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Schwäbisch Gmünd

Schwäbisch Gmünd
View from Mt. Zeiselberg
View from Mt. Zeiselberg
Coat of arms of Schwäbisch Gmünd
Coat of arms
Schwäbisch Gmünd   is located in Germany
Schwäbisch Gmünd
Schwäbisch Gmünd
Coordinates: 48°48′N 9°48′E / 48.800°N 9.800°E / 48.800; 9.800Coordinates: 48°48′N 9°48′E / 48.800°N 9.800°E / 48.800; 9.800
Country Germany
State Baden-Württemberg
Admin. region Stuttgart
District Ostalbkreis
Government
 • Lord Mayor Richard Arnold
Area
 • Total 113.78 km2 (43.93 sq mi)
Elevation 321 m (1,053 ft)
Population (2015-12-31)
 • Total 59,840
 • Density 530/km2 (1,400/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 73525–73529
Dialling codes 07171
Vehicle registration AA, GD
Website www.schwaebisch-gmuend.de
Imperial City of [Swabian] Gmünd
Reichsstadt [Schwäbisch] Gmünd
Free Imperial City of the Holy Roman Empire
1268–1802
Capital Schwäbisch Gmünd
Government Republic
Historical era Middle Ages
 •  Founded mid-12th century
 •  Gained Reichsfreiheit 1268
 •  Mediatised to Württemberg 1802
Preceded by
Succeeded by
House of Hohenstaufen
Duchy of Württemberg

Schwäbisch Gmünd (German pronunciation: [ˈʃvɛːbɪʃ ˈɡmʏnt], until 1934: Gmünd) is a town in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of around 60,000, the town is the second largest in the Ostalb district and the whole East Württemberg region after Aalen. The town is a Große Kreisstadt since 1956, i.e. a chief town under district administration; it was the administrative capital of its own rural district until the local government reorganisation on 1 January 1973.

Schwäbisch Gmünd was a self-ruling free imperial city from the 13th century until its annexation to Württemberg in 1802.

Schwäbisch Gmünd is situated within the northern foothills of the Swabian Jura Mountains on the Rems river, about 50 kilometres (31 miles) east of the state capital Stuttgart. The municipal area comprises the localities (Ortschaften) of Bargau, Bettringen, Degenfeld, Großdeinbach, Herlikofen, Hussenhofen, Lindach, Rechberg, Rehnenhof-Wetzgau, Straßdorf, and Weiler.

From about 85 AD, the Neckar-Odenwald line was part of the northern frontier of the Roman Empire. The Romans built the Limes Germanicus to secure this border, i.e. a line of fortifications in regular distances, which included a small castrum on the site of the present-day Schirenhof field in Schwäbisch Gmünd. A first major settlement in this area arose around the 2nd century AD, when Roman soldiers were deployed near the Upper Germanic Limes. From 223 onwards the border lines were assaulted and taken by the Alemanni, who settled down in the areas abandoned by the Romans.


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