Geislingen () is a town in the

Zollernalbkreis The Zollernalbkreis () is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The district is located in the Swabian Alb, and contains the second highest elevation of this range, the high '' Oberhohenberg''. In the south-e ...

district 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 ...

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 ...

. It is situated northwest of

Balingen Balingen (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Balenga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, capital of the districts of Germany, district of Zollernalbkreis. It is located near the Swabian Jura, approx. 35 km to the south of Tübingen, 35&nb ...

History

The area has been continuously settled since the

Stone Age The Stone Age was a broad prehistory, prehistoric period during which Rock (geology), stone was widely used to make stone tools with an edge, a point, or a percussion surface. The period lasted for roughly 3.4 million years and ended b ...

. The first recorded mention of Binsdorf dates to 834, and Geislingen was officially documented in 1188. In 1764, Carl von Ulm zu Erbach issued the ''Decretum für das Amt Beeder Herrschaften Werenwag und Callenberg'' ("Decree for the Office of the Two Lordships of Werenwag and Callenberg"), addressing poverty and supporting textile production. Under Württemberg rule, an alley of fruit trees was planted as an

easement An easement is a Nonpossessory interest in land, nonpossessory right to use or enter onto the real property of another without possessing it. It is "best typified in the right of way which one landowner, A, may enjoy over the land of another, B" ...

, with orchards managed by

William I of Württemberg William I (; 27 September 178125 June 1864) was King of Württemberg from 30 October 1816 until his death. Upon William's accession, Württemberg was suffering crop failures and famine in the "Year Without a Summer", in 1816. After taking office, ...

and the

Moravian Church The Moravian Church, or the Moravian Brethren ( or ), formally the (Latin: "Unity of the Brethren"), is one of the oldest Protestant denominations in Christianity, dating back to the Bohemian Reformation of the 15th century and the original ...

providing free fruit. By 1863, the orchards produced a variety of apples and pears, including traditional regional cultivars such as ''Luiken'', ''Winterling'', and ''Fleiner'' apples; baking pears, sugar pears, and green pears; as well as heritage varieties like the '' Goldparmäne'', rose apples, and leather-skinned apples. Other locally named types included "little bell" and "little cask" pears (''Glöcklesbirnen'', ''Fäßlesbirnen''), broadlings (''Breitlinge''), and Bergamot pears. In 1941, a protest occurred in Geislingen against the Nazi Party. In 1990, a fruit tree arboretum was established in Erlaheim.

Economy

Geislingen's economy historically included mining of sand, sandstone, limestone, jet, and iron ore. The Goldhöhle mine near Mildersbach in Erlaheim yielded

pyrite The mineral pyrite ( ), or iron pyrite, also known as fool's gold, is an iron sulfide with the chemical formula Fe S2 (iron (II) disulfide). Pyrite is the most abundant sulfide mineral. Pyrite's metallic luster and pale brass-yellow hue ...

but later collapsed. Binsdorf had a natural stone quarry. Geislingen in particular was known for jet production, derived from

Posidonia Shale The Posidonia Shale (, also called Schistes Bitumineux in Luxembourg) geologically known as the Sachrang Formation, is an Early Jurassic (Early to Late Toarcian) geological formation in Germany, northern Switzerland, northwestern Austria, souther ...

. Informational panels near the Goldhöhle were sponsored by the Kreissparkasse. A local tale references a figure known as the "Sandman" (''Sandmann''), a hawker of cleaning sand, an idea attributed to the Schwäbischer Albverein in Binsdorf. Wood from a mine in the Doggererzflöz near Weilheim is displayed in the granary museum (''Fruchtkasten'') in Tuttlingen. A steelworks operated in

Tuttlingen Tuttlingen (; Alemannic: ''Duttlinga'') is a town in Baden-Württemberg, capital of the district Tuttlingen. Nendingen, ''Möhringen'' and ''Eßlingen'' are three former municipalities that belong to Tuttlingen. Tuttlingen is located in Swabia ...

by the Schwäbische Hüttenwerke in Ludwigstal. The refinery at

Harras ''Harras'' is an album of improvised music by Derek Bailey, John Zorn & William Parker. The album was released by the Japanese Avant label in 1996. Towards the end of the track "Evening Harras" there is 10 minutes of silence followed by a Bailey ...

closed in 1832 due to the inefficiency of horse transport. Later, economic reforms and railway expansion rendered local iron ore mining unprofitable. Black shale was mined for

Operation Desert Operation Desert () was a German synthetic fuel project during World War II. It attempted to build a shale oil industrial production complex for utilization of Swabian Alb oil shale deposits (Posidonia Shale). The project was driven by the fuel ...

near Erzingen. Today the local economy combines agriculture, services, and small-scale industry.

Demographics

Geislingen has a population of roughly 6,000. It includes three districts: Geislingen (pop. 4,500), Erlaheim (pop. 500), and Binsdorf (pop. 1,000), each growing at about 1% annually. Many residents commute to industrial zones south 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 ...

or to nearby

Notable people

Michael Sattler Michael Sattler (1490 – 20 May 1527) was a monk who left the Roman Catholic Church during the Protestant Reformation to become one of the early leaders of the Anabaptist movement. He was particularly influential for his role in developing t ...

, a leader of the

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism'; , earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re-baptizers"), considering it biased. ...

movement in the early 16th century, was imprisoned in the tower of Binsdorf before being executed in

Rottenburg am Neckar Rottenburg am Neckar (; until 10 July 1964 only ''Rottenburg''; Swabian: ''Raodaburg'') is a medium-sized town in the administrative district (''Landkreis'') of Tübingen in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It lies about 50 kilometres (31 miles) s ...

. * Anna Funck, born in Erlaheim, was burned as a witch in 1587.

References

{{Authority control Zollernalbkreis