Göppingen (; or ) is a town in southern

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 ...

, part of the

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 ...

Region 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 ...

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

Märklin Gebr. Märklin & Cie. GmbH or Märklin (stylized as ma̋rklín) (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 specialis ...

, and it is the birthplace of football player Jürgen Klinsmann. It also hosts the headquarters of TeamViewer AG.

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

History

Tradition holds that the city was founded by an

Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic peoples, Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE ...

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) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...

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, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

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

displaced person Forced displacement (also forced migration or forced relocation) 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 perse ...

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) 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 ( , ; ) is a city in the Germany, German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk, administrative region of Mittelfranken, Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränk ...

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

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

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)

Sports

Local sports club Frisch Auf Göppingen currently play in the German first

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

men's top division

Handball-Bundesliga The Handball-Bundesliga (HBL) is the top German professional handball league. From 2007 to 2012, the league was sponsored by Toyota and was officially called the ''Toyota Handball-Bundesliga''. In 2012 the Deutsche Kreditbank AG (DKB) became t ...

Media

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

Stuttgarter Zeitung The () is a German language, 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 on 18 September 1945, just ...

" 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 (, ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) 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 delle Puglie, Tavoliere, also know ...

, Italy (1971) * Klosterneuburg, Austria (1971) *

Pessac Pessac (; ) is a commune in the Gironde department in Nouvelle-Aquitaine in southwestern France. It is a member of the metropolis of Bordeaux, being the second-largest suburb of Bordeaux and located just southwest of it. Pessac is also home to ...

, 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 ...

, Germany (1990)

Notable people

* Michael Maestlin (1550–1631), mathematician and astronomer, mentor of

Johannes Kepler Johannes Kepler (27 December 1571 – 15 November 1630) was a German astronomer, mathematician, astrologer, Natural philosophy, natural philosopher and writer on music. He is a key figure in the 17th-century Scientific Revolution, best know ...

* Friedrich Christoph Oetinger (1702–1782), theologian, leading

pietist Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life. Although the movement is ali ...

. * Eduard Fuchs (1870–1940), scholar, writer, political activist * Hugo Borst, (DE Wiki) (1881–1967), private art collector and patron of the arts * Karl Aberle (1901–1963), publisher and politician (SPD), member of Parliament, co-editor of the ''Neue Württembergische Zeitung'' * Hans Robert Jauss (1921–1997), literary scholar and linguist * Peter Häberle (born 1934), constitutional lawyer * Rolf Sattler (born 1936), a Canadian plant morphologist, biologist and philosopher, * Alfred Kirchner (born 1937), actor and theatre director, especially for opera * F. W. Bernstein (born 1938), poet, artist and satirist * Brigitte Russ-Scherer, (DE Wiki) (born 1956), jurist, 1999-2007 mayor of

Tübingen Tübingen (; ) is a traditional college town, university city in central Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated south of the state capital, Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of the Neckar and Ammer (Neckar), Ammer rivers. about one in ...

(SPD) * Charles Pelkey (born 1958), journalist, lawyer and politician in

Wyoming Wyoming ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States, Western United States. It borders Montana to the north and northwest, South Dakota and Nebraska to the east, Idaho t ...

Sport

* Adolf Kurz (1888–1959), wrestler, competed at the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad () and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, between 6 July and 22 July 1912. The opening ceremony was he ...

* Wolfgang Reinhardt (1943–2011), pole vaulter, silver medallist at the

1964 Summer Olympics The , officially the and commonly known as Tokyo 1964 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 10 to 24 October 1964 in Tokyo, Japan. Tokyo had been awarded the organization of the 1940 Summer Olympics, but this honor was subseq ...

. * Jürgen Klinsmann (born 1964), footballer, national coach of German football team, 2004-2006 * Danny Schwarz (born 1975), football coach and former player with 354 caps * Shane Smeltz (born 1981), a New Zealand former football striker, played 446 games and 58 for

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

* Michael Kraus (born 1983), handball player, played 129 times for

Ann-Katrin Berger Ann-Katrin Berger (born 9 October 1990) is a German professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Gotham FC in the National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) and the Germany national team, where she has been the number one since 2024. She ha ...

(born 1990), football goalkeeper, has played 17 games for Germany women

References

External links

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