Founding
Fetching the article from Wikipedia…
Aalen (German pronunciation: [ˈaːlən] ⓘ; Swabian: Oole (Swabian pronunciation: [ˈɔːlɐ̃])) is a town located in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, about 70 kilometres (43 mi) east of Stuttgart and 48 kilometres (30 mi) north of Ulm. It is the seat and largest town of the Ostalbkreis district, as well as the largest in the Ostwürttemberg region.
Since 1956, Aalen has had the status of Große Kreisstadt (major district town). 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.
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 (near Essingen, west of Aalen) and the Jagst (near Unterschneidheim, east of Aalen), both being tributaries of the Neckar, just like the Kocher.
The elevation in the centre of the market square is 430 m (1,410 ft) 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 (2,405 ft).
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 (Opalinum Clay 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 (Iron Sandstone) formation emerges to the 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 ammonites) 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. (see Tiefer Stollen section).
The maximum extent of the town's territory amounts to 18 km (11 mi) in a north–south dimension and 25 km (16 mi) in an east–west dimension. The area is 14,662.8 hectares (36,233 acres), which includes 42.2% 6,186.2 ha (15,286 acres) agriculturally used area and 37.7% 5,534.9 ha (13,677 acres) of forest. 11.5% 1,692.3 ha (4,182 acres) are built up or vacant, 6.4% 932.8 ha (2,305 acres) is used by traffic infrastructure. Sporting and recreation grounds and parks comprise 1% 152.7 hectares (377 acres), other areas 1.1% 163.9 ha (405 acres).
Aalen's territory consists of the town centre (Kernstadt) and the municipalities merged from 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 (quarters or 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 town 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:
Aalen forms a Mittelzentrum ("medium-level centre") 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, 30 km (19 mi) east of Aalen.
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 355 m (1,165 ft), 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 48°51′02″N 10°05′44″E / 48.85056°N 10.09556°E and has been in operation since 1991.
The sunshine duration is about 1800 hours per year, which averages 4.93 hours per day. Thus Aalen's annual sunshine duration ranks higher than 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 mm (31.8 in), about the average within Baden-Württemberg. The annual mean temperature is 9.9 °C (49.8 °F). Here Aalen ranks above the German average of 8.2 °C (46.8 °F) and the Baden-Württemberg average of 8.1 °C (46.6 °F).
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 (appr. 650 by 350 m (2,130 by 1,150 ft)), 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 (Wasseralfingen), a Celtic nemeton has been identified; however, it is no longer readily apparent.
After abandoning the Alb Limes (a limes generally following the ridgeline of the Swabian Jura) 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 ("Aalen Roman fort"). 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.
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.
During the war against Württemberg, Emperor Charles IV took the town without a fight after a siege. On 3 December 1360, he declared Aalen an Imperial City, that is, a city or town responsible only to the emperor, a status that made it a quasi-sovereign city-state and that it kept until 1803. In 1377, Aalen joined the Alliance of Swabian Cities, and in 1385, the term civitas appears in the town's seal for the first time. In 1398, Aalen was granted the right to hold markets, and in 1401 Aalen obtained proper jurisdiction.
The oldest artistic representation of Aalen was made in 1528. It was made as the basis of a lawsuit between the town and the Counts of Oettingen at the Reichskammergericht in Speyer. It shows Aalen surrounded by walls, towers, and double moats. The layout of the moats, which had an embankment built between them, is recognizable by the present streets named Nördlicher, Östlicher, Südlicher and Westlicher Stadtgraben (Northern, Eastern, Southern and Western Moat respectively). The wall was about 6 metres (20 ft) tall, 1518 single paces (990 metres (3,250 ft)) long and enclosed an area of 5.3 hectares (13 acres). During its early years, the town had two town gates: The Upper or Ellwangen Gate in the east, and St. Martin's gate in the south; however 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 added. The central street market took place on the Wettegasse (today called Marktplatz, "market square") and the Reichsstädter Straße. So the market district stretched from one gate to the other, however in Aalen it was not straight, but with a 90-degree curve between southern (St. Martin's) gate and eastern (Ellwangen) gate.
Around 1500, the civic graveyard was relocated from the town church to St. John's Church, and in 1514, the Vierundzwanziger ("Group of 24") was the first assembly constituted by the citizens.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Aalen”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.