Göppingen

 

General information

Göppingen’s view upon its culture was shaped by the Staufer past. For the first time, in 1154, the town was mentioned in a record by the emperor Friedrich Barbarossa. The mountain Hohenstaufen, which is located within the town boundary, once gave its name to the ancestral seat as well as to the sovereign family and finally even to an era – the Staufer era. Hence Göppingen uses the attribute Hohenstaufen town.

Yet another reference to history is ‘Maientag’ equalling today a national holiday in Göppingen. It is held in commemoration of the town’s ceremony in 1650 celebrating the end of the Thirty Years’ War and expressing gratitude for peace.

From 1850 onward, Göppingen developed to one of the highly industrialised towns of Baden-Württemberg with metal working industries and engineering still dominating its economy. Some of the companies enjoying world-wide recognition are Märklin (model railways) or Schuler (industrial presses which are for example used to coin almost 80 % of money world-wide).

Alongside with industrialisation, Göppingen became a stronghold of the labour movement in South-western Germany. Thus, Göppingen’s reputation as being a red town was established until the 1920s.

Today, 57.000 people from 116 countries are living in Göppingen. This means more than 20 % of the citizens (or their parents) have come from abroad.

 

Music in Göppingen

At the heart and core of Göppingen’s music programme is classical and sacred music, jazz, and symphonic music for brass instruments. It is mainly organised and supported by private associations, the churches, and the town. Rewards and prizes (up to national level) indicate, the School of Music for Young Performers, the  Municipal Youth Band) or the Municipal Orchestra for Brass Players successfully contribute to the education of young amateur musicians. These orchestras give up to six concerts a year and frequently play at municipal receptions or festivities. The activities of another 17 music societies and 16 choirs complement the vivid music scene in Göppingen.

And only last year, a new concert series for experimental contemporary music started at the art gallery.

As the name suggests, ‘Bandhaus’ (Band House) is used for rehearsal by 23 local bands following varied tendencies in music. The nearby former American military church called ‘Chapel serves as their concert hall.

 

Associations and institutions

_ ODEON – Culture and Contact in the old Power-Station (association)
Jazz and cabaret

_ Art and Culture Factory (association)
Sociocultural centre in the former chapel of the American troops, stationed in Göppingen until 1991

_ Town Alliance for Culture  in Göppingen
Umbrella organisation of all cultural associations

_ Municipal Hall
Centre for events, meetings and congresses

_ Art Exhibition Hall
Exhibition hall presenting international contemporary art

_ ‘Märklin-Erlebniswelt’ (World of Märklin)
Exhibition of model railways now and then

_ City Museum >Im Storchen<
Collection of historical toys and everyday history exhibition

_ Jewish Museum

 

Selected events

_ ‘Maientag’

_ Festival called ‘Musik auf Schloss Filseck” (Music in Filseck palace)
Classical music, jazz, cross-over, musicals for children

_ Celebration in the Park
Music for entertainment

_ Celebration in the museum

_ Week of the Organ
Organ music in October

_ Theatre Days
International festival of amateur theatre

_ Staufer Days
Congress organised by the society for Staufer history with international scientists, students and anyone interested in history

_ Märklin Days
Märklin model railways’ head office, collectors’ fair

 

Sights of town

_ ‘Burgruine Hohenstaufen’ (castle ruin)
The ancestral seat of the Staufer was destroyed in 1525 during the so-called Peasants War. The foundation was excavated during the 1930s and 1970s.

_ Buildings by the duke’s architect Heinrich Schickhardt (1558–1635):
Town church, 1618/19
Spa and sanatorium  in Jebenhausen (today a natural history museum)

_ Collegiate Church Faurndau , early 13th century
The only remaining building in Göppingen from the Staufer Era

_ The so-called Vine Staircase  in the castle, second half of the 16th century:
The stonemason decorated reverse of this spiral staircase with an entwining vine

_ Chess-board like street layout
according to classicist ideas since reconstruction of town after the great fire of 1782