Wangen is a village and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the district of

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 b ...

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 ...

, southern

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 ...

. It lies on the edge of the

Stuttgart Metropolitan Region The Stuttgart Metropolitan Region is a metropolitan region in south-west Germany consisting of the cities and regions around Stuttgart, Heilbronn, Tübingen/Reutlingen. These cities are arranged into three agglomeration areas. The population of th ...

Geography

Wangen lies on a hill above the Fils Valley, on the edge of the

Schurwald The Schurwald is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southern Germany, which at its highest point is 513.2 m above sea level. It is one of the most important Recreation areas for the Stuttgart area. Over the centuries, the vast forests ...

and around five kilometres from the county town of

. The edges of the municipal area border

Adelberg Adelberg is a municipality in the district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. Geography Adelberg lies in the Schurwald forest, at an altitude of around 334 to 473m. Climate The annual rainfall of 1045mm is within the top qu ...

to the north,

Börtlingen Börtlingen is a municipality in the district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. Geography Börtlingen belongs to the marginal zone of the metropolitan region of Stuttgart. Geographical location Börtlingen is located ...

and

Rechberghausen Rechberghausen is a town in the district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. Geography Geographical location The community lies in on the foothills of the central Swabian Jura and on the edge of the eastern Schurwald. The h ...

to the east,

to the south,

Uhingen Uhingen is a town in the Göppingen (district), district of Göppingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. History Uhingen was a possession of the until 1332. Geography The city (''Municipalities of Germany, Stadt'') of Uhingen is locat ...

to the west and the town of

Schorndorf Schorndorf is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, located approximately 26 km east of Stuttgart. Its train station is the terminus of the S2 line of the Stuttgart S-Bahn. The town is also sometimes referred to as ' (''The Daimler Town ...

in the neighbouring district of

Rems-Murr-Kreis 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 ...

. The municipality of Wangen includes the formerly independent municipality of Oberwälden, and is composed of the villages of Wangen and Oberwälden. The hamlet of Niederwälden has now been subsumed into the village of Wangen.

History

The village was first recorded in writing in 1274, when Friedrich von Staufeneck sold all his estates in Wangen and Oberwälden to the Abbey of

. From 1327, the village belonged administratively to the

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

State State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...

, but the majority of property in the village remained under the ownership of the Abbey. In 1806, the Degenfeld family's

fiefdom A fief (; la, feudum) was a central element in medieval contracts based on feudal law. It consisted of a form of property holding or other rights granted by an overlord to a vassal, who held it in fealty or "in fee" in return for a form o ...

and the ''

Klosteramt A ''Klosteramt'' (lit. "monastery office") was an administrative unit in certain states of the Holy Roman Empire that, after the Reformation in the 16th century took over the administration of the estates of dissolved monasteries and also their low ...

'' (an administrative division centering on the estates of a dissolved monastery) of

were abolished and the lands transferred to the new ''Oberamt'' of Göppingen, which in 1934 was renamed as a ''Kreis'', and in 1938 as an enlarged ''Landkreis''. In 1935, the hamlet of Niederwälden was transferred from the municipality of Holzhausen to that of Wangen. As part of administrative reforms in Baden-Württemberg, the formerly independent municipality of Oberwälden was incorporated into Wangen on 1 July 1971.

Religion

Wangen was first designated as a parish in 1511, having previously belonged to the parish of Göppingen. In 1557, as part of the

Reformation The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...

, a Protestant parish was established in the village, and since then there has been no Catholic parish there, Catholics instead attending the parish of

. In addition to this, there is also a small

United Methodist The United Methodist Church (UMC) is a worldwide mainline Protestant denomination based in the United States, and a major part of Methodism. In the 19th century, its main predecessor, the Methodist Episcopal Church, was a leader in evangelic ...

community in Wangen.

Population

Politics

Heraldry

Blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...

: ''Per fess Or and vert, chief an attire sable'' The green of the village's arms represents the surrounding meadows, while the gold represents the profitable wheat fields, and the antler is for the village's affiliation to the

House of Württemberg The House of Württemberg is a German dynasty and former royal family from Württemberg. History County The House probably originated in the vicinity of the Salian dynasty. Around 1080 the ancestors of modern Württemberg, which was then called ...

. The coat of arms was adopted in 1930, and officially granted by the

Interior Ministry An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministry ...

on 3 July 1959.

Partnerships

The municipality of Wangen has a limited partnership with the French ''Region de Routot'', to which the municipalities of Bouquetot, Brestot, Étréville, Eturqueraye, Hauville, La Haye Aubree, Le Landin, Rougemontier and Routot belong. The rural community of around 5,500 people lies in

Normandy Normandy (; french: link=no, Normandie ; nrf, Normaundie, Nouormandie ; from Old French , plural of ''Normant'', originally from the word for "northman" in several Scandinavian languages) is a geographical and cultural region in Northwestern ...

. The partnership was established on 1 May 1992, and since then there has been an annual meeting of representatives of the communities.

Council

There have traditionally been no parties or factions in the municipal council of Wangen. It is not possible under the electoral rules to put forward a list containing more candidates than there are seats available. The candidates therefore traditionally put forward to lists - ''Free Voters'' and ''Independent Voters' Association'' - in order to be able to carry out a proper election.

Economy and infrastructure

There is one primary school in the village, while higher schools are available in neighbouring towns and villages. The village also contains three

nursery school A preschool, also known as nursery school, pre-primary school, or play school or creche, is an educational establishment or learning space offering early childhood education to children before they begin compulsory education at primary school ...

s, two community nurseries and a Catholic nursery.

Culture and sightseeing

Music

The ''Musikverein Wangen e. V.'' (Wangen Musical Society) was established in 1951 and runs a

concert band A concert band, also called a wind band, wind ensemble, wind symphony, wind orchestra, symphonic band, the symphonic winds, or symphonic wind ensemble, is a performing ensemble consisting of members of the woodwind, brass, and percussion famil ...

. The society plays an active role in the life of the community through its work in both spiritual and secular events. The society is also heavily involved in youth work through its youth bands.

Architecture

In the village of Oberwälden is the ''Nikolauskirche'' (Church of St. Nicholas), the choir room of which contains some precious

fresco Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...

References

Towns in Baden-Württemberg Göppingen (district) {{Cite web, url=https://www.gemeinde-wangen.de/de/gemeinde/informatives/zahlen-daten, title = Gemeinde Wangen | Zahlen & Daten |