Backnang

Backnang (Bagene) is a town in Germany in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, roughly 30 km northeast of Stuttgart. Its population has increased greatly over the past century, from 7,650 in 1900 to 37,957 in 2022.

Backnang was ceded to Württemberg by the Baden (Zähringer family) in 1325. Backnang has been known as Gerberstadt due to several tanneries and leather factories, and wool and cloth mills that dominated Backnang's industries. Today, all of these have vanished, and instead, telecommunication companies such as Ericsson (formerly AEG, Telefunken, ANT Nachrichtentechnik, Bosch and Marconi) and Tesat-Spacecom dominate the town's industries. The Stiftskirche, formerly the church of Backnang Abbey, dates back to the 12th century.

Backnang hosts the annual Strassenfest during the last weekend in June. It has been founded as a street festival where local sports and cultural clubs offered drinks and foods. The traditional opening of the Strassenfest is marked with cannon shots from the city tower at 6 pm on Friday and ends with the Zapfenstreich on the following Monday at 11 pm. The Strassenfest typically attracts more than 100,000 spectators.

Mayors
Before 1930 the title for this position was Stadtschultheiß. In 1930 the title became Bürgermeister (Mayor), and in 1956 with the elevation of Backnang to a "large district town," the title was changed to Oberbürgermeister (Lord Mayor).


 * 1901–1921: Hermann Eckstein
 * 1921–1945: Albert Rienhardt
 * 1946–1966: Walter Baumgärtner
 * 1966–1986: Martin Dietrich (1929-2012)
 * 1986–1994: Hannes Rieckhoff (born 1944)
 * 1994–2002: Jürgen-Heinrich Schmidt (born 1942)
 * 2002-2021: Frank Nopper (born 1961)
 * since 2021: Maximilian Friedrich (born 1987)



Twin towns – sister cities
Backnang is twinned with:
 * 🇫🇷 Annonay, France
 * 🇭🇺 Bácsalmás, Hungary
 * 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿 Chelmsford, England, United Kingdom

Notable people

 * Eduard Breuninger (1854–1932), entrepreneur, founder of Breuninger company
 * Eugen Haefele (1874–1935), Württembergian official
 * Anna Ziegler (1882–1942), politician (USPD, SPD), member of the Reichstag
 * Friedrich Rösch (1883–1914), missionary and Egyptologist
 * Richard Ottmar (1889–1956), theologian and timetable expert
 * Ferdinand Schneider (1911–1984), chemist (sugar technology)
 * Alois Albrecht (born 1936), Roman Catholic priest and songwriter
 * Dieter Burger (politician) (1938–2007), politician, 1977–1993 Mayor of Sindelfingen
 * Volker Hauff (born 1940), politician (SPD), MP, Federal Minister, former Mayor of Frankfurt am Main
 * Thomas Freitag (born 1950), actor and cabaret artist
 * Thomas Mayer (born 1954), Chief Economist of the Deutsche Bank
 * Andreas Brown (born 1964), politician from 1999 to 2006 North Rhine Chairman of Alliance 90 / The Greens in Baden-Württemberg
 * Christian Lange (born 1964), politician, member of the German Bundestag and Parliamentary Secretary of the SPD parliament group
 * Jens Weidmann (born 1968), president of the Bundesbank, made his Abitur in Backnang
 * Gregor Meyle (born 1978), German singer
 * Patrick Bauer (born 1992), footballer and play-off winner with Charlton Athletic
 * Andreas Hinkel (born 1982), SC Freiburg and Germany footballer
 * Ralf Rangnick (born 1958), football manager
 * Julian Schieber (born 1989), Hertha Berlin and Germany footballer
 * Lisa and Lena (born 2002), social media stars
 * Viola Brand (born 1994), artistic cyclist