Baden-Württemberg Totally Explained

Everything about Baden-w Rttemberg totally explained

Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states (Bundesländer) of the Federal Republic of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine—but one which has some of its major cities straddling the banks of the Neckar River (Tübingen, Stuttgart , Heilbronn, Heidelberg, Mannheim). It is third largest in both area and population among the country's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants (both almost equivalent to all of Belgium). The state capital is Stuttgart.

History

This state combines the historical states of Baden, Hohenzollern and Württemberg, part of the region of Swabia.
After World War II Allied forces established three states: Württemberg-Hohenzollern, South Baden (both occupied by France), and Württemberg-Baden (US-occupied). In 1949 these three states became parts of the Federal Republic of Germany. Article 118 of the new German constitution however allowed for those states to merge. After a plebiscite held on 9 December 1951 these states merged on 25 April 1952 into Baden-Württemberg.
In 1956 the Federal Constitutional Court of Germany ruled that the plebiscite was unlawful because it had disadvantaged Baden's population. The plebiscite was then held again within the area of former Baden in 1970 resulting in a majority of more than 81% for the new state.

Geography

The state borders on Switzerland to the south, on France to the west, and on the German states of Rhineland-Pfalz (northwest), Hessen (north) and Bayern (east).
   Its principal cities include Stuttgart, Mannheim, Karlsruhe, Freiburg, Heidelberg, Heilbronn, Ludwigsburg, Ulm, Tübingen, Pforzheim and Reutlingen.
   The Rhine (Rhein) forms the western border as well as large portions of the southern border. The Black Forest (Schwarzwald), the main mountain range of the state, rises east of the Rhine valley. Baden-Württemberg shares both Lake Constance (Bodensee) and the foothills of the Alps with Switzerland.
   The Danube (Donau) river has its source in Baden-Württemberg near the town of Donaueschingen, in a place called Furtwangen in the Black Forest.

Administration

Baden-Württemberg is divided into 35 districts (Landkreise) and 9 independent cities (Stadtkreise), both grouped into the four Administrative Districts (Regierungsbezirke) of Freiburg, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, and Tübingen.
Map

Furthermore there are nine independent cities, which don't belong to any district:

Baden-Baden

Freiburg

Heidelberg

Heilbronn

Karlsruhe

Mannheim

Pforzheim

Stuttgart

Ulm

Economy

Although it has a few multinationals, Baden-Württemberg's economy is basically dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises. Many enterprises are considered innovative. Although poor in workable natural resources (formerly lead, zinc, iron, silver, copper and salts) and still rural in many areas, the region is heavily industrialized. In 2003, there were almost 8,800 manufacturing enterprises with more than 20 employees, but only 384 with more than 500. The latter category accounts for 43% of the 1.2 million persons employed in industry. Medium-sized businesses and a tradition of branching out into different industrial sectors have ensured specialization over a wide range. A fifth of the "old" Federal Republic's industrial gross value added is generated by Baden-Württemberg. Turnover for manufacturing in 2003 exceeded 240,000 million, 43% of which came from exports. The region depends to some extent on global economic developments, though the great adaptability of the region's economy has generally helped it through crises. Half of the employees in the manufacturing industry are in mechanical and electrical engineering and automobile construction. This is also where the largest enterprises are to be found. The importance of the precision mechanics industry also extends beyond the region's borders, as does that of the optical, clock making, toy, metallurgy and electronics industries. The textile industry, which formerly dominated much of the region, has now all but disappeared from Baden-Württemberg. Research and development (R&D) is funded jointly by the State and industry. In 2001, more than a fifth of the 100,000 or so persons working in R&D in the Federal Republic were located in Baden-Württemberg, most of them in the Stuttgart area. Baden-Württemberg is also a member of the Four Motors of Europe.
A study performed in 2007 by the Initiative for Social Market Economy (German: Initiative Soziale Marktwirtschaft (INSM)) and the trade newspaper "Wirtschaftswoche" awarded Baden-Württemberg for being the "economically most successful and most dynamic state" among the 16 states.

Education

Baden-Württemberg is home to some of the oldest, most renowned and prestigious universities in Germany, such as the universities of Freiburg, Heidelberg and Tübingen. It has also put forth four of the nine German excellence universities (Freiburg, Heidelberg, Karlsruhe, and Konstanz). The International University in Germany is situated in Bruchsal.
Other university towns are Tübingen, Mannheim and Ulm. Furthermore, two universities are located in the state capital Stuttgart, the University of Hohenheim and the University of Stuttgart. Ludwigsburg is home to the renowned national film school Filmakademie Baden-Württemberg.

Controversy

Baden-Württemberg received unwelcome notoriety for denying Muslim women employment in state schools if the women chose to wear headscarves.
In one prominent example, one of the women, Doris Graber, had been teaching since 1973 but began wearing a headscarf in 1995. On March 18th, 2008, a German court ruled that she couldn't wear a headscarf despite her argument that she should be permitted to do so under equal treatment laws since nuns are allowed to teach in state schools while wearing religious habits.
In the Fereshta Ludin case, education minister, Annette Schavan, asserted that headscarves are "understood as a symbol of the exclusion of woman from civil and cultural society," after she denied Ms. Ludin a teaching position.

Language

In many areas of Baden-Wurttemberg, residents speak the distinctive dialects of Swabian (Schwäbisch) and 'Badisch'/Allemanic, which both are known for being almost unintelligible to northern Germans, especially in its stronger forms in the countryside. In the northern part of Baden-Württemberg, for example the area around Heidelberg and Mannheim, a third kind of dialect is spoken, known as Kurpfälzisch.

Religion

Religion	%
Roman Catholics	37.8%	4.0m
Evangelical Church in Germany	33.8%	3.6m
Muslims	5.6%	600 000
Buddhists	0.23%	25 000
Hindu	0.14%	15 000
Jews	0.08%	9 000
Non Religious	22.3%	2.4m

Politics

The politics of Baden-Württemberg are dominated by the rightist Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), who have led all but one governments since the establishment of the state in 1952. The CDU currently have a minority of one in the state assembly, and rule in coalition with the liberal Free Democratic Party. The opposition is lead by the leftist Social Democratic Party of Germany and the Alliance '90/The Greens party. Until 2001 the anti-immigration The Republicans party also had seats in the state assembly.

Gallery

Image:Landtag Stuttgart.jpg|Baden-Württemberg State Parliament in Stuttgart Image:Blick über den Mittleren Schwarzwald 2.JPG|The Black Forest is a popular vacation resort in Baden-Württemberg Image:clock_forest.jpg|Black Forest Clocks (Schwarzwalduhren) Image:Jugendherberge Schloss Ortenberg.jpg|Ortenberg Castle near Offenburg (now a Youth Hostel) Image:Altes Rathaus seitlich.jpg|Old Town Hall in Esslingen Image:SchlossHeidelberg2.jpg|Castle Heidelberg Image:Burg Hohenzollern ak.jpg|Castle Hohenzollern Image:Tübingen Rathhaus 1.JPG|Old Town Hall in Tübingen Image:Altes Schloss Stuttgart.jpg|Old Castle in Stuttgart Image:Stuttgart NeuesSchloss.JPG|New Castle in Stuttgart Image:Karlsruhe Germany CastleByNight.jpg |Karlsruhe Castle at night Image:Karlsruhe schloss gottesau.jpg|Gottesaue Castle in Karlsruhe Image:Schloss in Ludwigsburg.jpg|Castle in Ludwigsburg Image:Lichtenstein.jpg|Lichtenstein Castle Image:Castle Sigmaringen2.jpg|Castle Sigmaringen Image:DE BW Ulm-Muensterturm.jpg|Ulm Cathedral Image:Dom zu St. Blasien.jpg|Sankt Blasien Abbey Image:Weikersheim.jpg|Castle Weikersheim Image:titisee_winter.jpg|The lake Titisee, popular year-round Image:Bodensee vor Ueberlingen.jpg|Lake Bodensee, South Baden-Württemberg Image:Bodensee Sonnenuntergang.jpg|Lake Bodensee, German side overlooking Austria Image:Avg-853-02.jpg|Black Forest Train near Karlsruhe Further Information

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