Gechingen is a town in the district of

Calw Calw (; previously pronounced and sometimes spelled Kalb accordingly; ) is a Landstadt, town in the middle of Baden-Württemberg in the south of Germany, capital and largest town of the Calw (district), district Calw. It is located in the North ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

History

Gechingen was first mentioned in 1110 as a fief of the in a document outlining gifts made by local nobility to

Hirsau Abbey Hirsau Abbey, formerly known as Hirschau Abbey, was once one of the most important Benedictine abbeys of Germany. It is located in the Hirsau borough of Calw on the northern slopes of the Black Forest mountain range, in the present-day state of ...

. Lordship over Gechingen was inherited by the

County Palatine of Tübingen The County Palatine of Tübingen was a state of the Holy Roman Empire in the medieval period. The dynasty, originally based in Nagold, managed to acquire extensive holdings over the course of their time in power, distinguishing themselves by fou ...

, who sold the town to Herrenalb Abbey in 1308 or 1309. As a result of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

, Herrenalb Abbey was secularized and its holdings seized by the

Duchy of Württemberg The Duchy of Württemberg () was a duchy located in the south-western part of the Holy Roman Empire. It was a Imperial Estate, state of the Holy Roman Empire from 1495 to 1803. The dukedom's long survival for over three centuries was mainly du ...

, whose government assigned the town to the at Merklingen. In 1808, Gechingen was made a municipality and assigned to . That district was reformed in 1938 as Landkreis Calw, and Gechingen remained in its jurisdiction. Gechingen grew slowly in the years after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

and not see significant

urban growth Urban sprawl (also known as suburban sprawl or urban encroachment) is defined as "the spreading of urban developments (such as houses and shopping centers) on undeveloped land near a city". Urban sprawl has been described as the unrestricted ...

until the 1960s.

Geography

The municipality ('' Gemeinde'') of Gechingen is located at the western edge of

the district ''The District'' is an American crime drama and police procedural television series that aired on CBS from October 7, 2000, to May 1, 2004. The show followed the work and personal life of the chief of Washington, D.C.'s police department. P ...

, along its border with

Böblingen Böblingen (; ) is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, seat of Böblingen (district), Böblingen District. Sindelfingen and Böblingen are Geographic contiguity, contiguous. History Böblingen was founded by Count Wilhelm von Tübingen-Bö ...

. Gechingen is physically located in the

Heckengäu The Heckengäu is a part of the Gäu (Baden-Württemberg), Gäu, a region in the counties of Landkreis Böblingen, Böblingen, Landkreis Calw, Calw, Landkreis Ludwigsburg, Ludwigsburg and Enzkreis in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Part of ...

and Schlehengäu regions of the

Black Forest The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is th ...

, within the greater region of the . Elevation above sea level in the municipal area ranges from a high of

Normalnull ("standard zero") or (short N. N. or NN) is an outdated official vertical datum used in Germany. Elevations using this reference system were to be marked (“meters above standard zero”). has been replaced by (NHN). History In 187 ...

(NN) to a low of NN. A portion of the Federally protected

nature reserve A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, funga, or features of geologic ...

is located in Gechingen's municipal area.

Politics

Gechingen has one borough (''Ortsteil''), Gechingen, and four villages: Berghöfe, Bergwald, Dachtgrubenhöfe, and Waldhof. Gechingen is a member of the Althengstett Municipal Association with the municipalities of Althengstett, Ostelsheim, and Simmozheim.

Coat of arms

Gechingen's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

displays a

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body (biology), body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the ...

, in

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

, standing on a

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

, three-pointed hill and facing to the left with a blue

crosier A crozier or crosier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catho ...

in its forepaws, upon a

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

yellow Yellow is the color between green and orange on the spectrum of light. It is evoked by light with a dominant wavelength of roughly 575585 nm. It is a primary color in subtractive color systems, used in painting or color printing. In t ...

. This coat of arms was created with advice from the , as Gechingen did not have one and instead used the

coat of arms of Württemberg The coat of arms of the Kingdom of Württemberg shows an impalement of the three black antlers that represent Württemberg on the dexter (viewer's left) side, and the three black lions passant of medieval Swabia on the sinister (viewer's right ...

in its seals. The lion upon the hill is taken from the arms of the Counts of Calw, while the crosier references Herrenalb Abbey. The Federal Ministry of the Interior awarded this coat of arms to Gechingen alongside a municipal flag on 18 July 1955.

Transportation

Gechingen is connected to Germany's network of roadways by its local ''

Kreisstraße A Kreisstraße (, or 'county road') is a class of road in Germany. It carries traffic between the towns and villages within a ''Districts of Germany, Kreis'' or district or between two neighbouring districts. In importance, the ''Kreisstraße'' ...

n'', which connect to the

Bundesautobahn 81 is a motorway in Germany. It branches off the A 3 at the Würzburg-West triangle and ends near the border with Switzerland. The oldest part of the A 81 between the Weinsberg intersection ( A 6) near Heilbronn and Dreieck Leo ...

near Gärtringen, about outside of Gechingen's municipal area. Local public transportation is provided by the .

References

{{Authority control Calw (district)