Göppingen district
The Göppingen district has something extraordinary to offer: Important world market leaders and down-to-earth family businesses, large world market leaders and export-strong automotive suppliers can be found in the Göppingen district, as well as small craft businesses and Swabian, down-to-earth family businesses. In addition, there are renowned university locations, an orchard landscape that is unique in Europe and top-class regional gourmet products.
Innovative technologies and ideas have always come from the Göppingen district. Companies from the mechanical and tool manufacturing sectors in particular were impressed with their ideas. Today, this industrial tradition meets clever innovation, which companies prove again and again. The techniques and know-how are anything but ready for a museum. We are constantly developing, building and producing. A company was founded back in 1866 that is now one of the leading international manufacturers of household appliances: the Württembergische Metallwarenfabrik - WMF for short. Today the company employs more than 6.000 people worldwide, around a third of them at the corporate headquarters in Geislingen an der Steige, and generates annual sales of around one billion euros. In addition to WMF, which is well known to end customers, there are other strong brands in the Göppingen district, including the toy manufacturer Märklin, the press manufacturer Schuler and the automotive supplier Allgaier. The machines from EMAG as well as the products from MAG and Kopf are also in demand worldwide. For example, one of the world's largest systems that can form and print cans and tubes is located in the Far East - but it was manufactured by the family-run global market leader Kopf from Eislingen. Mechatronic systems and software are increasingly determining consumer and capital goods. The economy in the Göppingen district has also adapted to these requirements and supplies solutions in the form of bus and exhaust systems for the vehicle industry or robots for automation technology. Teamviewer software is used for remote maintenance. At the same time, the region is also excellently positioned in the sustainable health sector: important companies specializing in natural remedies and health, such as WALA heal GmbH, have been successfully established in the Göppingen district for many years.
Not only ideas are indispensable for entrepreneurial success, but also the people in the company. There is also close exchange with the universities in Göppingen and Geislingen, for example with students of the mechatronics and electrical engineering course at the Göppingen university campus.
figures, data, facts
• Population: 247.835
• Area: 858 km²
• 38 cities and towns
• 79.719 employees subject to social insurance contributions
• 2 university locations and 100 schools
• 19 nature reserves covering an area of 3.000 hectares
• 3 traditional healing and thermal baths
• Energy self-sufficient by 2050
As part of the prosperous Stuttgart metropolitan region, the district has a particularly convenient location. The Göppingen district is excellently integrated into the national and European network by both road and rail. The A 8 Karlsruhe – Munich federal motorway opens up the district on one of the most important national and European west-east axes. The B 10, which runs centrally in the district and is largely designed to resemble a motorway, guarantees fast connections within the Stuttgart metropolitan region. This results in excellent accessibility to long-distance destinations as well as to the nearby Stuttgart Airport and the Stuttgart State Trade Fair. Thanks to its integration into the railway's IC/EC network, there are also transfer-free express services in the direction of Munich and the Rhine railway. With the regular regional transport between Stuttgart and Ulm, the Göppingen district is well connected by rail with InterRegioExpress, RegionalExpress and RegionalBahn.
In the district of Göppingen, the land and its people never cease to surprise – with unexpected panoramic views of the three Kaiser mountains, with bizarre rocky outcrops, with mysterious valleys, rare fruits and herb gardens or with unusual regional specialties and the finest gourmet cuisine. The orchards between the Alb and Neckar form one of the largest contiguous orchard landscapes in Europe with around 26.000 hectares. The orchard landscape, which also characterizes the landscape of the district of Göppingen, has over 1,5 million fruit trees. At the Albtrauf, the “Swabian Grand Canyon”, the encounter with the landscape becomes a unique natural experience. Juniper heaths and orchid meadows, gentle mountain peaks and beautiful valleys, castles and caves and of course the healing springs make the Swabian Albtrauf adventure region a worthwhile destination in every season.