Göppingen

Göppingen is a town in southern Germany, part of the Stuttgart Region of Baden-Württemberg. It is the capital of the district Göppingen. Göppingen is home to the toy company Märklin, and it is the birthplace of football player Jürgen Klinsmann.GeographyGöppingen is situated at the bottom of the Hohenstaufen mountain, in the valley of the river Fils. The districts of Göppingen are Bartenbach, Bezgenriet, Faurndau, Göppingen, Hohenstaufen, Holzheim, Jebenhausen and Maitis.HistoryTradition holds that the city was founded by an Alemannic leader called Geppo sometime in the 3rd or 4th century. A disastrous fire on August 25, 1782 destroyed most of the town, but it was immediately rebuilt. Industrialisation during the 19th century made the area into a centre of industry. The importance of such industry is still seen in the town in the present day in companies such as Märklin and Schuler.Jewish communityGöppingen and the nearby village of Jebenhausen were home to a thriving Jewish community from 1777 until the Second World War. In 1777, the Baron von Liebenstein issued a "Letter of Protection" granting Elias Gutmann and other Jews permission to settle in Jebenhausen. The community grew and peaked in the mid-1800s, with the population center shifting from Jebenhausen to Göppingen and a substantial emigration of Jewish families to America by the late 19th Century. The Göppingen synagogue, constructed in 1881, was destroyed during the Kristallnacht from 9–10 November 1938. Detailed records of the communities were collected by Rabbi Dr. Aron Tänzer, who served the community from 1907-1937, and who was also a driving force behind the establishment of the secular city library in Göppingen. A comprehensive Jewish community history, Die Geschichte der Juden in Jebenhausen und Göppingen, was first produced by Tänzer in 1927, on the 150th anniversary of the settlement of Jebenhausen, and re-released in 1988 by the city of Göppingen with updated material added by Karl-Heinz Ruess. The Jewish Museum in Jebenhausen, opened in 1992, documents and preserves the history of the Jewish community of Jebenhausen and Göppingen.