Gerlingen, originally a small parish village at the foot of the Schillerhöhe, is now a self-confident, modern town with over 19.000 inhabitants.
Gerlingen is a city of attractive contrasts: craftsman's town, location of well-known industries, attractive residential town on the outskirts of Stuttgart, local recreation area between forests, vineyards and orchards.
The infrastructure is well developed. Gerlingen has three lively town partnerships with Vesoul (France), Tata (Hungary) and Seaham (England) as well as the sponsorship of the Germans from Hungary.
Until 1942, Solitude Castle, which was once built by Duke Carl Eugen, was part of Gerlingen. Johann Caspar Schiller, the father of the well-known poet, looked after the gardens there and founded a modern fruit tree farm.