Backnang (; swg, Bagene) is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

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 betwee ...

in the Bundesland 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 ...

, roughly northeast of

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...

. Its population has increased greatly over the past century, from 7,650 in 1900 to 35,761 in 2005. Backnang was ceded to Württemberg by the

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...

( Zähringer family) in 1325. Backnang has been known as ''Gerberstadt'' due to several

tanneries Tanning may refer to: * Tanning (leather), treating animal skins to produce leather * Sun tanning, using the sun to darken pale skin **Indoor tanning, the use of artificial light in place of the sun ** Sunless tanning, application of a stain or dy ...

and

leather Leather is a strong, flexible and durable material obtained from the tanning, or chemical treatment, of animal skins and hides to prevent decay. The most common leathers come from cattle, sheep, goats, equine animals, buffalo, pigs and hog ...

factories A factory, manufacturing plant or a production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. T ...

, and

wool Wool is the textile fibre obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have properties similar to animal wool. ...

and cloth mills that dominated Backnang's industries. Today, all of these have vanished, and instead,

telecommunication Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that ...

companies such as

Ericsson (lit. "Telephone Stock Company of LM Ericsson"), commonly known as Ericsson, is a Swedish multinational networking and telecommunications company headquartered in Stockholm. The company sells infrastructure, software, and services in inform ...

(formerly

AEG Allgemeine Elektricitäts-Gesellschaft AG (AEG; ) was a German producer of electrical equipment founded in Berlin as the ''Deutsche Edison-Gesellschaft für angewandte Elektricität'' in 1883 by Emil Rathenau. During the Second World War, ...

Telefunken Telefunken was a German radio and television apparatus company, founded in Berlin in 1903, as a joint venture of Siemens & Halske and the ''Allgemeine Elektrizitäts-Gesellschaft'' (AEG) ('General electricity company'). The name "Telefunken" ap ...

, ANT Nachrichtentechnik, Bosch and Marconi) and

Tesat-Spacecom The Tesat-Spacecom GmbH & Co. KG (TESAT) from Backnang, Germany is an independently operating subsidiary of Airbus Defence and Space which develops, produces and tests communication payloads for international satellite manufacturers. Company ...

dominate the town's industries. The ''Stiftskirche'', formerly the church of

Backnang Abbey The Abbey of Saint Pancras of Backnang, better known as Backnang Abbey (german: Stift Backnang), was a German monastery of canons regular founded around AD 1100 in Backnang, in the Duchy of Swabia. History The abbey was founded before 1116 by He ...

, dates back to the 12th century. Backnang hosts the annual ''Strassenfest'' during the last weekend in June. It has been founded as a street festival where local sports and cultural clubs offered drinks and foods. The traditional opening of the ''Strassenfest'' is marked with cannon shots from the city tower at 6 pm on Friday and ends with the ''Zapfenstreich'' on the following Monday at 11 pm. The ''Strassenfest'' typically attracts more than 100,000 spectators.

Population

Mayors

Before 1930 the title for this position was ''Stadtschultheiß''. In 1930 the title became ''Bürgermeister'' (Mayor), and in 1956 with the elevation of Backnang to a "large district town," the title was changed to ''Oberbürgermeister'' (Lord Mayor). * 1901–1921: Hermann Eckstein * 1921–1945: Albert Rienhardt * 1946–1966: Walter Baumgärtner * 1966–1986: Martin Dietrich (1929-2012) * 1986–1994: Hannes Rieckhoff (born 1944) * 1994–2002: Jürgen-Heinrich Schmidt (born 1942) * since 2002: Frank Nopper, (born 1961), reelected in February 2010 and in February 2018 Backnang-Stiftshof

Twin towns – sister cities

Backnang is twinned with: *

Annonay Annonay (; oc, Anonai) is a commune and largest city in the north of the Ardèche department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France. It is the most populous commune in the Ardèche department although it is not the capital ...

, France *

Bácsalmás Bácsalmás ( hr, Aljmaš or ; german: Almasch; sr, Аљмаш, Aljmaš) is a small town in southern Hungary in the region of Bácska (Bács-Kiskun County) close to the border with the Vojvodina region of Serbia, with a population of 7,694 peopl ...

, Hungary *

Chelmsford Chelmsford () is a city in the City of Chelmsford district in the county of Essex, England. It is the county town of Essex and one of three cities in the county, along with Southend-on-Sea and Colchester. It is located north-east of Londo ...

, England, United Kingdom

Notable people

* Eduard Breuninger (1854–1932), entrepreneur, founder of Breuninger company * Eugen Haefele (1874–1935), Württembergian official * Anna Ziegler (1882–1942), politician (USPD, SPD), member of the Reichstag * Friedrich Rösch (1883–1914), missionary and Egyptologist * Richard Ottmar (1889–1956), theologian and timetable expert *

Ferdinand Schneider Ferdinand Gottlob Schneider (18 June 1911 – 11 May 1984) was a German chemist. Schneider was born in Backnang in the Kingdom of Württemberg. He studied at the University of Tübingen, Freiburg and Munich (Ph.D. 1934) and subsequently held the ...

(1911–1984), chemist (sugar technology) * (born 1936), Roman Catholic priest and songwriter * Dieter Burger (politician) (1938–2007), politician, 1977–1993 Mayor of

Sindelfingen Sindelfingen (Swabian: ''Sendlfenga'') is a city in Baden-Württemberg in south Germany. It lies near Stuttgart at the headwaters of the Schwippe (a tributary of the river Würm), and is home to a Mercedes-Benz assembly plant. History * 1155 � ...

* Volker Hauff (born 1940), politician (SPD), MP, Federal Minister, former Mayor of

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

* Thomas Freitag (born 1950), actor and cabaret artist * Thomas Mayer (born 1954), Chief Economist of the

Deutsche Bank Deutsche Bank AG (), sometimes referred to simply as Deutsche, is a German multinational investment bank and financial services company headquartered in Frankfurt, Germany, and dual-listed on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange and the New York St ...

* Andreas Brown (born 1964), politician from 1999 to 2006 North Rhine Chairman of Alliance 90 / The Greens in Baden-Württemberg * Christian Lange (born 1964), politician, member of the German Bundestag and Parliamentary Secretary of the SPD parliament group *

Jens Weidmann Jens Weidmann (born 20 April 1968) is a German economist who served as president of the Deutsche Bundesbank between 2011 and 2021. He also served as chairman of the Board of the Bank for International Settlements. Before moving to the Bundesbank, ...

(born 1968), president of the Bundesbank, made his

Abitur ''Abitur'' (), often shortened colloquially to ''Abi'', is a qualification granted at the end of secondary education in Germany. It is conferred on students who pass their final exams at the end of ISCED 3, usually after twelve or thirteen ye ...

in Backnang *

Gregor Meyle Gregor Meyle (born 13 October 1978) is a German singer-songwriter. He first rose to prominence when he auditioned for the talent contest ''TV Total'', hosted in Stefan Raab's late-night-show ''TV total'' in late-2007, eventually finishing in sec ...

(born 1978), German singer * Patrick Bauer (born 1992),

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

and playoff winner with

Charlton Athletic Charlton Athletic Football Club is an English professional football club based in Charlton, south-east London, which compete in . Their home ground is The Valley, where the club have played since 1919. They have also played at The Mount in ...

Andreas Hinkel Andreas Hinkel (born 26 March 1982) is a German football coach and a former player. Hinkel played as a right-back and earned 21 caps for the Germany national team. He was known for his attacking play on the flanks and defensive solidity. He sta ...

(born 1982),

SC Freiburg Sport-Club Freiburg e.V., commonly known as SC Freiburg () or just Freiburg, is a German football club, based in the city of Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg. It plays in the Bundesliga, having been promoted as champions from the 2. Bund ...

and

Ralf Rangnick Ralf Rangnick (; born 29 June 1958) is a German professional football coach, executive and former player who is currently the manager of the Austria national team. Rangnick began his coaching career in 1983, succeeding his career as a player, a ...

(born 1958),

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

manager Management (or managing) is the administration of an organization, whether it is a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government body. It is the art and science of managing resources of the business. Management includes the activitie ...

* Julian Schieber (born 1989),

Hertha Berlin Hertha, Berliner Sport-Club e. V., commonly known as Hertha BSC (), and sometimes referred to as Hertha Berlin, Hertha BSC Berlin, or simply Hertha, is a German professional football club based in the locality of Westend of the borough of Charlo ...

and Germany footballer *

Lisa and Lena Lisa and Lena Mantler (born June 17, 2002) are identical twins from Stuttgart, Germany. They make short videos, especially of lip syncing, on social media outlets such as TikTok, Instagram and Twitter. Career Lisa and Lena started making vide ...

(born 2002),

social media Social media are interactive media technologies that facilitate the creation and sharing of information, ideas, interests, and other forms of expression through virtual communities and networks. While challenges to the definition of ''social me ...

stars * Viola Brand (born 1994), artistic cyclist

External links

*http://www.backnang.de - Official homepage *http://www.juzebacknang.com *https://web.archive.org/web/20070523190641/http://backnang24.de/murr-regatta/ *https://web.archive.org/web/20110719095242/http://www.traumzeit-theater.de/TraumZeit-Theater-KalanagMuseum.htm - Kalanag Museum

References

{{Authority control Towns in Baden-Württemberg Rems-Murr-Kreis Württemberg