| Aalen | |
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Aalen
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Location of the city of Aalen within Ostalbkreis district
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| Coordinates | |
| Administration | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Baden-Württemberg |
| Admin. region | Stuttgart |
| District | Ostalbkreis |
| Mayor | Martin Gerlach |
| Basic statistics | |
| Area | 146.624 km2 (56.612 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 430 m (1411 ft) |
| Population | 66,113 (31 December 2010)[1] |
| - Density | 451 /km2 (1,168 /sq mi) |
| Other information | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
| Licence plate | AA |
| Postal codes | 73430–73434 |
| Area codes | 07361/-66/-67 |
| Website | www.aalen.de |
| Imperial City of Aalen Reichsstadt Aalen |
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| Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire | ||||
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| Capital | Aalen | |||
| Government | Republic | |||
| Historical era | Early modern period | |||
| - City founded | 13th century | |||
| - Gained Reichsfreiheit | 1360 | |||
| - Protestant Reformation | 1575 | |||
| - Counter-Reformation | 1628–32 | |||
| - Devastated by fire | 1634 | |||
| - Mediatised to Württemberg |
1803 |
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| Before 1360, the city belonged to the Counts of Oettingen who pawned them in to the County of Württemberg in 1358 or 1359. | ||||
Aalen (German pronunciation: [ˈaːlən]) is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, about 70 kilometres (43 mi) east of Stuttgart and 48 kilometres (30 mi)[2] north of Ulm. It is the seat of the Ostalbkreis district, and its largest city, as well as the largest city within the Ostwürttemberg region. In spatial planning, Aalen is designated a Mittelzentrum (“medium-level centre”). Since 1 April 1956, Aalen has the status of Große Kreisstadt (“major district town”).
With an area of 146.63 km2, Aalen is ranking position 7 in Baden-Württemberg and position 2 within the Government Region of Stuttgart, after Stuttgart. With a population of about 66,000, Aalen is on position 15 within Baden-Württemberg.
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Aalen is situated on the upper reaches of the river Kocher, at the foot of the Swabian Jura to the south and south-east and close to the hilly landscape of the Ellwanger Berge to the north.
In terms of natural regions, the west of Aalen’s territory is on the foreland of the eastern Swabian Jura, and the north and north-west is on the Swabian-Franconian Uplands, both being part of the Swabian Keuper-Lias Plains. The south-west is part of the Albuch, the east is part of the Härtsfeld, these two both being parts of the Swabian Jura.[3]
The Kocher enters the city’s territory from Oberkochen on the south, crosses the city district of Unterkochen, then the city centre, where the Aal flows into it. The Aal is a small river stretching only on the town's territory. Next, the Kocher crosses the city district of Wasseralfingen, then leaves the city for Hüttlingen.[4] Rivers originating near Aalen are the Rems (near Essingen, west of Aalen) and the Jagst (near Unterschneidheim, east of Aalen), both being subsidiaries of the Neckar, just like the Kocher.
The elevation in the centre at market square is 430 meters relative to Normalhöhennull. The territory’s lowest point is at the Lein river near Rodamsdörfle, the highest point is the Grünberg’s peak near Unterkochen at 733 m.[5]
Aalen’s territory ranges over all lithostratigraphic groups of the south-German Jurassic: Aalen’s south and the Flexner massif are on top of the Weißer Jura (White Jurassic), the city center is on the Brauner Jura (Brown Jurassic), and a part of Wasseralfingen is on the Schwarzer Jura (Black Jurassic). Therefore, the city advertises itself as a “Geologist’s Mecca”.[6][7]
Most part of the territory is on the Opalinuston-Formation (Opalinum Clay Formation) of the Aalenian subdivision, which is named after Aalen. On the Sandberg, the Schnaitberg and the Schradenberg hills, all in the west of Aalen, the Eisensandstein (Iron Sandstone) Formation emerges to surface. On the other hills of the city, sands (Goldshöfer Sande), gravel and residual rubble prevail. The historic centre of Aalen and the other areas in the Kocher valley are founded completely on holocenic floodplain loam (Auelehm) and riverbed gravel that have filled in the valley.
Most parts of Dewangen and Fachsenfeld are founded on formations of Jurensismergel (Jurensis Marl), Posidonienschiefer (cf. Posidonia Shale), Amaltheenton (Amalthean Clay), Numismalismergel (Numismalis Marl) and Obtususton (Obtusus Clay, named after Asteroceras obtusum) succeeding from south to north, all belonging to the Jurassic. They are at last succeeded by the Trossingen Formation already belonging to the Late Triassic.
On the Braunenberg hill, until 1939 iron ore was mined (see Tiefer Stollen section).
The maximum extent of the city’s territory amounts to 18 kilometres (11 mi) in north-south dimension and 25 kilometres (16 mi) in east-west dimension. The area is 14,662.8 hectares, which includes 42.2 % (6,186.2 hectares) agriculturally used area and 37.7 % (5,534.9 hectares) of forest. 11.5 % (1,692.3 hectares) are built up or vacant, 6.4 % (932.8 hectares) is used by traffic infrastructure. Sporting and recreation grounds and parks comprise 1 % (152.7 hectares), other areas 1.1 % (163.9 hectares).[8]
The following municipalities border on Aalen. They are listed clockwise, beginning south, with their respective linear distances to Aalen city centre given in brackets:
Oberkochen (6 kilometres, 3.7 mi), Essingen (6 kilometres, 3.7 mi), Heuchlingen (11 kilometres, 6.8 mi), Abtsgmünd (9 kilometres, 5.6 mi), Neuler (10 kilometres, 6.2 mi), Hüttlingen (6 kilometres, 3.7 mi), Rainau (10 kilometres, 6.2 mi), Westhausen (9 kilometres, 5.6 mi), Lauchheim (12 kilometres, 7.5 mi), Bopfingen (20 kilometres, 12 mi) and Neresheim (20 kilometres, 12 mi), all in the Ostalbkreis district, furthermore Heidenheim an der Brenz (18 kilometres, 11 mi) and Königsbronn (10 kilometres, 6.2 mi), both in Heidenheim district.
Aalen’s territory consists of the city centre (Kernstadt) and the municipalities merged to between 1938 (Unterrombach) and 1975 (Wasseralfingen, see mergings section). The municipalities merged in the course of the latest municipal reform of the 1970s are also called Stadtbezirke (city districts), and are Ortschaften (“settlements”) in terms of Baden-Württemberg’s Gemeindeordnung (municipal code), which means, each of them has its own council elected by its respective residents (Ortschaftsrat) and is presided by a spokesperson (Ortsvorsteher).
The city centre itself and the merged former municipalities consist of numerous villages (Teilorte), mostly separated by open ground from each other and having their own independent and long-standing history. Some however have been created as planned communities, which were given proper names, but no well-defined borders.
List of villages:[9]
| Borough | Coat of arms | Area in km2 | Residents (1 July 2011) |
Villages |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| City centre | 30,62 | 34.466[10] | Hammerstadt, Hofherrnweiler, Mädle, Mantelhof, Neßlau, Oberrombach, Unterrombach, the latter also known as Weststadt (“western city”) | |
| Dewangen | 16,53 | 3.183[11] | Aushof, Bernhardsdorf, Bronnenhäusle, Degenhof, Dreherhof, Faulherrnhof, Freudenhöfle, Gobühl, Großdölzerhof, Haldenhaus, Hüttenhöfe, Kleindölzerhof, Kohlhöfle, Langenhalde, Lusthof, Neuhof, Rauburr, Reichenbach, Riegelhof, Rodamsdörfle, Rotsold, Schafhof, Schultheißenhöfle, Streithöfle, Tannenhof, Trübenreute | |
| Ebnat | 21,16 | 3.327[12] | Affalterwang, Diepertsbuch, Niesitz | |
| Fachsenfeld | 3,95 | 3.605[13] | Bodenbach, Hangendenbuch, Himmlingsweiler, Mühlhäusle, Scherrenmühle, Waiblingen | |
| Hofen | 12,58 | 2.080[14] | Attenhofen, Fürsitz, Goldshöfe, Heimatsmühle, Oberalfingen, Wagenrain | |
| Unterkochen | 21,44 | 4.927[15] | Birkhöfe, Glashütte, Neukochen, Neuziegelhütte, Stefansweilermühle | |
| Waldhausen | 24,38 | 2.335[16] | Arlesberg, Bernlohe, Beuren, Brastelburg, Geiselwang, Hohenberg, Neubau, Simmisweiler | |
| Wasseralfingen | 15,97 | 11.767[17] | Affalterried, Brausenried, Bürgle, Erzhäusle, Heisenberg, Mäderhof, Onatsfeld, Rötenberg, Röthardt, Salchenhof, Treppach, Weidenfeld |
Aalen forms a Mittelzentrum (“medium-level centre”) within the Ostwürttemberg region. It’s designated catchment area includes the following municipalities of the central and eastern Ostalbkreis district: Abtsgmünd, Bopfingen, Essingen, Hüttlingen, Kirchheim am Ries, Lauchheim, Neresheim, Oberkochen, Riesbürg and Westhausen, and is interwoven with the catchment area of Nördlingen, situated in Bavaria, 30 kilometres (19 mi) east of Aalen.
As Aalen’s territory sprawls on escarpments of the Swabian Jura, on the Albuch and the Härtsfeld landscapes, and transcends a difference in elevation of 355 metres, the climate varies from district to district.
The weather station the following data originate from is located between the city centre and Wasseralfingen at about and is operative since 1991.
The sunshine duration is about 1800 hours per year, which averages to 4.93 hours per day. So Aalen is above the German average of 1550 hours per year. However, with 167 days of precipitation, Aalen’s region also ranks above the German average of 138. The annual rainfall is 807 millimetres, which puts Aalen into the moderate middle within Baden-Württemberg.[18] Mean fluctuations in temperature of up to -11.6 °C in January and 32.7 °C in July result in an annual mean temperature of 9.9 °C. Here Aalen as well ranks above the German average of 8.2 °C and the Baden-Württemberg average of 8.1 °C.
| Climate data for Aalen | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
| Average high °C (°F) | 11.8 (53.2) |
15.0 (59.0) |
19.3 (66.7) |
23.4 (74.1) |
28.2 (82.8) |
31.2 (88.2) |
32.7 (90.9) |
32.2 (90.0) |
27.2 (81.0) |
22.1 (71.8) |
15.8 (60.4) |
11.9 (53.4) |
22.57 (72.62) |
| Daily mean °C (°F) | 1.2 (34.2) |
2.0 (35.6) |
5.5 (41.9) |
9.4 (48.9) |
14.3 (57.7) |
17.5 (63.5) |
19.2 (66.6) |
18.9 (66.0) |
14.2 (57.6) |
10.0 (50.0) |
4.6 (40.3) |
1.4 (34.5) |
9.85 (49.73) |
| Average low °C (°F) | −11.6 (11.1) |
−10.4 (13.3) |
−4.9 (23.2) |
−2.5 (27.5) |
2.6 (36.7) |
6.1 (43.0) |
9.4 (48.9) |
8.3 (46.9) |
3.6 (38.5) |
0.0 (32.0) |
−4.1 (24.6) |
−9.8 (14.4) |
−1.11 (30.01) |
| Precipitation mm (inches) | 54.5 (2.146) |
50.8 (2) |
74.3 (2.925) |
55.4 (2.181) |
79.4 (3.126) |
68.7 (2.705) |
87.9 (3.461) |
80.8 (3.181) |
67.6 (2.661) |
72.4 (2.85) |
59.0 (2.323) |
56.1 (2.209) |
806.9 (31.768) |
| Avg. rainy days | 16 | 13 | 12 | 14 | 14 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 14 | 12 | 15 | 13 | 167 |
| Sunshine hours | 62 | 84.75 | 155 | 180 | 217 | 210 | 248 | 217 | 180 | 124 | 60 | 62 | 1,799.75 |
| Source: ,[19][20] | |||||||||||||
Tools made of flint and traces of human settlement of the Mesolithic dated between the 8th and 5th millennium BC were found on several sites on the margins of the Kocher and Jagst valleys. On the Schloßbaufeld plateau (appr. 650 by 350 metres), situated behind Kocherburg castle near Unterkochen, a hill-top settlement was found, with the core being attributed to the Bronze Age. In the Appenwang forest near Wasseralfingen, in Goldshöfe and in Ebnat, tumuli of the Hallstatt culture were found. In Aalen and Wasseralfingen, Golden and silver coins left by the Celts were found, who also fortified the Schloßbaufeld settlement with sectional embankments and a stone wall. Near Heisenberg (Wasseralfingen), a celtic nemeton is situated.[21]
Around 150 AD, Aalen’s territory became part of the Roman Empire, in direct vicinity of the Rhaetian Limes. The Romans erected a castrum to house the cavalry unit Ala II Flavia milliaria; it’s remains are known today as Kastell Aalen (”Aalen roman fort“). The site is west of today’s city centre at the bottom of the Schillerhöhe hill. With about 1,000 horsemen and nearly as many grooms, it was the greatest fort of auxiliaries along the Rhaetian Limes. Civilian settlements were adjacent on the south and the east. Around 260, the Romans gave up the fort as they withdrew their frontier to unoccupied Germania back to the Rhine and Danube rivers, and the Alamanni took over the region.[22][23] Inferred from coins found related to the late 3rd and the 4th century, the civilian settlement continued to exist for the time being. However, a continuous inhabitation between the Roman era and the middle ages is not detectable.[21]
Archeologists regard findings of alamannic graves originating from the 7th century as the root of the village of Aalen. In the northern and western walls of St. John’s church, which is located directly adjacent to the eastern gate of the Roman fort, Roman stones were incorporated. The building existing today probably dates to the 9th century.
In the Middle Ages, the first time a place today being part of Aalen was mentioned was 839, when emperor Louis the Pious permitted the Fulda monastery to exchange estate in the Hammerstadt village, then known as Hamarstat.[24] Aalen itself was first mentioned in an inventory list of Ellwangen Abbey, dated ca. 1136, as the village Alon, along with a lower nobleman named Conrad of Aalen. This gender probably had its ancestral castle at a site south of today’s city centre and were probably first subject to Ellwangen abbey, later to the House of Hohenstaufen, and at last to the House of Oettingen. 1426 was the last time a member of that house was attested in connection with Aalen. Middle-aged documents indicate that the city of Aalen was founded by the Hohenstaufen between 1241 and 1246, but at a different site than the like-named village, which is supposed destroyed in 1388 in the course of the war between the Alliance of Swabian Cities and the Dukes of Bavaria. Later, the counts of Oettingen were rulers of the city, which is attested for the first time for 1340. They pawned the city to Count Eberhard II and thus to the House of Württemberg in 1358 or 1359 in exchange for an amount of money.[25]
In the war of the Holy Roman Empire against Württemberg, Emperor Charles IV took the city after a siege without a fight. On 3 December 1360, he declared Aalen an Imperial City, a city responsible only to the emperor (often misreferred to as Imperial Free City), a title it kept until 1803. In 1377, Aalen joined the Alliance of Swabian Cities. 1385, for the first time the term civitas appeared in the city’s seal. 1398, it was granted the right to hold markets, in 1401 a proper jurisdiction. However, Aalen could not acquire a large territory, it consisted only of the city itself and a few villages.
The oldest preserved city view was made in 1528. It was made as the basis of a lawsuit of the city versus the Counts of Oettingen at the Reichskammergericht in Speyer. It shows Aalen surrounded by walls, towers and double moats. The situation of the moats, which had an embankment belt between them, is recognizable by today’s street names of Nördlicher, Östlicher, Südlicher and Westlicher Stadtgraben (Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western Moat respectively). The wall was about 6 metres tall, 1518 single paces (990 metres) long and enclosed an area of 5.3 hectares. On its foundation, the city had two city gates: The Upper or Ellwangen Gate in the east, and St. Martin’s gate in the south. Due to frequent floods, St. Martin’s gate was bricked up in the 14th century and replaced by the Lower or Gmünd Gate built in the west before 1400. Later, several minor side gates were build. The central street market took place on the Wettegasse (today called Marktplatz, “market square”) and the Reichsstädter Straße. So the market course was, as usual by then, from one gate to the other, however in Aalen it was bent L-like between southern (St. Martin’s) gate and eastern (Ellwangen) gate.
Around 1500, the civic graveyard was relocated from the city church to St. John’s Church.[25] In 1514, the Vierundzwanziger (“Group of 24”) was the first assembly constituted by the citizens.
Delegated by Württemberg’s Duke Louis III, on 28 June 1575, nealy 30 years after Martin Luther’s death, Jakob Andreae, professor and chancellor of the University of Tübingen, arrived in Aalen. The sermon he held the following day convinced the mayor, the council and the citizens to adopt the reformation in the city. Andreae stayed in Aalen for four weeks to help with adaptation.[25] This brought along enormous changes, so the council forbade the Roman Catholic priest to celebrate masses and sermons. However, after victories of the imperial armies at the beginning of the Thirty Year's War, the Prince-Provostry of Ellwangen, which still held the right of patronage in Aalen, were able to temporarily restitute Catholicism in Aalen. After military successes of the Protestant Union, protestant church practices were instituted again.
In the night of 5 September 1634,[26] two ensigns of the army of Bernard of Saxe-Weimar fighting in the alliance of the Swedes and retreating after the Battle of Nördlingen set afire two powder carriages, lest ceding the war material to Croatian soldiers already entering the city and to prevent their advance. The result was a city fire. About its extent, differing evaluations exist. According to 17th century accounts, the church and all the city’s buildings, except of the Schwörturm tower, were casualties of the fire, and only nine families survived. 19th century research by Hermann Bauer, Lutheran pastor and local historian, evaluated this as not coherent and exaggerated, but it is beyond question that the city church and buildings in a “rather large” circumcircle around it were destroyed. The fire also destroyed the city archive accommodated in an addition to the church, with all of its documents.[25] After the fire, soldiers of both armies went through the city looting.[27] It took nearly 100 years for the city to re-approach its population of 2,000.
French troops traversed Aalen in 1688 in the course of the Nine Years' War, however, unlike at other places, without leaving severe damages. The French pulled through again in 1702 during the War of the Spanish Succession and in 1741 during the War of the Austrian Succession,[25] the latter also caused imperial troops to traverse in 1743.[28]
The City Church’s tower collapsed in 1765, presumably because statics was not taken into account well enough at the reconstruction after the city fire of 1634. The collapsing tower struck two children of the tower watchman who died of their injuries, and destroyed the nave, leaving only the altar cross intact. The remaining walls had to be knocked down due to the great damage. Reconstruction began the same year, creating the building still existing today.[25]
On 22 November 1749, in Aalen, being an imperial and thus neutral city, the Aalen protocol was signed by the Duchy of Württemberg and the Prince-Provostry of Ellwangen, regulating cohabitation of Lutherans and Roman Catholics in the jointly ruled place of Oberkochen.
In the War of the First Coalition, Aalen was severely looted in 1796.[25] The War of the Second Coalition concluded in 1801 to the Treaty of Lunéville, which led to the German Mediatisation of 1803 that assigned most Imperial Cities to the neighbouring principalities. Aalen was assigned to the electorate of Württemberg (later to become the Kingdom of Württemberg) and became seat of the District (“Oberamt”) of Aalen. During the War of the Third Coalition, on 6 October 1805, Napoleon Bonaparte arrived in Aalen, carrying along an army of 40,000. This event, along with Bavarian and Austrian troops moving in some days later, caused miseries that according to the city clerk “no feather could describe”.[29]
In 1811, the municipality of Unterrombach was formed out of some villages previously belonging to Aalen, some to the Barons of Wöllwarth, and the eastern villages were assigned to the municipality of Unterkochen.
In the age of the Napoleonic wars, the city walls were no longer of use. In the 18th century, the maintenance of walls, gates and towers was neglected more and more, so ever more components of the wall went into a state of disrepair. For thorough repairs, funds were lacking, not at least in the face of the enormous war expenditures. Starting in 1800, most towers were demolished, the other buildings followed soon, so the fortifications today are nearly completely vanished.[29]
Before the industrial revolution, Aalen’s economy was shaped by its rural setting. Many citizens were pursuing farming besides their craft. An often pursued craft was tanning; in the mid of the 19th century, there were twelve tanneries in Aalen, an important sales market for them being Ulm. Other focusses of craft were weaving mills, which produced linen and woolen goods, and baking of sweet pastry and gingerbread.[30][31]
In Aalen, industrialisation became noticeable only slowly. A first peak were the 1840s, when three factories for nails and some other factories emerged.[30] It was the link with the railway network, by the opening of the Rems Railway from Bad Cannstatt to Wasseralfingen in 1861, that brought along an industrial rise in Aalen, along with the royal steel mill (later Schwäbische Hüttenwerke) in Wasseralfingen. The Rems Railway’s extension to Nördlingen in 1863, the opening of the Brenz Railway in 1864 and of the Upper Jagst Railway in 1866 turned Aalen’s station into a railway hub. Furthermore, between 1901 and its shutdown in 1972, the Härtsfeld Railway connected Aalen with Dillingen an der Donau via Neresheim. A maintenance facility, a roundhouse, an administrative office, two track maintenance shops and a freight station with an industrial branch line shaped the city scape, so that Aalen in that historical context is labelled by today’s historians as a “railwayman’s city”.[32] In 1866, the Aalen gasworks was opened and gas lighting was introduced. In 1870, a modern water supply system was started and in 1912 the mains electricity. In 1935 at last, the first electrically powered street lights were installed.[30]
To fight housing shortage during and after World War I, the city set up the barracks settlement areas at the Schlauch and Alter Turnplatz grounds. In spite of the industry being crippled by the Great Depression of 1929, the public baths at the Hirschbach creek where modernized, extended and re-opened in 1931.[32]
In the federal election of 1932, the Nazi Party performed below average in Aalen with 25.8 % of votes compared to 33.1 % on the national level, thus being second to the Centre Party which resulted in 26.6 % (11.9 % nation-wide) and ahead of the Social Democratic Party of Germany with 19.8 % (20.4 %). However, until the March 1933 federal elections, this setting had changed: The Nazi Party resulted still below German average with 34.1 % (43.9 % nation-wide), but became the by far strongest party in Aalen, followed by the Centre party unaltered at 26.6 % (11.3 %) and the Social Democrats (18.6 %/18.3 %).[33]
During Nazi rule in Germany, in 1936 a military district riding and driving school was deployed in Aalen, as well as an army replenishment office (Heeresverpflegungsamt), a branch arsenal office (Heeresnebenzeugamt) and a branch army ammunitions institute (Heeresnebenmunitionsanstalt).
In 1935, mergers of neighbouring towns began. In 1938, the Oberamt was transformed into the Landkreis of Aalen and the municipality of Unterrombach was disbanded. Its territory was mostly added to Aalen, with the exception of Hammerstadt, which was added to the municipality of Dewangen. Forst, Rauental and Vogelsang were added to Essingen (in 1952 the entire former municipality of Unterrombach was merged into Aalen, with the exception of Forst, which is part of Essingen until present).
In September 1944, the Wiesendorf concentration camp, a subcamp of Natzweiler-Struthof, was put up. It was designated for between 200 and 300 prisoners who were held to forced labor in industrial businesses nearby. Until the camp’s dissolution in February 1945, 60 prisoners died.[34] Between 1946 and 1957, the camp buildings were torn down, its foundations are still in place in house Moltkestraße 44/46. Besides, several labour camps existed where prisoners of war and women and men from countries occupied by Germany were pooled, who had to work for the arms industry in major businesses like Schwäbische Hüttenwerke and the Alfing Keßler machine factory.[35]
Aalen was mostly spared of combat activity in World War II. It was only in the last weeks of the war that Aalen became target of air warfare, which led to destruction and severe damage of parts of the city, the train station and other railway installations. A series of air attacks lasting for more than three weeks had its peak on 17 April 1945, when United States Army Air Forces planes bombed the branch arsenal office and the train station. 59 people were killed, more than half of them buried by debris, and more than 500 lost their homes.[36] 33 residential buildings, 12 other buildings and 2 bridges were destroyed; 163 buildings, including 2 churches, were damaged.[29] Five days later, the Nazi rulers of Aalen were unseated by the US forces.
Upon foundation of the State of Baden-Württemberg in 1952, Aalen became part of that state. With the Baden-Württemberg territorial reform of 1973, the District of Aalen was merged into the Ostalbkreis district. Aalen became seat of that district. In 1975, the city territory attained its present dimension (see below).
The population of Aalen exceeded the limit of 20,000, the requirement for the status of Große Kreisstadt (“major district town“) in 1946. On 1 August 1947, Aalen was declared Unmittelbare Kreisstadt (“immediate district town”), and with the coming into effect of the Gemeindeordnung (municipal code) of Baden-Württemberg on 1 April 1956, it was declared Große Kreisstadt.
On 31 December 2008, 51.1 percent of the entire city’s inhabitants were members of the Catholic Church, 23.9 percent were members of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church. About 25 percent belong to other or no religious community or gave no information.[37] The city district of Waldhausen was the district with the highest percentage of Roman Catholic inhabitants 75.6 percent, the central district was the one with the highest percentage of Evangelical-Lutheran inhabitants (25.6 percent) as well as those adhering to other or no religious communities (32.5 percent).[8]
Aalen’s population originally was subject to the jus patronatus of Ellwangen Abbey, and thus subject to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Augsburg.
By the help of the Duke of Württemberg, in 1575 the reformation was implemented in Aalen. Subsequently, Aalen had been a predominantly Protestant city for centuries, with the exception of the years from 1628 until 1632 (see reformation section). Being an Imperial City, Aalen could govern its clerical matters on its own. Clerics, organists and choir masters were direct subjects to the city council, which thus exerted bishop-like power; even a proper hymn book for Aalen did exist.[25] After the transition to Württemberg in 1803, Aalen became seat of a deanery, with the dean church being the City Church (with the building of constructed from 1765 to 1767, existing until present). Another utilized church is St. John’s Church, located on the cemetery, refurbished in 1561.
As Aalen’s population grew in the 20th century, more parishes were founded: St. Mark’s parish with its church building of 1967 and St. Martin’s parish with its church of 1974. In the borough of Unterrombach, Aalen had implemented the reformation as well, but the community remained a chapel-of-ease of Aalen. A proper church, the Christ Church, was erected in 1912 and a proper parish was established in 1947. In Fachsenfeld, the ruling family of Woellwarth resp. of Leinroden implemented the reformation. A parish church was built in 1591, however an influx of Catholics in the 18th century established a Catholic majority. The other districts of present Aalen remained mostly catholic after the reformation, however Wasseralfingen established a Lutheran parish in 1891 and a church in 1893, St. Magdalene’s Church. In Unterkochen, after World War II a parish was established as well and a church was built in 1960. All four parishes belong to the deanery of Aalen within the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg. Furthermore, in Aalen there are Old Pietistic communities.
The few Catholics of today's central district were covered by the parish of Unterkochen until the 19th century, a situation which continued for some years even after completion of St. Mary's Church in 1868 constructed by Georg Morlok.[29] However, in 1872 Aalen got its proper parish again, and in 1913, a second Catholic church was completed, Salvator’s Church, and in 1969 the Holy Cross Church. In 1963, a second parish had already been set up, which in 1972 got a new Church, the new St. Mary’s Church, which has been erected in place of the old St. Mary’s church, which had been torn down in 1968. Another church of the second parish was St. Augustine’s Church, completed in 1970. In 1976 and 1988 at last, St. Elizabeth’s Church resp. St. Thomas’ Church were completed. Furthermore, in 1963 the St. Michael pastoral care office is existing since 1963.
Hofherrnweiler is also having its own Catholic church, St. Boniface’s, since 1904. The villages of Dewangen, Ebnat, Hofen, Waldhausen and Wasseralfingen had remained Catholic after reformation, so old parishes and churches persist there. The Assumption of Mary Church in Dewangen has an early Gothic tower and a new-build nave of 1875. Today’s building of the Mary’s Immaculate Conception Church in Ebnat was constructed in 1723, but the church was first mentioned in 1298.
Hofen’s Saint George’s Church is a fortified church, whose present nave was built from 1762 to 1775.[38] Beside the church, the Late Gothic St. Odile’s Chapel is standing, whose entrance has the year 1462 engraved. Foundations of predecessor buildings were dated to the 11th and 13th century.[39]
St. Mary’s Church of Unterkochen was first mentioned in 1248, and for long time served the Catholics of Aalen. Waldhausen’s parish church of St. Nicholas was built from 1699 until 1716. Wasseralfingen at first was a chapel-of-ease of Hofen, but had a chapel, St. Stephen, which was built presumably in 1353 and extended in 1832. In 1834, a proper parish was established, which built a new St. Stephen’s Church in Romanesque Revival architecture between 1881 and 1883, which has remained the parish’s landmark until present. Fachsenfeld got its own church as well, Sacred Heart of 1895. All Catholic parishes within Aalen are today incorporated into four pastoral care units within the Ostalb Deanery of the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, but these some of these units also comprise some parishes outside of Aalen. Pastoral Care Unit two comprises the parishes of Essingen, Dewangen and Fachsenfeld, unit four comprises Hofen and Wasseralfingen, unit five comprises both parishes of Aalen’s centre and Hofherrnweiler, unit five comprises Waldhausen, Ebnat, Oberkochen and Unterkochen.
Besides the two major christian denominations, in Aalen there are also free churches and other communities, including the United Methodist Church, the Baptists, the Seventh-day Adventist Church and the New Apostolic Church.
Until the late 19th century, no Jews are testified in Aalen. It was not before 1886 that four Jews were living in Aalen, a number that rose to ten in 1900, fell to seven in 1905, and remained so until 1925. Upon the Nazis’ rise to power in 1933, seven Jews, including two children, lived in Aalen.[40] During the Kristallnacht in 1938, the vitrines of the three Jewish shops in the city were smashed and their proprietors imprisoned for several weeks. After their release, most Aalen Jews emigrated. The last Jew of Aalen, Fanny Kahn, was forcibly resettled to Oberdorf am Ipf, which had a large Jewish community. Today, a street of Aalen is named after her. The Jew Max Pfeffer returned from Brussels to Aalen in 1948 to continue his shop, but emigrated to Italy in 1967.[40]
In Aalen, there is an Islamic Ditib community, which maintains the D.I.T.I.B. Mosque of Aalen (Central Mosque) located at Ulmer Straße.[41] The mosque’s construction started on 30 August 2008. The Millî Görüş organisation maintains the Fatih Mosque, as well at Ulmer Straße.[42]
Today’s city of Aalen was formed on 21 June 1975 by unification of the cities of Aalen and Wasseralfingen, with the initial name of Aalen-Wasseralfingen, with a territory one third larger than Aalen’s prior territory.[2] Already on 1 July 1975, it was renamed to Aalen. Before, the former city of Aalen had already merged the following municipalities:
During the Middle Ages and the early modern period, Aalen was just a small city with a few hundred inhabitants. The population grew slowly and doubled back over and again due to numerous wars, famines and epidemics. It was the beginning of the industrialisation in the 19th century that accelerated growth. While in 1803, only 1,932 inhabited the city, in 1905 it were already 10,442. The number continued to rise and amounted to 15.890 in 1939.
The influx of refugees and ethnic Germans from Germany’s former eastern territories after World War II pushed up the city’s population to 31,814 in 1961. The merger with Wasseralfingen on 21 June 1975 added 14.597 persons and resulted in 65.165 inhabitants. On 30 June 2005, the population figure determined officially by the Statistical Office of Baden-Württemberg by updating and by matching with other statistical offices amounted to an unprecedented 67,125 (accounting only main domiciles).
The following overview shows the population figures of the city territory of the respective year. Until 1823, the figures are mostly estimates, thereafter census results or official updates by the state statistical office. Until 1871, the figures were determined by non-uniform elicitation methods, since 1871 they refer to the “population present at the place”, since 1925 to the resident population and since 1987 to the “population at the place of main domicile”.
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¹ Census result
On 31 December 2008, Aalen had precisely 66,058 inhabitants, of them 33,579 female and 32,479 male. The average age of Aalen’s inhabitants rose from 40.5 years on 31 December 2000 by 1.9 years to 42.4 on 31 December 2008.[8] Within city limits, 6,312 persons of a nationality other than German were living, which is a share of 9.56 percent. Of them, the largest fraction comprises Turkish citizens (38 percent of all foreigners), the second largest fraction comprises Italians (13 percent), followed by Croatians (6 percent) and Serbs (5 percent). The remaining 35 percent have another nationality.[8]
The number of married inhabitants fell from 32,948 on 31 December 1996 to 31.357 on 31 December 2007, while the number of divorced rose in the same period from 2,625 to 3.859. The number of unwed inhabitants slightly increased between 1996 and 2004 from 25,902 to 26,268 an, and until 2007 fell again to 26,147. The number of widowed fell from 5.036 on 31 December 1996 to 4,783 on 31 December 2007.[8]
Aalen has arranged a municipal association with Essingen and Hüttlingen.
Since the local election of 7 June 2009, the city council consists of 54 representatives having a five year’s term of office. The seats are distributed as follows on parties and groups (changes refer to the second last election of 2004):
| Parliamentary group | Election result | ± | Strength | ± |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CDU | 36.2 % | −7.2 pp. | 21 seats | −1 |
| SPD | 23.4 % | −1.1 pp. | 13 seats | +1 |
| Alliance '90/The Greens | 15.7 % | +2.1 pp. | 9 seats | +3 |
| FDP/FW | 13.8 % | +5.4 pp. | 7 seats | +3 |
| The Left/Pro Aalen | 7.6 % | +4.3 pp. | 3 seats | +2 |
| Active Citizens (Aktive Bürger) | 3.4 % | −3.5 pp. | 1 seat | −2 |
Since 1374, the mayor and the council form the head of the city. In the 16th century, the city had two, later three mayors. In 1552, the council had 13 members. Later, the head of administration was reorganised several times. In the Württemberg era, initially the mayor’s title was called Bürgermeister, from 1819 it was Schultheiß, and since 1947 it is Oberbürgermeister. The mayor is elected for a term of eight years. He is chairman and member of the city council and has the right to vote there. He has one deputy with the official title of Erster Bürgermeister (“first mayor”) and one with the official title of Bürgermeister (“mayor”).
Heads of city in Aalen since 1802
Aalen’s coat of arms depicts a black eagle with a red tongue on golden background, having a red shield on his breast with a silver bent eel on it. Eagle and eel were first testified as Aalen’s heraldic aminals in the city seal of 1385, with the eagle representing the city’s imperial immediacy.[5] After the territorial reform, it was newly bestowed by the Administrative District of Stuttgart on 16 November 1976.
The coat of arms’ blazon reads: “In gold, the black imperial eagle, with a red breast shield applied to it, therein a bent silver eel” (In Gold der schwarze Reichsadler, belegt mit einem roten Brustschild, darin ein gekrümmter silberner Aal).
Aalen’s flag is striped in red and white and contains the coat of arms.
The origin of the city’s name is uncertain. Matthäus Merian (1593–1650) assumed the name to stem from the city’s situation at the Kocher river, where ”frequently eels are caught”, while Aal is German for “eel”. Other explanations point to Aalen as the garrison of an ala during the Roman empire, respectively to an abridgement of the Roman name “Aquileia” as a potential name of the Roman fort, a name that nearby Heidenheim an der Brenz bore as well. Another interpretation points to a Celtic word including the meaning “water”.[5]
The “Twin Cities Society of Aalen” (Städtepartnerschaftsverein Aalen e. V.) promotes “friendly relations” between Aalen and its twin cities,[43] which comprises mutual exchanges of sports and cultural clubs, schools and other civic institutions. On the occasion of the Reichsstädter Tage, from 11 until 13 September 2009 the first conference of twinned cities was held.
Aalen has five twin cities:
On the occasion of the 1980 Reichsstädter Tage, Aalen took over godparenthood for the more than 3000 ethnic Germans displaced from the Wischau lingustic enclave, 972 of them settled to Aalen in 1946. The “Wischau Linguistic Enclave Society” (Gemeinschaft Wischauer Sprachinsel) regularly organises commemorative meetings in Aalen. Their traditional costumes are stored in the Old Town Hall.
According to the 2007 municipal poll by the Baden-Württemberg chapter of the German Taxpayers Federation, municipal tax revenues totalling to 54.755 million Euros (2006) resp. 62.148 million Euros (2007) face the following debts:[45]
The city operates the “Theatre of the City of Aalen” (Theater der Stadt Aalen). Having been founded in 1991 and featuring six salaried actors, it is the newest as well as the smallest civic theatre in Germany.[46] Besides regular plays, it also offers four theatre clubs for all age levels. During the season of 2008/2009, 400 performances of ten productions attracted more than 21,000 visitors. The theatre’s director is Katharina Kreuzhage.
Tributing to Christian Friedrich Daniel Schubart, who spent his childhood and youth in Aalen, the city endowed the “Schubart Literary Award” (Schubart-Literaturpreis) in 1955, which is one of the earliest literary awards in Baden-Württemberg. It is awarded biennially to German-language writers, whose work accord with Schubart’s “liberal and enlightening reasoning”[47] and is remunerated with 12,000 Euros.
Since 1958, the “Music School of the City of Aalen” exists, where today about 1,500 students are taught by 27 music instructors in 30 subjects. Since 2009, the school is being directed by Ralf Eisler.[48]
In 1977, a symphony orchestra was founded in Aalen, which today is called Aalener Sinfonieorchester, and consists mostly of instructors and students of the music school. It performs three public concerts annually: The “New Year’s Concert” in January, the “Symphony Concert” in July and a “Christmas Concert” in December.[49]
Beyond that, music festivals regularly take place in Aalen, like the Aalen Jazz Festival (see below).
The Aalen volunteer fire department since 1952 has a marching band whose roots date back to 1883. In 1959, the band received its first glockenspiel from TV host Peter Frankenfeld on the occasion of a TV appearance.[50]
In the central district of Aalen, there are two museums: The “Aalen Limes Museum” (Limesmuseum Aalen) is located at the place of the largest Roman cavalry fort north of the Alps until about 1.800 years ago. The museum exposes numerous objects from the time of Roman occupation. The ruin of the cavalry fort located beside the museum is open to the museum visitors. Every other year, a Roman festival is held on the museum area (see below).
In the Geological-Paleontological Museum located in the historic town hall, more than 1500 fossils from the Swabian Jura, including ammonites, ichthyosaurs and corals, are displayed.
In the Waldhausen district the Heimatstüble museum of local history has an exhibition on agriculture and rural living.
In the Wasseralfingen district, there are two more museums: The Museum Wasseralfingen comprises a local history exhibition and an art gallery including works of Hermann Plock, Helmut Schuster and Sieger Köder. Besides, the stove plate collection of the Schwäbische Hüttenwerke steel mill is exhibited, with artists, modellers and the production sequence of a cast plate from design to final product being presented.
The “House of Civic History” (Haus der Stadtgeschichte) opened in March 2008 and closed in 2010 featured alternating exhibitions on Aalen’s history. It was accommodated in the Renaissance Revival–style former mortuary of St. John’s cemetery.
A memorial stone at the Schillerlinde tree above Wasseralfingen’s ore pit reminds of four prisoners of the subcamp of Natzweiler-Struthof concentration camp killed there. Also in Wasseralfingen, on the cemetery a memorial with the Polish inscription “To the victims of Hitlerism” reminds of the deceased forced labourers buried in a Polish respective a Soviet section.[35]
In 1954, on the Schillerhöhe hill the city erected a bell tower as a memorial to Aalen’s victims of both world wars and to the displacement of ethnic Germans. The tower was planned by Emil Leo, the bell was endowed by Carl Schneider. The tower is open on request. Every evening at 18:45 (before 2003: at 19:45), the memorial’s bell rings.[51]
The city centre is dominated by the Evangelical-Lutheran St. Nicholas’ Church in the heart of the pedestrian area. The church, in its present shape being built between 1765 and 1767, is the only major Late Baroque building in Aalen and is the main church of the Evangelical-Lutheran parish of Aalen.
St. John’s Church is located inside of St. John’s cemetery in the western centre. The building presumably is from the 9th century and thus is one of Württemberg’s oldest existing churches. The interior features frescos from the early 13th century.
For other churches in Aalen, see the Religions section.
The Historic Town Hall was originally built in the 14th century. After the city fire of 1634, it was re-erected in 1636 and after. For this building, the city bought a clock in Lauterburg,[25] and the Imperial City of Nuremberg donated a Carillon. It features a figurine of the “Spy of Aalen” and other figurines, however the latter ones were lost by a fire in 1884. Since then, the Spy resides inside the reconstructed tower and has become a symbol of the city. The building was used as the city’s town hall until 1907. Since 1977, the Geological-Paleontological Museum resides in the Historic Town Hall.[52]
According to legend, the citizens of Aalen owe the “Spy of Aalen” (Spion von Aalen) their city having been spared from destruction by the emperor’s army:
The Imperial City of Aalen once was were in quarrel with the emperor, and his army was shortly before the gates to take the city. The people of Aalen got scared and thus dispatched their “most cunning” one out into the enemy’s camp to spy out the strength of their troops. Without any digression, he went straight into the middle of the enemy camp, which inescapably led to him being seized and presented to the emperor. When the emperor asked him what he had lost here, he answered in Swabian German: “Don’t frighten, high lords, I just want to peek how many cannons and other war things you’ve got, since I am the spy of Aalen”. The emperor laughed upon such a blatancy and acted naïvety, steered him all through the camp and then sent him back home. Soon the emperor withdrew with his army as he thought a city such wise guys reside in deserved being spared.[53]
The Old Town Hall was first documented in 1575. Its outside wall features the oldest known coat of arms, which is of 1664. Until 1851, the building also housed the Krone-Post hotel, which coincided with being a station of the Thurn und Taxis postal company. It has housed notable persons. Thus the so-called “Napoleon Window” reminds with its “N” painted on of the stay of French emperor Napoleon Bonaparte in 1805. According to legend, he rammed his head to bleed on this window, when he was startled by the noise of his soldiers ridiculing the “Spy of Aalen”.[29] The building was used as Aalen’s town hall from 1907 until 1975. Today it houses a cabaret café and the stage of the Theatre of the City of Aalen. The Wischau Linguistic Enclave Society the city has taken over godparenthood for stores their traditional constumes in the building.
The Bürgerspital (“Civic Asylum”) is a timber-frame house erected on Spritzenhausplatz (“Fire Engine House Square”) in 1702. Until 1873, it was used as civic hospital, later as a retirement home. After comprehensive renovation, since 1980 it is a senior citizen’s community centre.[52]
On a slope of the Langert mountain south of the City, the Limes-Thermen (“Limes Thermae”) hot springs are located. They were built in ancient Roman style and opend in 1985. The accredited health spa is supplied with water about 34 to 36 °C (93 to 97 °F) warm stemming from about 650 metres (2,130 ft) underneath.
The market square is the historic hub of Aalen and runs along about 150 metres (490 ft) from the town hall in the south to the Historic Town Hall and the Old Town Hall in the north, where it disembogues into Radgasse alley. Since 1809, it is site of the weekly market on Wednesday and Saturday. About 10 metres (33 ft) in front of the Reichsstädter Brunnen fountain at the town hall, the coats of arms of Aalen, its twinned cities and of the Wischau linguistic enclave are paved into the street as mosaic.
In 1705, for the water supply of Aalen a well casing was erected at the northern point of the market square, in front of the Historic Town Hall. It was a present of duke Eberhard Louis. The fountain bore a statue of emperor Joseph I., who was enthroned in 1705 and in 1707 renewed Aalen’s Imperial City privileges.[25] The fountain was supplied by a wooden pipe. Excessive water was dissipated through ditches branched from Kocher river. When in the early 1870s Aalen’s water network was constructed, the fountain was replaced by a smaller fountain about 100 metres (330 ft) off. In 1975, the old market fountain was re-erected in baroque style. It bears a replica of the emperor’s statue, with the original being exhibited in the new town hall’s lobby. The cast iron casing plates depict the 1718 coat of arms of the Duchy of Württemberg and the coats of arms of Aalen and of the merged municipalities.
The Reichsstädter Brunnen fountain (“Imperial Civic Fountain”) is located in front of the town hall at the southern point of the market square. It was created by sculptor Fritz Nuss in 1977 to remind of the times of Aalen being an Imperial City (1360–1803). On its circulatory frieze, bronze figurines illustrate the city’s history.[52]
The Radgasse (“Wheel Alley”) features Aalen’s oldest façade. Originally a small pond was on its side. The buildings were erected between 1659 and 1662 for peasants with citizenry privileges and renovated in the mid-1980s. The name giver for the alley was the “Wheel” tavern, which was to be found at the site of today’s address Radgasse 15.[52]
The former iron ore pit Wilhelm at Braunenberg hill was converted into the Tiefer Stollen tourist mine in order to remind of the old-day miners’ efforts and to maintain it as a memorial of early industrialisation in the Aalen area. It has a mining museum open for visitors. A mine railway takes visitors deep into the mountain. The City of Aalen, a sponsorship association and many citizens volunteered several thousand hours of labour to put the mine into a state of being visited. As far as possible, things were left in the original state. In 1989, a sanitary gallery was established where respiratory diseases are treated within rest cures. Thus the Aalen village of Röthard, where the gallery is located, was awarded the title of „Place with sanitary gallery service“ in 2004.[54]
The Aalen Observatory was built in 1969 as school observatory for the Schubart Gymnasium. In 2001, it was converted to a public observatory. Since then, it is managed by the Astronomische Arbeitsgemeinschaft Aalen (“Aalen Astronomical Society”). It is located on Schillerhöhe hill and features two refractive telescopes. They were manufactured by Carl Zeiss AG which has its headquarters in nearby Oberkochen and operates a manufacturing works in Aalen (see below). In the observatory, guided tours and lectures are held regularly.
The Windpark Waldhausen wind farm began operating in early 2007. It consists of seven REpower MM92 wind turbines with a nameplate capacity of 2 MW each.[55] The hub height of each wind turbine is 100 metres (330 ft), with a rotor diameter of 92 metres (302 ft).
On Langert mountain, the 26 metres (85 ft) tall Aalbäumle observation tower is standing. This popular hiking destination was built in 1898 and given its present shape in 1992. It features a good view over Aalen and the Welland region, until the Rosenstein mountain and Ellwangen. Beneath the tower, an adventure playground and a cabin is located. A flag on the tower signals whether the cabin’s restaurant is open.
The Baden-Württemberg State Institute for Environment, Measurements and Natural Conservation has demarcated six protected landscapes in Aalen (the Swabian Jura escarpment between Lautern and Aalen with adjacent territories, the Swabian Jura escarpment between Unterkochen and Baiershofen, the Hilllands around Hofen, the Kugeltal and Ebnater Tal valleys with parts of Heiligental valley and adjacent territories, Laubachtal valley and Lower Lein Valley with side valleys), two sanctuary forests (Glashütte and Kocher Origin), 65 extensive natural monuments, 30 individual natural monuments and the following two protected areas:[56]
The 24.1 hectares (60 acres) large Dellenhäule protected area between Aalen’s Waldhausen district and Neresheim’s Elchingen district, demarcated in 1969, is a sheep pasture with juniper and wood pasture of old willow oaks.[57]
The 46.5 hectares (115 acres) large Goldshöfer Sande protected area was demarcated in 2000 and is situated between Aalen’s Hofen district and Hüttlingen. The sands on a hill stemming from the Early Pleistocene are of geological importance, and the various grove structures offer habitat to severely endangered bird species.[58]
The soccer team of 1921-founded VfR Aalen is playing in the 3rd German League as of season 2010/2011. Its playing venue is the Scholz-Arena situated in the west of the city, which bore the name Städtisches Waldstadion Aalen (“Civic Forest Stadium of Aalen”) until 2008. From 1939 until 1945, the VfR played in the Gauliga Württemberg, then one of several parallel top-ranking soccer leagues of Germany.
In the Wrestling Federal League, the KSV Aalen is fighting. It was German champion in team wrestling in 2010, and its predecessor, the KSV Germania Aalen disbanded in 2005, was German champion for eight times and runner-up for five times since 1976. Another Aalen club, the TSV Dewangen, was until 2009 as well wrestling in the Federal League.
Two American sports, American Football and Baseball, are pursued by the MTV Aalen. Volleyball as well is playing an important role in Aalen for years. The first men’s team of DJK Aalen accomplished re-promotion for regional league in the season of 2008/09.
South of the city centre, at the northern slope of the Swabian Jura, the Ostalb ski lifts are located. The skiing area comprises two platter lifts that have a vertical rise of 130 metres (430 ft) resp. 30 metres (98 ft), two runs of a length of 800 metres (2,600 ft) resp. 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) and a beginners’ run.[59]
Since 1975, Reichsstädter Tage (“Imperial City days”) festival is held annually in the city centre on the second weekend in September. It is deemed the largest city festival of the Ostwürttemberg region,[60] and is connected with a shopping Sunday in accordance with the Ladenschlussgesetz code. The festival is also attended by delegations from the twinned cities. On the town hall square, on Sunday an ecumenical service is held.
The international Roman Festival (Römertage) are held biannially on the site of the former roman fort and the modern Limes museum. The festival’s ninth conduct in 2008 was attended by around 11,000 people.[61]
Annually in the second week of November, the Aalen Jazz Festival brings known and unknown artists to Aalen. It already featured musicians like Miles Davis, B. B. King, Ray Charles, David Murray, McCoy Tyner, Al Jarreau, Esbjörn Svensson and Albert Mangelsdorff. The festival is complemented by individual concerts in spring and summer, and, including the individual concerts, comprises around 25 concerts with a total of about 13,000 visitors.
In 2008, 30,008 employees liable to social insurance were living in Aalen. With 13,946 (46.5 percent), most of them were employed in the manufacturing sector. In commerce, catering, hotels and transport, 4,715 persons (15,7 percent) were employed, in other services, 11,306 persons (37,7 percent).[62] Besides, in 2008 there were about 16,000 employees commuting into the city and about 9,000 commuting out.[63]
Altogether, in Aalen there are about 4,700 business enterprises in Aalen, 1,1000 of them being registered in the trade register. The others comprise 2,865 small enterprises and 701 craft enterprises.[64]
In Aalen, metalworking is the predominant branch. Besides machine-building, the branches of optics, paper, information technology and textiles are relevant. Notable enterprises include SHW Automotive (originating from the former Schwäbische Hüttenwerke steel mills and further from a mill of 1671 in Wasseralfingen), the Alfing Kessler engineering works, the precision tools manufacturer MAPAL Dr. Kress, the snow chain manufacturer RUD Ketten Rieger & Dietz and its subsidiary Erlau, the Gesenkschmiede Schneider forging die smithery, the SDZ Druck und Medien media company, the Papierfabrik Palm paper mill, the alarm system manufacturer Telenot, the laser show provider LOBO electronic and the textile finisher Lindenfarb, which all have their seat in Aalen. A branch in Aalen is maintained by optical systems manufacturer Carl Zeiss headquartered in nearby Oberkochen.[64]
Aalen station is a regional railway hub on the Rems Railway from Stuttgart, the Brenz Railway from Ulm, the Upper Jagst Railway to Crailsheim and the Ries Railway to Donauwörth. Until 1972, the Härtsfeld Railway connected Aalen with Dillingen an der Donau via Neresheim. More stations within city limits are Hofen (b Aalen), Unterkochen, Wasseralfingen and Goldshöfe station. The Aalen-Erlau stop situated in the south is no longer operative.
Aalen station is served in two-hour intervals trains of Intercity line 61 Karlsruhe–Stuttgart–Aalen–Nuremberg. In regional traffic, Aalen is served by various lines of Interregio-Express, Regional-Express and Regionalbahn categories. The city also operates the Aalen Industrial Railway (Industriebahn Aalen), which carries about 250 carloads per year.[65]
The junctions of Aalen/Westhausen and Aalen/Oberkochen connect Aalen with the Autobahn A7 (Würzburg–Füssen). Federal roads (Bundesstraßen) connecting with Aalen are B 19 (Würzburg–Ulm), B 29 (Waiblingen–Nördlingen) and B 290 (Tauberbischofsheim–Westhausen). The Schwäbische Dichterstraße (“Swabian Poets’ Route”) tourist route established in 1977/78 leads through Aalen.
Within city limits, several bus lines operate. The Omnibus-Verkehr Aalen company is one of the few in Germany that use double-decker buses, it does so since 1966.[66] A district-wide fare system, OstalbMobil, is in effect since 2007.
Stuttgart Airport, offering international connections, is about 90 kilometres (56 mi) away, the travel time by train is about 100 Minutes. At Aalen-Heidenheim Airport, located 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) south-east of Aalen, minor aircraft are admitted. Gliding airfields nearby are in Heubach and Bartholomä.
Bicycle routes stretching through Aalen are the Deutscher Limes-Radweg (“German Limes Bicycle Route”) and the Kocher-Jagst Bicycle Route.
Aalen houses an Amtsgericht (local district court), chambers of the Stuttgart Labour Court, a notary’s office, a tax office and an employment agency. It is seat of the Ostalbkreis district office, of the Aalen Deanery of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church and of the Ostalb deanery of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart.
The Stuttgart Administrative Court, the Stuttgart Labour Court and the Ulm Social Welfare Court are in charge for Aalen.
Aalen had a civic hospital, which resided in the Bürgerspital building until 1873, then in a building at Alte Heidenheimer Straße. In 1942, the hospital was taken over by the district. The district hospital at the present site of Kälblesrain, today known as Ostalb-Klinikum, was opened in 1955.[29]
The first local newspaper, Der Bote von Aalen (“The Herald of Aalen”), was published on Wednesdays and Saturdays since 1837.[29]
Currently, local newspapers published in Aalen are the Schwäbische Post, which obtain their supra-regional pages from the Ulm Südwestpresse, and the Aalener Nachrichten (erstwhile Aalener Volkszeitung), a local edition of Schwäbische Zeitung in Leutkirch im Allgäu.
Two of Germany’s biggest Lesezirkels (magazine rental services) are headquartered in Aalen: Brabandt LZ Plus Media and Lesezirkel Portal.
Regional event magazines are Xaver, åla, ålakultur.
The commercial broadcasters Radio Ton and Radio 7 have studios in Aalen.
A Latin school was first mentioned in Aalen in 1447; it was rearranged in 1616 and later in various buildings that were all situated near the city church, and persisted up into the 19th century. In the course of the reformation, a „German school“ was established in parallel, being a predecessor of the latter Volksschule school type. In 1860, the Ritterschule was built as a Volksschule for girls; the building today houses the Pestalozzischule. In 1866, a new building was erected for the Latin school and for the Realschule established in 1840. This building, later known as the Alte Gewerbeschule, was torn down in 1975 to free the area for the new town hall. In 1912, the Parkschule building was opened. It was designed by Paul Bonatz and today houses the Schubart-Gymnasium
The biggest educational institution in the city is the Hochschule Aalen, which was founded in 1962 and focusses on engineering and economics. It is attended by 5000 students of five faculties and employs 129 professors and 130 other lecturers.
The city provides three Gymnasiums, four Realschulen, two Förderschulen (special schools), six combined Grundschulen and Hauptschulen and eight standalone Grundschulen. The Ostalbkreis district provides three vocational schools and three additional special schools. Finally, six non-state schools of various types exist.
The German Esperanto Library (German: Deutsche Esperanto-Bibliothek, Esperanto: Germana Esperanto-Biblioteko) is located in the building of the city library since 1989.
The Südwestrundfunk broadcasting company operates the Aalen transmission tower on the Braunenberg hill. The tower was erected in 1956, it is 140 metres (460 ft) tall and made of reinforced concrete.
The following vehicles are named „Aalen“:
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