Information in English

Position and area covered by town

• The town of Heilbronn is situated between the conurbations of Stuttgart and Heidelberg/Mannheim/Ludwigshafen in the beautiful scenery of the Neckar valley.
• Total area 10,000 ha
• Stretching 13 km north-south
  19 km east-west
• Market place 157 m above sea level
  Wartberg 309 m above sea level
  Reisberg 378 m highest elevation

Transport connections

• Traffic junction on A 6, A 81, B 27, B 39 and B 293
• Rail connection Stuttgart – Würzburg, Mannheim – Heidelberg and Nürnberg – Crailsheim;
  ICE stations: Mannheim, Würzburg, Stuttgart
• Tram line: Karlsruhe – Öhringen (Line S 4)
• Via the Neckar river/canal Heilbronn connects with ports on the Rhine
• Nearest airports Stuttgart 70 km, Frankfurt am Main 150 km, Adolf Würth Airport Schwäbisch Hall 55 km
• Heliport in the industrial park Böllinger Höfe

Number of inhabitants

• Number of inhabitants 125,129
  (Source: State Statistics Office as at 30.09.2012)
• By district:
  Heilbronn 56,937
  Böckingen 21,617
  Sontheim 11,591
  Neckargartach 9,305
  Frankenbach 5,622
  Biberach 4,970
  Horkheim 4,104
  Kirchhausen 3,738
  Klingenberg 2,207
• non-nationals (21 %) 26,045
• Heilbronn and its conurbation 455,457
• Hub of the Heilbronn-Franken region 886,830
• Sixth largest city in Baden-Wuerttemberg
  (Source: State Statistics Office as at 30.09.2012)

History

• 741 A.D. first mention in a document as "Helibrunna"
• 1146 market, mint & port
• 1281 first known charter granted by Rudolf I. of Habsburg
• 1371 first constitution as an "Imperial City" (under the direct rule of the Emperor)
• !633 the „Heilbronn Convention” (alliance of the Protestant powers with Sweden)
• 1803 end of the "Imperial City" period
• late 19th one of the largest industrial century towns in Wuerttemberg
• 4th Dec. 1944 over 6,000 people die in an air raid, the Old Town is destroyed
• 1970 since 1970 a "Großstadt" (more than 100,000 inhabitants)

Important figures

• Hans Seyfer, † 1509 (stone and wood sculptor)
• Heinrich Füger, 1751 – 1818 (painter and miniaturist)
• Carl Heinrich Knorr, 1800 – 1875 (manufacturer)
• Wilhelm Waiblinger, 1804 – 1830 (author and poet)
• Robert Mayer, 1814 – 1878 (Law of the Conservation of Energy)
• Ludwig Pfau, 1821 – 1894 (man of letters and politician)
• Adolf Cluss, 1825 – 1905 (architect)
• Gustav von Schmoller, 1838 – 1917 (national economist)
• Wilhelm Maybach, 1846 – 1929 ("King of Engineers")
• Theodor Heuss, 1884 – 1963 (Federal President)
• Otto Kirchheimer, 1905 – 1965 (jurist and political scientist)

Places of interest / Historic buildings

• Town hall with its astronomical clock by Isaak Habrecht (1580) and Hall of honour
• Kilian's Church with the famous high altar by Hans Seyfer (1498) and the tower, completed by Hans Schweiner in 1529
• the Deutschhof complex with the Minster of the Teutonic Order dedicated to St. Peter and St. Paul
• "Catherine's House"
• the Court and Meat House
• the Pottery Market Tower, the "Bollwerk" Tower, the Götz Tower
• the little castle on lake Trappensee
• the Castle of the Teutonic Knights in Kirchhausen
• the Castle in Horkheim

Town colours

• red – white – blue

Council (2009-2014) and mayors

• CDU (Christian Democrats) 13 seats
• SPD (Social Democrats) 11 seats
• FDP 5 seats
• Greens 4 seats
• Freie Wähler 4 seats
• PRO Heilbronn 2 seats
• LINKE 1 seat

Mayor Helmut Himmelsbach
First Deputy Mayor Martin Diepgen
Deputy Mayor Harry Mergel and Wilfried Hajek

Youth Council (2012-2014)

• 20 young councillors aged between 14 and 18

Twin towns

• Béziers (F) since 1965
• Neath Port Talbot (GB) since 1966
• Solothurn (CH) since 1981
• Stockport (GB) since 1982
• Frankfurt (Oder) (D) since 1988
• Słubice (PL) since 1998

Cultural facilities and attractions

• experimenta – largest world of science in South Germany
• Heilbronn municipal museums including the Vogelmann art gallery (which houses changing exhibitions) and the Deutschhof museum (art, culture, history)
• the Arts Association
• the Art Guild
• Municipal library Heilbronn with central facilities in the K3, 2 branch libraries in outlying districts, mobile library, 250,000 items available
• The history of Heilbronn museum "Otto Rettenmaier Haus":
  Municipal Archive with a contemporary history collection, a scientific library, photo collections, the Robert Mayer and Maybach archives, the special Heilbronn "Music Treasure" and local history exhibitions
• Sembdner Kleist archive: collection concerning Heinrich von Kleist and his works, special collection concerning "Catherine of Heilbronn”
• Southern German Railway Museum Heilbronn-Böckingen
• the "Summer House" Association's "Culture Cellar"
• art and culture workshop Zigarre
• over 30 women's organizations
• over 40 migrant organizations

Theatre

• The Theatre Heilbronn with its three stages (main auditorium, comedy theatre, studio theatre)
• Theatre Ship
• the "Radelrutsch" Children's and Young People's Theatre
• the Old Theatre in Sontheim
• "Le Café Théâtre" at the "Kaffeehaus Hagen"

Music

• The Heilbronn Wuerttemberg Chamber Orchestra
• the Heilbronn Symphony Orchestra
• the Cultural Circle
• Ebene 3 with "Cave61" Jazz Club
• 104 music and choral societies

Sports facilities

• Franken Stadium - 16,500 spectators
• "Kolbenschmidt Arena" Ice Rink at Europaplatz - capacity 4,000
• "Römerhalle" (sports hall) - 900 spectators
• 37 sports grounds
• 34 playing fields
• 49 public gymnasiums & sports halls
• horse riding facilities
• shooting ranges
• roller skating rink
• outdoor climbing wall and indoor climbing wall in Block E
• 68 tennis courts
• squash courts
• opportunities for water sports on the Neckar river and canal
• cycle tracks
• 5 skating areas
• 67 sports clubs with 29,000 members;
• 116 clubs for general leisure activities

Swimming pools

• Soleo - Modern municipal swimming complex situated by the Bollwerksturm with 5 pools (including heated outdoor salt water pool) "sauna-scape", wellness area, sauna bar and bistro
• Family-friendly indoor pool in the Biberach municipal bath
• 3 heated outdoor pools: Neckarhalde (with diving section), Gesundbrunnen (with water slide), Kirchhausen
• 5 beginner's pools

Venues for functions

• Harmonie Festival Hall (Theodor-Heuss-Hall 2 ,015 seats; Wilhelm-Maybach-Hall 700 seats)
• Böckingen "Bürgerhaus" (main hall 480 seats)
• the Rococo Room in the Schießhaus (140 seats)
• the "Alte Kelter" (Old Wine Press) in Sontheim
• Red Blue trade fair centre

Schools and educational institutions

• 19 primary and secondary modern schools
• 4 secondary modern schools
• 11 general & vocational grammar schools
• 7 special schools
• a Waldorf School
• the Catholic independent school centre St. Kilian
• Social science grammar school of the Kolping educational centre
• an "evening secondary school" and an "evening grammar school"
• Various private educational institutions
• technical colleges and full-time vocational colleges, colleges training master craftsmen and technicians grouped into four large complexes
• State teacher training institutions
• (elementary and secondary education)
• Federal technical college for plasterers and stucco specialists
• Municipal music school
• Adult education centre
• Youth art school
• Christoph Reinwald Kid's museum
• University for kids
• "Family Centre"

Universities

• Heilbronn University: 7,200 students, thereof 5,200 in Heilbronn
• Bildungscampus of the Dieter Schwarz Foundation with private institute "German Graduate School of Management and Law", Baden-Wuerttemberg cooperative State University Mosbach – Campus Heilbronn, Academy for innovative education and management Heilbronn-Franken gGmbH

Day care facilities for children

• 90 day care facilities offering places for 4,679 children, of which 465 places are for children under 3 years, 1255 full day care places for children aged 3 years and over
• 160 places in supervised play groups
• up to 200 places with child minders

Parks and recreational areas

• 414 ha of landscaped & cultivated areas including "Pfühlpark", "Wertwiesenpark", "Ziegeleipark", "Leinbachpark", "Neckarpark", Old Cemetery, Botanical Fruit Garden Kübelstraße
• approx. 1,200 ha of municipal woodland
• Conservation areas: the "Köpfertal", the "Schilfsandsteinbruch" by the "Jägerhaus", the Old Neckar in Horkheim, the "Prallhang des Neckars" near Lauffen, and the "Frankenbacher Schotter"
• 50,000 trees
• Federal Horticultural Show 2019
• 123 playgrounds & play areas

Hospitals / Medical care

• SLK-Kliniken Heilbronn Ltd. in five locations with over 1,800 beds, including Klinikum am Gesundbrunnen in Heilbronn with 874 beds (teaching hospital of the Heidelberg university)
• Private clinics
• Physicians in private practice 287
• Dentists in private practice 96

Residential care homes for the elderly

• 13 Residential care homes for the elderly with 1664 places
• Sheltered accommodation: 529 places
• Information centre for the elderly needing special care

Economy

• Heilbronn is the hub of the Heilbronn-Franken region and of services for the region
• Principal industries: Metal (car accessories, machine and tool construction), electronics, food and luxury foods, paper and printing, chemicals, salt mining
• Retail trade turnover 950 Mio. EUR (2010)
• centrality index 159,2
• "Wohlgelegen" Future park for venture companies in high tech fields (maths, IT, science, engineering)

Jobs

• 92,600 jobs (2010)
• 60,930 jobs entailing N.I. contributions, thereof in
  industry 30 %
  commerce 24 %
  service sector 46 %
• About 1,500 trade businesses

Gross domestic product and per capita income

• Gross domestic product 5,1 billion EUR, per capita 41,712 EUR (Germany 29,278)
• Per capita income 31,020 EUR (Germany 18,983 EUR)<
  all data from 2009

Largest employers

• Campina
• Heilbronner Stimme
• ILLIG
• Kaufland (including Kaufland Stiftung)
• Kreissparkasse Heilbronn
• Landratsamt Heilbronn
• SLK-Kliniken
• Stadt Heilbronn
• Südwestdeutsche Salzwerke
• Unilever

Port

• Turnover: 3,6 million tons
• Container terminal
• Important transshipment point for heavy goods
• Industry and port railway

Wine production

• One of the largest German wine producing areas with 514 ha of vineyards
• Principal grape varieties: Trollinger, Black Riesling, Lemberger, Riesling, Kerner
• Wine Panorama Trail on the theme "Wine & Wine production in Heilbronn” on the Wartberg
• "Wine Villa" (Wine centre: tasting, sale, restaurant)

Tourism

• approx. 1,700 tourist beds
• Youth Hostel
• approx. 550 eateries (restaurants, hotels, cafes)
• 251,971 overnight stays
• Office of the "Castle Road" agency, Office of the "Heilbronn region", tourist board

Parking

• 7,000 parking spaces in the city centre, including 3,700 in 8 car parks
• Park and Ride car parks "Gesundbrunnen" and "Theresienwiese" are accessible to all cars (no emission restriction)

Council budget (2013 in million EUR)

• Running costs 400,3
• Capital costs 86,8
• Local business tax (on capital & profits) 103,2
• Tax on real property (A = 330 %; B = 430 %) 24,5
• Share of income tax 45,8

Events 2013

• Horse Market 23.-25.2.
• May Festival on Theresienwiese 26.4.-1.5.
• Heilbronn Trollinger Marathon 5.5.
• Europe Day Festival on Kilian Square 11.5.
• Summer Festival of the Heilbronn-Erlenbach-Weinsberg Winegrowers’ Cooperative Society 24.-27.5.
• On the move in harmony with nature 16.6.
• City Triathlon 23.6.
• Gaffenberg Music and Art Festival 10.-13.7.
• "Stimme" Corporate Run 25.7.
• Fun Fair 26.7.-5.8.
• Heilbronn Wine Village 13.-22.9.
• Wine Harvest Kick-off 28.9.
• Pottery Market 4.-6.10.
• Jazz & Shopping 12.-13.10.
• Wuerttemberg Wine Summit 16.-17.11.
• Christmas Market 26.11.-22.12.
• Christmas Circus 19.12.-6.1.2014
• New Year’s Eve dance at the Harmonie hall 31.12.