Heilbronn-Franken is a
region in northeastern
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a 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 inhabitants across a ...
,
Germany, in the
Stuttgart subdivision (Regierungsbezirk). It consists of the former
Free imperial city
In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...
of
Heilbronn,
Heilbronn district and the districts of
Hohenlohe
The House of Hohenlohe () is a German princely dynasty. It ruled an immediate territory within the Holy Roman Empire which was divided between several branches. The Hohenlohes became imperial counts in 1450. The county was divided numerous tim ...
,
Main-Tauber
Main-Tauber-Kreis is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the northeast of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from northwest clockwise) Miltenberg, Main-Spessart, Würzburg, Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim and Ansbach (all in Bavar ...
and
Schwäbisch Hall.
It covers an area of 4765 km² in the northeast of Baden-Wuerttemberg, with a population of roughly 0.9 million. The administrative seat of the region is Heilbronn.
The Heilbronn-Franken region is part of the European metropolitan region of
Stuttgart and has the highest density of world market leaders among all regions across Germany measured against their number of inhabitants. Heilbronn-Franken has experienced an outstanding development with regard to the dynamic of its innovation process.
The region is administratively part of Baden-Württemberg, especially the eastern parts of it (Hohenlohe) are, however, culturally a part of ''Franken'' (engl.
Franconia
Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch'').
The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper ...
, hence the second half of the name), as the population there mostly speaks
Franconian rather than
Swabian dialects of
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ge ...
. This area is known as ''
Tauberfranken
The region of Tauber Franconia (german: Tauberfranken) is a part of the region of Franconia, most of which lies in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Tauber Franconia is almost coextensive with the county of Main-Tauber-Kreis, which is bisecte ...
'', after
the Tauber river, that is flowing through it, and borders in the north and east with the Franconian regions of
Lower Franconia and
Middle Franconia
Middle Franconia (german: Mittelfranken, ) is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the west of Bavaria and borders the state of Baden-Württemberg. The administrative seat is Ansbach; however ...
, that belong to
Bavaria
Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...
. Towards the west, the region borders the
Rhine-Neckar region, to the south the
Stuttgart Region.
Apart from Heilbronn, smaller cities in the region are
Bad Mergentheim
Bad Mergentheim (; Mergentheim until 1926; East Franconian: ''Märchedol'') is a town in the Main-Tauber-Kreis district in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It has a population of around 23,000. An officially recognized spa town since 1926, ...
,
Crailsheim
Crailsheim is a town in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Incorporated in 1338, it lies east of Schwäbisch Hall and southwest of Ansbach in the Schwäbisch Hall district. The city's main attractions include two Evangelical churches, a ...
,
Künzelsau,
Neckarsulm,
Öhringen,
Schwäbisch Hall,
Tauberbischofsheim and
Wertheim.
References
Planning regions in Baden-Württemberg
{{BadenWürttemberg-geo-stub