Göppingen

Göppingen, a town of Germany, in the kingdom of Württemberg, on the right bank of the Fils, 22 m. E.S.E. of Stuttgart on the railway to Friedrichshafen. Pop. (1905) 20,870. It possesses a castle built, partly with stones from the ruined castle of Hohenstaufen, by Duke Christopher of Württemberg in the 16th century and now used as public offices, two Evangelical churches, a Roman Catholic church, a synagogue, a classical school, and a modern school. The manufactures are considerable and include linen and woollen cloth, leather, glue, paper and toys. There are machine shops and tanneries in the town. Three m. N. of the town are the ruins of the castle of Hohenstaufen. Göppingen originally belonged to the house of Hohenstaufen, and in 1270 came into possession of the counts of Württemberg. It was surrounded by walls in 1129, and was almost entirely rebuilt after a fire in 1782.

See Pfeiffer, Beschreibung und Geschichte der Stadt Göppingen (1885).

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