Göppingen (

Swabian 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 S ...

: ''Geppenge'' or ''Gebbenga'') is a town in southern

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 betwee ...

, part of the

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...

Region of

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 ...

. It is the capital of the district Göppingen. Göppingen is home to the toy company

Märklin Gebr. Märklin & Cie. GmbH or Märklin (MÄRKLIN or MAERKLIN in capital letters) is a German toy company. The company was founded in 1859 and is based at Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg. Although it originally specialised in doll house accesso ...

, and it is the birthplace of football player

Jürgen Klinsmann Jürgen Klinsmann (, born 30 July 1964) is a German professional football manager and former player. Klinsmann played for several prominent clubs in Europe including VfB Stuttgart, Inter Milan, Monaco, Tottenham Hotspur, and Bayern Munich. He ...

. It also hosts the headquarters of

TeamViewer AG TeamViewer AG is an international technology company headquartered in Göppingen, Germany. The company became known for the TeamViewer remote access and support software of the same name. Today, TeamViewer AG offers its customers a global p ...

- the main sponsors of

Manchester United Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The ...

Geography

Göppingen is situated at the bottom of the Hohenstaufen mountain, in the valley of the river Fils. The districts of Göppingen are Bartenbach,

Bezgenriet Bezgenriet (361 m above sea level) is the most southern district of Göppingen in Germany. Schopflenberg, which was created after Second World War by increased influx of refugees and displaced persons, belongs to the '' Stadtteil'' Bezgenriet . ...

, Faurndau, Göppingen, Hohenstaufen, Holzheim, Jebenhausen and Maitis.

History

Tradition holds that the city was founded by an

Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...

c leader called Geppo sometime in the 3rd or 4th century. A disastrous fire on August 25, 1782 destroyed most of the town, but it was immediately rebuilt. Industrialisation during the 19th century made the area into a centre of industry. The importance of such industry is still seen in the town in the present day in companies such as

and Schuler.

Jewish community

Göppingen and the nearby village of Jebenhausen were home to a thriving Jewish community from 1777 until the Second World War. In 1777, the Baron von Liebenstein issued a "Letter of Protection" granting Elias Gutmann and other Jews permission to settle in Jebenhausen. The community grew and peaked in the mid-1800s, with the population center shifting from Jebenhausen to Göppingen and a substantial emigration of Jewish families to America by the late 19th Century. The Göppingen synagogue, constructed in 1881, was destroyed during the

Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation fro ...

from 9–10 November 1938. Detailed records of the communities were collected by Rabbi Dr. Aron Tänzer, who served the community from 1907-1937, and who was also a driving force behind the establishment of the secular city library in Göppingen. A comprehensive Jewish community history, ''Die Geschichte der Juden in Jebenhausen und Göppingen'', was first produced by Tänzer in 1927, on the 150th anniversary of the settlement of Jebenhausen, and re-released in 1988 by the city of Göppingen with updated material added by Karl-Heinz Ruess. The Jewish Museum in Jebenhausen, opened in 1992, documents and preserves the history of the Jewish community of Jebenhausen and Göppingen.

Cooke Barracks

In 1930, a civilian air field was built north of Göppingen. This was acquired by the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

(German Air Force) in 1935 and expanded into Fliegerhorst Kaserne. From 1945 through 1949,

displaced person Forced displacement (also forced migration) is an involuntary or coerced movement of a person or people away from their home or home region. The UNHCR defines 'forced displacement' as follows: displaced "as a result of persecution, conflict, g ...

s and refugees were housed in the kaserne. In 1949, it was renamed Cooke Barracks in honor of Charles H. Cooke, Jr. who had been posthumously awarded the Silver Star and Soldier's Medal for gallantry in action. In late 1950, the VII Corps (US) had been reactivated in

and U.S. Army units began to be stationed at Cooke Barracks. The barracks began to be expanded and was used as the 28th Infantry Division headquarters. The 28th Infantry was redesignated as the

9th Infantry Division (United States) The 9th Infantry Division ("Old Reliables") is an inactive infantry division of the United States Army. It was created as the 9th Division during World War I, but never deployed overseas. In later years, it would become an important unit of the U ...

in 1954 and was replaced by the 8th Infantry Division in 1956. They were then replaced by the 4th Armored Division in 1957, which was redesignated as the 1st Armored Division in 1971 and moved to Hindenburg Kaserne in

Ansbach Ansbach (; ; East Franconian: ''Anschba'') is a city in the German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränkische Rezat, ...

in 1972. The 1st Infantry Division (Forward) moved from

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

in 1972 until they were deactivated in 1991. Cooke Barracks was returned to the German government in 1992. The barracks were again used to house refugees for some time, then returned to civilian use.

Mayors

* 1819–1824: Viktor David Keller * 1824–1858: Ludwig Heinrich Widmann * 1858–1881: Georg Christian Philipp Friedrich Seefried (1814-1881) * 1881–1908: Gottlob Friedrich Allinger * 1908–1919: Julius Keck (1869-1924) * 1919–1933: Otto Hartmann * 1933–1945: Erich Pack * 1945–1954: Christian Eberhard (1886-1973) * 1954–1980: Herbert König * 1981–1996: Hans Haller * 1997–2004: Reinhard Frank (born 1955), ( CDU) * 2005-2021: Guido Till (born 1955), (SPD/independent/CDU) * since 2021: Alexander Maier (born 1991), (Greens)

Sport

Local sports club Frisch Auf Göppingen currently in the German first

team handball Handball (also known as team handball, European handball or Olympic handball) is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each (six outcourt players and a goalkeeper) pass a ball using their hands with the aim of throwing it into the ...

men's top division Handball-Bundesliga.

Media

Göppingen has its own daily newspaper called " Neue Württembergische Zeitung". The "

Stuttgarter Zeitung The ''Stuttgarter Zeitung'' ("Stuttgart newspaper") is a German-language daily newspaper (except Sundays) edited in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany, with a run of about 200,000 sold copies daily. History and profile It was first edited ...

" also has a local editorial office in Göppingen. In addition, Göppingen has its own local TV station, the " Filstalwelle". It can be received in the local cable network and via the web. Göppingen also has "Radio Fips" which is a radio station operated by a non-profit association.

Twin towns – sister cities

Göppingen is twinned with: *

Foggia Foggia (, , ; nap, label= Foggiano, Fògge ) is a city and former ''comune'' of Apulia, in Southern Italy, capital of the province of Foggia. In 2013, its population was 153,143. Foggia is the main city of a plain called Tavoliere, also known ...

, Italy (1971) * Klosterneuburg, Austria (1971) * Pessac, France (2000) *

Sonneberg Sonneberg in Thuringia, Germany, is the seat of the Sonneberg district. It is in the Franconian south of Thuringia, neighboring its Upper Franconian twin town Neustadt bei Coburg. Sonneberg became known as the "world toy city", and is home to ...

, Germany (1990)

Notable people

* Michael Maestlin (1550–1631), mathematician and astronomer F-c-oetinger-by-eger1775

* Friedrich Christoph Oetinger (1702–1782), theologian, leading pietist * August Ludwig Schott (1751–1787), lawyer and university professor * Eduard Fuchs (1870–1940), scholar, writer, political activist * Hugo Borst (1881–1967), private art collector and patron of the arts * Adolf Kurz (1888–1959), wrestler * Karl Aberle (1901–1963), publisher and politician (SPD), member of Parliament, co-editor of the ''Neue Württembergische Zeitung'' *

Hans Robert Jauss Hans Robert Jauss (german: Jauß; 12 December 1921 – 1 March 1997) was a German academic, notable for his work in reception theory (especially his concept of horizon of expectation) and medieval and modern French literature. His approach was d ...

(1921–1997), literary scholar and linguist *

Peter Häberle Peter Häberle (born 13 May 1934 in Göppingen, Baden-Württemberg) is a German legal scholar, specialising in constitutional law. Biography Häberle is the son of Hugo Häberle, a medical doctor, and Ursula Häberle (born Riebensahm). Häberle ...

(born 1934), constitutional lawyer *

F. W. Bernstein F. W. Bernstein (born Fritz Weigle; 4 March 1938 – 20 December 2018) was a German poet, cartoonist, satirist, and academic. He worked for the satirical biweekly '' pardon''. After teaching at schools, he was professor of caricature and comics ...

(born 1938), poet, artist and satirist * Frieder Birzele (born 1940), politician (SPD), former member of Landtag * Otto Hauser (born 1952), politician (CDU), Member of the Bundestag, parliamentary secretary and government spokesman * Brigitte Russ-Scherer (born 1956), jurist, 1999-2007 mayor of Tübingen (SPD) * Charles Pelkey (born 1958), journalist, lawyer and Democratic Whip of the Wyoming House of Representatives from 2015 to 2021. *

(born 1964), footballer, national coach of German football team (2004-2006) *

Michael Kraus Michael Kraus may refer to: * Michael Kraus (soccer) (born 1984), American soccer player * Michael Kraus (field hockey) (born 1958), American Olympic hockey player * Michael Kraus (handballer) (born 1983), German handball player * Michael Kraus ( ...

(born 1983), handball player *Annica Schuler (born 2005)

References

External links

Official website
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Goppingen Towns in Baden-Württemberg Göppingen (district) Württemberg