Göppingen (district)

Göppingen
District
Coat of arms
Country	Germany
State	Baden-Württemberg
Adm. region	Stuttgart
Capital	Göppingen
Area
• Total	642.35 km2 (248.01 sq mi)
Population (31 December 2013)
• Total	248,813
• Density	390/km2 (1,000/sq mi)
Time zone	CET (UTC+1)
• Summer (DST)	CEST (UTC+2)
Vehicle registration	GP
Website	http://www.landkreis-goeppingen.de

Göppingen is a Kreis (district) in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Rems-Murr, Ostalbkreis, Heidenheim, Alb-Donau, Reutlingen and Esslingen.

History

In 1817, Württemberg was divided into four kreise (districts), the southeastern one of which was named Donaukreis. The four kreise were in turn divided into oberämter. In Donaukreis, the most northern of these oberämter were Göppingen and, to its east, Geislingen. In 1938, the four kreise were abolished, and Geislingen was merged with Göppingen. During the communal reform of 1973 the district was not changed much, only a few municipalities from the districts Schwäbisch Gmünd and Ulm were added.

The district is sometimes called Stauferkreis, because the Staufen family had their roots in this area. However, when that family had no heir anymore, the land became part of Württemberg in the 14th century.

Partnerships

In 1990 a partnership with the district Löbau (now merged into Löbau-Zittau) in the Free State of Saxony was started, to help to build the administration according to western German standards. The municipality Boll already had a partnership with Herrnhut in Löbau before. After the districts started their partnership, several other municipalities of the two districts started partnership as well.

Geography

The district is located in the northern foothills of the Swabian Jura (Schwäbische Alb). It is crossed by the Fils, a tributary of the Neckar.

Coat of arms

The lion is the symbol of the Staufen family, which had its roots in the district. The deer antler above is the symbol of Württemberg and symbolizes the change of ownership after the Staufer family died out.

Cities and municipalities

Cities	Administrative districts	Municipalities
Donzdorf Ebersbach an der Fils Eislingen Geislingen an der Steige Göppingen Lauterstein Süßen Uhingen Wiesensteig	Deggingen Ebersbach Eislingen-Ottenbach-Salach Geislingen Göppingen Mittleres Fils-Lautertal Oberes Filstal Östlicher Schurwald Raum Bad Boll Uhingen Voralb	Adelberg Aichelberg Albershausen Bad Ditzenbach Bad Überkingen Birenbach Böhmenkirch Börtlingen Boll Deggingen Drackenstein Dürnau Eschenbach (Göppingen) Gammelshausen Gingen an der Fils Gruibingen	Hattenhofen Heiningen Hohenstadt Kuchen Mühlhausen im Täle Ottenbach Rechberghausen Salach Schlat Schlierbach (Göppingen) Wäschenbeuren Wangen (Göppingen) Zell unter Aichelberg

External links

• Official website (German)