Herrenberg is a town in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, about 30 km south of Stuttgart and 20 km from Tübingen. After Sindelfingen, Böblingen, and Leonberg, it is the fourth largest town in the district of Böblingen. The number of inhabitants of Herrenberg exceeded 20,000 in 1972 due to the incorporation of the following formerly independent municipalities:
The once small community Herrenberg was formed out of the hamlets "Mühlhausen" and "Raistingen", who were combinated in the 13th century, when Herrenberg was founded. In 1278, Herrenberg was first documented, although Pfalzgraf Rudolf von Tübingen already wrote in 1228 "castrum nostrum herrenberc" into a certificate. From 1276, the church building was started, which at the time, had two towers. The supposed founder of the Rosicrucian movement in Europe, Johann Valentin Andreae, who also wrote The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, was born in Herrenberg on 17 August 1586.
City arrangement
Herrenberg consists of the town center and the 7 additional towns which were merged in the regional reorganization of the 1960s and 1970s. This includes Affstätt, Gültstein, Haslach, Kayh, Kuppingen, Mönchberg and Oberjesingen. In each different area of Herrenberg there is an office for the district and a town clerk.
The local council has, since the last election on 13. June 2004, has a total of 40 Seats. The distribution of the different parties and groups are as follows:
CDU 30,6% - 13 Seats
FW 21,8% - 9 Seats
SPD 21,9% - 9 Seats
Grüne 16,3% - 6 Seats
Frauenliste 9,4% - 3 Seats
Others 0,0% - 0 Seats
Business
Internationally known businesses located in Herrenberg include:
Herrenberg has several hotels as well as accommodations in smaller guest houses in the Old Town. The Old Town has many restaurants including; Italian, Chinese, Indian, Greek, Mexican and German cuisine. There are also ice cream shops and cafes. The Stadtfest is held annually in July. 25,000 people turn up for the town festival to celebrate, drink, and listen to the live music in the squares.
Sights
The symbol of the town, the traditional church "Stiftskirche", with its Glockenmuseum the tower, as well as the "Herrenberger Rathaus" and the historical ruins of the castle "Schlossberg", are an attractive destination for tourists of all over the world. There are guided tours as well through the historical buildings of the town. Large sections of the old city wall are still standing and numerous timber-framed houses fill the "Old Town" surrounding the "Marktplatz",