Reutlingen (; Swabian: ''Reitlenga'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is the capital of the eponymous district of Reutlingen. As of June 2018, it has a population of 115,818. Reutlingen has a university of applied sciences, which was founded in 1855, originally as a weavers' school. Today, Reutlingen is home to an established textile industry and also houses machinery, leather goods and steel manufacturing facilities. It has the narrowest street in the world, Spreuerhofstraße (width 31 cm).

Geography

Reutlingen is located about south of the State capital of Baden-Württemberg,

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 ...

. It lies in the Southwest corner of Germany, right next to the

Swabian Jura The Swabian Jura (german: Schwäbische Alb , more rarely ), sometimes also named Swabian Alps in English, is a mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, extending from southwest to northeast and in width. It is named after the region of ...

, and that is why it is often called ''The gateway to the

'' (german: link=no, Das Tor zur Schwäbischen Alb). The Echaz river, a tributary of the

Neckar The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis near Schwenn ...

, flows through the city centre. Along with the old university town of Tübingen (about to the west), Reutlingen is the centre of the Neckar-Alb region. It is also part of the larger Stuttgart Metropolitan Region.

History

The first settlements in the area are believed to date from the 4th or 5th century. Some time around 1030, Count Egino started to build a castle on top of the ''Achalm'', one of the largest mountains in Reutlingen district (about 706 m). One of the towers of this castle was rebuilt in the 19th century and is open to visitors. The name ''Reutlingen'' was first mentioned in writing in the so-called ''Bempflingen Treaty'' (german: link=no, Bempflinger Vertrag) which is dated approximately 1089–90. Around 1180, Reutlingen received market rights and, between 1220 and 1240 it was promoted to city status and city-walls and fortifications were built. Shortly thereafter, from 1247 to 1343, the city's landmark, the St. Mary's Church (german: link=no, Marienkirche) was built. In 1377 Reutlingen was the scene of a victory by the Swabian League, formed in the previous year by 14 Swabian cities, led by Ulm, over the Count of Württemberg. In 1519, a later Swabian League came to Reutlingen's help when

Ulrich, Duke of Württemberg Duke Ulrich of Württemberg (8 February 14876 November 1550) succeeded his kinsman Eberhard II as Duke of Württemberg in 1498. He was declared of age in 1503. His volatile personality made him infamous, being called the "Swabian Henry VIII" by ...

attempted to seize the city; the League landed a crushing blow, conquering Württemberg and selling it to Charles V. In 1495 and 1516 the Jews were exiled from the city. As a result of such struggles, Reutlingen became an Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire, free from allegiance to the Duke of Württemberg. In 1530, Reutlingen's city council signed the

Augsburg Confession The Augsburg Confession, also known as the Augustan Confession or the Augustana from its Latin name, ''Confessio Augustana'', is the primary confession of faith of the Lutheran Church and one of the most important documents of the Protestant Re ...

, and in 1580 and the Formula of Concord, key documents of Lutheranism. In 1803, in the wake of the French Revolutionary Wars, Reutlingen lost its independence in the German Mediatisation, being restored to Württemberg. The worst disaster in the history of Reutlingen happened in 1726, when a major fire swept through the city, destroying 80% of all residential houses and almost all public buildings, and making 1,200 families homeless. The impact of this fire, which lasted three days, is still visible today. During World War II, the wings of the V-1 flying bomb were manufactured in Reutlingen, making the city the target of several allied bombing raids. The reconstruction of Reutlingen and its democratization is closely linked to the name Oskar Kalbfells, who was the first democratically elected mayor of the city to shape Reutlingen's political history until 1973 after World War II. In 1947 Reutlingen came to the newly founded state of Württemberg-Hohenzollern, which merged with the state of Baden-Württemberg in 1952. On 24 July 2016 a Syrian killed a pregnant woman in a machete attack.

Lord mayors

* 1929–1933: Karl Haller * 1933–1945: Richard Dederer, NSDAP * 1945–1973: Oskar Kalbfell, SPD * 1973–1994: Manfred Oechsle, CDU * 1995–2003: Stefan Schultes, CDU * 2003–2019: Barbara Bosch, independent * since 2019 Thomas Keck, SPD

Transport

City buses are run by Reutlinger Stadtverkehr (RSV), while trains from

Reutlingen Hauptbahnhof Reutlingen Hauptbahnhof is the main station in Reutlingen in the German State of Baden-Württemberg. In addition the city has halts (''Haltepunkte'') at Reutlingen West and in the suburbs of Betzingen and Sondelfingen. They all lie on the Neckar- ...

and Reutlingen West, -Sondelfingen and Reutlingen-Betzingen are run by

Deutsche Bahn The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder. describes itself as the se ...

and

Abellio Rail Baden-Württemberg Abellio Deutschland is a public transit operator in Germany operating bus and rail networks. Headquartered in Berlin, it is a subsidiary of the Dutch state-owned Abellio. History Abellio Deutschland was formed by the Essen public transit com ...

Main sights

* '' Church of the Virgin Mary'', built in

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, the ethnonym of a group of East Germanic tribes **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Crimean Gothic, the Gothic language spoken b ...

style in the 13th–14th centuries. Nearby is a statue of emperor Frederick II. * ''Marktbrunnen'' ("Market Fountain", 16th century), surmounted by the statue of emperor Maximilian II. * ''Spitalhof'', built as a hospital in the 14th century. Damaged by a fire, it was largely rebuilt in the 18th century. * ''Church of St. Nicholas'', built in the 14th century as a chapel. * ''Gerber- und Färberbrunnen'' ("Tanners' and Dyers' Fountain"), 1920. * ''City hall'', built in 2013. * '' Spreuerhofstraße'', the world's narrowest street.

Culture

Mutschel The Mutschel is a traditional star-shaped bread from Reutlingen, Germany. The pastry, and the corresponding Mutscheltag (Mutschel Day), have probably existed since the 13th century. Mutscheln are roughly star-shaped and come in various sizes: u ...

tag (the first Thursday after Epiphany), townspeople gather in halls and homes to play games of dice, the winner of which earns parts or whole

loaves of bread. The Mutschelspiele (Mutschel games) consist of small games scored by tally marks, and are won both independently and by grand total at the end of the hour or night. This tradition is unique to the city of Reutlingen.

Education

Reutlingen University is a university of applied sciences, focusing on hands-on learning, which is apparent in their mandatory internship for all business majors. The university is an internationally friendly school with over 200 university cooperations worldwide. Classes are generally taught in German; however, in some Bachelor programs and in the Master's programs classes are taught in English.

Climate

Twin towns – sister cities

Reutlingen is

twinned Twinning (making a twin of) may refer to: * In biology and agriculture, producing two offspring (i.e., twins) at a time, or having a tendency to do so; * Twin towns and sister cities, towns and cities involved in town twinning * Twinning inst ...

with: *

Aarau Aarau (, ) is a List of towns in Switzerland, town, a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality, and the capital of the northern Swiss Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau. The List of towns in Switzerland, town is also the capital of the dis ...

, Switzerland (1986) * Bouaké, Ivory Coast (1970) * Dushanbe, Tajikistan (1990) * Ellesmere Port, England, UK (1966) * Reading, United States (1998) * Roanne, France (1958) * Szolnok, Hungary (1990)

Notable people

* Friedrich List (1789–1846), German-American economist *

Ernst Boepple '' SS-Oberführer'' Ernst Boepple (30 November 1887 – 15 December 1950) was a Nazi official and SS officer, serving as deputy to Josef Bühler in occupied Poland during World War II and the Holocaust, who was executed for war crimes. Life Boeppl ...

(1887–1950), Nazi official and SS officer executed for war crimes * Ferdinand Heim (1895–1971), general, the "Scapegoat of

Stalingrad Volgograd ( rus, Волгогра́д, a=ru-Volgograd.ogg, p=vəɫɡɐˈɡrat), geographical renaming, formerly Tsaritsyn (russian: Цари́цын, Tsarítsyn, label=none; ) (1589–1925), and Stalingrad (russian: Сталингра́д, Stal ...

" *

Erwin Fischer The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross (german: Ritterkreuz des Eisernen Kreuzes) and its variants were the highest awards in the military and paramilitary forces of Nazi Germany during World War II. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross was awarde ...

(1904–1996), jurist *

Helmuth Naumer Helmuth Naumer Sr. (born 1907 in Reutlingen, Germany; died 16 June 1990) was an American artist. He painted subjects throughout the United States and around the world, but is best known for his works depicting landscapes of New Mexico.Flynn (1994) ...

(1907–1990), artist *

Friedrich Schlotterbeck Albert Friedrich Schlotterbeck (January 9, 1909 – April 7, 1979) was a German author who wrote prose fiction, plays, and radio plays, and was a local leader of the German Resistance during World War II. Biography Born in Reutlingen in the K ...

(1909–1979), socialist, resistance fighter and author * Walter Vielhauer (1909–1986), trade unionist, politician, resistance fighter *

Gertrud Lutz Gertrud Lutz (born Gertrud Schlotterbeck: 17 September 1910 – 30 November 1944) was a Nazi Germany, German German resistance to Nazism, resistance activist. She died by shooting at the Dachau concentration camp. Life Gertrud "Trude" Schlotterb ...

(1910–1944), resistance fighter * Willy Hack (1912–1952), SS officer and concentration camp official executed for war crimes *

Walter G. Spohn Walter G. Spohn (June 5, 1914 - January 24, 2003) was the founder of the American Anaplastology Association, and coined the phrase anaplastology. In 2008, the American Anaplastology Association became the International Anaplastology Association. E ...

(1914–2003), the founder of the American Anaplastology Association * Martin Hengel (1926–2009), Protestant parson and historian *Willi Betz (1927–2015), founder of the Willi Betz company * Friedrich Wilhelm Schnitzler (1928–2011), landowner, business manager and politician ( CDU) *

Roland Kayn Roland Kayn (born 3 September 1933 in Reutlingen, Germany; died 5 January 2011 in Nieuwe Pekela, Netherlands) was a composer of electronic music. He is known for his lengthy works of cybernetic music. From 1952 to 1955 he studied composition a ...

(1933–2011), organist and composer * Ernst Messerschmid (born 1945), astronaut and physicist * Claus Kleber (born 1955), television journalist *

Dominik Kuhn Dominik Kuhn (pseudonym: ''Dodokay''; born September 16, 1969) is a German producer, language artist, comedian, director and musician. He is the owner of the production company STARPATROL Entertainment. He got famous in Germany with Swabian fandu ...

(born 1969), producer, language artist and comedian

References

External links

*
The University of Applied Sciences in Reutlingen
*
RSV website
(in German)

{{Authority control Cities in Baden-Württemberg Reutlingen (district) 1803 disestablishments Former states and territories of Baden-Württemberg States and territories established in 1240 1726 in the Holy Roman Empire Populated places on the Neckar basin Populated riverside places in Germany Württemberg