Tübingen

Tübingen Dibenga (Swabian)
Town
Tübingen seen from above in June 2018
Coat of arms
Location of Tübingen within Tübingen district
Tübingen Show map of Germany Tübingen Show map of Baden-Württemberg
Coordinates:48°31′12″N09°03′20″E / 48.52000°N 9.05556°E /48.52000; 9.05556
Country	Germany
State	Baden-Württemberg
Admin. region	Tübingen
District	Tübingen
Government
•Lord mayor(2022–30)	Boris Palmer[1](Ind.)
Area
• Total	108.12 km2(41.75 sq mi)
Elevation	341 m (1,119 ft)
Population (2022-12-31) [2]
• Total	92,811
• Density	860/km2(2,200/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00(CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00(CEST)
Postal codes	72001–72099
Dialling codes	07071 07073(Unterjesingen) 07472(Bühl)
Vehicle registration	TÜ
Website	www.tuebingen.de

Tübingen(German:[ˈtyːbɪŋən]^ⓘ;Swabian:Dibenga) is a traditionaluniversity cityin centralBaden-Württemberg,Germany. It is situated 30 km (19 mi) south of the state capital,Stuttgart, and developed on both sides of theNeckarandAmmerrivers. As of 2014^[update][3]about one in three of the 90,000 people^{[citation needed]}living in Tübingen is a student. As of the 2018/2019 winter semester, 27,665 students attend theEberhard Karl University of Tübingen.^{[citation needed]}The city has the lowest median age in Germany, in part due to its status as a university city. As of December 31, 2015, the average age of a citizen of Tübingen is 39.1 years.^{[citation needed]}

Immediately north of the city lies theSchönbuch, a densely woodednature park. TheSwabian Albmountains rise about 13 km (8 mi) (beeline Tübingen City to Roßberg - 869 m) to the southeast of Tübingen.

The Ammer andSteinlachrivers aretributariesof the Neckar river, which flows in an easterly direction through the city, just south of themedievalold town. Large parts of the city are hilly, with the Schlossberg and the Österberg in the city centre and the Schnarrenberg and Herrlesberg, among others, rising immediately adjacent to the inner city.

The highest point is at about 500 m (1,640.42 ft)above sea levelnearBebenhausenin the Schönbuch forest, while the lowest point is 305 m (1,000.66 ft) in the city's eastern Neckar valley. Thegeographical centreof the state of Baden-Württemberg is in a small forest called Elysium, near the Botanical Gardens of the city's university.

The area was probably first settled by ancient humans in the 12th millennium BC. TheRomansleft some traces here in AD 85, when they built alimesfrontier wall at the Neckar River. Tübingen dates from the 6th or 7th century, when the region was populated by theAlamannipeople. Some historians argue that theBattle of Soliciniumwas fought atSpitzberg, a mountain in Tübingen, in AD 367, although there is no evidence for this.^{[citation needed]}

Tübingen first appears in official records in 1191. The local castle,Hohentübingen, has records going back to 1078, when it was besieged byHenry IV,king of Germany. Its name was transcribed inMedieval LatinasTuingiaandTwingia.

From 1146, Count Hugo V (1125–52) was promoted tocount palatineas Hugo I. Tübingen was established as the capital of aCounty Palatine of Tübingen. By 1231, Tübingen was acivitas, indicating recognition by the Crown of civil liberties and a court system.

In 1262, anAugustinianmonastery was established byPope Alexander IVin Tübingen; in 1272, a Franciscan monastery was founded. In 1300, a Latin school (today's Uhland-Gymnasium) was founded. During the Protestant Reformation, which DukeUlrichofWürttembergconverted to, he disestablished the Franciscan monastery in 1535.

In 1342, the county palatine was sold toUlrich III, Count of Württembergand incorporated into theCounty of Württemberg.

Between 1470 and 1483,St. George's Collegiate Churchwas built. The collegiate church offices provided the opportunity for what soon afterwards became the most significant event in Tübingen's history: the founding of theEberhard Karls UniversitybyDuke Eberhard im Bart of Württembergin 1477, thus making it one of the oldest universities in Central Europe. It became soon renowned as one of the most influential places of learning in theHoly Roman Empire, especially fortheology(aProtestantfaculty,Tübinger Stift, was established in 1535 in the former Augustinian monastery). Today, the university is still the biggest source of income for the residents of the city and one of the biggest universities inGermanywith more than 26,000 students.

Between 1622 and 1625, theCatholic LeagueoccupiedLutheranWürttemberg in the course of theThirty Years' War. In the summer of 1631, the city was raided. In 1635/36 the city was hit by thePlague. In 1638, Swedish troops conquered Tübingen. Towards the end of the war, French troops occupied the city from 1647 until 1649.

In 1789, parts of the old town burned down, but were later rebuilt in the original style. In 1798 theAllgemeine Zeitung, a leading newspaper in early 19th-century Germany, was founded in Tübingen byJohann Friedrich Cotta. From 1807 until 1843, the poetFriedrich Hölderlinlived in Tübingen in a tower overlooking the Neckar.

In the Nazi era, the Tübingen Synagogue was burned in theKristallnachton November 9, 1938. The Second World War left the city largely unscathed, mainly because of the peace initiative of a local doctor,Theodor Dobler. It was occupied by the French army and became part of the French zone of occupation. From 1946 to 1952, Tübingen was the capital of the newly formed state ofWürttemberg-Hohenzollern(asFrench:Tubingue), before the state of Baden-Württemberg was created by mergingBaden,Württemberg-Badenand Württemberg-Hohenzollern. The French troops had a garrison stationed in the south of the city until the end of theCold Warin the 1990s.

In the 1960s, Tübingen was one of the centres of theGerman student movementand theProtests of 1968and has ever since shapedleftandgreenpolitical views. Some radicalized Tübingen students supported the leftistRote Armee Fraktionterrorist group, with active memberGudrun Ensslin, a local and a Tübingen student from 1960 to 1963, joining the group in 1968.

On May 27, 1968, the first everautomated teller machinein Germany was installed in Tübingen, into the wall of the local community bank Kreissparkasse Tübingen, built byAalen-based safe builder Ostertag AG in cooperation withAEG-Telefunken. It was made available to use for 1000 selected clients of the bank.^[4][5]

Although noticing such things today is largely impossible, as recently as the 1950s, Tübingen was a very socioeconomically divided city, with poor local farmers and tradesmen living along theStadtgraben(City Canal) and students and academics residing around theAlte Aulaand theBurse, the olduniversitybuildings. There, hanging on theCottahaus, a sign commemoratesGoethe'sstay of a few weeks while visiting his publisher. The German tendency to memorialize every minor presence of its historical greats (comparable to the statement "Washingtonslept here" in the United States) is parodied on the building next door. This simple building, once a dormitory, features a plain sign with the words"Hier kotzte Goethe"(lit.: "Goethepuked here").

In the second half of the 20th century, Tübingen's administrative area was extended beyond what is now called the "core city" to include several outlying small towns and villages. Most notable among these isBebenhausen, a village clustered around a castle andBebenhausen Abbey, aCisterciancloisterabout 2 miles (3.2 km) north of Tübingen.

In 2020^[update], the city had 90,000 inhabitants. Life in the city is dominated by its roughly 28,000 students. Tübingen is best described as a mixture of old and distinguished academic flair, includingliberalandgreen politicson one hand and traditional German-stylestudent fraternitieson the other, withrural-agriculturalenvirons and shaped by typicalLutheran-Pietistcharacteristics, such asausterityand aProtestant work ethic, and traditionalSwabianelements, such asfrugality,order, and tidiness. The city is home to many picturesque buildings from previous centuries and lies on the River Neckar.

In 1995^[update], the German weekly magazineFocuspublished a national survey, according to which Tübingen had the highest quality of life of all cities in Germany. Factors taken into consideration included the infrastructure, the integration of bicycle lanes into the road system, a bus system connecting surrounding hills and valleys, late-night services, areas of the city that can be reached on foot, the pedestrianised old town, and other amenities and cultural events offered by the university. Tübingen is the city with the youngest average population in Germany.

In central Tübingen, the Neckar divides briefly into two streams, forming the elongatedNeckarinsel(Neckar Island), famous for itsPlatanenalleewith highplane trees, which are around 200 years old. Pedestrians can reach the island via stairs on the narrow ends leading down from a bridge spanning the Neckar, and by a smaller foot bridge nearer the middle of the island. During the summer, theNeckarinselis occasionally the venue for concerts, plays, and literary readings. The row of historical houses across one side of the elongatedNeckarinselis called theNeckarfrontand includes the house with adjoining tower where poetFriedrich Hölderlinstayed for the last 36 years of his life, as he struggled with mental instability.

Tübingen'sAltstadt(old town) survivedWorld War IIdue to the city's lack of heavy industry. The result is a growing domestictourismbusiness as visitors come to wander through one of the few completely intact historicAltstädtein Germany. The highlights of Tübingen include its crooked cobblestone lanes, narrow-stair alleyways picking their way through the hilly terrain, streets lined with canals, and well-maintained traditionalhalf-timberedhouses.

Old city landmarks include the city hall on Markt Square and the Hohentübingen Castle, now part of the University of Tübingen. The central landmark is theStiftskirche(Collegiate Church). Along with the rest of the city, the Stiftskirche was one of the first to convert toMartin Luther'sprotestantchurch. As such, it maintains (and carefully defends) several "Roman Catholic" features, such aspatron saints. Below theRathausis a quiet, residential street called theJudengasse, the formerJewishneighborhood of Tübingen until the city's Jews were expelled in 1477. On the street corner is a plaque commemorating the fate of Tübingen'sJews.

The centre of Tübingen is the site of weekly and seasonal events, including regular market days on theHolzmarktby the Stiftskirche and theMarktplatzby the Rathaus, anoutdoor cinemain winter and summer, festive autumn and Christmas markets and (formerly) Europe's largest Afro-Brazilian festival.

Students and tourists also come to the Neckar River in the summer to visit beer gardens or go boating inStocherkähne, the Tübingen equivalent ofOxfordandCambridgepunts, only slimmer. AStocherkahncarries up to 20 people. On the second Thursday of June, allStocherkahnpunts take part in a major race, theStocherkahnrennen.

Bebenhausen Abbeylies in the village of Bebenhausen, a district of Tübingen. A subdivision of the pilgrimage route known as theWay of St. Jamesstarts here and runs through Tübingen.

Tübingen is governed by the mayor, elected by citizens every eight years, and by the municipal council, elected by citizens every five years.^[6]Boris Palmer, a former member of theGreens, has been mayor since 2007, re-elected in 2014 and 2022 and on his third term until 2030.^[7]

Tübingen's council decided that the city should be climate-neutral by 2030.^[8][9]In 2022, the city was the first in Germany to taxdisposable food packaging.^[10]Restaurants in Tübingen are charged 50 cents per disposable cup and cardboard bowl, and 20 cents per piece of cutlery.^[11]

Tübingen is the capital of aneponymous districtand aneponymous administrative region (Regierungsbezirk), before 1973 calledSüdwürttemberg-Hohenzollern.

Tübingen is, with nearbyReutlingen(about 15 km (9.3 mi) east), one of the two centre cities of theNeckar-Albregion.

Administratively, it is not part of theStuttgart Region, bordering it to the north and west (Böblingen district). However, the city and northern parts of its district can be regarded as belonging to that region in a wider regional and cultural context.

Tübingen is divided into 22 districts, the city core of twelve districts (population of about 51,000) and ten outer districts (suburbs) (population of about 31,000):

Core city districts:

Outer districts:

Tübingen has a notable arts culture as well as nightlife. In addition to the full roster of official and unofficial university events that range from presentations by the university's official poet in residence to parties hosted by the student associations of each faculty, the city can boast of several choirs, theatre companies and nightclubs. Also, Tübingen'sKunsthalle(art exhibition hall), on the "Wanne", houses two or three exhibits of international note each year.

There are several festivals, open air markets and other events on a regular basis:

• January
  • Arab Movie FestivalArabisches Filmfestival
• April
  • Latin American Movie FestivalCineLatino(usually in April or May)
• May
  • Internationales Pianisten-Festival(international festival of pianists)
  • Rock FestivalRock im Tunnel(usually in May or June)
• June

  

  

  • Poled boat race (German:Stocherkahnrennen), second Thursday of June, 2pm, around theNeckar Island
  • Ract!festival, an alternative open air festival for free with music performances and workshops
  • Tübinger Wassermusik: concerts onStocherkahnboats
• July
  • Stadtfest: gastronomy and performances in the streets of the old town
  • Tübinger Sommerinselfestival: various restaurants serving special meals and associations offering activities on the Neckar Island
• August
  • Tübinger Orgelsommer: organ concerts in the Stiftskirche
  • Sommerkonzertein the former monastery ofBebenhausen(July-September)
  • Kennen Sie Tübingen?(Do you know Tübingen?): special guided tours on Mondays July-September
• September
  • Vielklang: classic music concerts at several locations
  • Umbrisch-Provenzalischer Markt, open air market for Italian and French products from Umbria and Provence
  • Tübinger Stadtlaufthe city 10km race
  • Retromotoroldtimer festival (usually second or third September weekend)
• October
  • Jazz- und Klassiktage: jazz and classic music festival
  • Kite festivalDrachenfeston the Österberg hill (usually third Sunday in October)
  • French movie festivalFranzösische Filmtage
• November
  • Terre de femmes movie festivalFrauenWelten
• December
  • Nikolauslaufhalf marathon outside Tübingen in the forest
  • Die Feuerzangenbowlefilm and large amount ofFeuerzangenbowledrink made in a public square
  • Chocolate festivalchocolART
  • Christmas market

SinceWorld War II, Tübingen's population has almost doubled from about 45,000 to the current 88,000, also due to the incorporation of formerly independent villages into the city in the 1970s.

Currently, Lord Mayor Boris Palmer (Green Party) has set the ambitious goal of increasing the population of Tübingen to 100,000 within the next several years. To achieve this, the city is closing gaps between buildings within the city proper by allowing new houses to be built there; this is also to counter the tendency ofurban sprawlandland consumptionthat has been endangering the preservation of rural landscapes of Southern Germany.[1]

Historical population

Year Pop. ±% 1871 16,176 — 1880 19,378 +19.8% 1890 20,913 +7.9% 1900 23,425 +12.0% 1910 28,499 +21.7% 1925 29,971 +5.2% 1933 34,112 +13.8% 1939 35,963 +5.4%

Year Pop. ±% 1950 44,221 +23.0% 1956 51,454 +16.4% 1961 58,768 +14.2% 1965 63,450 +8.0% 1970 66,788 +5.3% 1975 71,348 +6.8% 1980 73,132 +2.5% 1985 75,825 +3.7%

Year Pop. ±% 1989 78,643 +3.7% 1996 81,911 +4.2% 2001 82,444 +0.7% 2006 83,557 +1.4% 2011 89,011 +6.5% 2015 87,464 −1.7% 2019 91,506 +4.6%

Tübingen has an oceanic climate, Cfb in theKöppen climate classification.^[12]

Tübingen istwinnedwith:^[16]

For their commitment to their international partnership, theCouncil of Europeawarded theEurope Prizeto Tübingen and Aix-en-Provence in 1965.^[17]The city's dedication to European understanding is also reflected in the naming of several streets and squares, including the largeEuropaplatz(Europe Square) outside the railway station.

By plane: Tübingen is about 35 km (21.75 mi) from the Baden-Württemberg state airport (Landesflughafen Stuttgart, also calledStuttgart Airport).

By automobile: Tübingen is on theBundesstraße 27(a "federal road") that crosses through Baden-Württemberg, connecting the city withWürzburg,Heilbronn, Stuttgart and theLandesflughafen(Stuttgart Airport) to the north andRottweilandDonaueschingento the south.

By rail:Tübingen Hauptbahnhofis on theregional trainlineNeckar-Alb Railway-Bahn (Neckar-Alb-Bahn) fromStuttgart Hauptbahnhofvia Esslingen and Reutlingen to Tübingen. The average time of travel to Stuttgart is 1:01 hrs., with some trains taking only 45 mins. Other regional lines are theHohenzollerische Landesbahn, connecting the city withHechingenandSigmaringen(so-calledZollernalb Railway),Zollernalbbahnand connections toHerrenberg(Ammer Valley Railway,Ammertalbahn) andHorb(Upper Neckar Railway,Obere Neckarbahn). Since 2009, there is also a daily directIntercitylink toMannheim,CologneandDüsseldorfas well as toBerlin.

Local public transport: The city, due to its high student population, features an extensive public bus network with more than 20 lines connecting the city districts and places outside of Tübingen such asAmmerbuch,GomaringenandNagold. There are also several night bus lines in the early hours every day. A direct bus is available to Stuttgart Airport (viaLeinfelden-Echterdingen) as well as toBöblingenandReutlingen.

Tigers Tübingenare the city's only professional sports team, playingbasketball.

TheEberhard Karls University of Tübingendates from 1477, making it one of the oldest in Germany. Including the university hospitals, it is also the city's largest employer. The town is also host to several research institutes including theMax Planck InstitutesforBiological Cybernetics,Developmental Biology,Intelligent Systems,The Friedrich Miescher Laboratory of the MPG, and theMax Planck Institute for Biology, theHertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, theWerner Reichardt Centre for Integrative Neuroscienceand many others. A modern technology park is growing in the northern part of the city, where science, industrial companies and start-ups are conducting joint research, primarily on biotechnology and artificial intelligence. The university also maintains abotanical garden, theBotanischer Garten der Universität Tübingen. Furthermore, there is a Protestant College of Church Music.

More than 10,000 children and young adults in Tübingen regularly attend school. There are 30 schools in the city, some of which consist of more than one type of school. Of these, 17 areprimary schoolswhile the others are forsecondary education: four schools are of the lowest rank,Hauptschule, three of the middle rank,Realschule, and six areGymnasien(grammar schools). There also are fourvocational schools(Berufsschule) and three special needs schools.

• Johann Reuchlin(1455–1522), Catholic humanist and scholar of Greek and Hebrew.^[25]
• Philip Melanchthon(1497–1560), Lutheran reformer.^[26]
• Johannes Kepler(1571–1630), astronomer, mathematician, and astrologer.^[27]
• Wilhelm Schickard(1592–1635), professor of Hebrew and astronomy, inventor of the world's first mechanical calculator, lived and died here
• Gottfried Heinrich Graf zu Pappenheim(1594–1632), afield marshalof theHoly Roman Empire, studied here.^[28]
• Rudolf Jakob Camerarius(1655–1721), botanist and professor, proved for the first time the sexual reproduction of plants.^[29]
• Christoph Martin Wieland(1733–1813), classical writer of the Enlightenment.^[30]
• Sir James Steuart Denham, 8th Baronet(1744–1839), a Scottish soldier of the British Army, Uni attendance, 1757 to 1761.
• J. G. Friedrich von Bohnenberger(1765–1835), pioneer of a modern geodesy, inventor of the gyroscope
• Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel(1770–1831), philosopher of Idealism, studied here.^[31]
• Friedrich Hölderlin(1770–1843), poet and philosopher, studied, lived and died here.^[32]
• Friedrich Wilhelm Joseph Schelling(1775–1854), philosopher of Idealism, studied here.^[33]
• Friedrich List(1789–1846), economist, university professor.^[34]
• Ferdinand Christian Baur(1792–1860), Protestant theologian, lived and died here.^[35]
• Immanuel Hermann Fichte(1796–1879), philosopher, held a chair of philosophy at the university.^[36]
• Wilhelm Hauff(1802–1827), writer of the early Romantic period.^[37]
• Eduard Mörike(1804–1875), Lutheran pastor, poet and writer of the Romantic period.^[38]
• David Strauss(1808–1874), Protestant theologian and writer.^[39]
• Adelbert von Keller(1812–1883), a German philologist, studied locally.^[40]
• Georg Herwegh(1817–1875), poet, revolutionist.^[41]
• Felix Hoppe-Seyler(1825–1895), founded the disciplines of biochemistry and molecular biology, discovered the blood pigmenthemoglobin
• Lothar Meyer(1830–1895), chemist, one of the founders of the periodic table of chemical elements alongside Dmitri Mendeleev.^[42]
• Gustav Tschermak von Seysenegg(1836–1927), an Austrian mineralogist, localPhD.^[43]
• Franz Xaver von Funk(1840–1907), a Catholic theologian and historian, educated locally.^[44]
• Friedrich Miescher(1844–1895), physician and biologist, discoverer of the nucleic acid as a precondition for the identification of DNA
• Ferdinand Braun(1850–1918), inventor, professor,Nobel Prize in Physics, 1909
• Carl Correns(1864–1933), botanist and geneticist
• Alois Alzheimer(1864–1915), psychiatrist and neuropathologist
• Gerhard Anschütz(1867–1948), jurisprudent
• Albert Schweitzer(1875–1965), theologian, writer, humanitarian, philosopher and physician,Nobel Peace Prize, 1952
• Ernst Bloch(1885–1977), philosopher, lived and died here
• Gerhard Rohlfs(1892–1986),Romancelinguist, lived and died here
• Kurt Georg Kiesinger(1904–1988), politician, Chancellor of Germany 1966–69, lived and died here
• Dietrich Bonhoeffer(1906–1945), Lutheran theologian and pastor, anti-Nazi-dissident, studied here
• Hans Mayer(1907–2001), literary scholar and critic, lived and died here
• Walter Jens(1923–2013), philologist, writer and university professor of rhetoric, lived and died here
• Martin Walser(1927–2023), writer, studied here
• Pope Benedict XVI(1927–2022), held a chair of dogmatic theology at the university 1966–69
• Hans Küng(1928–2021), Roman-Catholic theologian and author, professor of theology, critic of the official church, creator ofFoundation for a Global Ethic(Stiftung Weltethos), lived and died here
• Ralf Dahrendorf(1929–2009), held a chair of sociology
• Manfred Korfmann(1942–2005), archeologist and professor, excavator of ancient Troy
• Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard(born 1942), developmental biologist andNobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, 1995, lives here
• Horst Köhler(born 1943), politician, President of Germany 2004–2010

• Deutsch-Amerikanisches Institut Tübingen
• Tübingen Tarock, a form of Tarot game from Tübingen

• Official website(in German)
• Eberhard Karls University(in German and English)