Backnang (; ) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

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 ...

in the Bundesland of

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 ...

, roughly northeast of

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

. Its population has increased greatly over the past century, from 7,650 in 1900 to 37,957 in 2022. Backnang was ceded to Württemberg by the

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

( Zähringer family) in 1325. Backnang has been known as ''Gerberstadt'' due to several

tanneries Tanning may refer to: *Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather *Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun **Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dye t ...

and

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning (leather), tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffal ...

factories A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...

, and

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

and cloth mills that dominated Backnang's industries. Today, all of these have vanished, and instead,

telecommunication companies A telecommunications company is a kind of electronic communications service provider, more precisely a telecommunications service provider (TSP), that provides telecommunications services such as telephony and data communications access. Many t ...

such as

Ericsson (), commonly known as Ericsson (), is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm, Sweden. Ericsson has been a major contributor to the development of the telecommunications industry and is one ...

(formerly

AEG The initials AEG are used for or may refer to: Common meanings * AEG (German company) ; AEG) was a German producer of electrical equipment. It was established in 1883 by Emil Rathenau as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte El ...

Telefunken Telefunken was a German radio and television producer, founded in Berlin in 1903 as a joint venture between Siemens & Halske and the ''AEG (German company), Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft'' (AEG) ("General electricity company"). Prior to ...

ANT Nachrichtentechnik Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22, ...

, Bosch and

Marconi Guglielmo Giovanni Maria Marconi, 1st Marquess of Marconi ( ; ; 25 April 1874 – 20 July 1937) was an Italian electrical engineer, inventor, and politician known for his creation of a practical radio wave-based wireless telegraph system. This ...

) and

Tesat-Spacecom The Tesat-Spacecom GmbH & Co. KG (TESAT) from Backnang, Germany is an independently operating subsidiary of Airbus Defence and Space which develops, produces and tests communication payloads for international satellite List of spacecraft manufac ...

dominate the town's industries. The ''Stiftskirche'', formerly the church of

Backnang Abbey The Abbey of Pancras of Rome, Saint Pancras of Backnang, better known as Backnang Abbey (), was a German monastery of canons regular founded around AD 1100 in Backnang, in the Duchy of Swabia. History The abbey was founded before 1116 by Herman I ...

, dates back to the 12th century. Backnang hosts the annual ''Strassenfest'' during the last weekend in June where the monday is also in June. It has been founded as a street festival where local sports and cultural clubs offered drinks and foods. The traditional opening of the ''Strassenfest'' is marked with cannon shots from the city tower at 6 pm on Friday and ends with the ''Zapfenstreich'' on the following Monday at 11 pm. The ''Strassenfest'' typically attracts more than 100,000 spectators.

Population

Mayors

Before 1930 the title for this position was ''Stadtschultheiß''. In 1930 the title became ''Bürgermeister'' (Mayor), and in 1956 with the elevation of Backnang to a "large district town," the title was changed to ''Oberbürgermeister'' (Lord Mayor). * 1901–1921: Hermann Eckstein * 1921–1945: Albert Rienhardt * 1946–1966: Walter Baumgärtner * 1966–1986: Martin Dietrich (1929-2012) * 1986–1994: Hannes Rieckhoff (born 1944) * 1994–2002: Jürgen-Heinrich Schmidt (born 1942) * 2002-2021: Frank Nopper (born 1961) * since 2021: Maximilian Friedrich (born 1987) Backnang-Stiftshof

Twin towns – sister cities

Backnang is twinned with: *

Annonay Annonay (; ) is a Communes of France, commune and largest city in the north of the Ardèche department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It is the most populous commune in the Ardèche department although it is not the ...

, France *

Bácsalmás Bácsalmás ( or ; ; ) is a small town in southern Hungary in the region of Bácska (Bács-Kiskun County) close to the border with the Vojvodina region of Serbia, with a population of 7,694 people. History In the Middle Ages, the region came u ...

, Hungary *

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Colchester and Southend-on-Sea. It is located north-east of London ...

, England, United Kingdom

Notable people

Johannes Magirus the elder Johannes Magirus (26 March 1537 – 4 July 1614) was a German Lutheran Theologian. Name change His name at birth, like that of his father, was Johannes Koch. The English language equivalent would be "John Cook". At some point he renamed himse ...

(1537–1614), Lutheran Theologian. * Eduard Breuninger, (DE Wiki) (1854–1932), entrepreneur, founder of Breuninger company * Anna Ziegler (1882–1942), politician (USPD, SPD), mayor of

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

, member of the Reichstag *

Ferdinand Schneider Ferdinand Gottlob Schneider (18 June 1911 – 11 May 1984) was a German chemist. Schneider was born in Backnang in the Kingdom of Württemberg. He studied at the University of Tübingen, Freiburg and Munich (Ph.D. 1934) and subsequently held the ...

(1911–1984), chemist, researched sugar technology *

Ursula Sax Ursula Sax (born 1935 in Backnang/Württemberg) is a German visual artist and sculptor. Life Ursula Sax was born in Backnang, a lively small town near Stuttgart. She has described her father as a teacher with artistic-poetic ambitions. He re ...

(born 1935), visual artist and sculptor. * Alois Albrecht, (DE Wiki)(born 1936), Roman Catholic priest and songwriter * Volker Hauff (born 1940), politician (SPD), MP, Federal Minister, former mayor of

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

Thomas Mayer Thomas Mayer may refer to: * Thomas Mayer (American economist) (1927–2015) * Thomas Mayer (German economist) (born 1954) * Thomas Mayer (motorcyclist), German motorcycle racer * Thomas Mayer (footballer, born 1995), Austrian footballer * Thomas M ...

(born 1954), Chief Economist of the

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (, ) is a Germany, German multinational Investment banking, investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York Stock Exchange. ...

, 2010 to 2012. *

Jens Weidmann Jens Weidmann (born 20 April 1968) is a German economist who served as president of the Deutsche Bundesbank between 2011 and 2021. He also served as chairman of the Board of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS). Before moving to the Bunde ...

(born 1968), president of the Bundesbank, 2011 and 2021, did his

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen year ...

in Backnang *

Gültekin Kaan Gültekin Kaan is a Turkish German musician and singer born in Backnang and raised in Remscheid Germany. He merges Western pop culture with elements of Turkish art and folk music. He performs with his own band under the name Gültekin Kaan & diV ...

(born ca.1975), a Turkish German musician and singer *

Gregor Meyle Gregor Meyle (born 13 October 1978) is a German singer-songwriter. He first rose to prominence when he auditioned for the talent contest ''TV Total'', hosted in Stefan Raab's late-night-show ''TV total'' in late-2007, eventually finishing in se ...

(born 1978), German singer-songwriter. *

Christina Stumpp Christina Daniela Stumpp (born 16 November 1987 in Backnang) is a German politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) who has been serving as a Member of the Bundestag since the 2021 elections, representing the Waiblingen district. E ...

(born 1987), politician ( CDU),

Member of the German Bundestag Member of the German Parliament () is the official name given to a deputy in the Bundestag, German Bundestag. ''Member of Parliament'' refers to the elected members of the federal Bundestag Parliament at the Reichstag building in Berlin. In G ...

since 2021

Sport

Ralf Rangnick Ralf Dietrich Rangnick (; born 29 June 1958) is a German professional football coach, executive, and former player who is currently the manager of the Austria national team. Rangnick began his coaching career in 1983, succeeding his career as a ...

(born 1958),

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of organizations, whether businesses, nonprofit organizations, or a government bodies through business administration, nonprofit management, or the political science sub-field of public administra ...

, manager of

Austria national football team The Austria national football team () represents Austria in men's international Association football, football competitions, and is controlled by the Austrian Football Association. The Austrian Football Association (ÖFB) was founded on 18 Mar ...

* Patrick Bauer (born 1992),

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

and play-off winner with

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Charlton, south-east London, England. The team compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English football league system. Their home ground is ...

, played over 300 games *

Andreas Hinkel Andreas Hinkel (born 26 March 1982) is a German Association football, football coach and a former player. Hinkel played as a right-back and earned 21 Cap (sport), caps for the Germany national football team, Germany national team. He was known fo ...

(born 1982), footballer with

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg (), is a Football in Germany, German professional football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions ...

played 282 games and 21 for

Julian Schieber Julian Schieber (; born 13 February 1989) is a German retired footballer who played as a striker. Club career VfB Stuttgart Schieber made his Bundesliga debut in a match at Energie Cottbus on 6 December 2008. On 21 January 2009, he extended h ...

(born 1989),

Hertha Berlin Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC () or Hertha Berlin, is a German professional football club based in Berlin. Hertha BSC plays in the 2. Bundesliga, the second tier of German football, following relegation from t ...

and Germany footballer, played 190 games *

Viola Brand Viola Brand (born 28 June 1994) is a German cyclist specialising in artistic cycling. She has won national and European championships twice each, and the silver medal three times in the UCI Indoor Cycling World Championships, World Championships ...

(born 1994), retired artistic cyclist

External links

*http://www.backnang.de - Official homepage *http://www.juzebacknang.com *https://web.archive.org/web/20070523190641/http://backnang24.de/murr-regatta/ *https://web.archive.org/web/20110719095242/http://www.traumzeit-theater.de/TraumZeit-Theater-KalanagMuseum.htm - Kalanag Museum

References

{{Authority control Towns in Baden-Württemberg Rems-Murr-Kreis