Schwäbisch Gmünd
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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. The town is a Große Kreisstadt, a chief town under district administration; it was the chief town of its own rural district until the district reform on January 1, 1973. The rural district was called Schwäbisch Gmünd and it had the car license key GD.
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[edit] Geography
Schwäbisch Gmünd lies on the Rems river about 50 kilometers east of Stuttgart, the capital of Baden-Württemberg. It also lies at the northern foot of the Swabian Jura Mountains.
[edit] History
The first settlement in this area was around the 2nd century AD, when Roman soldiers settled the nearby Limes. In the 3rd century the border lines were assaulted and taken by the Alemans, who settled down in the areas abandoned by the Romans.
In the 8th century a false document in the name of Charlemagne, in the Monastery of St Denis near Paris mentioned a monk's cell called Gamundias built by Abbot Fulrad of St Denis. Whether or not this refers to Gmünd is uncertain. There are no archaeological indications for a cell of this type in Gmünd.
Schwäbisch Gmünd was founded in the mid-12th century. It was a Free Imperial City from 1268 until 1803, when it passed to Württemberg.
[edit] Institutions
From 1963 to May 1991, the United States Army's 56th Field Artillery Brigade, equipped with Pershing missiles, was headquartered at the Bismarck Kaserne with housing at the Hardt Kaserne on an overlooking hill. The Hardt Kaserne was home to the 1st Battalion, 41st Field Artillery (Pershing) and also housed the base's school, the commissary and dependent housing. After the closure of the base, the University of Maryland University College opened a four-year German campus on the Bismarck Kaserne in 1992, which closed in 2002 due to financial difficulties and a lack of students.[1].
In 2004, the state of Baden-Württemberg opened the Landesgymnasium für Hochbegabte (State Grammar School for the Highly Gifted) in some of the renovated buildings on the Bismarck Kaserne.[2]
[edit] Economics
Since the 17th century, Schwäbisch Gmünd has been home to producers of gold and silver handicrafts. The town also houses the Forschungsinstitut für Edelmetalle und Metallchemie, an institute for precious metalwork. Other prevalent industries include automotive suppliers and manufacturers of machinery and glass and a large subsidiary of the Swiss toiletries and medicine producer Weleda.[3]
[edit] Notable residents
- Peter Parler (1330–99), architect and builder
- Hans Ratgeb (circa 1480–1526), painter
- Hans Baldung (1484 or 1485 – 1545), painter
- Hans Judenkönig (died 1526)
- Emanuel Leutze (born in Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816; died in Washington, D.C. 1868)
- Lina Haag (1907- Present) and Alfred Haag (1904-1982), local Communists & Nazi Concentration Camp survivors both born in Schwäbisch Gmünd
- Aron Strobel (* 1958), band member of Münchener Freiheit
[edit] Twin towns
Schwäbish Gmünd is twinned with:
Barnsley, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom
Antibes, Alpes-Maritimes France
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States
Székesfehérvár, Fejér county, Hungary
Faenza, Emilia-Romagna, Italy
[edit] Trivia
The town of Schwäbisch Gmünd hit the headlines world-wide on November 7, 1992, when German swimming star Franziska van Almsick set a world record in the 50m freestyle in the local pool, clocking 24.75 seconds. Schwäbisch Gmünd hosts the annual Swabian Alb Marathon, part of the European Ultramarathon Cup.
The German Wikisource-Project has the aim to make available all printed Public Domain publications about Schwäbisch Gmünd (with the exception of daily press).
[edit] External links
- Official website
- Schwäbisch Gmünd Live Webcam
- Schwäbisch Gmünd — The oldest Staufertown (English)
- Schwäbisch Gmünd portal, links, image gallery, artists (English) (German)
- Wikisource (German) - some hundred of PD texts
[edit] References
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