Bettringen is a ''

Stadtteil A quarter is a section of an urban settlement. A quarter can be administratively defined and its borders officially designated, and it may have its own administrative structure (subordinate to that of the city, town or other urban area). Such a ...

'' of

Schwäbisch Gmünd Schwäbisch Gmünd (, until 1934: Gmünd; Swabian: ''Gmẽẽd'' or ''Gmend'') is a city in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of around 60,000, the city is the second largest in the Ostalb district a ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a 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 inhabitants across a ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. With around 10,000 inhabitants, it is the biggest borough of Schwäbisch Gmünd.

Geography

The ''Strümpfelbach'' divides Bettringen into an upper part (''Oberbettringen'') and a lower part (''Unterbettringen''). Oberbettringen lies mainly on the North side of the river, while Unterbettringen is placed on the South side. The ''Strümpfelbach'' flows into the Rems. Adjacent boroughs of Schwäbisch Gmünd are Weiler in den Bergen, Hussenhofen, Schwäbisch Gmünd proper and Bargau. Bettringen also borders on the municipality Waldstetten. Bettringen lies 50 km east of Stuttgart and on the foot of the

Swabian Alps Swabian or Schwabian, or ''variation'', may refer to: * the German region of Swabia (German: "''Schwaben''") * Swabian German, a dialect spoken in Baden-Württemberg in south-west Germany and adjoining areas (German:"''Schwäbisch''") * Danube ...

History

Bettringen was first mentioned in 1218 in the ''red book of the cloister Lorch''. In the 15th century there was the first mention of Oberbettringen and Unterbettringen. The ''Bettringen Lords'' (''Herren von Bettringen'') are mentioned in a few certifications in the 13th and 14th century. Since 1870 ''Unterbettringen'' was part of Oberbettringen. In 1934 the municipality was renamed to Bettringen. In 1934 the city council of Oberbettringen decided to change its name into Bettringen. Since April 1, 1959 Bettringen is part of Schwäbisch Gmünd.

Politics

The '' Ortsvorsteherin'' (representative) of Bettringen is Brigitte Weiß ( CDU). The local council has 16 seats: 8 CDU, 4

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, ; SPD, ) is a centre-left social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the ...

, 3

Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance 90/The Greens (german: Bündnis 90/Die Grünen, ), often simply referred to as the Greens ( ), is a Green politics, green List of political parties in Germany, political party in Germany. It was formed in 1993 as the merger of The Greens ...

, 1 FDP. Four members of the local council are also member of the city council of

. Also some of the members of the city youth council are from Bettringen or the schools of Bettringen (including the School of Education).

Religion

For a long time Bettringen was mainly

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

. Since the migrations after World War II also Protestant people came to Bettringen. Today over 5000 catholic people live in Bettringen in the St. Cyriakus parish. There are three Catholic churches and a chapel: * '' St. Cyriakus church'', main church * ''St. Ottilia church'', oldest church * ''Auferstehung-Christi-Church'' (Resurrection of Christ church) * ''Felix chapel'' Catholic services are held at least once a day from Tuesday to Sunday. All catholic churches have their own pipe organ. A highlight of the ecumene is the annual ecumene service, which is every Pentecost in one of the both parishes.

The Organ of the St. Cyriakus church

The pipes, stops and rows:

Culture

Bettringen has a rich cultural life, with many clubs. There are a broad range of clubs starting with the sports club over the music club, many church-related clubs, until specific clubs. The clubs organize a lot of events throughout the year, e.g. the Corpus Christi parish festival, which is a church festival in collaboration with the German Red Cross, the music chapel, and many more.

Education

Bettringen has many elementary and different kinds of high schools and a

School of education In the United States and Canada, a school of education (or college of education; ed school) is a division within a university that is devoted to scholarship in the field of education, which is an interdisciplinary branch of the social sciences en ...

(''Paedagogische Hochschule''). Bettringen has a high level high school the so-called Scheffold Gymnasium after the former mayor of Schwaebisch Gmuend; a

Realschule ''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), ...

the Adalbert-Stifter Realschule, which is named after

Adalbert Stifter Adalbert Stifter (; 23 October 1805 – 28 January 1868) was an Austrian writer, poet, painter, and pedagogue. He was notable for the vivid natural landscapes depicted in his writing and has long been popular in the German-speaking world, while ...

; an elementary and

Hauptschule A ''Hauptschule'' (, "general school") is a secondary school in Germany, starting after four years of elementary schooling (''Grundschule''), which offers Lower Secondary Education (Level 2) according to the International Standard Classification ...

the so-called Uhlandschule after

Ludwig Uhland Johann Ludwig Uhland (26 April 1787 – 13 November 1862) was a German poet, philologist and literary historian. Biography He was born in Tübingen, Württemberg, and studied jurisprudence at the university there, but also took an interest i ...

and the Freie Waldorf Schule (''Free Waldorf School''). The Gymnasium is part of the community of ''Gmünder Gymnasien'' (community of high schools in

Institutions

Stiftung Haus Lindenhof

The Stiftung Haus Lindenhof (''House Lindenhof Foundation'') is a Catholic institution for

disabled Disability is the experience of any condition that makes it more difficult for a person to do certain activities or have equitable access within a given society. Disabilities may be cognitive, developmental, intellectual, mental, physical, se ...

and

old Old or OLD may refer to: Places *Old, Baranya, Hungary *Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, Mai ...

people.

Open-air pool

The Freibad Bettringen (''open-air pool of Bettringen'') is a pool with swimmers and non-swimmers zone.

Oderstraße 8

The Oderstraße 8 (

Oder The Oder ( , ; Czech, Lower Sorbian and ; ) is a river in Central Europe. It is Poland's second-longest river in total length and third-longest within its borders after the Vistula and Warta. The Oder rises in the Czech Republic and flows thr ...

street) is a youth center, which is hosted by the Catholic and Protestant parishes in Bettringen.

External links

Seite der Stadt Schwäbisch Gmünd
in German

in English {{Authority control Ostalbkreis