Ellwangen

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
coat of arms Germany map
Ellwangen
Map of Germany, Ellwangen (Jagst) town location highlighted

Coordinates: 48° 58′  N , 10° 8′  E

basic data
State : Baden-Wuerttemberg
administrative district : Stuttgart
county : Ostalbkreis
height : 440 m above sea level NHN
Area : 127.38km2 _
Resident: 24,477 (Dec 31, 2020)
population density : 192 inhabitants per km 2
Zip code : 73479
area codes : 07961, 07965
License plate : AA, GD
Municipality key : 08 1 36 019
City structure: Core city and 4 districts
Address of the
city ​​administration:
Spitalstrasse 4
73479 Ellwangen (Jagst)
site : www.ellwangen.de
Lord Mayor : Michael Dambacher ( CDU )
Location of the town of Ellwangen (Jagst) in the Ostalb district
Schwäbisch Gmünd Landkreis Heidenheim Landkreis Schwäbisch Hall Rems-Murr-Kreis Landkreis Göppingen Aalen Abtsgmünd Adelmannsfelden Bartholomä Böbingen an der Rems Bopfingen Durlangen Ellenberg (Württemberg) Ellwangen (Jagst) Eschach (bei Schwäbisch Gmünd) Essingen (Württemberg) Göggingen (Württemberg) Gschwend Heubach Heuchlingen Hüttlingen (Württemberg) Hüttlingen (Württemberg) Iggingen Jagstzell Kirchheim am Ries Lauchheim Leinzell Lorch (Württemberg) Mögglingen Mutlangen Neresheim Neuler Obergröningen Oberkochen Rainau Riesbürg Riesbürg Rosenberg (Württemberg) Ruppertshofen (Ostalbkreis) Schechingen Schwäbisch Gmünd Spraitbach Stödtlen Täferrot Tannhausen Tannhausen Unterschneidheim Waldstetten (Ostalbkreis) Waldstetten (Ostalbkreis) Westhausen (Württemberg) Wört Bayernmap
About this picture
View from the south over parts of Ellwangen

Ellwangen (Jagst) is a town in eastern Baden-Württemberg , about 17 kilometers north of Aalen . With around 24,500 inhabitants (as of December 2019), it is the third largest city in the Ostalb district after Aalen and Schwäbisch Gmünd and a central center for the surrounding communities. It belongs to the Ostwuerttemberg region .

Ellwangen has been a major district town since February 1, 1972 . There is an agreed administrative community with the municipalities of Adelmannsfelden , Ellenberg , Jagstzell , Neuler , Rainau , Rosenberg and Wört .

The city was the seat of the government of Neuwuerttemberg from 1803 to 1806 . The Catholic State University of Ellwangen existed between 1812 and 1817 . Worth seeing are the late Romanesque basilica of St. Vitus , the spacious castle above Ellwangen and the pilgrimage church on the Schönenberg .

geography

Geographical location

Aerial view from the north

Ellwangen is on the upper reaches of the Jagst . The river, which is about ten meters wide here, flows through the city in a north-northwest direction. Coming from Rainau , it reaches the urban area in the southwest, changes its flow direction between the villages of Schrezheim and Rotenbach , which belong to the city, for one kilometer to the east-northeast; from here the main town lies on its right bank. At the level of the town center it turns north-northwest again and then flows on through the Rindelbach district in the direction of Jagstzell . The urban area, the largest part of which lies east of the Jagst, covers an area of ​​127.43 km² and has a share in the natural areas of the Eastern Albvorland and Swabian-Franconian Forest Mountains , both of which belong to the Swabian Keuper-Lias region , as well as the Middle Franconian Basin , a part of the Franconian Keuper-Lias region . The landscape boundary from the Keuper region of the Swabian-Franconian Forest Mountains to the foothills of the Alb runs close to the eastern and south-eastern edge of the core city. In the east, on the heights of the Schlossberg and the Schönenberg , the area of ​​the core town still reaches the plateau of the Lias .

neighboring communities

The following municipalities border on the town of Ellwangen (all Ostalbkreis ).

DEU Jagstzell COA.svg
jagstzell
DEU Ellenberg COA.svg
Elenberg
DEU Stödtlen COA.svg
Stoedtlen
DEU Rosenberg COA.svg
Rosenberg
Compass rose small.svg
DEU Unter Schneidheim COA.svg
Unterschnittheim
DEU Neuler COA.svg
Neuler
DEU Rainau COA.svg
Rainau
Westhausen-wuerttemberg-wappen.svg
Westhausen

city ​​outline

The urban area of ​​Ellwangen consists of the core town and the four communities Pfahlheim, Rindelbach, Röhlingen and Schrezheim, which were incorporated as part of the local government reform of the 1970s, with their respective districts and hamlets. These four districts are also localities in the sense of the Baden-Württemberg municipal code; that is, they each have a local council headed by a local mayor who is to be elected by the local population at each local election .

The core city and the districts include a large number of mostly spatially separated residential areas or districts with their own names. These often have a long independent history. In the core city, a distinction is also made between residential areas that were given their own name in the course of their development, but the boundaries are often not precisely defined.

  • Coat of Arms Pfahlheim
    Pfahlheim includes: Beersbach, Buchhausen, Halheim, Hammermühle, Hardt, Hirlbach , Hochgreut, Hofstetten, Pfeifhäusle and Sonnenhof
  • Coat of arms of Rindelbach
    Borsthof , Eigenzell, Gehrensägmühle, Holbach, Kalkhöfe, Kellerhaus, Rabenhof, Rattstadt, Rotkreuz, Scheuensägmühle, Schönau, Schönenberg, Stocken, Stockensägmühle andtreppelmühle belong to Rindelbach
  • Coat of arms of Rohlingen
    Röhlingen includes: Dettenroden , Elberschwandern , Erpfental, Haisterhofen, Killingen, Neunheim, Neunstadt, Rötlen, Schafhof, Steigberg, Süsshof and Wagnershof
  • Coat of arms Schrezheim
    Schrezheim includes Altmannsrot, Altmannsweiler, Bahnmühle, Eggenrot, Engelhardsweiler, Espachweiler, Glassägmühle, Griesweiler (formerly Klapperschenkel), Hinterlengenberg, Hintersteinbühl, Lindenhäusle, Lindenhof, Lindenkeller, Ölmühle, Rotenbach, Schleifhäusle and Vorderlengenberg

space planning

Ellwangen forms a middle center within the East Württemberg region . In addition to the town of Ellwangen itself, the central area of ​​Ellwangen includes ten communities in the north of the Ostalbkreis, Adelmannsfelden , Ellenberg , Jagstzell , Neuler , Rainau , Rosenberg , Stödtlen , Tannhausen , Unter Schneidheim and Wört .

land allocation

According to data from the State Statistical Office , as of 2014.

geology

In the north and west of the municipal area, the Stuben sandstone of the Middle Keuper is characteristic. Sandstone banks with changing marl inclusions lead to narrow soil changes, which is typical for the Swabian-Franconian forest mountains . Ellwangen is located on the southern edge of this forest area on the landscape border between the Keuper area and the foothills of the Alb .

Between the core town of Ellwangen and the district of Neunheim a little south-east is one of the strata that is typical of southern Germany . The Black Jurassic (other name: Lias) forms the stages here ; the slightly weathered knotted marl underneath creates steep slopes. A few meters above the level of the Jagst is the Ellwanger train station in the town center at 433 m, the Schönenberg - like the slightly lower Schlossberg a projection of the Lias plateau - at 516  m above sea level. NN meter.

Further east are the districts of Röhlingen and Pfahlheim on the Black Jura plateau. Pelosol brown earths and pelosols from clay marl rocks predominate here .

This Lias plateau falls away from the Schönenberg and Schlossberg hills to the south-east with a gradient of 1%, which is typical for the local strata landscape . It is an old Danubian flat landscape with only small differences in altitude. From the Jagsttal, the geological change to the plateau is hardly noticeable because the river valley dominates the landscape. The considerable differences in height were a major obstacle to road construction and the railway connection to Pfahlheim that was planned at the beginning of the 20th century but was never built.

Farming is particularly intensive on the fertile and therefore sparsely forested soils of the Lias plateau. In contrast, the soils in the Keuperberge of the Virngrund are poor in nutrients and are therefore mainly used for forestry purposes.

climate

The values ​​from the Ellwangen weather station (439 m) are typical for the entire natural region of the Swabian-Franconian Forest . The climate is clearly subcontinental in character with relatively little rainfall and high temperature fluctuations over the course of the year. The mean monthly temperature here in January is −1.2 °C and in July 16.9 °C. The mean annual temperature is 7.7 °C. In the Keuperwald mountains of the Ellwangen municipal area, there is an average daily temperature of at least 10 °C on around 140-160 days a year . Late frosts are common and sometimes severe in the Virngrund. The mean annual amount of precipitation in the Keuperwald Mountains varies depending on the sub-area. At lower altitudes, it is about 750-900 millimeters.

Monthly average precipitation and temperatures for Ellwangen
Jan Feb mar apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov dec
Temperature ( °C ) −1.2 −0.2 3.1 7.1 11.8 15.1 16.9 16.2 12.8 8.2 3.2 −0.1 O 7.8
Precipitation ( mm ) 67 60 62 64 79 94 78 81 55 57 66 74 Σ 837
T
e
m
p
e
r
a
t
u
re
Jan Feb mar apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov dec
C h
e
s
t
o
s
_
_ _ _ _



67
60
62
64
79
94
78
81
55
57
66
74
  Jan Feb mar apr May June July Aug Sep Oct Nov dec
Outline of the municipal area

story

early history

During the Celtic and Roman times, the area of ​​today's municipality of Ellwangen was probably only sparsely populated. The Limes , the northern border of the Roman Empire, ran just a few kilometers south of the core city. The Limes was originally built as a palisade fence in the second century , and was replaced a little later by a stone wall. The palisade fence ran right through what is now the district of Pfahlheim (named after him). The remains of a Roman fort can still be found near Pfahlheim near Halheim , the contours of which were made visible by planting.

The second trace of human settlements dates from the fifth century. At that time, the Alamannendorf Pfahlheim was founded, the remains of which can still be seen today in the form of burial grounds. In the seventh century, an Alemanni settlement was also founded in the Jagst valley. This was given the name of the sloping meadow slope on which it was located (see -wang ) and was named "settlement near the grassland of the Alaho". A little later, the Ellwangen monastery was founded and the Virngrund was permanently settled.

urban history

Ellwangen Monastery

The collegiate church of the monastery and today's Basilica of St. Vitus

Ellwangen originated in the 7th century as an Alamannic settlement on the Stelzenbach. In the Virgunna border forest between Franconia and Swabia, Hariolf and Erlolf (bishop of the French town of Langres ) founded a Benedictine monastery in 764 (750?) on a hill next to the settlement . The two brothers came from a Bavarian-Alamannic noble family. This was involved in a large number of new monastery foundations in what is now southern Germany, e.g. B. in Murrhardt , Schäftlarn and Neumünster . However, a few years after it was founded, the family had to hand over their Ellwangen monastery to the Franconian King Charlemagne . Thus the Ellwangen monastery became a royal monastery. The monastery was first mentioned on April 8, 814 in a document of Emperor Louis the Pious (Elehenuuang) . Since 817 the monastery belonged to the imperial abbeys . Due to this legal status, the monastery began to grow rapidly and already had well over 100 monks at the beginning of the 9th century. Economic development was initially unable to keep pace with this, especially because the majority of the foundations of arable land in the region still went to the Fulda monastery during the founding phase of the Ellwangen monastery .

The Byzantine/Greek Method of Salonika , known as the Slav apostle, is said to have been imprisoned in the monastery prison for about two and a half years (870-873) due to a conspiracy by the Bavarian bishops. In favor of Ellwangen as a place of imprisonment are, among other things, the reference in the Vita Methodii , according to which Method was banished to Swabia , and the involvement of the former Ellwangen deputy abbot Bishop Ermenrich von Passau in the affair. Method was released in 873 after the intervention of Pope John VIII .

In the 12th and 13th centuries, the city developed from the living quarters of the lay people belonging to the monastery, whose inhabitants were however under the suzerainty of the abbot. The monastery was exemted from 1124 at the latest , which means it was under the direct control of the pope. Its abbots were imperial princes from 1215. The Counts of Oettingen are documented as bailiffs around 1337 , from whom the abbot bought this office in 1381.

The abbot awarded the municipal offices for one year at a time for a fee. This affected both the mayor and the members of the court, who also formed the council. Even the office of shepherd and the office of warden were filled in this way.

Historical view of the princely residence, Schloss ob Ellwangen

Prince Propstei Ellwangen

After a phase of decline lasting almost 200 years, the monastery, which could not be reformed even by noble monks , was converted in 1460 into an exempt secular monastery with a prince provost and a chapter (twelve noble canons , ten choir vicars ). The provost resided at the castle above Ellwangen and had the ecclesiastical rights of a bishop. He maintained military for the defense of the provost, which was 40 men strong in peacetime. The associated territory initially included the offices of Ellwangen, Tannenburg and Kochenburg . In 1471 the office of Rötlen was added, followed by Wasseralfingen in 1545 and Heuchlingen in 1609 . Around 1800, the prince provost was enrolled in the Knights' Canton of Odenwald , part of the Knights' Circle of Franconia .

In Ellwangen, the monastery preacher Johann Kreß, among others, spread the ideas of the Reformation from 1524 onwards . Ellwangen pastor Georg Mumpach posted 14 articles with reformatory demands on the collegiate church that year. When the Bishop of Augsburg excommunicated him, the city stood behind him. The canons were threatened with death and most left the city. Mumpach declared in 1525 that serfdom was abolished and the monasteries were to be converted and destroyed. At his suggestion, the Ellwangen farmers gathered in a gang and forced entry into the town and castle. On April 26, 1525, the citizens had to accept the Twelve Articles . About 2000 farmers subsequently moved into the area, plundered the Mönchsroth monastery and also subdued the town of Dinkelsbühl . In Ellwangen there was also looting and destruction, so that the citizens finally drove the farmers out of the city. On May 17, 1525, the Ellwangen troops were finally defeated by troops of the Swabian League . Mumpach and Kress were captured, sentenced and beheaded in Lauingen on November 7, 1525.

Since the late 14th century, the House of Württemberg held the umbrella bailiwick of Ellwangen. Duke Christoph obtained a reduction in the pillage of Ellwangen by Margrave Albrecht Alcibiades . When the grand master of the Teutonic Order , Wolfgang Schutzbar, called Milchling , claimed the office of prince provost and had Ellwangen occupied in 1553, the duke armed against him, so that the town was evacuated again without a fight.

Ellwangen in Matthäus Merian's Topographia Suaviae , which appeared in 1642

In the years 1588 and 1611-1618 about 450 women and men were killed during the witch trials in Ellwangen . Thus, in Ellwangen, next to the Bishopric of Bamberg , the persecution of witches was pursued most intensively. In 2001, the Catholic parish of St. Vitus erected a memorial in the gallows forest in the immediate vicinity of the former place of execution to commemorate those executed in the witch trials, designed by artist pastor Sieger Köder .

Between 1626 and 1635, in the Thirty Years' War, plagues led to many deaths in the city . Ellwangen had joined the Catholic League and made large financial contributions to this alliance. The city was occupied by the Swedes on May 22, 1632; King Gustav Adolf gave Ellwangen to his general governor, Count Kraft von Hohenlohe-Neuenstein . From the summer of 1633, he tried to push through the Reformation by expelling most of the fathers, priests and canons and banning Catholic services in the collegiate church. On September 9, 1634, three days after the Battle of Nördlingen , Hohenlohe-Neuenstein evacuated Ellwangen.

At the time of the prince provost, the mayor was appointed and paid by the prince provost. The councilors were proposed by the city council and appointed by the prince provost.

Württemberg time

Ellwangen 1818, view by Louis Zadig

In 1802 the monastery was secularized and assigned to Ellwangen Württemberg . It was initially the seat of the government of Neuwuerttemberg . In 1803 it became the seat of the Oberamt Ellwangen , which became part of the Kingdom of Württemberg in 1806 . In 1807 Ellwangen became the seat of the hunting district , which existed until 1924. The King of Württemberg wanted to make Ellwangen the seat of a Catholic diocese for his country; hence, in 1812 it received a general vicariate and a seminary , as well as a Catholic theological faculty . However , this newly founded University of Ellwangen later became part of the University of Tübingen , the theological college was moved to the Collegium illustre in Tübingen in 1817 , the seminary to Rottenburg am Neckar , which became the seat of the new diocese for Württemberg in 1821. With the opening of the Upper Jagstbahn in 1866, the city was connected to the rail network of the Württemberg Railway .

Ellwangen around 1900

Ellwangen did not grow beyond the status of a small town in Württemberg with the seat of an Oberamt.

Between 1916 and 1918 there was a barracks camp for around 600 captured officers on the Wolfgangshöhe on the outskirts of Ellwangen. During the November Revolution of 1918, a workers' and soldiers ' council and a farmers' council were set up in Ellwangen , but there were no major unrests. In the elections to the state assembly and the national assembly in January 1919, the center party was elected by majority in Ellwangen.

Ellwangen remained a center party stronghold in the People's State of Württemberg until the end of the Weimar Republic . In the Reichstag elections on March 5, 1933 , the center still achieved 63% of the votes, the NSDAP came to 25%.

time of the nationalsocialism

During the Nazi era in Württemberg , the Oberamt was renamed Kreis Ellwangen in 1934 and dissolved in 1938. Since then, the area has belonged to the district of Aalen .

In the course of the Gleichschalt , the municipal council was dissolved in the spring of 1933 and reassigned according to the share of votes in the Reichstag elections. After the dissolution of the Center Party in July 1933, the supporters of the Center in the Council were gradually replaced by members of the NSDAP by January 1934. In August 1933, the long-serving mayor and honorary citizen Karl Ettensberger applied for retirement. The Württemberg Ministry of the Interior appointed district leader Adolf Koelle as his successor. An SS unit was stationed in the former non-commissioned officer school in 1934. In that year, the conflict between state power and the Catholic Church intensified, which led to great tension in Ellwangen in particular. Among other things, there were anti-church graffiti, mocking processions and damage to property, especially by members of the SS . Between July 1941 and October 1942, one of the subcamps of the Dachau concentration camp existed on the site of the SS barracks . Mainly political prisoners and protective detainees were imprisoned there, almost exclusively Germans. They were used for various jobs in the barracks. From June 1943 until the end of the war there was a subcamp of the Natzweiler / Alsace concentration camp in Ellwangen. Between 50 and 100 prisoners from different countries were housed there who had to do construction work.

The prisoners of the Hessental death march passed through Ellwangen in the morning hours of April 7, 1945. The 50 weakest prisoners were left behind at the train station. When some begged for bread in the surrounding houses, the guards brutally drove them back. Then 20 dead and 8 living prisoners were driven into a sand pit near Dalkingen , the ones still alive were shot and buried with the dead. The majority of the concentration camp prisoners were driven on to nearby Neunheim; there, too, at least 23 dead were buried in a quarry.

During World War II , Ellwangen was spared air raids. Artillery fire on April 22, 1945, shortly before the city was taken by American troops, claimed five lives and destroyed 24 buildings.

post war period

In 1945 Ellwangen became part of the American occupation zone and thus belonged to the newly founded state of Württemberg-Baden , which was merged into the current state of Baden-Württemberg in 1952.

Due to the influx of many expellees , especially from the southern Bohemian Forest , the number of inhabitants increased by around 50 percent after the Second World War. After incorporations as part of the regional reform in Baden-Württemberg in the 1970s, the urban area reached its present size, and the number of inhabitants rose to over 20,000 in 1972. The city administration then submitted the application for elevation to the status of a major district town , which the Baden-Württemberg state government decided to take effect on February 1, 1972. The Ellwangen region also experienced an enormous economic boom with the completion of the federal autobahn 7 and the Ellwangen junction in the mid-1980s.

With the district reform on January 1, 1973 , Ellwangen became part of the Ostalb district .

History of the garrison town of Ellwangen

The first soldiers in Ellwangen were mentioned as early as 980 in the records of the Ellwangen monastery. The Ellwanger Stift is said to have provided 40 armored riders for Otto II to fight against insurgents in Italy. In 1455 Ellwangen provided 30 men for a war against the Turks. In 1460, Count Ulrich von Württemberg demanded soldiers from the city for campaigns against the Palatinate and Bavaria. In October of the same year he again called for soldiers, this time 30 horsemen and 200 footmen. In the period that followed, Ellwangen remained without a garrison for a long time. From 1705 to 1707 the cavalry of the Swabian district troops moved into quarters in the castle above Ellwangen. In the coalition wars from 1792 to 1815, contingents from the city fought again. With the secularization and the beginning of the Württemberg regency in Ellwangen in 1802, Württemberg troops with 624 men from the Oberniz Battalion, 13 artillery men with two cannons and 78  Chevauxlegers in military equipment moved into the city. Ellwangen became a Württemberg peace garrison and received a newly formed Erbprinz infantry battalion . The former Jesuit monastery in the city center served as barracks. In the years that followed, the garrison was constantly reinforced. The number of soldiers rose to 1550 by 1812. After the Württemberg army had suffered heavy losses in Napoleon 's Russian campaign in 1812 , the Ellwangen garrison was dissolved in 1820. Only a district command remained in Ellwangen Castle until 1909. In 1909 it moved into a new building on Bergstrasse (mountain barracks).

In 1914, the Württemberg army decided to set up a non- commissioned officer preschool at the Ellwangen location . Extensive new buildings and the laying of the foundation stone for the Mühlberg barracks ( Reinhardt barracks from 1968 ) followed during the First World War . Ellwangen became one of the most important garrisons in Württemberg. Due to the requirements of the Versailles Treaty , however, the Ellwangen site had to be closed in 1921. Initially, the building served as accommodation for the riot police and later for the Protestant state orphanage in Württemberg. From 1933 the SS moved into the barracks: in August 1933 initially the " Political Preparedness Württemberg ", restructured in 1934 and renamed the "III. Sturmbann" of the SS standard "Germany" of the SS disposal troops, after the beginning of the war in 1939 various training and replacement units of the Waffen SS and the Wehrmacht . Extensive expansion measures were taken. During the war years , the premises of the barracks were no longer sufficient, and buildings in the town of Ellwangen were confiscated, including the former mountain barracks and the Josefinum . In April 1945, 36 soldiers from the Ellwangen garrison fell victim to the Lippach massacre .

After the end of the war, units of the US Army were temporarily stationed in the Mühlberg barracks, until the entire site was eventually occupied by the German Armed Forces in 1956 . The barracks area was considerably expanded. Training sites were set up in Dalkingen and on Schönenberg. From 1958 to 2008 the headquarters of Panzergrenadier- or Panzerbrigade 30 was located in Ellwangen . At the end of January 2014, the last military unit at the site, Transport Battalion 465 , was disbanded. Only the Language Center South of the Federal Language Office remained in Ellwangen .

population development

Population development of Ellwangen from 1803 to 2017

In the Middle Ages and early modern times , Ellwangen was just a very small town with a few hundred inhabitants. The population grew only slowly and fell again and again due to the numerous wars, epidemics and famines. Only with the beginning of industrialization and the construction of the upper Jagsttalbahn in the 19th century did population growth accelerate. While only 2,451 people lived in the city in 1803, by 1910 there were already twice as many. After that, the population continued to grow. In 1939 Ellwangen had 9,415 inhabitants.

Due to the influx of refugees and displaced persons from the eastern German territories after the Second World War , the city's population rose to 12,538 by 1961. The merger with the formerly independent municipalities of Schrezheim, Pfahlheim, Rindelbach and Röhlingen in 1975 brought an increase to 21,994 inhabitants. At the end of 2000, the population had risen to 24,836 people. In 2015, the “ official number of inhabitants ” of Ellwangen reached its highest level of 26,574 according to the update of the Baden-Württemberg State Statistical Office (only main residences and after comparison with the other state offices).

The following overview shows the population according to the respective territorial status. Up to 1871 these are mostly estimates, after that they are census results (¹) or official updates from the State Statistical Office. From 1871, the information relates to the "local population", from 1925 to the resident population and since 1987 to the "population at the place of main residence". Before 1871, the number of inhabitants was determined according to inconsistent survey procedures.

year resident
1803² 2,451
1810² 2,032
1823² 2,608
1843² 3,802
1861² 3,623
December 1, 1871² 4.145
December 1, 1880¹ 4,697
December 1, 1890¹ 4,606
December 1, 1900¹ 4,747
December 1, 1910 ¹ 4,722
June 16, 1925¹ 5,653
June 16, 1933 ¹ 5,924
May 17, 1939 ¹ 6,944
1946² 9,415
year resident
September 13, 1950¹ 10,390
June 6, 1961¹ 12,538
May 27, 1970¹ 13,155
December 31, 1975² 21,994
December 31, 1980² 21,242
May 25, 1987¹ 21,538
December 31, 1990² 22,594
December 31, 1995² 24.153
December 31, 2000² 24,836
December 31, 2005² 25,260
December 31, 2010² 24,589
May 9, 2011 ¹ 23,677
June 30, 2011² 23,689
December 31, 2011² 23,715
year resident
June 30, 2012 23,697
December 31, 2012 23,622
30th of June 2013 23,557
December 31 2013 23,555
June 30, 2014 23,597
December 31, 2014 23,626
June 30, 2015 24,942
September 30, 2015 26,196
December 31, 2015 26,574
June 30, 2016 24,165
December 31, 2016 24,643
June 30, 2017 24,351
December 31, 2017 24,339
December 31, 2020 24,477

¹ Census result

incorporations

The following municipalities were incorporated into the town of Ellwangen:

religions

Christianity

Catholic Church

View of the Schönenberg Church

Ellwangen was originally part of the Bishopric of Augsburg . The Ellwangen monastery with the collegiate church was exemted in 1124 at the latest , that is, independent of the bishop and only subordinate to the pope. The town itself and other Ellwangen churches and chapels continued to belong to the diocese of Augsburg. In addition to the collegiate church of St. Vitus , there has also been a parish church for the town since the 13th century, the Marienkirche . In 1460, the Ellwangen monastery was converted into a secular monastery. From 1524 there were efforts to introduce the Reformation ; but this failed due to the resistance of the prince provost Heinrich von der Pfalz .

As early as 1568, the first German Jesuit, Petrus Canisius , visited the town of Ellwangen at the request of the prince-provost of Ellwangen, Cardinal Otto Truchsess von Waldburg . In the years that followed, Jesuits from nearby Dillingen often came to the town for pastoral care. A first small branch was built in 1611. In accordance with the desire for a larger settlement, four Jesuit priests came to the city in 1658. Her tasks included the princely confession, the supervision of the pilgrimage to the Schönenberg and, above all, the establishment of a grammar school. This was opened in the same year with four classes and expanded to six classes within a short time. Due to the high level of popularity among the population, the school was expanded to include the philosophical course in the years 1723-1729. During the same period, a Jesuit church was built in the immediate vicinity of the seminary building. With the secularization, the Jesuit College was abolished on December 21, 1802 by Duke Friedrich II of Württemberg ; its buildings, including the church, became state property.

View of the facade of the evangelical town church . On the right the Basilica of St. Vitus

In the course of restructuring after the founding of a Protestant community in the city, which was purely Catholic until it was annexed to Württemberg, the two Catholic parishes of the Stiftskirche and the Marienkirche were united in 1818. Since then, St. Vitus has been the only Catholic parish church that became the seat of a deanery after the founding of the Rottenburg diocese.

In 1969 the old St. Wolfgang Church , a Gothic church originally built as a cemetery church outside the city walls, became Ellwangen's second parish church. Since then, this has also looked after the Catholics from the Schrezheim district. Due to the rapidly growing population of Ellwangen, the Heilig-Geist-Kirche , which was prefabricated in 1973, became the third parish church. Today, these three parishes, together with the branch parish of St. Patricius Eggenrot, form pastoral care unit 7 of the Ostalb deanery with 8,200 Catholics.

The neighboring villages that now belong to Ellwangen also remained Catholic after the Reformation. The parishes are united in pastoral care unit 8 – Father Philipp Jeningen of the Ostalb deanery. These include the parish of Our Lady ( Schoenenbergkirche , she also serves the Catholics from Rindelbach), the parish of St. Petrus and Paulus Röhlingen , the parish of St. Johann Baptist Beersbach and the parish of St. Nikolaus Pfahlheim .

Protestant church

As early as the 16th century, at the time of the Peasants' War , some citizens opted for the Protestant faith. Prince Provost Cardinal Otto von Waldburg, however, enforced that the city and with it the entire prince provost remained purely Catholic.

Only after the transition to Württemberg did Protestants return to Ellwangen as part of the establishment of a garrison. As early as 1802, the former Jesuit church, which was still structurally connected to the Catholic collegiate church, became a Protestant garrison church . It was initially assigned to the deanery of Heidenheim and from 1810 to the deanery of Aalen. Although the Ellwangen garrison site was dissolved in the years that followed and the number of Protestants thus decreased again, a city parish was set up in 1817; the former Jesuit church became the first Protestant parish church in Ellwangen. With the establishment of state authorities, the number of Protestants in the city grew again. Today, at 5,474 (January 1, 2003), it is about a fifth of Ellwangen's total population. The parish, which also includes the Protestants in the districts of Rindelbach and Schrezheim, belongs to the church district of Aalen within the Evangelical Church in Württemberg . The Protestants in the districts of Pfahlheim and Röhlingen belong to the parish of Unter Schneidheim - Walxheim .

Orthodox Church

In Ellwangen there is a Methodius chapel and a Method square with memorial plaques of the Bulgarians, the Macedonians and the Slovaks. Around the Day of Bulgarian Education, Culture and the Cyrillic Script (May 24) there is an annual pilgrimage with a service in St. Vitus. This goes back to the fact that Saint Method, the Slav apostle, is said to have been imprisoned in Ellwangen.

other churches

In addition to the two large churches, there are also free churches and free communities in Ellwangen, including the Freie-Evangeliums-Gemeinde (Baptisten) Ellwangen e. V. and the Christ Church Ellwangen e. V. The New Apostolic Church , Jehovah's Witnesses and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) are also represented in Ellwangen.

Judaism

There was a Jewish community in the city as early as the Middle Ages. By the middle of the 14th century at the latest, Ellwangen had no Jewish inhabitants due to epidemics and persecution. Jews only settled in the Ellwangen area again in the middle of the 17th century. Their number grew rapidly, so that in 1870 a Jewish community was founded again. This was assigned to the district rabbinate of Oberdorf am Ipf . In 1885 the congregation had 99 members. Although the proportion of the total population was relatively small, the families made a decisive contribution to economic power. They worked as cattle dealers, ran a rag factory , an inn, an antiquarian bookshop with a bookshop, sold agricultural machinery and printed newspapers.

At the end of the 19th century the number of Jews began to decline, mostly due to migration to larger cities. In 1933 there were still 15 Jewish residents living in the city. The congregation was dissolved two years later. The buildings of the Jewish prayer rooms and the Jewish cemetery have been preserved to this day .

For a long time, the deceased had to be buried in the Jewish cemetery in Aufhausen ; It was not until 1901 that a Jewish cemetery was laid out on the Hungerberg in Ellwangen. The cemetery was closed in 1943 and the stones removed in 1944 to create a children's playground there. The playground was no longer built. The American officer Eric Levi, son of a cattle dealer from Ellwangen who emigrated to the USA in 1938, ordered the tombstones to be put up again in 1945. Former NSDAP members also had to help with this work.

Islam

Muslims in Ellwangen use the Bilal-i Habeschi Mosque (Bilal-i Habeşi Camii), named after Bilal and affiliated with DİTİB .

politics

council

In Ellwangen, the municipal council is elected using the procedure of spurious local elections . The number of municipal councils can change due to overhang mandates . After the last election, the municipal council in Ellwangen has 33 members (previously: 35). The municipal council consists of the elected voluntary municipal councilors and the mayor as chairman. The mayor has voting rights in the municipal council. The 2019 municipal election resulted in the following final result:

parties and constituencies %
2019
Seats
2019
%
2014
Seats
2014
Local Election 2019
 %
40
30
20
10
0
35.7%
33.2%
18.7%
12.4%
gains and losses
compared to 2014
 % p
   8th
   6
   4
   2
   0
  -2
  -4
  -6
  -8th
-10
-12
−11.6  %p
+7.0  % p
+4.4  % p
+0.2  %p
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany 35.7 12 47.3 17
FBE Free Voters – Free Citizens Ellwangen eV 33.2 11 26.2 09
GREEN Alliance 90 / The Greens 18.7 06 14.3 05
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany 12.4 04 12.2 04
total 100.0 33 100.0 35
voter turnout 61.8% 50.1%
parties and constituencies %
2014
Seats
2014
%
2009
Seats
2009
%
2004
Seats
2004
%
1999
Seats
1999
%
1994
Seats
1994
%
1989
Seats
1989
%
1984
Seats
1984
CDU Christian Democratic Union of Germany 47.3 17 47.1 18 49.6 19 56,00 20 54.9 20 55.1 20 63.3 21
fw Free voters 26.2 09 27.1 10 18.3 07 4.60 01 9.3 03 9.4 02 0.0 00
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany 12.2 04 10.8 04 14.6 05 19.30 06 19.4 07 19.8 07 19.3 06
Green Alliance 90 / The Greens 14.3 05 15.0 05 13.7 05 10.60 03 10,0 03 4.9 01 6,0 01
EFL Ellwangen women list 0.0 00 0,0 00 3.9 01 7.70 02 6,0 02 10.7 03 11.4 03
Other Other Parties 0.0 00 0.0 00 0.0 00 1.75 00 0.4 00 0.0 00 0.0 00
total 100.0 35 100.0 37 100.0 37 100.00 32 100.0 35 100.0 34 100.0 31
Voter turnout in % 50.1 51.8 53.6 56.7 67.0 64.7 67.3

The election results in the local, state, federal and European elections in the years 2009-2021 were in the following ranges: CDU 22-58%, SPD 7-20%, Greens 7-23%, FDP 3-15%, AfD 2-14%, Left 2-5%.

Mayor

At the head of the town of Ellwangen was the town vogt , who was appointed by the abbot or provost . The Ellwangen chronicle lists the city founder Hariolf as the first abbot and at the same time the head of the city, who held office from 764 to 780. From the second half of the 18th century, the head of the city was also called vicedom . There was also a mayor, whose office was also conferred by the abbot or provost. The city court was also the council.

After the transition to Württemberg in 1819, the office of mayor was introduced. From 1930 he was given the official title of mayor , and since being elevated to the status of a major district town on February 1, 1972, the mayor has been given the official title of mayor . This is now directly elected by those entitled to vote for eight years. He is the chairman of the municipal council . His deputy is the first deputy with the official title mayor .

Former hospital, today town hall of the city of Ellwangen
The city leaders since 1819

badges and flags

DEU Ellwangen COA.svg

The coat of arms of the town of Ellwangen shows a continuous red St. Andrew 's cross in blue , surrounded by four golden lilies . The city flag is blue and red. In 1480, the Ellwanger chapter in Langres asked about the coat of arms of the founder of the monastery, Hariolf, and was referred to the coat of arms of the Langres diocese . The bishops of Langres had been peers of France since the beginning of the 13th century and since then have carried the lily of the French kings in their coat of arms. The coat of arms has been used in its current form since 1802/03.

Banner Ellwangen.svg 00Banner: "The banner is split blue and red with the coat of arms superimposed above the middle."

town twinning

Ellwangen has twinned towns with Langres in France (since 1964) and Abbiategrasso in Italy (since 1991). These two cities are also twinned with each other.

In 1980, Ellwangen took over the sponsorship of the expelled Germans from the city of Kaplitz and the district of the same name .

Economy and Infrastructure

Aerial view of Varta Microbattery GmbH

Economically, Ellwangen is characterized by medium-sized companies and the retail trade . In the city there are a total of 13,250 jobs subject to compulsory insurance in all sectors of the economy. 7,950 workers commute into the city every day, 4,967 residents work outside of the city (as of June 2020). The city's largest employer is the battery manufacturer VARTA with 1,300 employees. A battery factory was opened in Ellwangen in 1946. After numerous restructurings, Ellwangen is now the headquarters of the newly formed Varta AG and its subsidiaries Varta Microbattery and Varta Consumer Batteries.

Another major employer was the Bundeswehr garrison in the Reinhardt barracks from 1958 to 2014 with the Bundeswehr service center and the headquarters of a brigade headquarters. Up to 2,500 soldiers and 300 civilian employees were employed there at the height of the Cold War . One of the numerous breweries that used to be here has survived, the Rotochsenbrauerei . Another important employer is ODR , a company of the energy group EnBW with 350 employees.

The local editorial offices of the Schwäbische Post and the Ipf- und Jagst-Zeitung are based in Ellwangen . The Schwäbische Post obtains its supra-regional part from the Südwestpresse in Ulm, the Ipf- und Jagstzeitung from the Schwäbische Zeitung in Leutkirch.

traffic

The proximity of the Bundesautobahn 7 has made a significant contribution to Ellwangen's economic upswing. This means that the cities of Ulm, Würzburg and the metropolitan area of ​​Nuremberg can be reached in a short time. The Ellwangen motorway junction, four kilometers east of the city centre, can be reached via the well-developed L 1060 .

The federal highway 290 also runs through the municipal area . It is routed around the city center via a bypass (Westtangente). It is equipped with a total of three lanes through the entire city area, one lane each in the north and south direction. The third lane is designed either as a turning lane or can be used for parking on the side of the street. The B 290 connects Ellwangen in a northerly direction with Crailsheim . In the south, there is a direct connection to the district town of Aalen and the greater Stuttgart area with the federal highway 29 . Via the L 1060, the B 290 is connected directly to the motorway junction no. 113 in Ellwangen. The route leads over the southern ring through two tunnels around the old town of Ellwangen. Heavy goods traffic is routed to the motorway via this L 1060.

In Ellwangen there are over 2000 public parking spaces in the city area. The parking concept was designed in such a way that the distances to the city center are as short as possible.

Since the year 2000, the city center has been closed to motor vehicle traffic in the area of ​​Marienstrasse, Spitalstrasse and Schmiedstrasse. In the residential areas, several streets are traffic-calmed .

Ellwangen station is on the electrified Goldshöfe–Crailsheim railway line . An intercity train on line 61 KarlsruheStuttgartNuremberg stops there every two hours , a regional train to Aalen and via the Remsbahn in the direction of Stuttgart every hour and a regional train to Crailsheim every two hours . Since June 2019, regional rail traffic around Ellwangen has been operated by the British company Go-Ahead . Since December 9, 2007, local bus and train transport has been integrated into the OstalbMobil fare cooperation . Local public transport is organized by the FahrBus Ostalb GmbH group of companies. Since February 24, 2014, there has been a city ​​bus system in Ellwangen, originally with two lines, which connect the city center with the residential areas and important public facilities such as the St. Anna Virngrund Clinic. Three minibuses with low-floor technology are used so that prams and wheelchairs can also be transported. Buses run at least every hour from Monday to Saturday. A special feature is the "stop on call" concept, which is used in the 30 km/h zones . At the beginning of November 2016, the city bus network was expanded to include two new lines. One line runs from the central bus station via the Neunheim district to the Neunheim/Neunstadt industrial area on the A7 federal highway, the other line connects the European Training and Transfer Academy (EATA) to the city centre.

Courts, authorities and institutions

Historical portal of the district court of Ellwangen

In Ellwangen there is a district court , a regional court and a public prosecutor 's office , which belong to the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court district or the district of the Stuttgart public prosecutor 's office, as well as a notary 's office . There is also a forest branch office of the Ostalb district district office.

In 1881, together with the district court, a prison was built with 36 places. In March 2016, the prison was closed due to high maintenance costs.

The city ​​archive of Ellwangen (Jagst) has existed since 1937.

The JUZE youth center is the municipal contact point for leisure and cultural events for children and young people. Among other things, it offers a holiday program every year in August. In addition, the building of the youth center on the Mühlgraben is a constant meeting point. It has been supported jointly by the city and a support association for 25 years.

With 247 beds, the St. Anna Virngrund Clinic is one of the three remaining hospitals in the district. It was created in 2005 from the merger of the two Ellwangen clinics, St. Anna Clinic and Virngrund Clinic. (The St. Anne Clinic, which had been run by the congregation of the Sisters of St. Anne since the 1950s, was purely a maternity clinic.) The aim of the association was to centralize health care and save costs. The St.-Anna-Virngrund-Klinik is a member of the association of the oncological focus Ostwuerttemberg (treatment of tumor diseases) and the regional pain center Ostwuerttemberg.

Until 2006, the city was the seat of the Ellwangen deanery of the Rottenburg-Stuttgart diocese .

In autumn 2014, the state of Baden-Württemberg and the city of Ellwangen decided to set up a state initial reception center (LEA) for refugees in the unused part of the Reinhardt barracks . The accommodation buildings in the southern part of the barracks were used for this purpose. The facility was opened in April 2015 and is designed for a standard occupancy of 500 to 1000 refugees. The operation of the LEA was originally intended to be limited to five years. Due to the high influx of refugees in the summer of 2015, more than 4,500 refugees were housed in the LEA in September. In December 2015 there were still around 3,400 refugees. In the course of 2016, the occupancy went back to the standard occupancy of between 500 and 1000 refugees. The contract for the existence of the LEA was extended until the end of 2022.

educational institutions

As a school and administrative town, Ellwangen is also of national importance.

  • kindergartens
In the core town of Ellwangen there are a total of six kindergartens run by the church. In addition, there is a municipal all-day center with childcare options for children from the age of two and an all-day crèche for small children from the age of two months, both of which are run by Marienpflege. In addition, the districts of Rindelbach, Schrezheim and Pfahlheim each have two kindergartens.
With the Marienpflege children's and youth village, a center for children, young people and families, and the Graf children's home, there are also two children's homes in the Ellwangen area. The Children's Village, a Catholic foundation, emerged from an orphanage founded in 1830; since 1908 the Franciscan nuns from Siessen have been active in the children's village.
  • primary and secondary schools
Three elementary and secondary schools with secondary schools (Buchenberg School and Mittelhof School in the town center and the Johann Sebastian von Drey School in Röhlingen) cover the still growing demand. There are also five independent elementary schools (Klosterfeldschule in the city centre, the Pfahlheim fort school, the St. Georg school in Schrezheim, the Rindelbach elementary school and the Neunheim elementary school). The children's village Marienpflege also offers lessons in the school for educational support (primary, secondary, technical and special school) and the clinic school for children in longer hospital treatment of the St. Anna Virngrund Clinic.
  • secondary school
The city is responsible for a secondary school , the Eugen-Bolz-Realschule. This is located in the same building complex as the Hariolf-Gymnasium. In addition, in the core town of Ellwangen, there is the private St. Gertrudis secondary school for girls, which has to be paid for, and which has been run by sisters of the Franciscan order for over a hundred years. In 2002 a girls' high school was added.
  • high school
There are four grammar schools in Ellwangen, two of which are run by the city: the Hariolf-Gymnasium and the Peutinger-Gymnasium . The latter can now look back on a 350-year history. One of the pupils was the former Bundestag President Philipp Jenninger . The private girls ' high school St. Gertrudis is supported and run by sisters of the Franciscan order. It also enjoys national popularity. Many schoolchildren from the neighboring Bavarian districts also commute in every day. In 2007, the technical high school was newly established in the vocational school center under the sponsorship of the district.
  • vocational schools
The Ostalbkreis is the school operator of the vocational school center (industrial, commercial and home economics school) with, among other things, a technical high school. In addition, there is the institute for socio-pedagogical professions (vocational school) and the private school for educational assistance.
  • Other school facilities
With the Schöner-Graben-School there is a special school that looks after children and young people with learning disabilities . There are sufficient care options for people with disabilities in the Rabenhof district.
  • music school
The Old Town Hall has housed the Johann Melchior Dreyer Music School since the 1990s . According to the guidelines of the Association of Music Schools, this is a fully equipped school with a wide range of offers, which fully covers both the elementary area and instrumental lessons from lower to upper school (pre-vocational lessons). Particular value is placed on ensemble playing and amateur music-making. The young people have the opportunity to participate in various chamber music groups (recorder, wind, guitar and string ensembles). Furthermore, advanced students can participate in the youth wind orchestra, in the string or symphony orchestra of the municipal music school and thus have the opportunity to take part in numerous performances at home and abroad.
  • adult education
Adult education is provided by the local community college . In addition, the Kolping Educational Institute also offers courses and further training in manual trades for adults with classrooms in the town mill, among other places.
  • public library
The public library for Ellwangen is located in the Palais Adelmann. There are around 38,000 books in stock, plus CDs and DVDs.

The suburbs also maintain smaller libraries.

Culture and sights

Castle gate of Ellwangen on a 50 Pfennig definitive stamp of the Bundespost from 1967

Museums

The Alamannenmuseum Ellwangen is one of the most important museums on the history of the Alamannen . Exhibits from the excavation sites near Lauchheim are shown here.

In addition to the magnificent rooms of the residence of the prince provosts of Ellwangen and the kings of Württemberg, the castle museum in the castle above Ellwangen also contains valuable Schrezheim faience , baroque Christmas cribs, clocks, doll houses and the Stirner room.

In May 2011 the “Sieger Köder Museum Ellwangen – Picture and Bible” (→ location) was opened. With 150 exhibits on 670 m², there are insights into Sieger Köder 's work, his theological thoughts and their artistic implementation.

Other museums are located in the Pfahlheim district: the farmhouse parlor and the hunting museum.

memorials

buildings

Basilica of St Vitus

The Collegiate Church of St. Veit (consecrated on October 3, 1233), the city's landmark , is of great art-historical importance . It is a three-aisled, cruciform basilica from the 12th century and is considered the most important Romanesque vaulted basilica in Swabia . Its three Romanesque towers can be seen from afar. In the 16th and 17th centuries, the interior was baroque and Rococo forms were introduced. Only the vestibule to the west of the nave has been preserved in its original form. Nevertheless, the high medieval origin is still clearly visible in the rest of the interior. A Gothic cloister and the Chapel of Our Lady, in which Father Philipp , who was revered in Ellwangen, is buried, directly adjoin the nave . In 1964 the church was elevated to the status of a minor basilica . The direct connecting door to the neighboring evangelical town church can be seen as a special feature of ecumenism.

Evangelical City Church

Evangelical city church from the roof of the basilica

Right next door is the Evangelical City Church . The magnificent baroque façade of the Jesuit Church (Church of the Immaculate Conception Mariae zu Ellwangen) built between 1724 and 1729 is attached directly to the north side of the Catholic basilica and is even partially covered by it. The voluted gable of today's evangelical town church shows the two saints of the Jesuit order, Franz Xavier and Ignatius .

Inside the church, the porch grille and the vault paintings are particularly noteworthy. The frescoes are by Christoph Thomas Scheffler from Augsburg, a student of the fresco painter Cosmas Damian Asam . The pictures on the ceiling paintings show Maria's life.

After the two denominations were put on an equal footing in 1802, the Jesuit Church became a Protestant town church. The baroque church is particularly valued today for its excellent acoustics and is therefore often used for concerts.

Old town of Ellwangen

houses in the marketplace

In the center of the city, on the south side of the collegiate church, is the market square lined with baroque monastic houses, to which numerous streets and alleys radiate. Today it is mainly used for markets and cultural events. The former Jesuit college, which was built under Prince Provost Franz Ludwig von Pfalz-Neuburg in 1722 and today houses the public prosecutor's office and the criminal chambers of the Ellwangen district court , is particularly worth seeing. Directly opposite is the former monastery town hall, which was built with the help of the famous master builder Balthasar Neumann . From 1812 to 1817 it housed the auditorium of the theological faculty of the University of Ellwangen. It later became the seat of the royal Württemberg district government for the Jagst district.

One of the oldest residential buildings in the city is Haus Zimmerle, which was mentioned as early as 1550. It used to house the Ellwangen post office. Famous personalities such as Goethe and Mozart stayed in the former Postgasthof Schwarzer Adler . A scene on the painted facade of the building commemorates Goethe's visit.

Palais Adelman
View of Castle above Ellwangen

The Palais Adelmann was built in 1688 as the city's first baroque building as a residence for Wilhelm Christoph Adelmann von Adelmannsfelden . The towering gable of the secular building, on which there is a statue of St. Michael, can be seen from afar. Today, the former count's palace houses the city library and the city's representative rooms.

North of the Basilica of St. Vitus is the former custodianship and the former governor's office. Also worth seeing are the Marienkirche (Gothic church from 1427, rebuilt in 1612) and the Church of St. Wolfgang (consecrated in 1476). In the former hospital of the Holy Spirit, which today houses the town hall, the hospital chapel is one of the numerous chapels in the city of Ellwangen. Several city towers have also been preserved on the edge of the old town. The defense tower in Hirtengasse, which is now used by the civil guard, is particularly worth seeing.

Schönenberg and Castle above Ellwangen

East of the city center are the Marian pilgrimage church on the Schönenberg and the castle at Ellwangen . In the pilgrimage church on the Schönenberg, the brothers Michael and Christian Thumb realized the Vorarlberg Minster for the first time. From around 1680, this cathedral scheme became the standard for new church buildings in southern Germany and determined the shape of most of the monastery churches in Upper Swabia. The Renaissance palace on the Schlossberg was the residence of the Prince Provost of Ellwangen. It was built in the 14th century as an extensive castle complex and later converted into a magnificent palace.

Churches and chapels in the districts

Antonius Chapel Schrezheim

The Catholic parish church of St. Nicholas in Pfahlheim was built in 1891 by J. Caden. Parts of the church building from the 15th century were integrated into the new building. The church tower was designed in the late Gothic style. A special feature of the Catholic parish church in Beersbach, which belongs to Pfahlheim, is the late-Gothic tower with a tent roof.

The Sebastian Chapel (formerly the Chapel of Saints Maria and Gangolf) in Eigenzell is characterized by its Gothic core with a polygonal vaulted chancel. It was built in 1666 by master builder Caspar Feichtmayr .

In neighboring Rattstadt, the Chapel of the Holy Trinity was built a short time later after permission from the Ellwangen Monastery, which was completed in 1731.

The largest village church in the town of Ellwangen is in Röhlingen. Today's Catholic parish church of St. Peter and Paul Röhlingen was built between 1898 and 1901 near a late Romanesque predecessor church. The district of Röhlingen was also an important Marian pilgrimage site, especially in the 19th century. For this purpose, a magnificently furnished rococo chapel was created with the Dietersbacher chapel.

The chapel of St. Ursula in nearby Haisterhofen, which was built in 1702, also dates from the same period. Also worth seeing is the baroque chapel of St. Martin in Killingen.

The Chapel of the Holy Guardian Angels in Neunheim is now a branch church of the parish of St. Vitus in the heart of Ellwangen. The chapel, built in 1723 and consecrated in 1729, was extensively restored in 2005 and can be seen from afar due to its location above Ellwangen.

In the area there are two more gems, the chapel of the 14 Nothelfer in Neunstadt (1722) and the Katharinenkapelle in Rötlen.

The Antonius chapel (Schrezheim) was donated in 1692 and consecrated in 1729. On the canteen of the left side altar is a faience altar that was created in 1773/74 in the faience factory in Schrezheim. The model comes from Johann Martin Mutschele from Bamberg.

The Catholic Church of St. Patrizius in Eggenrot was not built until the end of the 19th century. The Rotenbach chapel was built in 1737.

The Eichkapelle in the district of Rindelbach is located directly below the Schönenberg. It was erected in 1498, making it one of the oldest buildings in the town of Ellwangen.

association

Ellwangen and its suburbs have a wide range of associations.

The Ellwangen Civil Guard can look back on the longest tradition . A riflemen's guild for the defense of the prince provost was first mentioned in the town chronicle in 1439. After secularization, in the revolutionary year 1848, the guard was replaced by a trained militia. At the end of the 19th century, maintenance of the institution of the citizens' guard, which was only retained for representative tasks, diminished. It was re-established on October 13, 1958. Since then, the number of guards has grown again to 200 men. The design of the uniform was based on the pattern of Austrian infantry regiments in the city colors of red and blue.

By far the oldest association in Ellwangen that has existed without interruption is the Brotherhood of the Rosary , which was founded in 1615 with the construction of the Marienkirche. Membership is limited to twenty and admission is by personal recommendation only.

In the sporting area, the TSV and DJK Ellwangen in particular offer a wide range of activities, ranging from swimming, athletics and disabled sports to American sports such as basketball and baseball.

The football departments of DJK and TSV merged in 2010 to form the new club FC Ellwangen 1913, which plays in the Kocher/Rems district league. In most parts of the community there are their own football clubs.

The baseball department of TSV Ellwangen, the "Virngrund Elks", were promoted to the 2nd Bundesliga of the German Baseball and Softball Association DBV in 2019.

The volleyball team from TSV Ellwangen, who made it into the regional league of the Wurttemberg volleyball association in the 1990s, are also successful.

In the 2012/2013 season, the first men's team in the volleyball department played in the Landesliga Nord of the Württemberg state volleyball association.

A very successful sports bowling club is the KC Schrezheim eV, which plays with two women's teams in the first and second federal league.

The music associations in the sub-districts have an important cultural role.

Sports

There are numerous football pitches and soccer fields distributed throughout the city, as well as some tennis facilities (e.g. in the Rindelbach district or at the Marienpflege children's village).

The range of bathing lakes in the Ellwangen Lake District offers space for sporting activities in summer with water slides, diving platforms and sandy beaches. The Ellwanger wave pool can be used all year round.

In winter, when snow falls, trails are groomed in the forests of the Virngrund ; there is also a ski lift on the slopes of the Schönenberg. In the winter months, the public utility company also installs a natural ice rink near the Schiesswasen fairground .

Cyclists can reach Ellwangen via the Kocher-Jagst cycle path , which has become increasingly popular in recent years. In addition, the Hohenlohe-Ostalb-Weg leads as a long- distance cycle path from Rothenburg ob der Tauber via the Ostalb to Ulm on the Danube. Furthermore, various regional cycle routes have their starting point in Ellwangen.

Ellwangen Lake District

There are many bathing lakes in the vicinity of Ellwangen, including the Buch reservoir , the Häsle reservoir, the Haselbachsee, the Kreßbachsee , the Fischbachsee , the Orrotsee and the Espachweiher. In addition to cycling and hiking in the Virngrund and in the Ellwanger mountains , activities such as sailing, boating and fishing are also possible here.

Theatre, cinema and nightlife

Regular events take place mainly in the town hall and in the castle above Ellwangen (chamber concerts, poetry evenings). The "Theatermenschen", a theater group with amateur actors, perform in the summer in the outer courtyard of Schloss ob Ellwangen. Pieces related to the city of Ellwangen are often performed. For a few years now, a play has also been staged in winter in cooperation with disabled people. In addition to the "theater people" there are also school and country theater groups.

The cinema "Regina 2000" is located on the edge of the old town. After an extensive expansion, it also has the largest screen in East Württemberg in addition to smaller cultural cinemas.

In addition to numerous pubs and cafés, nightlife in Ellwangen is mainly characterized by recurring events. This includes city-wide motto events in all pubs such as the annual "Mailenium", "Ellwangen tanzt" or the summer program "Summer in the city".

Regular events

The Kalter Markt , a traditional horse market in Ellwangen, has been taking place for over 1000 years. In the 17th century it was moved from January 17, the feast day of the Holy Triplets, to the Monday after Epiphany . A horse parade still takes place on this day. At the start of the Cold Market, a festive service commemorates the horse saints Speusippus, Eleusippus and Meleusippus , whose relics are venerated in the Basilica of St. Vitus. The heart of the cold market is the horse awards ceremony and the subsequent procession with up to 400 elaborately decorated horses, which move through the center of Ellwangen individually or in teams.

Entry of the Pennäler Schnitzelbank with torches into the unlit city center

The appearance of Der Pennäler Schnitzelbank (also Black Schar ) on Shrove Sunday is the city's oldest carnival tradition. Dressed in black dominoes , the dark fellows with Schellenbaum and torches have been parading through the city center and the bars of Ellwangen for over 150 years, denouncing the crimes of local celebrities in artistic verses. The special attraction is the absolute secrecy of the members of the Black Band and also the printed lists of verses, which are sold in some Ellwangen shops and in which the Black Band sometimes likes to make fun of themselves.

“Theologians today / are even questioning the Pope. In the future there will still be infallible / only the black horde.”

In summer, the traditional home days take place at the castle above Ellwangen, and the summer in the city cultural initiative ensures that there is a cultural offer even in the hot season: This ranges from a sedan chair race to concerts and theater performances.

Weekly markets with products from regional traders and producers take place on the market square every Wednesday and Saturday. The weekly farmer's market on Friday offers food and products, mainly from organic farmers from the region. The Kramermarkt, held six times a year, offers a wide variety of goods (including clothing, food, household appliances, jewellery). In addition to the flea markets, fairs and exhibitions take place at the Schiesswasen fairground, some of which are linked to a Sunday shopping in the old town. During the Advent season, the Ellwangen Christmas market is held in front of the town hall and on Marienstrasse.

personalities

Others

The Ellwanger Kreis was founded in Ellwangen in 1947, a discussion group for Christian politicians that existed until the late 1960s.

On March 29, 2014, a class 411 ICE was christened Ellwangen at Ellwangen station .

In 2017, almost 10,000 silver coins from the 13th to 14th centuries were found near Ellwangen . It is one of the largest coin finds in Baden-Württemberg.

Ellwangen in fiction

  • Inge Barth-Grözinger: Something stays. The Fate of the Levi Family - a novel . Munich 2006. [on the Jewish history of Ellwangen during the Nazi era]

literature

  • Hans Pfeifer: Ellwangen - art and history from 1250 years . Thorbecke, 2000, ISBN 978-3-7995-8015-1 .
  • Rudolf Grupp, Hans-Karl Stengle: Ellwangen . Sutton, 2007, ISBN 978-3-86680-185-1 .
  • Andreas Gut : Alamannenmuseum Ellwangen. Fink, Lindenberg 2006, ISBN 3-89870-271-5 .
  • Württemberg town book, volume IV, sub-volume Baden-Württemberg, volume 2 from German town book. Urban History Handbook . On behalf of the Working Group of Historical Commissions and with the support of the German Association of Cities, the Association of German Cities and the Association of German Municipalities, ed. by Erich Keyser, Stuttgart 1961.
  • Landesdenkmalamt Baden-Württemberg: Ellwangen – The City as a Monument . Theiss, 2008, ISBN 978-3-8062-1884-8 .
  • Madita-Sophie Kairies, Joachim Wahl: Hundreds of dead under the market place. Anthropological studies of the skeletal remains from Ellwangen (Jagst). Bulletin of monument preservation in Baden-Württemberg, year 2019, issue 2, pp. 121-126 ( PDF; 7.9 MB ).

itemizations

  1. ^ " Statistisches Landesamt Baden-Württemberg - Population by nationality and gender on December 31, 2020 (CSV file) ( help on this ).
  2. State Statistical Office of Baden-Württemberg: Population Statistics. Retrieved March 3, 2021 .
  3. Natural areas of Baden-Württemberg . State Institute for the Environment, Measurements and Nature Conservation Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart 2009.
  4. ↑ Sub- places. City of Ellwangen, retrieved December 21, 2021 .
  5. State Statistical Office, area since 1988 according to actual use for Ellwangen.
  6. Baden-Württemberg Geological State Office: Soil overview map of Baden-Württemberg , title page of activity report 1990-1992 , Freiburg i. Br. 1993, ISSN  0940-0834 .
  7. Geological State Office in Baden-Württemberg: Geological overview map of Baden-Württemberg . Scale 1:200,000, 4th edition 1962 (unchanged reprint of the 2nd edition from 1935).
  8. Hans-Gerd Michiels, S. Koller: The local boundaries of the beech - the example of Virngrund. Forestry Experimental and Research Institute Baden-Württemberg, 2005, accessed January 31, 2022 .
  9. The beginnings of the Ellwangen settlement and monastery , Stadt Ellwangen.
  10. Winfried Böhne: On the early medieval history of Ellwangen according to Fulda sources . In: Ellwangen 764–1964 . Schwabenverlag Ellwangen, 1964, pp. 73-106.
  11. a b Franz Grivec: Saint Methodius in Ellwangen . In: Ellwangen 764–1964 . Schwabenverlag Ellwangen, 1964, pp. 153-159.
  12. a b c Eugen Weis: Citizens of Ellwangen under abbot and provost . In: Ellwangen 764-1964 , Schwabenverlag Ellwangen, 1964, pp. 168-178.
  13. a b Hermann Tüchle: Reformation and Counter-Reformation in the Prince Propstei Ellwangen . In Ellwangen 764–1964 , Schwabenverlag Ellwangen, 1964, pp. 225–244.
  14. Cases of witch hunts in Ellwangen. (pdf, 228 kB) http://www.anton-praetorius.de , retrieved December 21, 2021 .
  15. Hans Pfeifer: Witch hunts in Ellwangen. In: the same: Ellwangen - art and history from 1250 years. Ulm 2000, pp. 50–52 ( online on the website of the city of Ellwangen ).
  16. Benedictine monastery and monastery. City of Ellwangen, retrieved October 27, 2020 .
  17. Hermann Tüchle: Reformation and counter-reformation in Ellwangen . In: Ellwangen 764–1964 . Schwabenverlag Ellwangen, 1964, pp. 225-244.
  18. Secularization and the 19th Century. City of Ellwangen, retrieved October 27, 2020 .
  19. a b c d e f g h i Hans Pfeifer: Ellwangen. Art and history from 1250 years. Süddeutsche Verlagsgesellschaft, Ulm 2000, ISBN 3-88294-295-9 .
  20. Ellwangen in the second half of the 20th century. City of Ellwangen, retrieved October 27, 2020 .
  21. Schwäbische Zeitung, regional section Ellwangen, double page Farewell to the Bundeswehr in Ellwangen. January 25, 2014.
  22. a b Federal Statistical Office (ed.): Historical municipal directory for the Federal Republic of Germany. Name, boundary and key number changes in municipalities, districts and administrative districts from May 27, 1970 to December 31, 1982 . W. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart/Mainz 1983, ISBN 3-17-003263-1 , p. 445 .
  23. The Catholic Church in Ellwangen in the pastoral care unit. Ellwangen pastoral care unit, retrieved 30 January 2022 .
  24. Pastoral Unit 8 – Father Philipp Jeningen. Catholic Deanery Ostalb, retrieved 30 January 2022 .
  25. 200 years of the Evangelical Church in Ellwangen , Schwäbischer Albverein.
  26. Schwäbische Zeitung / Ipf- und Jagst-Zeitung: Bulgarians, Macedonians and Slovaks commemorate Methodius , May 25, 2015.
  27. Synagogue in Ellwangen , Synagogue in Ellwangen.
  28. Final result of the municipal council election in Ellwangen 2019. wahlen11.rz-kiru.de, retrieved on December 25, 2021 .
  29. Structure and regional database of the State Statistical Office of Baden-Württemberg .
  30. Immo Eberl : Langres is the mother city of Ellwangen - without Hariolf there is no monastery. Ipf and Jagst newspaper , July 27, 2013.
  31. Banner Ellwangen
  32. ^ Ellwangen's structural data at a glance. City of Ellwangen, January 2022, retrieved January 29, 2022 .
  33. Locations. Varta AG, accessed 29 January 2022 .
  34. StadtBus brings many innovations. SDZ Druck und Medien GmbH, February 24, 2014, accessed October 27, 2020 .
  35. Beate Gralla: The city bus is now driving in Ellwangen. schwaebische.de, accessed on February 25, 2014.
  36. Land sells former prison: Ellwangen prison is for sale. Stuttgart newspaper, February 28, 2017.
  37. Schwäbische Zeitung: Ellwangen opts for a state initial reception center , November 6, 2014
  38. Ipf- und Jagst-Zeitung: LEA opens in the first week of April , January 30, 2015
  39. Südwest-Rundfunk: Refugees are moving , September 24, 2015
  40. Schwäbische Post: 1000 new LEA places in a hurry, Thursday, December 3, 2015
  41. ^ Extension of term for LEA-Ellwangen. Radio 7, 2020, retrieved January 29, 2022 .
  42. Grammar schools , technical schools and vocational schools , music school in the city ​​of Ellwangen.
  43. ^ " Marienpflege Children's and Youth Village" .
  44. City Library .
  45. Memorials for the Victims of National Socialism. A documentation, vol. I, Bonn 1995, ISBN 3-89331-208-0 , p. 31 f.
  46. Flyer of the memorial room at the Eugen-Bolz-Realschule , retrieved on July 22, 2020
  47. Basilica of St. Vitus ( Memento from April 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart.
  48. ^ Neunheim Guardian Angel Chapel ( memento from April 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ), Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart.
  49. Antonius Chapel Schrezheim , City of Ellwangen.
  50. Association page of the Ellwangen Citizens' Guard .
  51. History 94 - 21. Virngrund Elks, accessed 31 January 2022 .
  52. City of Ellwangen: Ellwanger Seenland
  53. Pennäler Schnitzelbank , final verse, 2003.
  54. A train called Ellwangen. Ipf-und-Jagst-Zeitung, accessed on March 30, 2014.

web links

Commons : Ellwangen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files
Wikivoyage: Ellwangen (Jagst)  – Travel Guide
Wikisource: Ellwangen (Jagst)  – sources and full texts