The Ostalbkreis is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the east of

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 Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, on the border 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 ...

. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise)

Schwäbisch Hall Schwäbisch Hall (; "Swabian Hall"; from 1802 until 1934 and colloquially: ''Hall'' ) is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg located in the valley of the Kocher river, the longest tributary (together with its headwater Lein) of the ...

Ansbach Ansbach (; ; East Franconian: ''Anschba'') is a city in the German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränkische Rezat, ...

Donau-Ries Donau-Ries (''Danube-Ries'') is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Ansbach, Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen, Eichstätt, Neuburg-Schrobenhausen, Aichach-Friedberg, Au ...

, Heidenheim,

Göppingen Göppingen (Swabian: ''Geppenge'' or ''Gebbenga'') is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the district Göppingen. Göppingen is home to the toy company Märklin, and it is the bi ...

and

Rems-Murr Rems-Murr is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Heilbronn, Schwäbisch Hall, Ostalbkreis, Göppingen, Esslingen, the district-free city Stuttgart and the distr ...

History

The district was created in 1973, when the District of Aalen merged with most of the former District of Schwäbisch Gmünd.

Geography

The district is located in the eastern part of the Swabian Alb (''Schwäbische Alb''), hence its name which translates to ''Eastern Alb District''. Main rivers in the district are the Rems, the

Jagst The Jagst () is a right tributary of the Neckar in northern Baden-Württemberg. It is 190 km long. Its source is in the hills east of Ellwangen, close to the Bavarian border. It winds through the towns Ellwangen, Crailsheim, Kirchberg an der ...

and the

Kocher The Kocher () is a -longincluding its source river Schwarzer Kocher right tributary of the Neckar in the north-eastern part of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The name "Kocher" originates from its Celtic name "cochan" and probably means winding, mea ...

, all affluents 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 ...

Politics

Federally, the district is part of two electoral ridings: 270 (Backnang – Schwäbisch Gmünd) and 271 (Aalen – Heidenheim). For the 2009 Election, the numeral designation was changed to 269 and 270 respectively. Both ridings are held by the CDU: Norbert Barthle (Backnang – Schwäbisch Gmünd) and Roderich Kiesewetter (Aalen - Heidenheim). At the State level, the district also is part of two electoral ridings: 25 (Schwäbisch Gmünd) and 26 (Aalen). The last election was held on March 26, 2006 and both ridings were won by the CDU: Dr. Stefan Scheffold (Schwäbisch Gmünd) and Winfried Mack (Aalen). The District election was held on June 7, 2009
Election results

Partnerships

Since 1992 the district has an official partnership with the Italian

Province of Ravenna The province of Ravenna ( it, provincia di Ravenna; ) is a Provinces of Italy, province in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy. Its capital is the city of Ravenna. As of 2015, it has a population of 391,997 inhabitants over an area of , giving it ...

. Also since the 1990s it has a friendship with the Finnish

Province of Oulu The Province of Oulu ( fi, Oulun lääni, sv, Uleåborgs län) was a province of Finland from 1775 to 2009. It bordered the provinces of Lapland, Western Finland and Eastern Finland and also the Gulf of Bothnia and Russia. History ''For Histo ...

Coat of arms

The

imperial eagle The eagle is used in heraldry as a charge, as a supporter, and as a crest. Heraldic eagles can be found throughout world history like in the Achaemenid Empire or in the present Republic of Indonesia. The European post-classical symbolism of ...

to the right represents the

free imperial cities 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 ...

in the district, especially the city of

Aalen Aalen () is a former Free Imperial City located in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, about east of Stuttgart and north of Ulm. It is the seat of the Ostalbkreis district and is its largest town. It is also the large ...

. The

lion The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...

on the left is the symbol of the Staufen family, who founded the city of

Schwäbisch Gmünd Schwäbisch Gmünd (, until 1934: Gmünd; Swabian: ''Gmẽẽd'' or ''Gmend'') is a city in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of around 60,000, the city is the second largest in the Ostalb district a ...

. These two symbols were taken from the coats of arms of the two precursor districts. The

crosier A crosier or crozier (also known as a paterissa, pastoral staff, or bishop's staff) is a stylized staff that is a symbol of the governing office of a bishop or abbot and is carried by high-ranking prelates of Roman Catholic, Eastern Catholi ...

in the middle represents

Ellwangen Abbey Ellwangen Abbey (german: Kloster Ellwangen) was the earliest Benedictine monastery established in the Duchy of Swabia, at the present-day town of Ellwangen an der Jagst, Baden-Württemberg, about 100 km (60 mi) north-east of Stuttgart. ...

, which possessed many smaller areas scattered in the district.

Towns and communities

References

External links

Official website
(German) {{Coord, 48, 52, N, 10, 06, E, region:DE_type:adm2nd, display=title Stuttgart (region) Districts of Baden-Württemberg Württemberg