the Holy Roman Empire...
, which led to the German Mediatisation
German Mediatisation
The German Mediatisation was the series of mediatisations and secularisations that occurred in Germany between 1795 and 1814, during the latter part of the era of the French Revolution and then the Napoleonic Era....
of 1803 that assigned most Imperial Cities to the neighbouring principalities. Aalen was assigned to the electorate
Prince-elector
The Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire were the members of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Roman king or, from the middle of the 16th century onwards, directly the Holy Roman Emperor.The heir-apparent to a prince-elector was known as an...
of Württemberg (later to become the Kingdom of Württemberg) and became seat of the District (“Oberamt”) of Aalen. During the War of the Third Coalition, on 6 October 1805, Napoleon Bonaparte arrived in Aalen, carrying along an army of 40,000. This event, along with Bavarian and Austrian troops moving in some days later, caused miseries that according to the city clerk “no feather could describe”.
In 1811, the municipality of Unterrombach was formed out of some villages previously belonging to Aalen, some to the Barons of Wöllwarth, and the eastern villages were assigned to the municipality of Unterkochen.
In the age of the Napoleonic wars, the city walls were no longer of use. In the 18th century, the maintenance of walls, gates and towers was neglected more and more, so ever more components of the wall went into a state of disrepair. For thorough repairs, funds were lacking, not at least in the face of the enormous war expenditures. Starting in 1800, most towers were demolished, the other buildings followed soon, so the fortifications today are nearly completely vanished.
Industrial revolution
Before the industrial revolutionIndustrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
, Aalen’s economy was shaped by its rural setting. Many citizens were pursuing farming besides their craft. An often pursued craft was tanning
Tanning
Tanning is the making of leather from the skins of animals which does not easily decompose. Traditionally, tanning used tannin, an acidic chemical compound from which the tanning process draws its name . Coloring may occur during tanning...
; in the mid of the 19th century, there were twelve tanneries in Aalen, an important sales market for them being Ulm
Ulm
Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...
. Other focusses of craft were weaving mills
Weaving
Weaving is a method of fabric production in which two distinct sets of yarns or threads are interlaced at right angles to form a fabric or cloth. The other methods are knitting, lace making and felting. The longitudinal threads are called the warp and the lateral threads are the weft or filling...
, which produced linen and woolen goods, and baking of sweet pastry and gingerbread.
In Aalen, industrialisation became noticeable only slowly. A first peak were the 1840s, when three factories for nails and some other factories emerged. It was the link with the railway network, by the opening of the Rems Railway
Rems Railway
The Rems Railway , also known as the Rems Valley Railway was historically the main line route from Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt via Aalen to Nördlingen. Today the designation Rems Railway only refers to the section from Stuttgart to Aalen, the Aalen–Nördlingen line becoming part of the Ries Railway...
from Bad Cannstatt to Wasseralfingen in 1861, that brought along an industrial rise in Aalen, along with the royal steel mill
Steel mill
A steel mill or steelworks is an industrial plant for the manufacture of steel.Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon. It is produced in a two-stage process. First, iron ore is reduced or smelted with coke and limestone in a blast furnace, producing molten iron which is either cast into pig iron or...
(later Schwäbische Hüttenwerke) in Wasseralfingen. The Rems Railway’s extension to Nördlingen in 1863, the opening of the Brenz Railway
Brenz Railway
The Brenz Railway , also called the Brenz Valley Railway , is a single-tracked, non-electrified main line from Aalen to Ulm in southern Germany...
in 1864 and of the Upper Jagst Railway in 1866 turned Aalen’s station into a railway hub. Furthermore, between 1901 and its shutdown in 1972, the Härtsfeld Railway connected Aalen with Dillingen an der Donau via Neresheim
Neresheim
Neresheim is a town in the Ostalbkreis district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated northeast of Heidenheim, and southeast of Aalen....
. A maintenance facility, a roundhouse
Roundhouse
A roundhouse is a building used by railroads for servicing locomotives. Roundhouses are large, circular or semicircular structures that were traditionally located surrounding or adjacent to turntables...
, an administrative office, two track maintenance shops and a freight station with an industrial branch line
Branch line
A branch line is a secondary railway line which branches off a more important through route, usually a main line. A very short branch line may be called a spur line...
shaped the city scape, so that Aalen in that historical context is labelled by today’s historians as a “railwayman’s city”. In 1866, the Aalen gasworks
Gasworks
A gasworks or gas house is a factory for the manufacture of gas. The use of natural gas has made many redundant in the developed world, however they are often still used for storage.- Early gasworks :...
was opened and gas lighting
Gas lighting
Gas lighting is production of artificial light from combustion of a gaseous fuel, including hydrogen, methane, carbon monoxide, propane, butane, acetylene, ethylene, or natural gas. Before electricity became sufficiently widespread and economical to allow for general public use, gas was the most...
was introduced. In 1870, a modern water supply
Water supply
Water supply is the provision of water by public utilities, commercial organisations, community endeavours or by individuals, usually via a system of pumps and pipes...
system was started and in 1912 the mains electricity
Mains electricity
Mains is the general-purpose alternating current electric power supply. In the US, electric power is referred to by several names including household power, household electricity, powerline, domestic power, wall power, line power, AC power, city power, street power, and grid power...
. In 1935 at last, the first electrically powered street light
Street light
A street light, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or walkway, which is turned on or lit at a certain time every night. Modern lamps may also have light-sensitive photocells to turn them on at dusk, off at dawn, or activate...
s were installed.
To fight housing shortage during and after World War I
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, the city set up the barracks settlement areas at the Schlauch and Alter Turnplatz grounds. In spite of the industry being crippled by the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
of 1929, the public baths at the Hirschbach creek where modernized, extended and re-opened in 1931.
Nazi era
In the federal election of 1932, the Nazi Party performed below average in Aalen with 25.8 % of votes compared to 33.1 % on the national level, thus being second to the Centre PartyCentre Party (Germany)
The German Centre Party was a Catholic political party in Germany during the Kaiserreich and the Weimar Republic. Formed in 1870, it battled the Kulturkampf which the Prussian government launched to reduce the power of the Catholic Church...
which resulted in 26.6 % (11.9 % nation-wide) and ahead of the Social Democratic Party of Germany
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
with 19.8 % (20.4 %). However, until the March 1933 federal elections, this setting had changed: The Nazi Party resulted still below German average with 34.1 % (43.9 % nation-wide), but became the by far strongest party in Aalen, followed by the Centre party unaltered at 26.6 % (11.3 %) and the Social Democrats (18.6 %/18.3 %).
During Nazi rule in Germany
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
, in 1936 a military district
Military district (Germany)
During World War II Germany used the system of military districts to relieve field commanders of as much administrative work as possible and to provide a regular flow of trained recruits and supplies to the Field Army...
riding and driving school was deployed in Aalen, as well as an army replenishment office (Heeresverpflegungsamt), a branch arsenal office (Heeresnebenzeugamt) and a branch army ammunitions institute (Heeresnebenmunitionsanstalt).
In 1935, mergers of neighbouring towns began. In 1938, the Oberamt was transformed into the Landkreis
Districts of Germany
The districts of Germany are known as , except in the states of North Rhine-Westphalia and Schleswig-Holstein where they are known simply as ....
of Aalen and the municipality of Unterrombach was disbanded. Its territory was mostly added to Aalen, with the exception of Hammerstadt, which was added to the municipality of Dewangen. Forst, Rauental and Vogelsang were added to Essingen (in 1952 the entire former municipality of Unterrombach was merged into Aalen, with the exception of Forst, which is part of Essingen until present).
In September 1944, the Wiesendorf concentration camp
Nazi concentration camps
Nazi Germany maintained concentration camps throughout the territories it controlled. The first Nazi concentration camps set up in Germany were greatly expanded after the Reichstag fire of 1933, and were intended to hold political prisoners and opponents of the regime...
, a subcamp of Natzweiler-Struthof
Natzweiler-Struthof
Natzweiler-Struthof was a German concentration camp located in the Vosges Mountains close to the Alsatian village of Natzwiller in France, and the town of Schirmeck, about 50 km south west from the city of Strasbourg....
, was put up. It was designated for between 200 and 300 prisoners who were held to forced labor in industrial businesses nearby. Until the camp’s dissolution in February 1945, 60 prisoners died. Between 1946 and 1957, the camp buildings were torn down, its foundations are still in place in house Moltkestraße 44/46. Besides, several labour camps existed where prisoners of war and women and men from countries occupied by Germany were pooled, who had to work for the arms industry in major businesses like Schwäbische Hüttenwerke and the Alfing Keßler machine factory.
Aalen was mostly spared of combat activity in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
. It was only in the last weeks of the war that Aalen became target of air warfare
Air warfare of World War II
Air warfare of World War II was a major component of World War II in all theatres, and consumed a large fraction of the industrial output of the major powers....
, which led to destruction and severe damage of parts of the city, the train station and other railway installations. A series of air attacks lasting for more than three weeks had its peak on 17 April 1945, when United States Army Air Forces
United States Army Air Forces
The United States Army Air Forces was the military aviation arm of the United States of America during and immediately after World War II, and the direct predecessor of the United States Air Force....
planes bombed the branch arsenal office and the train station. 59 people were killed, more than half of them buried by debris, and more than 500 lost their homes. 33 residential buildings, 12 other buildings and 2 bridges were destroyed; 163 buildings, including 2 churches, were damaged. Five days later, the Nazi rulers of Aalen were unseated by the US forces.
Post-war era
Upon foundation of the State of Baden-WürttembergBaden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
in 1952, Aalen became part of that state. With the Baden-Württemberg territorial reform of 1973, the District of Aalen was merged into the Ostalbkreis
Ostalbkreis
The Ostalbkreis is a district in the east of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on the border to Bavaria. Neighboring districts are Schwäbisch Hall, Ansbach, Donau-Ries, Heidenheim, Göppingen and Rems-Murr.-History:...
district. Aalen became seat of that district. In 1975, the city territory attained its present dimension (see below).
The population of Aalen exceeded the limit of 20,000, the requirement for the status of Große Kreisstadt
Große Kreisstadt
Große Kreisstadt is a term in the German municipal law. In some German federal states the term is used as a special legal status for district-affiliated cities or towns with additional competences in comparison with other municipalities or towns of the district. The title is based on souvereign...
(“major district town“) in 1946. On 1 August 1947, Aalen was declared Unmittelbare Kreisstadt (“immediate district town”), and with the coming into effect of the Gemeindeordnung
Gemeindeordnung
-Germany:Historically, the Gemeindeordnung was state law. During the Weimar Republic, it became federal law named Deutsche Gemeindeordnung. The Nazi regime made several revisions to comply with their political and legal philosophy....
(municipal code) of Baden-Württemberg on 1 April 1956, it was declared Große Kreisstadt.
Religions
On 31 December 2008, 51.1 percent of the entire city’s inhabitants were members of the Catholic Church, 23.9 percent were members of the Evangelical-Lutheran ChurchEvangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg
The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg is a Protestant church in the German former state of Württemberg, now the part of the state Baden-Württemberg. The seat of the church is in Stuttgart.It is a full member of the Evangelical Church in Germany , and is a Lutheran Church...
. About 25 percent belong to other or no religious community or gave no information. The city district of Waldhausen was the district with the highest percentage of Roman Catholic inhabitants 75.6 percent, the central district was the one with the highest percentage of Evangelical-Lutheran inhabitants (25.6 percent) as well as those adhering to other or no religious communities (32.5 percent).
Protestantism
Aalen’s population originally was subject to the jus patronatus of Ellwangen Abbey, and thus subject to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Augsburg.By the help of the Duke of Württemberg, in 1575 the reformation
Reformation
- Movements :* Protestant Reformation, an attempt by Martin Luther to reform the Roman Catholic Church that resulted in a schism, and grew into a wider movement...
was implemented in Aalen. Subsequently, Aalen had been a predominantly Protestant city for centuries, with the exception of the years from 1628 until 1632 (see reformation section). Being an Imperial City, Aalen could govern its clerical matters on its own. Clerics, organists and choir masters were direct subjects to the city council, which thus exerted bishop
Bishop
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
-like power; even a proper hymn book for Aalen did exist. After the transition to Württemberg in 1803, Aalen became seat of a deanery
Deanery
A Deanery is an ecclesiastical entity in both the Roman Catholic Church and the Church of England. A deanery is either the jurisdiction or residence of a Dean.- Catholic usage :...
, with the dean church being the City Church (with the building of constructed from 1765 to 1767, existing until present). Another utilized church is St. John’s
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
Church, located on the cemetery, refurbished in 1561.
As Aalen’s population grew in the 20th century, more parishes were founded: St. Mark’s
Mark the Evangelist
Mark the Evangelist is the traditional author of the Gospel of Mark. He is one of the Seventy Disciples of Christ, and the founder of the Church of Alexandria, one of the original four main sees of Christianity....
parish with its church building of 1967 and St. Martin’s
Martin of Tours
Martin of Tours was a Bishop of Tours whose shrine became a famous stopping-point for pilgrims on the road to Santiago de Compostela. Around his name much legendary material accrued, and he has become one of the most familiar and recognizable Christian saints...
parish with its church of 1974. In the borough of Unterrombach, Aalen had implemented the reformation as well, but the community remained a chapel-of-ease
Chapel of ease
A chapel of ease is a church building other than the parish church, built within the bounds of a parish for the attendance of those who cannot reach the parish church conveniently....
of Aalen. A proper church, the Christ Church, was erected in 1912 and a proper parish was established in 1947. In Fachsenfeld, the ruling family of Woellwarth resp. of Leinroden implemented the reformation. A parish church was built in 1591, however an influx of Catholics in the 18th century established a Catholic majority. The other districts of present Aalen remained mostly catholic after the reformation, however Wasseralfingen established a Lutheran parish in 1891 and a church in 1893, St. Magdalene’s Church. In Unterkochen, after World War II a parish was established as well and a church was built in 1960. All four parishes belong to the deanery of Aalen within the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg
Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg
The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg is a Protestant church in the German former state of Württemberg, now the part of the state Baden-Württemberg. The seat of the church is in Stuttgart.It is a full member of the Evangelical Church in Germany , and is a Lutheran Church...
. Furthermore, in Aalen there are Old Pietistic
Pietism
Pietism was a movement within Lutheranism, lasting from the late 17th century to the mid-18th century and later. It proved to be very influential throughout Protestantism and Anabaptism, inspiring not only Anglican priest John Wesley to begin the Methodist movement, but also Alexander Mack to...
communities.
Catholicism
The few Catholics of today's central district were covered by the parish of Unterkochen until the 19th century, a situation which continued for some years even after completion of St. Mary'sMary (mother of Jesus)
Mary , commonly referred to as "Saint Mary", "Mother Mary", the "Virgin Mary", the "Blessed Virgin Mary", or "Mary, Mother of God", was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee...
Church in 1868 constructed by Georg Morlok. However, in 1872 Aalen got its proper parish again, and in 1913, a second Catholic church was completed, Salvator’s Church, and in 1969 the Holy Cross Church. In 1963, a second parish had already been set up, which in 1972 got a new Church, the new St. Mary’s Church, which has been erected in place of the old St. Mary’s church, which had been torn down in 1968. Another church of the second parish was St. Augustine’s Church, completed in 1970. In 1976 and 1988 at last, St. Elizabeth’s Church resp. St. Thomas’ Church were completed. Furthermore, in 1963 the St. Michael pastoral care office is existing since 1963.
Hofherrnweiler is also having its own Catholic church, St. Boniface’s
Saint Boniface
Saint Boniface , the Apostle of the Germans, born Winfrid, Wynfrith, or Wynfryth in the kingdom of Wessex, probably at Crediton , was a missionary who propagated Christianity in the Frankish Empire during the 8th century. He is the patron saint of Germany and the first archbishop of Mainz...
, since 1904. The villages of Dewangen, Ebnat, Hofen, Waldhausen and Wasseralfingen had remained Catholic after reformation, so old parishes and churches persist there. The Assumption of Mary Church in Dewangen has an early Gothic
Gothic art
Gothic art was a Medieval art movement that developed in France out of Romanesque art in the mid-12th century, led by the concurrent development of Gothic architecture. It spread to all of Western Europe, but took over art more completely north of the Alps, never quite effacing more classical...
tower and a new-build nave of 1875. Today’s building of the Mary’s Immaculate Conception
Immaculate Conception
The Immaculate Conception of Mary is a dogma of the Roman Catholic Church, according to which the Virgin Mary was conceived without any stain of original sin. It is one of the four dogmata in Roman Catholic Mariology...
Church in Ebnat was constructed in 1723, but the church was first mentioned in 1298.
Hofen’s Saint George
Saint George
Saint George was, according to tradition, a Roman soldier from Syria Palaestina and a priest in the Guard of Diocletian, who is venerated as a Christian martyr. In hagiography Saint George is one of the most venerated saints in the Catholic , Anglican, Eastern Orthodox, and the Oriental Orthodox...
’s Church is a fortified church
Fortified church
Churches have often shown potential to be used for defensive purposes.Europe has a substantial legacy of fortified churches which were used for defensive purposes in time of war...
, whose present nave was built from 1762 to 1775.
Beside the church, the Late Gothic St. Odile’s Chapel is standing, whose entrance has the year 1462 engraved. Foundations of predecessor buildings were dated to the 11th and 13th century.
St. Mary’s Church of Unterkochen was first mentioned in 1248, and for long time served the Catholics of Aalen. Waldhausen’s parish church of St. Nicholas
Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas , also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker...
was built from 1699 until 1716. Wasseralfingen at first was a chapel-of-ease of Hofen, but had a chapel, St. Stephen
Saint Stephen
Saint Stephen The Protomartyr , the protomartyr of Christianity, is venerated as a saint in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran, Oriental Orthodox and Eastern Orthodox Churches....
, which was built presumably in 1353 and extended in 1832. In 1834, a proper parish was established, which built a new St. Stephen’s Church in Romanesque Revival architecture
Romanesque Revival architecture
Romanesque Revival is a style of building employed beginning in the mid 19th century inspired by the 11th and 12th century Romanesque architecture...
between 1881 and 1883, which has remained the parish’s landmark until present. Fachsenfeld got its own church as well, Sacred Heart
Sacred Heart
The Sacred Heart is one of the most famous religious devotions to Jesus' physical heart as the representation of His divine love for Humanity....
of 1895. All Catholic parishes within Aalen are today incorporated into four pastoral care units within the Ostalb Deanery of the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, but these some of these units also comprise some parishes outside of Aalen. Pastoral Care Unit two comprises the parishes of Essingen, Dewangen and Fachsenfeld, unit four comprises Hofen and Wasseralfingen, unit five comprises both parishes of Aalen’s centre and Hofherrnweiler, unit five comprises Waldhausen, Ebnat, Oberkochen and Unterkochen.
Other christian communities
Besides the two major christian denominations, in Aalen there are also free churchFree church
The term "free church" refers to a Christian denomination that is intrinsically separated from government . A free church does not define government policy, nor have governments define church policy or theology, nor seeks or receives government endorsement or funding for its general mission...
es and other communities, including the United Methodist Church
United Methodist Church
The United Methodist Church is a Methodist Christian denomination which is both mainline Protestant and evangelical. Founded in 1968 by the union of The Methodist Church and the Evangelical United Brethren Church, the UMC traces its roots back to the revival movement of John and Charles Wesley...
, the Baptists, the Seventh-day Adventist Church
Seventh-day Adventist Church
The Seventh-day Adventist Church is a Protestant Christian denomination distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the original seventh day of the Judeo-Christian week, as the Sabbath, and by its emphasis on the imminent second coming of Jesus Christ...
and the New Apostolic Church
New Apostolic Church
The New Apostolic Church is a chiliastic church, converted to Protestantism as a free church from the Catholic Apostolic Church. The church has existed since 1879 in Germany and since 1897 in the Netherlands...
.
Other religions
Until the late 19th century, no Jews are testified in Aalen. It was not before 1886 that four Jews were living in Aalen, a number that rose to ten in 1900, fell to seven in 1905, and remained so until 1925. Upon the Nazis’ rise to power in 1933, seven Jews, including two children, lived in Aalen. During the KristallnachtKristallnacht
Kristallnacht, also referred to as the Night of Broken Glass, and also Reichskristallnacht, Pogromnacht, and Novemberpogrome, was a pogrom or series of attacks against Jews throughout Nazi Germany and parts of Austria on 9–10 November 1938.Jewish homes were ransacked, as were shops, towns and...
in 1938, the vitrines of the three Jewish shops in the city were smashed and their proprietors imprisoned for several weeks. After their release, most Aalen Jews emigrated. The last Jew of Aalen, Fanny Kahn, was forcibly resettled to Oberdorf am Ipf, which had a large Jewish community. Today, a street of Aalen is named after her. The Jew Max Pfeffer returned from Brussels to Aalen in 1948 to continue his shop, but emigrated to Italy in 1967.
In Aalen, there is an Islamic Ditib community, which maintains the D.I.T.I.B. Mosque of Aalen (Central Mosque) located at Ulmer Straße. The mosque’s construction started on 30 August 2008. The Millî Görüş
Millî Görüs
Millî Görüş has been called one of "the leading Turkish diaspora organizations in Europe". Founded in 1969, the movement claimed to have "87,000 members across Europe, including 50,000 in Germany," as of 2005...
organisation maintains the Fatih
Mehmed II
Mehmed II , was Sultan of the Ottoman Empire for a short time from 1444 to September 1446, and later from...
Mosque, as well at Ulmer Straße.
Mergings
Today’s city of Aalen was formed on 21 June 1975 by unification of the cities of Aalen and Wasseralfingen, with the initial name of Aalen-Wasseralfingen, with a territory one third larger than Aalen’s prior territory. Already on 1 July 1975, it was renamed to Aalen. Before, the former city of Aalen had already merged the following municipalities:- 1938: Unterrombach
- 1 January 1970: Waldhausen
- 1 July 1972: Ebnat
- 1 January 1973: Dewangen, Fachsenfeld (including the village of Hangendenbach, which was transferred from Abtsgmünd in 1954) and Unterkochen. The merging of Dewangen nearly doubled the territory of Aalen.
Population’s progression and structure
During the Middle AgesMiddle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...
and the early modern period
Early modern period
In history, the early modern period of modern history follows the late Middle Ages. Although the chronological limits of the period are open to debate, the timeframe spans the period after the late portion of the Middle Ages through the beginning of the Age of Revolutions...
, Aalen was just a small city with a few hundred inhabitants. The population grew slowly and doubled back over and again due to numerous wars, famines and epidemics. It was the beginning of the industrialisation
Industrialisation
Industrialization is the process of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial one...
in the 19th century that accelerated growth. While in 1803, only 1,932 inhabited the city, in 1905 it were already 10,442. The number continued to rise and amounted to 15.890 in 1939.
The influx of refugees and ethnic Germans
Heimatvertriebene
Heimatvertriebene are those around 12 million ethnic Germans who fled or were expelled after World War II from parts of Germany annexed by Poland and Russia, and from other countries, who found refuge in both West and East Germany, and Austria...
from Germany’s former eastern territories after World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
pushed up the city’s population to 31,814 in 1961. The merger with Wasseralfingen on 21 June 1975 added 14.597 persons and resulted in 65.165 inhabitants. On 30 June 2005, the population figure determined officially by the Statistical Office of Baden-Württemberg by updating and by matching with other statistical offices amounted to an unprecedented 67,125 (accounting only main domiciles
Hauptwohnsitz
In German-speaking countries, Hauptwohnsitz denotes the primary place of residence. In Germany and Austria, the concept of Hauptwohnsitz has special legal ramifications, primarily involving tax....
).
The following overview shows the population figures of the city territory of the respective year. Until 1823, the figures are mostly estimates, thereafter census
Census
A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring and recording information about the members of a given population. It is a regularly occurring and official count of a particular population. The term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common...
results or official updates by the state statistical office. Until 1871, the figures were determined by non-uniform elicitation methods, since 1871 they refer to the “population present at the place”, since 1925 to the resident population and since 1987 to the “population at the place of main domicile”.
|
|
|
¹ Census result
On 31 December 2008, Aalen had precisely 66,058 inhabitants, of them 33,579 female and 32,479 male. The average age of Aalen’s inhabitants rose from 40.5 years on 31 December 2000 by 1.9 years to 42.4 on 31 December 2008. Within city limits, 6,312 persons of a nationality other than German were living, which is a share of 9.56 percent. Of them, the largest fraction comprises Turkish citizens (38 percent of all foreigners), the second largest fraction comprises Italians (13 percent), followed by Croatians (6 percent) and Serbs (5 percent). The remaining 35 percent have another nationality.
The number of married inhabitants fell from 32,948 on 31 December 1996 to 31.357 on 31 December 2007, while the number of divorced rose in the same period from 2,625 to 3.859. The number of unwed inhabitants slightly increased between 1996 and 2004 from 25,902 to 26,268 an, and until 2007 fell again to 26,147. The number of widowed fell from 5.036 on 31 December 1996 to 4,783 on 31 December 2007.
Politics
Aalen has arranged a municipal associationMunicipal association
Municipal associations are statutory corporations or public bodies created by statute in the German federal states of Bavaria, Saxony, and Thuringia. In Baden-Württemberg and Schleswig-Holstein the term stipulated municipal association is used....
with Essingen
Essingen
Essingen is a municipality in the Ostalbkreis in the State of Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It lies about 73 km east of Stuttgart, just outside of the city of Aalen...
and Hüttlingen.
City council
Since the local electionLocal election
Local elections vary widely across jurisdictions. In electoral systems that roughly follow the Westminster model, a terminology has evolved with roles such as Mayor or Warden to describe the executive of a city, town or region, although the actual means of elections vary...
of 7 June 2009, the city council
Municipal council
A municipal council is the local government of a municipality. Specifically the term can refer to the institutions of various countries that can be translated by this term...
consists of 54 representatives having a five year’s term of office. The seats are distributed as follows on parties and groups (changes refer to the second last election of 2004):
| Parliamentary group | Election result | ± | Strength | ± |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDU Christian Democratic Union (Germany) The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum... |
36.2 % | −7.2 pp. | 21 seats | −1 |
| SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
23.4 % | −1.1 pp. | 13 seats | +1 |
| Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir... |
15.7 % | +2.1 pp. | 9 seats | +3 |
| FDP Free Democratic Party (Germany) The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government... /FW Free Voters Free Voters is a German concept in which an association of persons participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it is a locally organized group of voters in the form of a registered association . In most cases, Free Voters are active only at the... |
13.8 % | +5.4 pp. | 7 seats | +3 |
| The Left The Left (Germany) The Left , also commonly referred to as the Left Party , is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The Left is the most left-wing party of the five represented in the Bundestag.... /Pro Aalen |
7.6 % | +4.3 pp. | 3 seats | +2 |
| Active Citizens (Aktive Bürger) | 3.4 % | −3.5 pp. | 1 seat | −2 |
Mayors
Since 1374, the mayorMayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
and the council form the head of the city. In the 16th century, the city had two, later three mayors. In 1552, the council had 13 members. Later, the head of administration was reorganised several times. In the Württemberg era, initially the mayor’s title was called Bürgermeister, from 1819 it was Schultheiß
Schultheiß
In medieval Germany, the Schultheiß was the head of a municipality , a Vogt or an executive official of the ruler.As official it was...
, and since 1947 it is Oberbürgermeister. The mayor is elected for a term of eight years. He is chairman and member of the city council and has the right to vote there. He has one deputy with the official title of Erster Bürgermeister (“first mayor”) and one with the official title of Bürgermeister (“mayor”).
Heads of city in Aalen since 1802
- 1802–: Theodor Betzler
- 1812–1819: Ludwig Hölder
- 1819–1829: Theodor Betzler
- 1829: Palm
- 1829–1848: Philipp Ehmann
- 1848–1873: Gustav Oesterlein
- 1873–1900: Julius Bausch
- 1900–1902: Paul Maier
- 1903–1934: Friedrich Schwarz
- 1935–1945: Karl Schübel
- 1945–1950: Otto Balluff
- 1950–1975: Karl Schübel
- 1976–2005: Ulrich Pfeifle (SPDSocial Democratic Party of GermanyThe Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...
) - 2005–: Martin Gerlach (independent)
Coat of arms and flag
Aalen’s coat of armsCoat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
depicts a black eagle with a red tongue on golden background, having a red shield on his breast with a silver bent eel
Eel
Eels are an order of fish, which consists of four suborders, 20 families, 111 genera and approximately 800 species. Most eels are predators...
on it. Eagle and eel were first testified as Aalen’s heraldic aminals in the city seal of 1385, with the eagle representing the city’s imperial immediacy. After the territorial reform, it was newly bestowed by the Administrative District of Stuttgart
Stuttgart (region)
Stuttgart is one of the four administrative districts of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located in the north-east of the state of Baden-Württemberg, in the southwestern part of Germany.It is sub-divided into the three regions Heilbronn-Franken, Ostwürttemberg, Stuttgart.- External links :*...
on 16 November 1976.
The coat of arms’ blazon
Blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...
reads: “In gold, the black imperial eagle, with a red breast shield applied to it, therein a bent silver eel” (In Gold der schwarze Reichsadler, belegt mit einem roten Brustschild, darin ein gekrümmter silberner Aal).
Aalen’s flag is striped in red and white and contains the coat of arms.
The origin of the city’s name is uncertain. Matthäus Merian
Matthäus Merian
Matthäus Merian der Ältere was a Swiss-born engraver who worked in Frankfurt for most of his career, where he also ran a publishing house.-Early life and marriage:...
(1593–1650) assumed the name to stem from the city’s situation at the Kocher river, where ”frequently eels are caught”, while Aal is German for “eel”. Other explanations point to Aalen as the garrison of an ala during the Roman empire, respectively to an abridgement of the Roman name “Aquileia” as a potential name of the Roman fort, a name that nearby Heidenheim an der Brenz bore as well. Another interpretation points to a Celtic word including the meaning “water”.
Twinned cities
The “Twin Cities Society of Aalen” (Städtepartnerschaftsverein Aalen e. V.) promotes “friendly relations” between Aalen and its twin cities, which comprises mutual exchanges of sports and cultural clubs, schools and other civic institutions. On the occasion of the Reichsstädter Tage, from 11 until 13 September 2009 the first conference of twinned cities was held.Aalen has five twin cities: Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô
Saint-Lô is a commune in north-western France, the capital of the Manche department in Normandy.-History:Originally called Briovère , the town is built on and around ramparts. Originally it was a Gaul fortified settlement...
(France), since 1978 Christchurch
Christchurch, Dorset
Christchurch is a borough and town in the county of Dorset on the south coast of England. The town adjoins Bournemouth in the west and the New Forest lies to the east. Historically in Hampshire, it joined Dorset with the reorganisation of local government in 1974 and is the most easterly borough in...
(United Kingdom), since 1981 Tatabánya
Tatabánya
Tatabánya is a city of 69,988 inhabitants in north-western Hungary, in the Central Transdanubian region. It is the capital of Komárom-Esztergom County.- Location :...
(Hungary), since 1987 Antakya
Antakya
Antakya is the seat of the Hatay Province in southern Turkey, near the border with Syria. The mayor is Lütfü Savaş.Known as Antioch in ancient times, the city has historical significance for Christianity, as it was the place where the followers of Jesus Christ were called Christians for the first...
(Turkey), since 1995. This twinning arrangement was initiated by Ismail Demirtas, who emigrated in 1962 from Turkey to Aalen and was social adviser for foreign employees. Cervia
Cervia
Cervia is a town and comune in the province of Ravenna , central Italy.-History:Originally called Ficocle, it was probably of Greek origin and was located midway from current Cervia and Ravenna...
(Italy), since 2011
Godparenthood
On the occasion of the 1980 Reichsstädter Tage, Aalen took over godparenthood for the more than 3000 ethnic Germans displaced from the WischauVyškov
Vyškov is a town in the South Moravian Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 22,300 inhabitants.- History :By the middle of the 14th century, pest epidemics and starvation had virtually depopulated the entire area. The Catholic Church, the owners of the lands, administrated their properties...
lingustic enclave, 972 of them settled to Aalen in 1946. The “Wischau Linguistic Enclave Society” (Gemeinschaft Wischauer Sprachinsel) regularly organises commemorative meetings in Aalen. Their traditional costumes are stored in the Old Town Hall.
Municipal finances
According to the 2007 municipal poll by the Baden-Württemberg chapter of the German Taxpayers Federation, municipal tax revenues totalling to 54.755 million Euros (2006) resp. 62.148 million Euros (2007) face the following debts:- 2006 total: 109.9 million Euros debts (64.639 millions of the finance department and 48.508 millions of the city-operated enterprises and fund assets)
- 2007 total: 114.5 million Euros debts (69.448 millions of the finance department and 45.052 millions of the city-operated enterprises and fund assets)
Theatre
The city operates the “Theatre of the City of Aalen” (Theater der Stadt Aalen). Having been founded in 1991 and featuring six salaried actors, it is the newest as well as the smallest civic theatre in Germany. Besides regular plays, it also offers four theatre clubs for all age levels. During the season of 2008/2009, 400 performances of ten productions attracted more than 21,000 visitors. The theatre’s director is Katharina Kreuzhage.Schubart Literary Award
Tributing to Christian Friedrich Daniel SchubartChristian Friedrich Daniel Schubart
Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart , was a German poet, born at Obersontheim in Swabia.He entered the university of Erlangen in 1758 as a student of theology. He led a dissolute life, and after two years' stay was summoned home by his parents...
, who spent his childhood and youth in Aalen, the city endowed the “Schubart Literary Award” (Schubart-Literaturpreis) in 1955, which is one of the earliest literary awards in Baden-Württemberg. It is awarded biennially to German-language writers, whose work accord with Schubart’s “liberal and enlightening reasoning” and is remunerated with 12,000 Euros.
Music
Since 1958, the “Music SchoolMusic school
The term music school refers to an educational institution specialized in the study, training and research of music.Different terms refer to this concept such as school of music, music academy, music faculty, college of music, music department or conservatory.Music instruction can be provided...
of the City of Aalen” exists, where today about 1,500 students are taught by 27 music instructors in 30 subjects. Since 2009, the school is being directed by Ralf Eisler.
In 1977, a symphony orchestra was founded in Aalen, which today is called Aalener Sinfonieorchester, and consists mostly of instructors and students of the music school. It performs three public concerts annually: The “New Year’s Concert” in January, the “Symphony Concert” in July and a “Christmas Concert” in December.
Beyond that, music festivals regularly take place in Aalen, like the Aalen Jazz Festival (see below).
The Aalen volunteer fire department since 1952 has a marching band
Marching band
Marching band is a physical activity in which a group of instrumental musicians generally perform outdoors and incorporate some type of marching with their musical performance. Instrumentation typically includes brass, woodwinds, and percussion instruments...
whose roots date back to 1883. In 1959, the band received its first glockenspiel
Glockenspiel
A glockenspiel is a percussion instrument composed of a set of tuned keys arranged in the fashion of the keyboard of a piano. In this way, it is similar to the xylophone; however, the xylophone's bars are made of wood, while the glockenspiel's are metal plates or tubes, and making it a metallophone...
from TV host Peter Frankenfeld
Peter Frankenfeld
Peter Frankenfeld was a German comedian, radio and television personality....
on the occasion of a TV appearance.
Museums
In the central district of Aalen, there are two museums: The “Aalen LimesLimes Germanicus
The Limes Germanicus was a line of frontier fortifications that bounded the ancient Roman provinces of Germania Inferior, Germania Superior and Raetia, dividing the Roman Empire and the unsubdued Germanic tribes from the years 83 to about 260 AD...
Museum” (Limesmuseum Aalen) is located at the place of the largest Roman cavalry fort
Castra
The Latin word castra, with its singular castrum, was used by the ancient Romans to mean buildings or plots of land reserved to or constructed for use as a military defensive position. The word appears in both Oscan and Umbrian as well as in Latin. It may have descended from Indo-European to Italic...
north of the Alps until about 1.800 years ago. The museum exposes numerous objects from the time of Roman occupation. The ruin of the cavalry fort located beside the museum is open to the museum visitors. Every other year, a Roman festival is held on the museum area (see below).
In the Geological-Paleontological Museum located in the historic town hall, more than 1500 fossils from the Swabian Jura, including ammonite
Ammonite
Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct subclass within the Molluscan class Cephalopoda which are more closely related to living coleoids Ammonite, as a zoological or paleontological term, refers to any member of the Ammonoidea an extinct...
s, ichthyosaur
Ichthyosaur
Ichthyosaurs were giant marine reptiles that resembled fish and dolphins...
s and coral
Coral
Corals are marine animals in class Anthozoa of phylum Cnidaria typically living in compact colonies of many identical individual "polyps". The group includes the important reef builders that inhabit tropical oceans and secrete calcium carbonate to form a hard skeleton.A coral "head" is a colony of...
s, are displayed.
In the Waldhausen district the Heimatstüble museum of local history has an exhibition on agriculture and rural living.
In the Wasseralfingen district, there are two more museums: The Museum Wasseralfingen comprises a local history exhibition and an art gallery including works of Hermann Plock, Helmut Schuster and Sieger Köder. Besides, the stove
Stove
A stove is an enclosed heated space. The term is commonly taken to mean an enclosed space in which fuel is burned to provide heating, either to heat the space in which the stove is situated or to heat the stove itself, and items placed on it...
plate collection of the Schwäbische Hüttenwerke steel mill is exhibited, with artists, modellers and the production sequence of a cast plate from design to final product being presented.
The “House of Civic History” (Haus der Stadtgeschichte) opened in March 2008 and closed in 2010 featured alternating exhibitions on Aalen’s history. It was accommodated in the Renaissance Revival–style former mortuary of St. John’s cemetery.
Memorial sites
A memorial stone at the Schillerlinde tree above Wasseralfingen’s ore pit reminds of four prisoners of the subcamp of Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp killed there. Also in Wasseralfingen, on the cemetery a memorial with the Polish inscription “To the victims of Hitlerism” reminds of the deceased forced labourers buried in a Polish respective a Soviet section.In 1954, on the Schillerhöhe hill the city erected a bell tower as a memorial to Aalen’s victims of both world wars and to the displacement of ethnic Germans
Heimatvertriebene
Heimatvertriebene are those around 12 million ethnic Germans who fled or were expelled after World War II from parts of Germany annexed by Poland and Russia, and from other countries, who found refuge in both West and East Germany, and Austria...
. The tower was planned by Emil Leo, the bell was endowed by Carl Schneider. The tower is open on request. Every evening at 18:45 (before 2003: at 19:45), the memorial’s bell rings.
Churches
The city centre is dominated by the Evangelical-Lutheran St. Nicholas’Saint Nicholas
Saint Nicholas , also called Nikolaos of Myra, was a historic 4th-century saint and Greek Bishop of Myra . Because of the many miracles attributed to his intercession, he is also known as Nikolaos the Wonderworker...
Church in the heart of the pedestrian area. The church, in its present shape being built between 1765 and 1767, is the only major Late Baroque building in Aalen and is the main church of the Evangelical-Lutheran parish of Aalen.
St. John’s Church is located inside of St. John’s cemetery in the western centre. The building presumably is from the 9th century and thus is one of Württemberg’s oldest existing churches. The interior features fresco
Fresco
Fresco is any of several related mural painting types, executed on plaster on walls or ceilings. The word fresco comes from the Greek word affresca which derives from the Latin word for "fresh". Frescoes first developed in the ancient world and continued to be popular through the Renaissance...
s from the early 13th century.
For other churches in Aalen, see the Religions section.
Historic Town Hall with “Spy”
The Historic Town Hall was originally built in the 14th century. After the city fire of 1634, it was re-erected in 1636 and after. For this building, the city bought a clock in Lauterburg, and the Imperial City of NurembergNuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
donated a Carillon
Carillon
A carillon is a musical instrument that is typically housed in a free-standing bell tower, or the belfry of a church or other municipal building. The instrument consists of at least 23 cast bronze, cup-shaped bells, which are played serially to play a melody, or sounded together to play a chord...
. It features a figurine of the “Spy of Aalen” and other figurines, however the latter ones were lost by a fire in 1884. Since then, the Spy resides inside the reconstructed tower and has become a symbol of the city. The building was used as the city’s town hall until 1907. Since 1977, the Geological-Paleontological Museum resides in the Historic Town Hall.
According to legend, the citizens of Aalen owe the “Spy of Aalen” (Spion von Aalen) their city having been spared from destruction by the emperor’s army:
The Imperial City of Aalen once was were in quarrel with the emperor, and his army was shortly before the gates to take the city. The people of Aalen got scared and thus dispatched their “most cunning” one out into the enemy’s camp to spy out the strength of their troops. Without any digression, he went straight into the middle of the enemy camp, which inescapably led to him being seized and presented to the emperor. When the emperor asked him what he had lost here, he answered in Swabian GermanSwabian GermanSwabian is one of the Alemannic dialects of High German. It is spoken in Swabia, a region which covers much of Germany's southwestern state Baden-Württemberg, including its capital Stuttgart, the rural area known as the Swabian Alb, and Bavaria...
: “Don’t frighten, high lords, I just want to peek how many cannons and other war things you’ve got, since I am the spy of Aalen”. The emperor laughed upon such a blatancy and acted naïvety, steered him all through the camp and then sent him back home. Soon the emperor withdrew with his army as he thought a city such wise guys reside in deserved being spared.
Old Town Hall
The Old Town Hall was first documented in 1575. Its outside wall features the oldest known coat of arms, which is of 1664. Until 1851, the building also housed the Krone-Post hotel, which coincided with being a station of the Thurn und Taxis postal companyThurn-und-Taxis-Post
The Thurn-und-Taxis-Post was a private company and the successor to the Imperial Reichspost of the Holy Roman Empire. The Thurn-und-Taxis-Post was operated by the Princely House of Thurn and Taxis between 1806 and 1867...
. It has housed notable persons. Thus the so-called “Napoleon Window” reminds with its “N” painted on of the stay of French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in 1805. According to legend, he rammed his head to bleed on this window, when he was startled by the noise of his soldiers ridiculing the “Spy of Aalen”. The building was used as Aalen’s town hall from 1907 until 1975. Today it houses a cabaret café and the stage of the Theatre of the City of Aalen. The Wischau Linguistic Enclave Society the city has taken over godparenthood for stores their traditional constumes in the building.
Bürgerspital
The Bürgerspital (“Civic Asylum”) is a timber-frameTimber framing
Timber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
house erected on Spritzenhausplatz (“Fire Engine House Square”) in 1702. Until 1873, it was used as civic hospital, later as a retirement home. After comprehensive renovation, since 1980 it is a senior citizen’s community centre.
Limes-Thermen
On a slope of the Langert mountain south of the City, the Limes-Thermen (“Limes ThermaeThermae
In ancient Rome, thermae and balnea were facilities for bathing...
”) hot spring
Hot spring
A hot spring is a spring that is produced by the emergence of geothermally heated groundwater from the Earth's crust. There are geothermal hot springs in many locations all over the crust of the earth.-Definitions:...
s are located. They were built in ancient Roman style and opend in 1985. The accredited health spa is supplied with water about 34 to 36 °C (93.2 to 96.8 F) warm stemming from about 650 metres (2,132.5 ft) underneath.
Market square
The market square is the historic hub of Aalen and runs along about 150 metres (492.1 ft) from the town hall in the south to the Historic Town Hall and the Old Town Hall in the north, where it disembogues into Radgasse alley. Since 1809, it is site of the weekly market on Wednesday and Saturday. About 10 metres (32.8 ft) in front of the Reichsstädter Brunnen fountain at the town hall, the coats of arms of Aalen, its twinned cities and of the Wischau linguistic enclave are paved into the street as mosaic.Market fountain
In 1705, for the water supply of Aalen a well casing was erected at the northern point of the market square, in front of the Historic Town Hall. It was a present of duke Eberhard Louis. The fountain bore a statue of emperor Joseph I.
Joseph I, Holy Roman Emperor
Joseph I , Holy Roman Emperor, King of Bohemia, King of Hungary, King of the Romans was the elder son of Emperor Leopold I and his third wife, Eleonor Magdalene of Neuburg....
, who was enthroned in 1705 and in 1707 renewed Aalen’s Imperial City privileges. The fountain was supplied by a wooden pipe. Excessive water was dissipated through ditches branched from Kocher river. When in the early 1870s Aalen’s water network was constructed, the fountain was replaced by a smaller fountain about 100 metres (328.1 ft) off. In 1975, the old market fountain was re-erected in baroque style. It bears a replica of the emperor’s statue, with the original being exhibited in the new town hall’s lobby. The cast iron
Cast iron
Cast iron is derived from pig iron, and while it usually refers to gray iron, it also identifies a large group of ferrous alloys which solidify with a eutectic. The color of a fractured surface can be used to identify an alloy. White cast iron is named after its white surface when fractured, due...
casing plates depict the 1718 coat of arms of the Duchy of Württemberg and the coats of arms of Aalen and of the merged municipalities.
Reichsstädter Brunnen
The Reichsstädter Brunnen fountain (“Imperial Civic Fountain”) is located in front of the town hall at the southern point of the market square. It was created by sculptor Fritz Nuss in 1977 to remind of the times of Aalen being an Imperial City (1360–1803). On its circulatory frieze
Frieze
thumb|267px|Frieze of the [[Tower of the Winds]], AthensIn architecture the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Even when neither columns nor pilasters are expressed, on an astylar wall it lies upon...
, bronze figurines illustrate the city’s history.
Radgasse
The Radgasse (“Wheel Alley”) features Aalen’s oldest façade. Originally a small pond was on its side. The buildings were erected between 1659 and 1662 for peasants with citizenry privileges and renovated in the mid-1980s. The name giver for the alley was the “Wheel” tavern, which was to be found at the site of today’s address Radgasse 15.Tiefer Stollen
The former iron ore pit Wilhelm at Braunenberg hill was converted into the Tiefer Stollen tourist mine in order to remind of the old-day miners’ efforts and to maintain it as a memorial of early industrialisation in the Aalen area. It has a mining museum open for visitors. A mine railwayMine railway
A mine railway is a railway constructed to carry materials and workers in and out of a mine. Materials transported typically include ore, coal and spoil. Today most mine railways are electrically powered; in former times pit ponies, such as Shetland ponies, were used to haul the trains...
takes visitors deep into the mountain. The City of Aalen, a sponsorship association and many citizens volunteered several thousand hours of labour to put the mine into a state of being visited. As far as possible, things were left in the original state. In 1989, a sanitary gallery was established where respiratory diseases are treated within rest cures. Thus the Aalen village of Röthard, where the gallery is located, was awarded the title of „Place with sanitary gallery service“ in 2004.
Observatory
The Aalen Observatory was built in 1969 as school observatory for the Schubart GymnasiumGymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
. In 2001, it was converted to a public observatory. Since then, it is managed by the Astronomische Arbeitsgemeinschaft Aalen (“Aalen Astronomical Society”). It is located on Schillerhöhe hill and features two refractive telescopes. They were manufactured by Carl Zeiss AG which has its headquarters in nearby Oberkochen and operates a manufacturing works in Aalen (see below). In the observatory, guided tours and lectures are held regularly.
Windpark Waldhausen
The Windpark Waldhausen wind farmWind farm
A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location used to produce electric power. A large wind farm may consist of several hundred individual wind turbines, and cover an extended area of hundreds of square miles, but the land between the turbines may be used for agricultural or other...
began operating in early 2007. It consists of seven REpower
REpower
REpower is a German wind turbine company founded in 2001, purchased December 2009 by Suzlon Energy Ltd. Its product range comprises several types of turbines with rated outputs of between 1.5 and 6 megawatts. It created the 5M, in 2005....
MM92 wind turbines with a nameplate capacity
Nameplate capacity
Nameplate capacity, also known as the rated capacity, nominal capacity, installed capacity or maximum effect, refers to the intended technical full–load sustained output of a facility such as a power plant, a chemical plant, fuel plant, metal refinery, mine, and many others.For dispatchable power,...
of 2 MW each. The hub height of each wind turbine is 100 metres (328.1 ft), with a rotor diameter of 92 metres (301.8 ft).
Aalbäumle observation tower
On Langert mountain, the 26 metres (85.3 ft) tall Aalbäumle observation tower is standing. This popular hiking destination was built in 1898 and given its present shape in 1992. It features a good view over Aalen and the Welland region, until the Rosenstein mountain and Ellwangen. Beneath the tower, an adventure playground and a cabin is located. A flag on the tower signals whether the cabin’s restaurant is open.Natural monuments
The Baden-Württemberg State Institute for Environment, Measurements and Natural Conservation has demarcated six protected landscapes in Aalen (the Swabian Jura escarpment between Lautern and Aalen with adjacent territories, the Swabian Jura escarpment between Unterkochen and Baiershofen, the Hilllands around Hofen, the Kugeltal and Ebnater Tal valleys with parts of Heiligental valley and adjacent territories, Laubachtal valley and Lower Lein Valley with side valleys), two sanctuary forests (Glashütte and KocherKocher
The Kocher is a 168 km long right tributary of the Neckar in the north-eastern part of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The name "Kocher" originates from its Celtic name "cochan" and probably means winding, meandering river. The Kocher rises in the eastern foothills of the Swabian Alb from two karst...
Origin), 65 extensive natural monument
Natural Monument
A natural monument is a natural or natural/cultural feature of outstanding or unique value because of its inherent rarity, representative of aesthetic qualities or cultural significance....
s, 30 individual natural monuments and the following two protected areas:
The 24.1 hectares (59.6 acre) large Dellenhäule protected area between Aalen’s Waldhausen district and Neresheim’s Elchingen district, demarcated in 1969, is a sheep pasture with juniper
Juniper
Junipers are coniferous plants in the genus Juniperus of the cypress family Cupressaceae. Depending on taxonomic viewpoint, there are between 50-67 species of juniper, widely distributed throughout the northern hemisphere, from the Arctic, south to tropical Africa in the Old World, and to the...
and wood pasture
Wood pasture
Wood pasture is a historical European land management system in which open woodland provided shelter and forage for grazing animals, particularly sheep and cattle, as well as woodland products such as timber for construction and fuel, coppiced stems for wattle and charcoal making and pollarded poles...
of old willow oaks.
The 46.5 hectares (114.9 acre) large Goldshöfer Sande protected area was demarcated in 2000 and is situated between Aalen’s Hofen district and Hüttlingen. The sands on a hill stemming from the Early Pleistocene
Early Pleistocene
Calabrian is a subdivision of the Pleistocene Epoch of the Geologic time scale. ~1.8 Ma.—781,000 years ago ± 5,000 years, a period of ~.The end of the stage is defined by the last magnetic pole reversal and plunge in to an ice age and global drying possibly colder and drier than the late Miocene ...
are of geological importance, and the various grove structures offer habitat to severely endangered bird species.
Sports
The soccer team of 1921-founded VfR AalenVfR Aalen
VfR Aalen is a German football club based in Aalen, Baden-Württemberg.-History:The club was founded on 8 March 1921 out of the football department of the gymnastics club MTV Aalen and has led a largely unremarked existence as a lower division side...
is playing in the 3rd German League
3rd Liga
The 3rd Liga is the third division of football in Germany. The league started with the beginning of the 2008–09 season, when it replaced the Regionalliga as the third tier football league in Germany. In the German football league system, it is positioned between the 2...
as of season 2010/2011. Its playing venue is the Scholz-Arena
Scholz-Arena
The Scholz-Arena is a multi-purpose stadium in Aalen, Germany. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is the home stadium of VfR Aalen. The stadium is able to hold 11,169 people....
situated in the west of the city, which bore the name Städtisches Waldstadion Aalen (“Civic Forest Stadium of Aalen”) until 2008. From 1939 until 1945, the VfR played in the Gauliga Württemberg
Gauliga Württemberg
The Gauliga Württemberg was the highest football league in the German state of Württemberg and the Prussian province of Hohenzollern from 1933 to 1945...
, then one of several parallel top-ranking soccer leagues of Germany.
In the Wrestling Federal League
Bundesliga (wrestling)
The top division of team wrestling in Germany, is the Bundesliga . Every year since 1964, championships have been held by Bundesliga-Ringen....
, the KSV Aalen is fighting. It was German champion in team wrestling in 2010, and its predecessor, the KSV Germania Aalen disbanded in 2005, was German champion for eight times and runner-up for five times since 1976. Another Aalen club, the TSV Dewangen, was until 2009 as well wrestling in the Federal League.
Two American sports, American Football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
and Baseball
Baseball
Baseball is a bat-and-ball sport played between two teams of nine players each. The aim is to score runs by hitting a thrown ball with a bat and touching a series of four bases arranged at the corners of a ninety-foot diamond...
, are pursued by the MTV Aalen. Volleyball
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
as well is playing an important role in Aalen for years. The first men’s team of DJK Aalen accomplished re-promotion for regional league in the season of 2008/09.
South of the city centre, at the northern slope of the Swabian Jura, the Ostalb ski lifts are located. The skiing area comprises two platter lift
Platter lift
A platter lift , platter pull or button lift is a surface lift, a mechanized system for pulling skiers and snowboarders uphill, along the surface of the slope. In Europe they are also known as Poma lifts...
s that have a vertical rise of 130 metres (426.5 ft) resp. 30 metres (98.4 ft), two runs of a length of 800 metres (2,624.7 ft) resp. 1200 metres (3,937 ft) and a beginners’ run.
Reichsstädter Tage
Since 1975, Reichsstädter Tage (“Imperial City days”) festival is held annually in the city centre on the second weekend in September. It is deemed the largest city festival of the OstwürttembergOstwürttemberg
Ostwürttemberg is a region in eastern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the Stuttgart subdivision . It consists of the districts of Heidenheim and Ostalb...
region, and is connected with a shopping Sunday in accordance with the Ladenschlussgesetz
Ladenschlussgesetz
In the Federal Republic of Germany, the Ladenschlussgesetz or "Shop Closing Law" is the federal law regulating at which times retail stores were required to be closed to the public...
code. The festival is also attended by delegations from the twinned cities. On the town hall square, on Sunday an ecumenical service
Ecumenism
Ecumenism or oecumenism mainly refers to initiatives aimed at greater Christian unity or cooperation. It is used predominantly by and with reference to Christian denominations and Christian Churches separated by doctrine, history, and practice...
is held.
Roman Festival
The international Roman Festival (Römertage) are held biannially on the site of the former roman fort and the modern Limes museum. The festival’s ninth conduct in 2008 was attended by around 11,000 people.Aalen Jazz Festival
Annually in the second week of November, the Aalen Jazz Festival brings known and unknown artists to Aalen. It already featured musicians like Miles DavisMiles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III was an American jazz musician, trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. Widely considered one of the most influential musicians of the 20th century, Miles Davis was, with his musical groups, at the forefront of several major developments in jazz music, including bebop, cool jazz,...
, B. B. King
B. B. King
Riley B. King , known by the stage name B.B. King, is an American blues guitarist and singer-songwriter.Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at No.3 on its list of the 100 greatest guitarists of all time. According to Edward M...
, Ray Charles
Ray Charles
Ray Charles Robinson , known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm and blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records...
, David Murray, McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner
McCoy Tyner is a jazz pianist from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, known for his work with the John Coltrane Quartet and a long solo career.-Early life:...
, Al Jarreau
Al Jarreau
Alwin "Al" Lopez Jarreau is a seven-time Grammy Award winning jazz singer.- Background :Jarreau was born in Milwaukee, the fifth of six children. His web site refers to Reservoir, Inc., the name of the street where he lived. His father was a Seventh-Day Adventist Church minister and singer, and...
, Esbjörn Svensson
Esbjörn Svensson
Esbjörn Svensson was a jazz pianist and founder of the jazz group Esbjörn Svensson Trio, commonly known as E.S.T...
and Albert Mangelsdorff
Albert Mangelsdorff
Albert Mangelsdorff was one of the most accredited and innovative trombonists of modern jazz who became famous for his distinctive technique of playing multiphonics.-Biography:...
. The festival is complemented by individual concerts in spring and summer, and, including the individual concerts, comprises around 25 concerts with a total of about 13,000 visitors.
Economy and infrastructure
In 2008, 30,008 employees liable to social insuranceSocial insurance
Social insurance is any government-sponsored program with the following four characteristics:* the benefits, eligibility requirements and other aspects of the program are defined by statute;...
were living in Aalen. With 13,946 (46.5 percent), most of them were employed in the manufacturing sector. In commerce, catering, hotels and transport, 4,715 persons (15,7 percent) were employed, in other services, 11,306 persons (37,7 percent). Besides, in 2008 there were about 16,000 employees commuting into the city and about 9,000 commuting out.
Altogether, in Aalen there are about 4,700 business enterprises in Aalen, 1,1000 of them being registered in the trade register
German Trade Register
The Trade Register in Germany is a public register that contains details of all tradespeople and legal entities in the district of the registrar The Trade Register in Germany is a public register that contains details of all tradespeople and legal entities in the district of the registrar The...
. The others comprise 2,865 small enterprises and 701 craft enterprises.
In Aalen, metalworking
Metalworking
Metalworking is the process of working with metals to create individual parts, assemblies, or large scale structures. The term covers a wide range of work from large ships and bridges to precise engine parts and delicate jewelry. It therefore includes a correspondingly wide range of skills,...
is the predominant branch. Besides machine-building, the branches of optics
Optics
Optics is the branch of physics which involves the behavior and properties of light, including its interactions with matter and the construction of instruments that use or detect it. Optics usually describes the behavior of visible, ultraviolet, and infrared light...
, paper
Paper
Paper is a thin material mainly used for writing upon, printing upon, drawing or for packaging. It is produced by pressing together moist fibers, typically cellulose pulp derived from wood, rags or grasses, and drying them into flexible sheets....
, information technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
and textile
Textile
A textile or cloth is a flexible woven material consisting of a network of natural or artificial fibres often referred to as thread or yarn. Yarn is produced by spinning raw fibres of wool, flax, cotton, or other material to produce long strands...
s are relevant.
Notable enterprises include SHW Automotive (originating from the former Schwäbische Hüttenwerke steel mills and further from a mill of 1671 in Wasseralfingen), the Alfing Kessler engineering works, the precision tools manufacturer MAPAL Dr. Kress, the snow chain manufacturer RUD Ketten Rieger & Dietz and its subsidiary Erlau, the Gesenkschmiede Schneider forging die smithery, the SDZ Druck und Medien media company, the Papierfabrik Palm paper mill, the alarm system manufacturer Telenot, the laser show provider LOBO electronic and the textile finisher
Finishing (textiles)
In textile manufacturing, finishing refers to any process performed on yarn or fabric after weaving or knitting to improve the look, performance, or "hand" of the finished textile or clothing...
Lindenfarb, which all have their seat in Aalen. A branch in Aalen is maintained by optical systems manufacturer Carl Zeiss headquartered in nearby Oberkochen.
Rail
Aalen stationAalen station
Aalen station is a junction on the Rems Railway from Stuttgart, the Brenz Railway from Ulm, the Upper Jagst Railway to Crailsheim and Ries Railway to Donauwörth...
is a regional railway hub on the Rems Railway
Rems Railway
The Rems Railway , also known as the Rems Valley Railway was historically the main line route from Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt via Aalen to Nördlingen. Today the designation Rems Railway only refers to the section from Stuttgart to Aalen, the Aalen–Nördlingen line becoming part of the Ries Railway...
from Stuttgart
Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof
is the Hauptbahnhof of the city of Stuttgart, the capital of the Land of Baden-Württemberg, in southwestern Germany. It is the largest regional and long-distance railway station in Stuttgart, the main node of the Stuttgart S-Bahn network, and, together with the halt at Charlottenplatz, the main...
, the Brenz Railway
Brenz Railway
The Brenz Railway , also called the Brenz Valley Railway , is a single-tracked, non-electrified main line from Aalen to Ulm in southern Germany...
from Ulm
Ulm Hauptbahnhof
is the Hauptbahnhof or central railway station for the city of Ulm, which lies on the Danube, on the border of the German states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria. It is on ICE line from Stuttgart to Munich and the Paris –Budapest Magistrale for Europe line that is supported by the European Union...
, the Upper Jagst Railway to Crailsheim
Crailsheim
Crailsheim is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, 32 km east of Schwäbisch Hall, 40 km southwest of Ansbach in the Schwäbisch Hall district, incorporated in 1338....
and the Ries Railway to Donauwörth
Donauwörth station
Donauwörth station is at the intersection of the Nuremberg–Augsburg line and the Danube Valley Railway from Ulm to Regensburg. The Ries Railway also runs from Donauwörth to Aalen. The station is located in the southwest of the city of Donauwörth in the German state of Bavaria.-History :The first...
. Until 1972, the Härtsfeld Railway connected Aalen with Dillingen an der Donau via Neresheim
Neresheim
Neresheim is a town in the Ostalbkreis district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated northeast of Heidenheim, and southeast of Aalen....
. More stations within city limits are Hofen (b Aalen), Unterkochen, Wasseralfingen and Goldshöfe station
Goldshöfe station
Goldshöfe station is a station in the German state of Baden-Württemberg at the junction of the Aalen–Crailsheim line and the Aalen–Nördlingen line . In addition to its function as a junction station it also serves the towns of Hüttlingen and Buch in the municipality of Rainau, both about two...
. The Aalen-Erlau stop situated in the south is no longer operative.
Aalen station is served in two-hour intervals trains of Intercity
Intercity (Deutsche Bahn)
Intercity is the second-highest train classification in Germany, after the ICE. Intercity services are loco-hauled express services, usually over long-distances. There are Intercity routes throughout Germany, and routes generally operate with a two-hour frequency, with multiple routes giving a more...
line 61 Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe Hauptbahnhof
is the central railway station in the German city of Karlsruhe. The station is classified as one of the major Category 1 stations in Germany, due to its function as a hub connecting several railway lines with each other.- History :...
–Stuttgart–Aalen–Nuremberg
Nürnberg Hauptbahnhof
Nuremberg Central Station is the main railway station for the city of Nuremberg in Germany. It is the largest station in north Bavaria and belongs to the 20 stations in the highest category of importance allocated by DB Station&Service....
. In regional traffic, Aalen is served by various lines of Interregio-Express
Interregio-Express
The Interregio-Express is a local public transport railway service operated by the Deutsche Bahn which is only available in the German states of Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria, Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt and Berlin as well as in Switzerland...
, Regional-Express and Regionalbahn
RegionalBahn
The Regionalbahn is a type of local passenger train in Germany.-Service:Regionalbahn trains usually call at all stations on a given line, with the exception of RB trains within S-Bahn networks, these may only call at selected stations...
categories. The city also operates the Aalen Industrial Railway
Industrial railway
An industrial railway is a type of railway that is not available for public transportation and is used exclusively to serve a particular industrial, logistics or military site...
(Industriebahn Aalen), which carries about 250 carloads per year.
Street
The junctions of Aalen/WesthausenWesthausen (Ostalb)
Westhausen is a town in the district of Ostalbkreis in Baden-Württemberg in Germany....
and Aalen/Oberkochen connect Aalen with the Autobahn A7 (Würzburg
Würzburg
Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....
–Füssen
Füssen
Füssen is a town in Bavaria, Germany, in the district of Ostallgäu situated from the Austrian border. It is located on the banks of the Lech river. The River Lech flows into the Forggensee...
). Federal roads (Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
n) connecting with Aalen are B 19 (Würzburg
Würzburg
Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....
–Ulm
Ulm
Ulm is a city in the federal German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the River Danube. The city, whose population is estimated at 120,000 , forms an urban district of its own and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau district. Ulm, founded around 850, is rich in history and...
), B 29 (Waiblingen
Waiblingen
Waiblingen is a town in the southwest of Germany, located in the center of the densely populated Stuttgart Region, directly neighboring Stuttgart. It is the capital of the Rems-Murr district...
–Nördlingen
Nördlingen
Nördlingen is a town in the Donau-Ries district, in Bavaria, Germany, with a population of 20,000. It is located in the middle of a complex meteorite crater, called the Nördlinger Ries. The town was also the place of two battles during the Thirty Years' War...
) and B 290 (Tauberbischofsheim
Tauberbischofsheim
Tauberbischofsheim is a German town in the north-east of Baden-Württemberg on the river Tauber with a population of about 13,000. It is the capital of the Main-Tauber district....
–Westhausen). The Schwäbische Dichterstraße (“Swabian Poets’ Route”) tourist route established in 1977/78 leads through Aalen.
Within city limits, several bus lines operate. The Omnibus-Verkehr Aalen company is one of the few in Germany that use double-decker bus
Double-decker bus
A double-decker bus is a bus that has two storeys or 'decks'. Global usage of this type of bus is more common in outer touring than in its intra-urban transportion role. Double-decker buses are also commonly found in certain parts of Europe, Asia, and former British colonies and protectorates...
es, it does so since 1966. A district-wide fare system, OstalbMobil, is in effect since 2007.
Air transport
Stuttgart Airport, offering international connections, is about 90 kilometres (55.9 mi) away, the travel time by train is about 100 Minutes. At Aalen-Heidenheim Airport, located 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south-east of Aalen, minor aircraft are admitted. GlidingGliding
Gliding is a recreational activity and competitive air sport in which pilots fly unpowered aircraft known as gliders or sailplanes using naturally occurring currents of rising air in the atmosphere to remain airborne. The word soaring is also used for the sport.Gliding as a sport began in the 1920s...
airfields nearby are in Heubach
Heubach
Heubach is a town in the Ostalbkreis district, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is located 10 km east of Schwäbisch Gmünd, and 13 km southwest of Aalen. The town finds itself at the edge of the Rems River Valley and at the base of the Swabian Alps.Heubach is located in the Swabian...
and Bartholomä
Bartholomä
Bartholomä is a municipality in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, in Ostalbkreis district.Bartholomä is mainly a commuter town in the historical region of Swabia, that straddles the border between Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria....
.
Bicycle
Bicycle routes stretching through Aalen are the Deutscher Limes-Radweg (“German LimesLimes Germanicus
The Limes Germanicus was a line of frontier fortifications that bounded the ancient Roman provinces of Germania Inferior, Germania Superior and Raetia, dividing the Roman Empire and the unsubdued Germanic tribes from the years 83 to about 260 AD...
Bicycle Route”) and the Kocher-Jagst Bicycle Route.
Public facilities
Aalen houses an AmtsgerichtAmtsgericht
Amtsgericht is German for Local District Court, situated in Germany in almost every larger capital of a rural district.It mainly acts in Civil and Criminal law affairs. It forms the lowest level of the so-called ordinary jurisdiction of the German judiciary , which is responsible for most criminal...
(local district court), chambers of the Stuttgart Labour Court
Labor court
A labor court is a governmental judiciary body which rules on labor or employment-related matters and disputes. In a number of countries, labor cases are often taken to separate national labor high courts...
, a notary’s office
Civil law notary
Civil-law notaries, or Latin notaries, are lawyers of noncontentious private civil law who draft, take, and record legal instruments for private parties, provide legal advice and give attendance in person, and are vested as public officers with the authentication power of the State...
, a tax office and an employment agency
Employment agency
An employment agency is an organization which matches employers to employees. In all developed countries there is a publicly funded employment agency and multiple private businesses which also act as employment agencies.-Public employment agencies:...
. It is seat of the Ostalbkreis district office, of the Aalen Deanery of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church and of the Ostalb deanery of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart.
The Stuttgart Administrative Court
Administrative court
Greece, as a civil law country has administrative courts. The establishment of those courts can be found in article 94 of the Constitution of the Hellenic Republic 1975, as revised in 2001. The administrative courts are composed from districts Courts of First Instance, district Courts of Appeal and...
, the Stuttgart Labour Court and the Ulm Social Welfare Court are in charge for Aalen.
Aalen had a civic hospital, which resided in the Bürgerspital building until 1873, then in a building at Alte Heidenheimer Straße. In 1942, the hospital was taken over by the district. The district hospital at the present site of Kälblesrain, today known as Ostalb-Klinikum, was opened in 1955.
Media
The first local newspaperNewspaper
A newspaper is a scheduled publication containing news of current events, informative articles, diverse features and advertising. It usually is printed on relatively inexpensive, low-grade paper such as newsprint. By 2007, there were 6580 daily newspapers in the world selling 395 million copies a...
, Der Bote von Aalen (“The Herald of Aalen”), was published on Wednesdays and Saturdays since 1837.
Currently, local newspapers published in Aalen are the Schwäbische Post, which obtain their supra-regional pages from the Ulm Südwestpresse, and the Aalener Nachrichten (erstwhile Aalener Volkszeitung), a local edition of Schwäbische Zeitung in Leutkirch im Allgäu
Leutkirch im Allgäu
Leutkirch im Allgäu is a city in south-eastern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is part of the district of Ravensburg, in the western, Württembergish part of the Allgäu region. It belongs to the administrative region of Tübingen....
.
Two of Germany’s biggest Lesezirkels (magazine rental services) are headquartered in Aalen: Brabandt LZ Plus Media and Lesezirkel Portal.
Regional event magazines are Xaver, åla, ålakultur.
The commercial broadcasters Radio Ton and Radio 7 have studios in Aalen.
Education
A Latin schoolLatin School
Latin School may refer to:* Latin schools of Medieval Europe* These schools in the United States:** Boston Latin School, Boston, MA** Brooklyn Latin School, New York, NY** Brother Joseph C. Fox Latin School, Long Island, NY...
was first mentioned in Aalen in 1447; it was rearranged in 1616 and later in various buildings that were all situated near the city church, and persisted up into the 19th century. In the course of the reformation, a „German school“ was established in parallel, being a predecessor of the latter Volksschule
Volksschule
A Volksschule was an 18th century system of state-supported primary schools established in the Habsburg Austrian Empire and Prussia . Attendance was supposedly compulsory, but a 1781 census reveals that only one fourth of school-age children attended. At the time, this was one of the few examples...
school type. In 1860, the Ritterschule was built as a Volksschule for girls; the building today houses the Pestalozzischule. In 1866, a new building was erected for the Latin school and for the Realschule
Realschule
The Realschule is a type of secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary and in the Russian Empire .-History:The Realschule was an outgrowth of the rationalism and empiricism of the seventeenth and...
established in 1840. This building, later known as the Alte Gewerbeschule, was torn down in 1975 to free the area for the new town hall. In 1912, the Parkschule building was opened. It was designed by Paul Bonatz
Paul Bonatz
Paul Bonatz was a German architect, member of the Stuttgart School and professor at the technical university in that city during part of World War II and from 1954 until his death....
and today houses the Schubart-Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
The biggest educational institution in the city is the Hochschule
Hochschule
Hochschule is a German term with two meanings.The literal meaning of the word Hochschule is “high school” which is not appropriate as a translation.- Generic term :...
Aalen, which was founded in 1962 and focusses on engineering and economics. It is attended by 5000 students of five faculties and employs 129 professor
Professor
A professor is a scholarly teacher; the precise meaning of the term varies by country. Literally, professor derives from Latin as a "person who professes" being usually an expert in arts or sciences; a teacher of high rank...
s and 130 other lecturers.
The city provides three Gymnasium
Gymnasium (school)
A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
s, four Realschule
Realschule
The Realschule is a type of secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary and in the Russian Empire .-History:The Realschule was an outgrowth of the rationalism and empiricism of the seventeenth and...
n, two Förderschulen (special schools), six combined Grundschulen and Hauptschule
Hauptschule
A Hauptschule is a secondary school in Germany and Austria, starting after 4 years of elementary schooling, which offers Lower Secondary Education according to the International Standard Classification of Education...
n and eight standalone Grundschulen. The Ostalbkreis district provides three vocational schools and three additional special schools. Finally, six non-state schools of various types exist.
The German Esperanto
Esperanto
is the most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Its name derives from Doktoro Esperanto , the pseudonym under which L. L. Zamenhof published the first book detailing Esperanto, the Unua Libro, in 1887...
Library (German: Deutsche Esperanto-Bibliothek, Esperanto: Germana Esperanto-Biblioteko) is located in the building of the city library since 1989.
TV and radio transmission tower
The SüdwestrundfunkSüdwestrundfunk
The Südwestrundfunk is a public broadcasting company for the southwest of Germany, specifically the states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. The company has main offices in three cities: Stuttgart, Baden-Baden and Mainz, with the director's office being in Stuttgart. It is an...
broadcasting company operates the Aalen transmission tower
Transmitter
In electronics and telecommunications a transmitter or radio transmitter is an electronic device which, with the aid of an antenna, produces radio waves. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the antenna. When excited by this alternating...
on the Braunenberg hill. The tower was erected in 1956, it is 140 metres (459.3 ft) tall and made of reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete
Reinforced concrete is concrete in which reinforcement bars , reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension. It was invented by French gardener Joseph Monier in 1849 and patented in 1867. The term Ferro Concrete refers only to concrete that is...
.
Things named after Aalen
The following vehicles are named „Aalen“:- The LufthansaLufthansaDeutsche Lufthansa AG is the flag carrier of Germany and the largest airline in Europe in terms of overall passengers carried. The name of the company is derived from Luft , and Hansa .The airline is the world's fourth-largest airline in terms of overall passengers carried, operating...
Boeing 737-500 D-ABJF - The Deutsche BahnDeutsche BahnDeutsche Bahn AG is the German national railway company, a private joint stock company . Headquartered in Berlin, it came into existence in 1994 as the successor to the former state railways of Germany, the Deutsche Bundesbahn of West Germany and the Deutsche Reichsbahn of East Germany...
ICE 3ICE 3ICE 3 is a family of high-speed EMUs of Deutsche Bahn. It includes classes 403 and 406, which are known as ICE 3 and ICE 3M respectively...
Tz309 (since 2 June 2008)
Honorary citizens
- Ruland Ayßlinger, Composer
- Erwin RommelErwin RommelErwin Johannes Eugen Rommel , popularly known as the Desert Fox , was a German Field Marshal of World War II. He won the respect of both his own troops and the enemies he fought....
(1891–1944), Field Marshal of World War II, grew up in Aalen - Paul Edel
- Wilhelm Jakob Schweiker (1859–1927), founder of the Aalen Historical Society (Geschichts- und Altertumsverein Aalen) and name giver of the Wilhelm Jakob Schweiker Award
- Ulrich Pfeifle, Mayor of Aalen from 1976 until 2005
Persons born in Aalen
- Karl Joseph von Hefele (1809–1893), Roman Catholic theologian, clerical historian and bishop
- Karl WahlKarl WahlKarl Wahl was the Nazi Gauleiter of Swabia from the Gau inception in 1928 until the collapse of Nazi Germany in 1945.- Early life :...
(1892–1981), Nazi Gauleiter of Swabia - Bruno HeckBruno HeckBruno Heck was a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union .Heck was born into a poor Swabian catholic family. He studied philosophy and theology at the University of Tübingen. From 1957 to 1976 Heck was a member of the German Bundestag.Heck was Minister of Family Affairs and Youth from...
(1917–1989), Politician of the CDU, former minister of the federal government and CDU secretary general - Walter AdamsWalter Adams (athlete)Walter Adams is a retired West German middle distance runner who specialized in the 800 metres.He finished fourth at the 1968 Olympic Games, and won a gold medal in 3 x 1000 metres relay at the 1969 European Indoor Games together with teammates Peter Adam and Harald Norpoth...
(born 1945 in Wasseralfingen), middle distance runner - Werner SobekWerner SobekWerner Sobek is a German architect and structural engineer.- Life :Werner Sobek was born 1953 in Aalen, Germany. From 1974 to 1980, he studied structural engineering and architecture at the University of Stuttgart...
(born 1953), architect and structural engineer - Patriz IlgPatriz IlgPatriz Ilg is a retired 3000 m steeplechaser from West Germany.He won a silver medal at the 1978 European Championships and gold medals at the 1982 European Championships in Athens and the 1983 World Championships in Helsinki...
(born 1957), steeplechaser and world champion (1983) - Martin Gerlach (born 1965), independent politician, mayor of Aalen (since 2005)
- Thomas ZanderThomas Zander (wrestler)Thomas Zander is a German wrestler. He won a silver medal at the 1996 Summer Olympics.-References:* at sports-reference.com* at FILA...
(born 1967), wrestler, winner of Olympic silver medal and world champion (1994) - Carl-Uwe SteebCarl-Uwe SteebCarl-Uwe Steeb is a former professional tennis player from Germany.Steeb turned professional in 1986. He won his first top-level singles title in 1989 in Gstaad...
(born 1967), tennis player - Manuel FischerManuel FischerManuel Fischer is a German footballer who plays as a striker for Bayern Munich II.-Career:Fischer began his career with VfB Stuttgart...
(born 1989), footballer - Patrick FunkPatrick FunkPatrick Funk is a German footballer who plays as a midfielder for FC St. Pauli on loan from VfB Stuttgart.-Club career:Funk started his career with FV 08 Unterkochen and joined later to SV Ebnat. He was scouted by SSV Ulm 1846...
(born 1990), footballer
Other
- Christian Friedrich Daniel SchubartChristian Friedrich Daniel SchubartChristian Friedrich Daniel Schubart , was a German poet, born at Obersontheim in Swabia.He entered the university of Erlangen in 1758 as a student of theology. He led a dissolute life, and after two years' stay was summoned home by his parents...
(1739–1791), poet, organ player, composer and journalist; lived in Aalen as a child and adolescent - Rudolf Duala Manga BellRudolf Duala Manga BellRudolf Duala Manga Bell was a Duala king and resistance leader in the German colony of Kamerun. After being educated in both Kamerun and Europe, he succeeded his father, Manga Ndumbe Bell, on 2 September 1908. Manga Bell styled himself after European rulers, and he generally supported the colonial...
(1873–1914), Duala king and resistance leader in the German colony of Kamerun, lived in Aalen from 1891 until 1896. - Georg ElserGeorg ElserJohann Georg Elser was a German opponent of Nazism. He is most remembered for his unsuccessful attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, but he also wanted to assassinate Hermann Göring and Joseph Goebbels in 1939....
(1903–1945), opponent of Nazism, worked in 1923 as an apprentice carpenter in Aalen. - Werner BickelhauptWerner BickelhauptWerner Bickelhaupt is a German football coach who has managed at both national and international level in Europe, Asia and Africa.-Career:...
(* 1939), football coach, lives in Aalen since 2004. - Gerhard ThieleGerhard ThieleDr. Gerhard Paul Julius Thiele is a German physicist and a former ESA astronaut.-Early life and education:Born in Heidenheim an der Brenz, he attended the Friedrich-Schiller-Gymnasium in Ludwigsburg. After school he volunteered for the German Navy, serving as Operations/Weapons Officer aboard fast...
(* 1953 in Heidenheim), physicist and former astronaut, attended school in Aalen. - Andreas Beck (* 1987 in Kemerovo/Soviet Union), German footballer, grew up in Aalen.