Blaustein

Sister cities

• Cernat
• Moustoir-Remungol

History

Blaustein has been inhabited since the Neolithic period. There was a Neolithic temporal village near Ehrenstein. This was included in 2011 to the UNESCO World Heritage Site. However, the municipality and later town Blaustein arose only on 1 September 1968 with the merger of the municipalities Ehrenstein and Klingenstein. Before 1968, the city was known as Herrlingen. In the course of the municipal reform in this period, Markbronn-Dietingen was incorporated to Arnegg initially on 1 July 1971. On 1 October 1974, the incorporation of Bermaringen and Wippingen to Blaustein took place. The community Blaustein received on 1 January 1975, the current form by the association of the municipalities Arnegg, Blaustein and Herrlingen. On 1 October 2014, Blaustein became a town. Herrlingen is also the final resting place of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel. Erwin Rommel was inter alia the Commander of the Afrika Korps and was competent for the defense of the Atlantic Wall Army Group B. He lived from mid-1943 with his family in the district Herrlingen (then Wippinger Steige, today: Erwin-Rommel-Steige; the house originally belonged to the complex of the Jewish Landschulheim). After being seriously wounded, he was picked up on October 14, 1944 during a recovery leave by the generals Ernst Maisel and Wilhelm Burgdorf. They forced him to sit in their car, then they drove to a place between Herrlingen and Wippingen. There Rommel had to commit suicide by taking potassium cyanide. The former "Favorite General of the leader" had fallen in disgrace with Hitler because he had held critical talks about the situation on the Western Front. He was also suspected to be involved in the attempt on Hitler on the 20 July plot. There is a memorial stone on the spot, where he committed suicide. Rommel's…

Geography

Blaustein is west from Ulm, nestled between Hochsträß, Blautal, Lautertal and the plateau of the Swabian Jura. The town lies at an altitude of 490–690 meters. The rivers Blau and Lauter – which arises in Blaustein (Lautern) – flow through the city. Blaustein is bordered on the northeast by Dornstadt, on the southeast by the town of Ulm, on the west by the town of Blaubeuren and on the northwest by Berghülen. The city Blaustein consists of 10 districts: Arnegg, Bermaringen, Dietingen, Ehrenstein, Herrlingen, Klingenstein, Lautern, Markbronn, Weidach and Wippingen.