Backnang
Backnang is a town in Germany in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, roughly northeast of Stuttgart. Its population has increased greatly over the past century, from 7,650 in 1900 to 37,957 in 2022.
Backnang was ceded to Württemberg by the Baden in 1325. Backnang has been known as Gerberstadt due to several tanneries and leather factories, and wool and cloth mills that dominated Backnang's industries. Today, all of these have vanished, and instead, telecommunication companies, such as Ericsson and Tesat-Spacecom, dominate the town's industries. The Stiftskirche, formerly the church of Backnang Abbey, dates back to the 12th century.
Backnang hosts the annual Strassenfest during the last weekend in June where the monday is also in June. It has been founded as a street festival where local sports and cultural clubs offered drinks and foods. The traditional opening of the Strassenfest is marked with cannon shots from the city tower at 6 pm on Friday and ends with the Zapfenstreich on the following Monday at 11 pm. The Strassenfest typically attracts more than 100,000 spectators.
Mayors
Before 1930 the title for this position was Stadtschultheiß. In 1930 the title became Bürgermeister, and in 1956 with the elevation of Backnang to a "large district town," the title was changed to Oberbürgermeister.- 1901–1921: Hermann Eckstein
- 1921–1945: Albert Rienhardt
- 1946–1966: Walter Baumgärtner
- 1966–1986: Martin Dietrich
- 1986–1994: Hannes Rieckhoff
- 1994–2002: Jürgen-Heinrich Schmidt
- 2002-2021: Frank Nopper
- since 2021: Maximilian Friedrich
Twin towns – sister cities
Backnang is twinned with:- Annonay, France
- Bácsalmás, Hungary
- Chelmsford, England, United Kingdom
Notable people
- Johannes Magirus the elder, Lutheran Theologian.
- Eduard Breuninger,, entrepreneur, founder of Breuninger company
- Anna Ziegler, politician, mayor of Nuremberg, member of the Reichstag
- Ferdinand Schneider, chemist, researched sugar technology
- Ursula Sax, visual artist and sculptor.
- Alois Albrecht, Roman Catholic priest and songwriter
- Volker Hauff, politician, MP, Federal Minister, former mayor of Frankfurt am Main
- Thomas Mayer, Chief Economist of the Deutsche Bank, 2010 to 2012.
- Jens Weidmann, president of the Bundesbank, 2011 and 2021, did his Abitur in Backnang
- Gültekin Kaan, a Turkish German musician and singer
- Gregor Meyle, German singer-songwriter.
- Ralf Nentwich, German politician
- Christina Stumpp, politician, Member of the German Bundestag since 2021
Sport
- Ralf Rangnick, football manager, manager of Austria national football team
- Patrick Bauer, footballer and play-off winner with Charlton Athletic, played over 300 games
- Andreas Hinkel, footballer with SC Freiburg played 282 games and 21 for Germany
- Julian Schieber, Hertha Berlin and Germany footballer, played 190 games
- Viola Brand, retired artistic cyclist