Aalen

Aalen ) is a town located in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, about east of Stuttgart and north of Ulm. It is the seat of the Ostalbkreis district and is its largest town. It is also the largest town in the Ostwürttemberg region. Since 1956, Aalen has had the status of Große Kreisstadt. It is noted for its many half-timbered houses constructed from the 16th century through the 18th century.
With an area of 146.63 km², Aalen is ranked 7th in Baden-Württemberg and 2nd within the Government Region of Stuttgart, after Stuttgart. With a population of about 66,000, Aalen is the 15th most-populated settlement in Baden-Württemberg.

Geography

Situation

Aalen is situated on the upper reaches of the river Kocher, at the foot of the Swabian Jura which lies to the south and south-east, and close to the hilly landscapes of the Ellwangen Hills to the north and the Welland to the north-west.
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 Forest, 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.
The Kocher enters the town's territory from Oberkochen to the south, crosses the district of Unterkochen, then enters the town centre, where the Aal flows into it. The Aal is a small river located only within the town's territory. Next, the Kocher crosses the district of Wasseralfingen, then leaves the town for Hüttlingen. Rivers originating near Aalen are the Rems and the Jagst, both being tributaries of the Neckar, just like the Kocher.
The elevation in the centre of the market square is 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.

Geology

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 White Jurassic, the town centre is on the Brown Jurassic, and a part of Wasseralfingen is on the Black Jurassic. As a result, the town advertises itself as a "Geologist's Mecca".
Most parts of the territory are on the Opalinuston-Formation of the Aalenian subdivision of the Jurassic Period, which is named after Aalen. On the Sandberg, the Schnaitberg and the Schradenberg hills, all in the west of Aalen, the Eisensandstein formation emerges to the surface. On the other hills of the city, sands ', 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 ' and riverbed gravel that have filled in the valley.
Most parts of Dewangen and Fachsenfeld are founded on formations of Jurensismergel, Posidonienschiefer, Amaltheenton, Numismalismergel and Obtususton moving from south to north, all belonging to the Jurassic and being rich in fossils. They are at last followed by the Trossingen Formation already belonging to the Late Triassic.
Until 1939 iron ore was mined on the Braunenberg hill..

Extent of the borough

The maximum extent of the town's territory amounts to in a north–south dimension and in an east–west dimension. The area is, which includes 42.2% agriculturally used area and 37.7% of forest. 11.5% are built up or vacant, 6.4% is used by traffic infrastructure. Sporting and recreation grounds and parks comprise 1%, other areas 1.1%.

Boroughs

Aalen's territory consists of the town centre ' and the municipalities
merged from between 1938 and 1975.
The municipalities merged in the course of the latest municipal reform of the 1970s are also called Stadtbezirke, and are Ortschaften in terms of Baden-Württemberg's Gemeindeordnung, which means, each of them has its own council elected by its respective residents ' and is presided by a spokesperson '.
The town centre itself and the merged former municipalities consist of numerous villages ', 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:

Borough	Coat of arms	Area in km²	Residents	Villages
Town centre		30.62	34,466	Hammerstadt, Hofherrnweiler, Mädle, Mantelhof, Neßlau, Oberrombach, Unterrombach, the latter also known as Weststadt
Dewangen		16.53	3,183	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	Affalterwang, Diepertsbuch, Niesitz
Fachsenfeld		3.95	3,605	Bodenbach, Hangendenbuch, Himmlingsweiler, Mühlhäusle, Scherrenmühle, Waiblingen
Hofen		12.58	2,080	Attenhofen, Fürsitz, Goldshöfe, Heimatsmühle, Oberalfingen, Wagenrain
Unterkochen		21.44	4,927	Birkhöfe, Glashütte, Neukochen, Neuziegelhütte, Stefansweilermühle
Waldhausen		24.38	2,335	Arlesberg, Bernlohe, Beuren, Brastelburg, Geiselwang, Hohenberg, Neubau, Simmisweiler
Wasseralfingen		15.97	11,767	Affalterried, Brausenried, Bürgle, Erzhäusle, Heisenberg, Mäderhof, Onatsfeld, Rötenberg, Röthardt, Salchenhof, Treppach, Weidenfeld

Spatial planning

Aalen forms a Mittelzentrum within the Ostwürttemberg region. Its 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, east of Aalen.

Climate

As Aalen's territory sprawls on escarpments of the Swabian Jura, on the Albuch and the Härtsfeld landscapes, and its elevation has a range of, the climate varies from district to district.
The weather station the following data originate from is located between the town centre and Wasseralfingen at about and has been in operation since 1991.
The sunshine duration is about 1800 hours per year, which averages 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, about the average within Baden-Württemberg.
The annual mean temperature is. Here Aalen ranks above the German average of and the Baden-Württemberg average of.

History

Civic history

First settlements

Numerous remains of early civilization have been found in the area. Tools made of flint and traces of Mesolithic human settlement 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, situated behind Kocherburg castle near Unterkochen, a hill-top settlement was found, with the core being dated 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, gold and silver coins left by the Celts were found. The Celts were responsible for the fortifications in the Schloßbaufeld settlement consisting of sectional embankments and a stone wall. Also, Near Heisenberg, a Celtic nemeton has been identified; however, it is no longer readily apparent.

Roman era

After abandoning the Alb Limes around 150 AD, Aalen's territory became part of the Roman Empire, in direct vicinity of the then newly erected Rhaetian Limes. The Romans erected a castrum to house the cavalry unit Ala II Flavia milliaria; its remains are known today as Kastell Aalen. The site is west of today's town centre at the bottom of the Schillerhöhe hill. With about 1,000 horsemen and nearly as many grooms, it was the largest fort of auxiliaries along the Rhaetian Limes. There were Civilian settlements adjacent along the south and the east. Around 260 AD, the Romans gave up the fort as they withdrew their presence in unoccupied Germania back to the Rhine and Danube rivers, and the Alamanni took over the region. Based on 3rd- and 4th-century coins found, the civilian settlement continued to exist for the time being. However, there is no evidence of continued civilization between the Roman era and the Middle Ages.

Foundation

Based on discovery of alamannic graves, archaeologists have established the 7th century as the origination 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 that exists today probably dates to the 9th century.
The first mention of Aalen was in 839, when emperor Louis the Pious reportedly permitted the Fulda monastery to exchange land with the Hammerstadt village, then known as Hamarstat.
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 nobleman probably had his ancestral castle at a site south of today's town centre and was subject first to Ellwangen abbey, later to the House of Hohenstaufen, and eventually to the House of Oettingen. 1426 was the last time a member of that house was mentioned in connection with Aalen.
Documents, from the Middle Ages, indicate that the town of Aalen was founded by the Hohenstaufen some time between 1241 and 1246, but at a different location than the earlier village, which was supposedly destroyed in 1388 during the war between the Alliance of Swabian Cities and the Dukes of Bavaria.
Later, it is documented that the counts of Oettingen ruled the town in 1340. They are reported to have pawned the town to Count Eberhard II and subsequently to the House of Württemberg in 1358 or 1359 in exchange for an amount of money.