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Schwäbisch Gmünd
 
 
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Schwäbisch Gmünd is a town in the eastern part of the German
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 state of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg

Baden-W?rttemberg is one of the 16 States of Germany of the Federal Republic of Germany. Baden-W?rttemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine?but one which has some of its major cities straddling the banks of the Neckar River ....
. With a population of around 62,000, the town is the second largest in the Ostalbkreis
Ostalbkreis

The Ostalbkreis is a Districts of Germany in the east of Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany, on the border to Bavaria. Neighboring districts are Schw?bisch Hall , Ansbach , Donau-Ries, Heidenheim , G?ppingen and Rems-Murr....
 and the whole region of East Württemberg
Württemberg

W?rttemberg [], formerly known as Wirtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....
 after Aalen
Aalen

Aalen is a town in the Germany state of Baden-W?rttemberg. It is the seat of the Ostalbkreis district, and its largest town....
. 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.

äbisch Gmünd lies on the Rems
Rems

The Rems is a right tributary of the Neckar in eastern Baden-W?rttemberg. It is 78 km long. Its source is in Essingen, near Aalen. It flows generally west through the towns B?bingen an der Rems, Schw?bisch Gm?nd, Pl?derhausen, Schorndorf, Remshalden and Waiblingen....
 river about 50 kilometers east of Stuttgart
Stuttgart

Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-W?rttemberg in southern Germany. The list of cities in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 590,429 while the metropolitan area referred to as Stuttgart Region has a population of 2.7 million ....
, the capital of Baden-Württemberg.






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Schwäbisch Gmünd is a town in the eastern part of the German
Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands....
 state of Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg

Baden-W?rttemberg is one of the 16 States of Germany of the Federal Republic of Germany. Baden-W?rttemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine?but one which has some of its major cities straddling the banks of the Neckar River ....
. With a population of around 62,000, the town is the second largest in the Ostalbkreis
Ostalbkreis

The Ostalbkreis is a Districts of Germany in the east of Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany, on the border to Bavaria. Neighboring districts are Schw?bisch Hall , Ansbach , Donau-Ries, Heidenheim , G?ppingen and Rems-Murr....
 and the whole region of East Württemberg
Württemberg

W?rttemberg [], formerly known as Wirtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....
 after Aalen
Aalen

Aalen is a town in the Germany state of Baden-W?rttemberg. It is the seat of the Ostalbkreis district, and its largest town....
. 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.

Geography

Schwäbisch Gmünd lies on the Rems
Rems

The Rems is a right tributary of the Neckar in eastern Baden-W?rttemberg. It is 78 km long. Its source is in Essingen, near Aalen. It flows generally west through the towns B?bingen an der Rems, Schw?bisch Gm?nd, Pl?derhausen, Schorndorf, Remshalden and Waiblingen....
 river about 50 kilometers east of Stuttgart
Stuttgart

Stuttgart is the capital of the state of Baden-W?rttemberg in southern Germany. The list of cities in Germany, Stuttgart has a population of 590,429 while the metropolitan area referred to as Stuttgart Region has a population of 2.7 million ....
, the capital of Baden-Württemberg. It also lies at the northern foot of the Swabian Jura Mountains
Swabian Alb

The Swabian Alb is a low mountain range in Baden-W?rttemberg, Germany, extending 220 km from southwest to northeast and 40 to 70 km in width....
.

History

The first settlement in this area was around the 2nd century AD, when Roman soldiers settled nearby the 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
Charlemagne

Charlemagne was List of Frankish kings from 768 to his death. He expanded the Franks kingdoms into a Carolingian Empire that incorporated much of Western Europe and Central Europe....
, in the Monastery of St Denis near Paris
Paris

Paris is the Capital of France and the country's largest city. It is situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the ?le-de-France Regions of France ....
 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
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 belonged to a List of states in the Holy Roman Empire and so were governed by one of the many princes of the Empire, such as dukes or prince-bishops....
 from 1268 until 1803, when it passed to Württemberg.

Institutions

From 1963 to May 1991, the United States Army
United States Army

The United States Army is the branch of the United States Armed Forces responsible for Army operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S....
's 56th Field Artillery Brigade
56th Field Artillery Command

The 56th Field Artillery Command was a brigade size element of the United States Army from 1963 through 1991....
, equipped with Pershing missile
Pershing missile

Pershing was a family of solid-fueled two-stage medium-range ballistic missiles designed and built by Martin Marietta to replace the PGM-11 Redstone missile as the United States Army's primary theater-level weapon....
s, was headquartered at the Bismarck Kaserne with housing at the Hardt Kaserne
Kaserne

Kaserne is a loanword taken from the German language word Kaserne , which translates as "barracks". It is the typical term used when naming the garrison location for NATO forces stationed in Germany....
 on an overlooking hill. The Hardt Kaserne
Kaserne

Kaserne is a loanword taken from the German language word Kaserne , which translates as "barracks". It is the typical term used when naming the garrison location for NATO forces stationed in Germany....
 was home to the 1st Battalion, 41st Field Artillery (Pershing) and also housed the base's school, the commissary
Commissary

A commissary is someone delegated by a superior to execute a duty or an office; in a formal, legal context, one who has received power from a legitimate superior authority to pass judgment in a certain cause or to take information concerning it....
 and dependent housing. After the closure of the base, which often attracted protests, the University of Maryland University College
University of Maryland University College

The University of Maryland University College , located in the unincorporated community of Adelphi, Maryland in Prince George's County, Maryland, Maryland in the United States....
 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..

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.

Local industry

Since the 17th century, Schwäbisch Gmünd has been home to producers of gold
Gold

Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79. It is a highly sought-after precious metal, having been used as money, as a store of value, in jewelry, in sculpture, and for ornamentation since the beginning of recorded history....
 and silver
Silver

Silver is a chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal....
 handicrafts. The town is also home to the Forschungsinstitut für Edelmetalle und Metallchemie, an institute for precious metal
Precious metal

A precious metal is a rare metallic chemical element of high economics value. Chemically, the precious metals are less reactivity than most elements, have high lustre , are softer or more ductility, and have higher melting points than other metals....
 work and surface technology. Other important industries include automotive suppliers, manufacturers of machinery and glass, and a large subsidiary of the Swiss toiletries and medicine producer Weleda.

Notable residents

  • Peter Parler
    Peter Parler

    Peter Parler, His father, master builder Heinrich Parler , had moved to Schw?bisch Gm?nd from Cologne, to lead the reconstruction works of the Holy Cross parish church....
     (1330–99), architect
    Architect

    An architect is trained and licenced in planning and designing buildings, and participates in supervising the construction of a building. Etymologically, architect derives from the Latin architectus, itself derived from the Greek arkhitekton , i.e....
     and builder
    Construction worker

    Construction workers are employed in the construction industry and work predominantly on construction sites and are typically engaged in aspects of the industry other than design or finance....
  • Hans Ratgeb (circa 1480–1526), painter
  • Hans Baldung
    Hans Baldung

    Hans Baldung, known as Hans Baldung Grien/Gr?n . Germany Renaissance artist as Painting and printmaker in woodcut. He was considered the most gifted student of Albrecht D?rer....
     (1484 or 1485 – 1545), painter
  • Hans Judenkönig (died 1526)
  • Emanuel Leutze
    Emanuel Leutze

    Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze was a German American History painting best-known for his painting Washington Crossing the Delaware.Leutze was born to a Jewish family in Schw?bisch Gm?nd, W?rttemberg , was brought to America as a child, and then returned to Germany as an adult....
     (born in Schwäbisch Gmünd 1816; died in Washington, D.C. 1868)
  • Lina Haag
    Lina Haag

    Lina Haag was a member of the Youth movement of the Communist Party of Germany in the small W?rttemberg town of Schw?bisch Gm?nd in the 1920s....
     (1907- Present) and Alfred Haag
    Alfred Haag

    Alfred Haag was a member of the Youth movement of the Communist Party of Germany in the small W?rttemberg town of Schw?bisch Gm?nd in the 1920s, he married another Communist; Lina Haag in 1927....
     (1904–1982), local Communists & Nazi Concentration Camp survivors both born in Schwäbisch Gmünd
  • Aron Strobel
    Aron Strobel

    Aron Strobel is best known as the lead guitarist for M?nchener Freiheit, who had several big hits throughout Europe....
     (* 1958), band member of Münchener Freiheit
    Münchener Freiheit

    M?nchener Freiheit is a Germany pop band that, as of 2007, had released 17 albums, six of which have gone gold and sold over 5 million copies in Europe....


Twin towns

Schwäbish Gmünd is twinned with: Barnsley
Barnsley

Barnsley is a town in South Yorkshire, England. It lies on the River Dearne, north of the city of Sheffield, south of Leeds and west of Doncaster....
, South Yorkshire
South Yorkshire

South Yorkshire is a metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It has a population of List of ceremonial counties of England by population....
, United Kingdom
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 Antibes
Antibes

Antibes is a resort town in the Alpes-Maritimes Departments of France in southeastern France, on the Mediterranean Sea in the French Riviera, located between Cannes and Nice....
, Alpes-Maritimes
Alpes-Maritimes

Alpes-Maritimes is a departments of France in the extreme southeast corner of France....
 France
France

France , officially the French Republic , is a country whose Metropolitan France is located in Western Europe and that also comprises various Overseas departments and territories of France....
 Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
Bethlehem, Pennsylvania

Bethlehem is a city in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania and Northampton County, Pennsylvania in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, in the United States....
, United States
United States

The United States of America is a Federal government constitutional republic comprising U.S. state and a federal district. The country is situated mostly in central North America, where its Contiguous United States and Washington, D.C., the Capital districts and territories, lie between the Pacific Ocean and Atlantic Oceans, Borders of the U...
 Székesfehérvár
Székesfehérvár

Sz?kesfeh?rv?r is a city in central Hungary, located around southwest of Budapest. It is inhabited by 106,346 people , with 138,995 in the direct vicinity, and is the centre of Fej?r county and the Regions of Hungary centre of Central Transdanubia....
, Fejér county, Hungary
Hungary

Hungary , officially in English the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in the Carpathian Basin of Central Europe, bordered by Austria, Slovakia, Ukraine, Romania, Serbia, Croatia, and Slovenia....
 Faenza
Faenza

Faenza is an Italy city and comune, in the province of Ravenna, Emilia-Romagna, situated 50 km southeast of Bologna.Faenza is noted for its manufacture of majolica ware glazed earthenware pottery, known from the name of the town as "faience"....
, Emilia-Romagna
Emilia-Romagna

Emilia-Romagna is an administrative Regions of Italy of Northern Italy comprising the two historic regions of Emilia and Romagna. The capital is Bologna; it has an area of 20,124 km? and about 4.3 million inhabitants....
, Italy
Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic , is a country located on the Italian Peninsula in Southern Europe and on the two largest islands in the Mediterranean Sea, Sicily and Sardinia....


Trivia

The town of Schwäbisch Gmünd hit the headlines world-wide on November 7, 1992, when German swimming
Swimming

Swimming is the movement by humans or animals through water, usually without artificial assistance. Swimming is an activity that can be both useful and recreational....
 star Franziska van Almsick
Franziska van Almsick

Franziska van Almsick is a List of Swimmers#Germany. She won her first Olympic medals in 1992 at the Barcelona Olympic Games aged fourteen....
 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
European Ultramarathon Cup

The European Ultramarathon Cup, which was performed for the 15th time in 2007, is an annual cup event covering some of the biggest Ultramarathons in Europe....
.

The German Wikisource
Wikisource

Wikisource is an online library of free content source text, operated by the Wikimedia Foundation. Its aims are to harbour all forms of free text, in many languages....
-Project has the aim to make available all printed Public Domain publications about Schwäbisch Gmünd (with the exception of daily press).

External links

  • , links, image gallery, artists
  • - some hundred of PD texts