Aalen is a town in Germany, capital of the Ostalbkreis, in the Baden-Württemberg Bundesland. Population as of July 1, 2004: 66,616. Area: 146.48 km².Aalen is twinned with Saint-Lô, France, Christchurch, England, Tatabánya , Hungary and Antakya, Turkey.
1 Geography
Aalen is situated on the river Kocher , at the foot of the Swabian Alb to the south and south east and close to the hilly landscape of the Ellwanger Berge to the north. Aalen is at about 70 kilometres east of Stuttgart and 50 kilometres north of Ulm.
2 History
From about 150/160 AD a Roman fort housed the equestrian unit Ala II Flavia militaria at the site of present-day Aalen. The location was strategically important at the time, in the direct vicinity of the Rhaetian Limes. It has been suggested that the name of Aalen traces back to the Roman fort, but this was disproved by later research. Today's town of Aalen did not emerge until more than a millennium later.
Aalen was probably founded in the 13th century, though it is not certain whether by the Staufians or by the counts of Oettingen . It was first mentioned in written records in the 14th century when it was subject to the counts of Oettingen. Aalen was an Imperial City (often misreferred to as Imperial Free CityIn the Holy Roman Empire, an Imperial Free City (in German: Freie Reichsstadt was a city formally responsible to the Emperor only as opposed to the majority of cities in the Empire, which belonged to a territory and were thus governed by one of the many p) from 1360Events Treaty of Bretigny King Valdemar Atterdag of Denmark seizes Scania (from 1658 a Swedish province). Births Nuno Alvares Pereira, Portuguese general Zhu Di (Emperor Yongle), Second Ming Emperor of China Deaths Elizabeth de Clare Gregoras Nicephorus 1 to 1802Events March 16 West Point is established. March 25/ 27 Treaty of Amiens between France and United Kingdom ends the War of the Second Coalition. March 28 H. Olbers discovers the asteroid Pallas. May 19 Napoleon Bonaparte establishes the French legion d'ho, when it was annexed to WürttembergWurttemberg (often spelled Wurttemberg in English) refers to an area and a former state in Swabia, a region in south-western Germany. Its capital for the by far longest period was Stuttgart. For short periods of time, the seat of the government resp.. It then became the seat of an Oberamt from which the district (Kreis) Aalen emerged in 1938. The latter merged with the district of Schwäbisch GmündSchwabisch Gmund is a town in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg. With a population of around 62,000, the town is the second largest in the Ostalbkreis and the whole region of East Wurttemberg after Aalen. The town is a Grosse Kreis to the newly formed Ostalbkreis in 1973, though Aalen remained the district seat.
3 Economy and transport
The economy of Aalen is dominated by metal processing. Besides machine construction, the optical sector plays an important role, as well as the textile and paper industry.
Aalen is located directly at the AutobahnThis article is about the German road system. For the Kraftwerk album, see Autobahn (album). Autobahn (pronounced OW toh bahn, SAMPA "A to bQn) is the German word for a major high- speed road usually linking one or more cities and towns, similar to motorw A7 and is also well connected to the network of federal roads (Bundesstraße). Furthermore, it has direct railway communication with Ulm and Stuttgart.
4 Boroughs of Aalen
- Dewangen
- Ebnat
- Fachsenfeld
- Hofen
- Unterkochen
- Waldhausen
- Wasseralfingen.
