Waiblingen (;
Swabian: ''Woeblinge'') is a town in the southwest of
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 ...
, located in the center of the densely populated
Stuttgart region, directly neighboring
Stuttgart. It is the capital and largest city of the
Rems-Murr district. , Waiblingen had 55,449 inhabitants (27,334 men and 28,115 women).
, the area of the town (including all external properties, such as forests) was .
History
Waiblingen was first mentioned in
Carolingian documents in 885 at the time of
Charles the Fat
Charles III (839 – 13 January 888), also known as Charles the Fat, was the emperor of the Carolingian Empire from 881 to 888. A member of the Carolingian dynasty, Charles was the youngest son of Louis the German and Hemma, and a great-grandso ...
. It received its town charter in 1250.
Waiblingen was the property of the
Salian kings, from whom the
Hohenstaufen
The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynast ...
dukes and kings inherited it. It is intimately tied to the conflict between
Guelphs and Ghibellines in the 12th and 13th century. During the
Siege of Weinsberg in 1140, the Hohenstaufens of
Swabia (led by
Conrad III of Germany) used "Wibellingen" - a version of the town name - as their rallying cry; "Wibellingen" subsequently became Ghibellino in Italian.
The town was almost completely destroyed in 1634 during the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...
, when
Imperial and Spanish troops sacked the city after the
Battle of Nördlingen. Fires raged for more than a week, and most of Waiblingen's citizens were killed or had to flee. Rebuilding only began four years after this catastrophe; the existing old central part of the town dates back to the years between 1640 and 1700. Its fortifications are now well restored.
Incorporation
The following towns were incorporated into Waiblingen:
*1 December 1971:
Beinstein
*1 January 1975:
Bittenfeld,
Hegnach,
Hohenacker, and
Neustadt
Economy
Waiblingen houses the principal office of the world's biggest
chainsaw
A chainsaw (or chain saw) is a portable gasoline-, electric-, or battery-powered saw that cuts with a set of teeth attached to a rotating chain driven along a guide bar. It is used in activities such as tree felling, limbing, bucking, pru ...
manufacturer,
Stihl. Engineering and technology multinational
Robert Bosch GmbH has two factories in the city producing polymer and packaging technology.
It is also the location for the
letter processing center for the Stuttgart region of the
Deutsche Post.
Twin towns – sister cities
Waiblingen is
twinned with:
*
Baja, Hungary
*
Devizes
Devizes is a market town and civil parish in Wiltshire, England. It developed around Devizes Castle, an 11th-century Norman castle, and received a charter in 1141. The castle was besieged during the Anarchy, a 12th-century civil war between ...
, England, United Kingdom
*
Jesi
Jesi, also spelled Iesi (), is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Ancona in Marche, Italy.
It is an important industrial and artistic center in the floodplain on the left (north) bank of the Esino river before its mouth on the Adriatic ...
, Italy
*
Mayenne
Mayenne () is a landlocked department in northwest France named after the river Mayenne. Mayenne is part of the administrative region of Pays de la Loire and is surrounded by the departments of Manche, Orne, Sarthe, Maine-et-Loire, and Ill ...
, France
*
Virginia Beach
Virginia Beach is an independent city located on the southeastern coast of the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. The population was 459,470 at the 2020 census. Although mostly suburban in character, it is the most populous city ...
, United States
Notable people
*
Alessandro Abruscia (1990, Waiblingen), an Italian-German footballer
*
*
Jakob Andreae
*
*
Anouschka Bernhard
*
*
*
*
*
Giuseppe Catizone (1977, Waiblingen), an Italian and German footballer
*
*
*
Luise Duttenhofer
*
Eberhard II, Duke of Württemberg
*
*
Otto Esswein
*
Michael Fink
* (1970, Waiblingen), a German pianist
official site
/ref>
*
* Claus E. Heinrich
*
*
* Nadine Krause
Nadine Krause (born 25 March 1982, in Waiblingen) is a former German handballer who last played for Bayer Leverkusen as a left back. She made her debut on the German A-Team in 1999, at the age of 17. She was top scorer at the 2005 World Champion ...
* Leif Lampater
Leif Lampater (born 22 December 1982 in Waiblingen) is a German former professional racing cyclist. He competed in the men's team pursuit at the 2004 Summer Olympics.
He mainly focused on track cycling and excelled in the madison, individual pu ...
* Ludwig II, Count of Württemberg-Urach
* Giorgos Machlelis (1991, Waiblingen), a Greek-German footballer
* Bernd Mayländer
Bernd Mayländer (born 29 May 1971 in Waiblingen) is a German racing driver and current Formula One safety car driver.
Racing career
Bernd started his career in karting sport at the end of the 1980s. In the following years he made his way to t ...
* Christian Mergenthaler
Julius Christian Mergenthaler (8 November 1884 – 11 September 1980), was a Nazi German politician, member of the Reichstag and Württemberg Landtag, Ministerpräsident of Württemberg and Culture Minister.
Early life
Christian Mergentha ...
*
*
* Christoph Niemann
* Boris Palmer
* Achim Pfuderer
*
* Mathias Richling
* Günther Schäfer
* Patrick Schmollinger
Patrick Schmollinger (born 2 September 1973 in Waiblingen, Baden-Württemberg) is a retired male breaststroke swimmer from Austria, who was born in Germany. He represented Austria at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia
Austral ...
* Wolfgang Straub
*
*
*
*
* Joachim Winkelhock
Joachim Winkelhock (born 24 October 1960) is a German motor racing driver.
The younger brother of the late Manfred Winkelhock, Winkelhock was born in Waiblingen, near Stuttgart. The youngest brother, Thomas Winkelhock, and Manfred's son Mark ...
* Manfred Winkelhock
* Thomas Winkelhock
Honorary citizens
* 1883: Dr. med. Gustav Pfeilsticker
* 1907: Ferdinand Küderli
* 1930: Theodor Kaiser
* 1932: Friedrich Schofer
* 1934: Albert Roller
* 1953: Emil Münz
* 1967: Alfred Diebold
* 1968:
* 1997: Dr. Ulrich Gauß
* 1997: (1932, Stuttgart), a German industrialist ( Stihl)
* 1997: Albrecht Villinger
References
External links
*
Galerie Stihl Waiblingen in 360°-Panoramapictures
*
{{Authority control
Towns in Baden-Württemberg
Rems-Murr-Kreis
Württemberg