Kirchheim unter Teck

The city of Kirchheim unter Teck consists of the core city Kirchheim, which annexed in 1935 the districts of Lindorf and Ötlingen. In the local government reform of 1974, Kirchheim annexed the districts of Jesingen and Nabern. All four districts are towns in the sense of the Municipal Code of Baden-Württemberg. That is, they each have a municipal council, elected by the population and chaired by a mayor.

Within the central city of Kirchheim, separately named residential areas can be distinguished, whose names have emerged in the course of history. In most cases they are not exactly delineated. The Schafhof district, however, which was built in the 1970s, is not adjacent to the rest of the city.

The city holds a variety of regular scheduled markets and fairs for its residents and tourists alike. A weekly farmers market offers a wide variety of seasonal fruits, vegetables and fresh flowers amongst other regional specialties. Every first Monday of the month a ‘Krämermarkt’ with roughly 100 additional booths offering clothing, household goods and more is added. Additional seasonal fairs are held in March, November and a Christmasmarket in December.

Kirchheim is a regional center within Stuttgart Region, the main center of which is Stuttgart. The Kirchheim region consists of the cities and towns in the southeast of the Esslingen district (essentially the foothills of the Alb with Lenningen valley and Neidlingen valley). In particular, the region encompasses the towns of Bissingen an der Teck, Dettingen unter Teck, Erkenbrechtsweiler, Holzmaden, Köngen, Lenningen, Neidlingen Notzingen, Ohmden, Owen, Weilheim an der Teck and Wendlingen am Neckar.

Remnants of a Natter launch pad near Kirchheim.

The Hasenholz woods southeast of Kirchheim.

There are three launch pads for the Luftwaffe Bachem Ba 349 Natter rocket interceptors located in the Hasenholz forest near Kirchheim unter Teck. They are all that remain from the once active launch site constructed in 1945. The three launchpads are arranged in the form of an equilateral triangle, whose sides point toward the east and the south. The distance between the launchpads is approximately 50 meters. The circular concrete pads on which the Bachem Ba 349s and their launch towers once stood still exist. In the center of each of the three concrete plates is a square hole approximately 50 centimeters deep, which once served as the foundation for the launch tower. Beside each hole is a pipe, cut off at ground level, which was probably once a cable pit.

The Natter launchpads at Kirchheim unter Teck are considered the only remnants of these rocket launch pads on publicly accessible terrain, as the ramp in the Lager Heuberg, where Lothar Sieber took off for his fatal manned test flight, is still in a restricted military area.

The population of Kirchheim unter Teck originally belonged to the Bishopric of Constance and was assigned to the Archdeanery circa alpes, chapter Kirchheim. As the city belonged to Württemberg at the time of the Reformation, Protestantism was introduced here as early as 1535 by Duke Ulrich. Consequently, Kirchheim unter Teck was a predominantly Protestant town for centuries. The Martin Church was the seat of the Dean of the Kirchheim Church District.

The congregation grew, especially after the Second World War, due to a strong influx and consequently, the congregation was split. One congregation uses the Christ Church (built in 1909), others use the Church of the Cross (1956), the Thomas Church (1967) and the Resurrection Church (1972). These five congregations in the central city, together with the parish of Ötlingen (separate parish since 1834) and the St. Matthew parish in Lindorf (church built in 1971, formerly part of Kirchheim, later part of Ötlingen), form the Evangelical Church of the City Kirchheim unter Teck. The districts of Jesingen and Nabern were also introduced early to the Reformation, due to their being part of Württemberg as well. Consequently, these district have their own Protestant congregation and church. All Protestant churches in the city are administered by the office of the Dean of Kirchheim unter Teck as part of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg.

Since the late-19th century, there have been Catholics in Kirchheim unter Teck. They built the St. Ulrich church in 1910. Ötlingen and Lindorf and some neighboring communities belong to this parish. In 1967, a second church was built, the Mary Queen of Heaven church. The Catholics in Jessingen and Nabern and some neighboring communities belong to this parish. These two parishes now form the Pastoral Care Unit 5 in the Deanery Esslingen-Nürtingen of the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart.

The city also has several Free Churches and congregations, including the United Methodist Church and the Evangelical Free Church (also known as Baptists). The New Apostolic Church is also represented in Kirchheim unter Teck.

Jesingen

Jesingen is located about two miles (3.2 km) southeast of Kirchheim in the direction Weilheim an der Teck. Jesingen was the first mentioned (as Osinski) in 769 in the Codex of Lorsch in a donation to the Lorsch monastery. The district of Jesingen is 574 ha in size, the village has about 3300 inhabitants.

Lindorf

Lindorf is located about two kilometres (1.2 miles) west of Kirchheim. Lindorf is first mentioned in 1090 in the Treaty of Bempflinger Treaty. The district has an area of 262 ha; about 1,500 people live in Lindorf.

Ötlingen

Ötlingen is situated approximately 2.5 km (1.55 mi) west of Kirchheim. The two districts are separated by an industrial area; the built up area is now continuous. The Ötlingen district has an area of 375 hectares. Ötlingen is first mentioned in 788 (as Adiningen) in the Codex of Lorsch. Ötlingen was owned by the Dukes of the Zähringen and later by the Dukes of Teck and at end of the 13th century by Württemberg. Today, the district of Ötlingen has approximately 6,400 inhabitants. Ötlingen is the only district of Kirchheim unter Teck with a station on the Stuttgart S-Bahn, apart from Kirchheim itself. Line S1 runs Herrenberg - Böblingen - Stuttgart - Esslingen am Neckar - Plochingen - Wendlingen am Neckar - Kirchheim Teck-Ötlingen - Kirchheim unter Teck . This line provides fast transport to Stuttgart and beyond every 30 minutes.

The population figures are estimates, census results (¹) or official updates of the respective statistical offices (only primary residences are counted).

¹ census results

Source: Statistical Office of Baden-Württemberg

Since the last Local Elections in Baden-Württemberg on 25 May 2014, the City Council has 34 members. The turnout was 45,22%. The election result was as follows:[3]

The chairman of the municipal council is the mayor.

In early times, the head of the city Kirchheim unter Teck was called an Amtmann ("bailiff/magistrate"); and later the title was Obervogt ("chief advocate"). Ranked below him were Untervögte (Regents), mayors, a court and a council. The Court was the administrative authority of the city. Since the 14th century, the council considered themselves as representatives of the citizenry. The council still ranked below the court. The council was elected of mayors, usually two of them.

In the 19th century, the mayor held the job title of „Stadtschultheiß“. Since 1930, the term Bürgermeister' (mayor) is used, and when the city was promoted to Große Kreisstadt, the job title is Oberbürgermeister (Lord Mayor). He is chairman of the council and is elected directly by the voters for an 8-year term. His deputy is the first Alderman, with the title of "mayor".

Kirchheim (Teck) station is serviced by the Teck Railway, a railway that connects Wendlingen am Neckar to Lenningen. Inside the city, the bus lines of the public transport group service multiple stops. All of the lines connect to stops serviced by the Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund Stuttgart (VVS), the Stuttgart public transport group.

As of 12 December 2009, the Stuttgart S-Bahn line S1 connects Herrenberg to Kirchheim via Stuttgart Hauptbahnhof, providing links to the city and beyond.

Bundesautobahn 8 passes through the south side of the town and has two interchanges for east- and west-Kirchheim. Bundesstrasse 297 (Lorch - Tübingen) passes through the town, which is also a terminus of Bundesstrasse 465 that leads south through the Lenningen valley on its way to Leutkirch im Allgäu.

In Kirchheim unter Teck industrialization began early. By 1911 the manufactured goods included cotton goods, damask, pianofortes, machinery, furniture, chemicals, cement and gliders. The town also had wool-spinning establishments and breweries and a corn exchange. It was the most important wool market in South Germany, and also had a trade in fruit, timber and pigs.[4]

Some early companies do not exist any longer, such as the textile company Kolb & Schüle AG, the Schrauben- und Flanschenfabrik Emil Helfferich Nachfolger, the engineering works Kirchheim, the iron foundry Grüninger and Prem, or the MBB armaments factory. Among the better known Kirchheim based companies that still exist, are the seat manufacturer Recaro, the RC model maker Graupner, the cane manufacturer Leki and Schempp-Hirth. In the Nabern industrial park we find the company Ballard Power Systems, a company that developed fuel cells and is owned by Daimler AG.

The Teckbote is a daily newspaper published in Kirchheim unter Teck. It is a regional edition of the Südwest Presse.

Kirchheim unter Teck has a field office of the Tax Office Nürtingen, a branch of the District Office Esslingen, a Notary and a District Court that belongs to the Oberlandesgericht district of Stuttgart.

The city is also home to the church district of Kirchheim unter Teck of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg.

Of health facilities, the city has a district hospital of the district of Esslingen. In addition, there are several sports and leisure facilities including, outdoor pool, 11 sports and event halls, a skate park, a riding stable, and 10 stadiums and sports grounds.

One of the main high schools in Kirchheim unter Teck, the Ludwig-Uhland-Gymnasium, has been running an exchange with students from Upholland High School, Orrell, United Kingdom, since 1995. This exchange is for all students in each school who are musically talented and who are in the school band in both schools. Students from each school take place in the exchange in different years – Ludwig Big Band in 1996, 98, 00, 02 etc., and UHHS Band in 1995, 97, 99, 01 etc. This year (2009) sees 35 students from the UHHS band visit the school and the town of Kirchheim, this year will also commemorate the twenty-fifth year of exchanges.