Swabian ( German : Schwäbisch [ˈʃvɛːbɪʃ] ) is one of the dialect groups of Upper German , sometimes one of the dialect groups of Alemannic German (in the broad sense) , that belong to the High German dialect continuum. It is mainly spoken in Swabia , which is located in central and southeastern Baden-Württemberg (including its capital Stuttgart and the Swabian Jura region) and the southwest of Bavaria ( Bavarian Swabia ). Furthermore, Swabian German dialects are spoken by Caucasus Germans in Transcaucasia . The dialects of the Danube Swabian population of Hungary , the former Yugoslavia and Romania are only nominally Swabian and can be traced back not only to Swabian but also to Franconian , Bavarian and Hessian dialects, with locally varying degrees of influence of the initial dialects.
56-661: Regionalverkehr Alb-Bodensee , formerly DB ZugBus Regionalverkehr Alb-Bodensee , is a transport company that operates bus services in the German state of Baden-Württemberg . It is a wholly owned subsidiary of DB Regio , itself a subsidiary of Deutsche Bahn . Prior to the December 2021 timetable the company, under the name DB ZugBus Regionalverkehr Alb-Bodensee, operated various regional rail services in Baden-Württemberg in addition to bus services. DB Regio restructured
112-575: A dozen Fachhochschulen , i.e., universities of applied sciences, as well as Pädagogische Hochschulen , i.e., teacher training colleges, and other institutions of tertiary education in Baden-Württemberg. Pforzheim University is one of the oldest Fachhochschulen in Germany which is renowned and highly ranked for its Engineering and MBA programs. The state has the highest density of universities of any state in Germany. Railways form
168-631: A good living could be made in England; others followed. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, numerous people emigrated from this primarily rural area to the United States for economic reasons. At the beginning of the 20th century, the territory of modern-day Baden-Württemberg consisted of the Grand Duchy of Baden , the Kingdom of Württemberg and the province of Hohenzollern of
224-481: A major part of the transport infrastructure in Baden-Württemberg. As of 2017, the main standard gauge railway network managed by DB Netz consists of about 3,350 kilometres (2,080 mi) of railway lines connecting all major settlements of the state, with about 6,500 trains operating every day. As part of high-speed rail in Germany , the Mannheim–Stuttgart and Stuttgart–Ulm high-speed lines were built, and
280-528: A sovereign country (2020), it would have an economy comparable to that of Sweden in terms of nominal gross domestic product (GDP). A number of well-known enterprises are headquartered in the state, for example Mercedes-Benz Group , Porsche , Robert Bosch GmbH (automobile industry), Carl Zeiss AG (optics), SAP (Europe's most valuable brand as well as the largest non-American software enterprise) and Heidelberger Druckmaschinen (precision mechanical engineering). Despite this, Baden-Württemberg's economy
336-646: A tourist magnet in all major towns, the largest being in Stuttgart during the three weeks before Christmas. The Bertha Benz Memorial Route is a 194 km signposted scenic route from Mannheim via Heidelberg and Wiesloch to Pforzheim and back, which follows the route of the world's first long-distance journey by automobile which Bertha Benz undertook in August 1888. Baden-Württemberg also contains Europa-Park in Rust . The largest theme park in Germany, and
392-465: Is a popular holiday destination. Main sights include the capital and biggest city, Stuttgart , modern and historical at the same time, with its urban architecture and atmosphere (and famously, its inner-city parks and historic Wilhelma zoo), its castles (such as Castle Solitude ), its museums as well as a rich cultural programme (theatre, opera) and mineral spring baths in Bad Cannstatt (also
448-626: Is dominated by small and medium-sized enterprises, like most companies in German-speaking countries are . Although poor in workable natural resources (formerly lead, zinc, iron, silver, copper, and salts) and still very rural in some areas, the region is heavily industrialised overall. In 2003, there were almost 8,800 manufacturing enterprises with more than 20 employees, but only 384 with more than 500. There are 3,779 companies in Baden-Württemberg corporate family which come to 1000–5000 employees in total. The latter category accounts for 43% of
504-509: Is the Landtag , located in Stuttgart. The state government is currently formed by a Greens - CDU coalition as the third cabinet of Minister-President Winfried Kretschmann (Greens). The politics of Baden-Württemberg have traditionally been dominated by the conservative Christian Democratic Union of Germany (CDU), which had led all but one government since 1952 until 2011. In the Landtag elections held on 27 March 2011 , voters replaced
560-559: Is the state capital of Stuttgart , followed by Mannheim and Karlsruhe . Other major cities are Freiburg im Breisgau , Heidelberg , Heilbronn , Pforzheim , Reutlingen , Tübingen , and Ulm . Modern Baden-Württemberg includes the historical territories of Baden , Prussian Hohenzollern , and Württemberg . Baden-Württemberg became a state of West Germany in April 1952 through the merger of South Baden , Württemberg-Baden , and Württemberg-Hohenzollern . These states had been created by
616-526: The Allies as they separated traditional states into occupation zones after World War II Baden-Württemberg is especially known for its strong economy with various industries like car manufacturing , electrical engineering , mechanical engineering , the service sector , and more. It has the third-highest gross regional product (GRP) in Germany. Part of the Four Motors for Europe and located in
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#1732793282013672-459: The Blue Banana , some of the largest German companies are headquartered in Baden-Württemberg, including Mercedes-Benz Group , Schwarz Group , Porsche , Bosch and SAP . The sobriquet Ländle , a diminutive of the word Land in the local Swabian , Alemannic and Franconian dialects, is sometimes used as a synonym for Baden-Württemberg. Baden-Württemberg is formed from
728-642: The German constitution providing an accession procedure. On 9 December 1951, a referendum was held in Württemberg-Baden, Württemberg-Hohenzollern and (South) Baden over a possible merger, or the restoration of the former pre-war states. There was strong support for the merger in Württemberg and Hohenzollern, but opposition in Baden. While a majority in the historic area of Baden (52%) voted to restore
784-652: The Karlsruhe–Basel high-speed line , paralleling the traditional Mannheim–Karlsruhe–Basel railway , is currently under construction. In and around Stuttgart, the old terminal station is currently being replaced with an underground through station as part of the controversial Stuttgart 21 project. Local branch lines of around 860 kilometres (530 mi), managed by the state-owned SWEG and Hohenzollerische Landesbahn (HzL), Karlsruhe-owned Albtal-Verkehrs-Gesellschaft (AVG), private Württembergische Eisenbahn (WEG) and other smaller rail infrastructure operators, complete
840-673: The Kingdom of Prussia . Since 1871, these had been part of the German Empire . In the aftermath of World War I and as part of the German revolution of 1918 , the monarchs of Baden, Württemberg and Prussia were deposed, and these states became democratic republics: the Republic of Baden , the Free People's State of Württemberg and the Free State of Prussia . Following Adolf Hitler becoming chancellor of Germany in 1933,
896-624: The Protestant Reformation influenced populations in northern Germany. In the late 18th and early 19th century, Künzelsau , the capital of the Hohenlohe district , became the centre of emigration to the UK of pork butchers and bacon factors. The pioneers noticed a niche for speciality pork products in the rapidly growing English cities, especially those in the industrial centre and North. Many married local women and sent word home that
952-665: The Roman Empire invaded and occupied Württemberg, constructing a limes along its northern borders. Over the course of the third century AD, the Alemanni forced the Romans to retreat west beyond the Rhine and Danube rivers. In 496 AD the Alemanni were defeated by a Frankish invasion led by Clovis I . The Holy Roman Empire was later established. The majority of people in this region continued to be Roman Catholics, even after
1008-590: The United States . The new artificial borders were a consequence of France requesting its own occupation zone in Germany after World War II, and the Americans' wish to keep the A8 motorway , which spans east-west across northern Baden and northern Württemberg, wholly within their occupation zone. In 1949, each state became a founding member of the Federal Republic of Germany (West Germany), with Article 118 of
1064-454: The highest exports (2019) and third-highest imports (2020), the second-lowest unemployment rate with 4.3% (March 2021), the most patents pending per capita (2020), the second-highest absolute and highest relative number of companies considered " hidden champions ", and the highest absolute and relative research and development expenditure (2017) among all states in Germany, as well as the highest measured Innovationsindex (2012), making it
1120-560: The 1.2 million persons employed in the industry. The Mittelstand or mid-sized company model is the backbone of the Baden-Württemberg economy. Medium-sized businesses and a tradition of branching into different industrial sectors have ensured specialisation 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
1176-445: The 1990s, the around 120 individual regional train services in Baden-Württemberg have been managed by the state-owned Nahverkehrsgesellschaft Baden-Württemberg (NVBW), which has started to commercially tender out these train operations. DB Regio, SWEG, HzL, AVG and WEG have been joined in operating regional trains by Abellio , Agilis , Bodensee-Oberschwaben-Bahn , Go-Ahead , SBB , Schwäbische Alb-Bahn and VIAS , which entered
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#17327932820131232-711: The Christian Democrats and centre-right Free Democrats (FDP) coalition with an alliance of the Greens and Social Democrats (SPD), which secured a four-seat majority in the state parliament. The alliance elected the Greens-led first Kretschmann cabinet under Winfried Kretschmann because the Greens had surprisingly won 36 seats, one more than the Social Democrats' 35 seats. In the 2016 election ,
1288-588: The Danube, in Donaueschingen is often referred to as the "source of the Danube" ( Donauquelle ). Hydrologically, the source of the Danube is the source of the Breg as the larger of the two formative streams, which rises near Furtwangen . The forests in this region are home to common pests such as Melolontha Hippocastrani , that cause damage to the foliage and soil. Baden-Württemberg is – along with Bavaria –
1344-513: The Federal Constitutional Court decided in 1969 that another referendum should be held by 30 June 1970. The referendum in the historic area of Baden was finally held on 7 June 1970, with 81.9% of the voters voting in favour of the merger of Baden and Württemberg. Baden-Württemberg shares borders with the German states of Rhineland-Palatinate , Hesse , and Bavaria , and also shares borders with France ( Alsace , within
1400-412: The German state with the third-highest gross regional product (GRP) as of 2019 (behind North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria ) with €524,325 billion (around US$ 636.268 billion). Baden-Württemberg also has the most employees (233,296) in the automotive industry of all German states as of 2018 , as well as the third-highest number of motor vehicles of all German states (2020). If Baden-Württemberg were
1456-525: The Swabian dialect is spoken with a unique intonation that is also present when native speakers speak in SHG. Similarly, there is only one alveolar fricative phoneme /s/ , which is shared with most other southern dialects. Most Swabian-speakers are unaware of the difference between /s/ and /z/ and do not attempt to make it when they speak Standard German. The voiced plosives, the post-alveolar fricative, and
1512-576: The city of Ulm are colder than in Berlin. While winters in the warmest areas often lack snow, the Black Forest , Swabian Alb and the Alps tend to get snow frequently, especially in areas of high elevation. Summers here have more rain than in the valleys, but winters tend to have more sun. Due to the differences of the landscapes, average annual temperatures reach from only 5 °C (41 °F) in
1568-476: The company, with the rail services transferred to DB Regio Baden-Württemberg . Baden-W%C3%BCrttemberg Baden-Württemberg ( / ˌ b ɑː d ən ˈ v ɜːr t ə m b ɜːr ɡ / BAH -dən VURT -əm-burg ; German: [ˌbaːdn̩ ˈvʏʁtəmbɛʁk] ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü , is a German state ( Land ) in Southwest Germany , east of the Rhine , which forms
1624-465: The democratic institutions of Baden, Württemberg and Prussia were abolished as part of the Gleichschaltung . After World War II, the Allies established three states in the territory of modern-day Baden-Württemberg: (South) Baden , Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern . Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern were occupied by France , while Württemberg-Baden was occupied by
1680-436: The difference in the formation of the past participle of 'sein' (to be) into gwäa and gsei. The Gsei group is nearer to other Alemannic dialects , such as Swiss German . It can be divided into South-East Swabian , West Swabian and Central Swabian . The Danube Swabians from Hungary, Romania, and former Yugoslavia have been speaking several different Swabian dialects, called locally Schwowisch , some being similar to
1736-672: The flower island of Mainau , and the hometown of the Zeppelin , Friedrichshafen a.o., are especially popular for outdoor activities in the summer months. In spring and autumn (April/May and September/October), beer festivals (fun fairs) take place at the Cannstatter Wasen in Stuttgart. The Cannstatter Volksfest , in the autumn, is the second-largest such festival in the world after the Munich Oktoberfest . In late November and early December Christmas markets are
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1792-493: The former pre-war states, the majority of voters overall (69%) voted in favor of a merger. Baden-Württemberg officially became a state on 25 April 1952. There were still opponents to the merger of Baden and Württemberg, however. In 1956 the Federal Constitutional Court decided that the population of Baden should have their say in a separate referendum. The second referendum was delayed, however, and
1848-534: The frequent use of diminutives based on " l " suffixes gives the dialect a very "soft" or "mild" feel, often felt to be in sharp contrast to the harder varieties of German spoken in the North. Swabian is categorized as an Alemannic dialect, which in turn is one of the two types of Upper German dialects (the other being Bavarian ). The Swabian dialect is composed of numerous sub-dialects, each of which has its own variations. These sub-dialects can be categorized by
1904-507: 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
1960-485: The historical territories of Württemberg , Baden and Prussian Hohenzollern . Baden spans along the flat right bank of the river Rhine from north-west to the south ( Lake Constance ) of the present state, whereas Württemberg and Hohenzollern lay more inland and hillier, including areas such as the Swabian Jura mountain range. The Black Forest formed part of the border between Baden and Württemberg. In 100 AD,
2016-660: The international borders within its waters not being clearly defined. It shares the foothills of the Alps (known as the Allgäu ) with Bavaria and the Austrian Vorarlberg , but Baden-Württemberg itself has no mainland border with Austria. The Danube is conventionally taken to be formed by the confluence of the two streams Brigach and Breg just east of Donaueschingen . The source of the Donaubach , which flows into
2072-597: The market. Starting in the 1970s, regional rail around major cities has been transformed into high-frequent S-Bahn networks, currently the following systems exist (partly) in Baden-Württemberg: Stuttgart S-Bahn , Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn , Breisgau S-Bahn and Basel S-Bahn . In and around the cities of Karlsruhe and Heilbronn, the Karlsruhe Stadtbahn system combines elements of traditional S-Bahns with tram operations within
2128-740: The microclimates of Black Forest and Allgäu up to 13 °C (55 °F) in the Upper Rhine Valley. Baden-Württemberg is divided into thirty-five districts ( Landkreise ) and nine independent cities ( Stadtkreise ), both grouped into the four Administrative Districts ( Regierungsbezirke ) of Freiburg , Karlsruhe , Stuttgart , and Tübingen . [REDACTED] The 35 districts: Baden-Württemberg contains nine additional independent cities not belonging to any district: The Baden-Württemberg General Auditing Office acts as an independent body to monitor public offices' correct use of public funds. The state parliament of Baden-Württemberg
2184-550: The most beautiful Swabian word , well ahead of any other term. The expression is used in an ironic way to describe a small unit of measure and is deemed appropriate to use in front of small children (compare Bubenspitzle ). German broadcaster SWR 's children's website, Kindernetz , explained the meaning of Muggeseggele in their Swabian dictionary in the Swabian-based TV series Ein Fall für B.A.R.Z. In many regions,
2240-523: The neo-liberal thinktank Initiative for New Social Market Economy and the trade newspaper Wirtschaftswoche awarded Baden-Württemberg for being the "economically most successful and most dynamic state" among the 16 states. The unemployment rate stood at 3% in October 2018 and was the second lowest in Germany behind only Bavaria and one of the lowest in the European Union . Baden-Württemberg
2296-876: The original Swabian dialect, but also the Bavarian dialect, mostly with Palatine and Hesse mixed dialects. In this regard, the Banat Swabians speak the Banat Swabian dialect . The Baden-Württemberg Chamber of Commerce launched an advertising campaign with the slogan "Wir können alles. Außer Hochdeutsch." which means "We can [do] everything. Except [speak] Standard German" to boost Swabian pride for their dialect and industrial achievements. However, it failed to impress Northern Germans and neighboring Baden. Dominik Kuhn ( Dodokay ) became famous in Germany with Swabian fandub videos, dubbing among others Barack Obama with German dialect vocals and revised text. In
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2352-571: The popular Kretschmann and his Greens were reelected and, with their nationwide best result, turned out first place for the first time in any election in German history. However, because of the Social Democrats' heavy losses, the Greens formed a coalition government with the Christian Democrats, the second Kretschmann cabinet . After the most recent election in 2021, the Greens-CDU coalition was upheld. Although Baden-Württemberg has relatively few natural resources compared to other regions of Germany,
2408-585: The pristine Danube valley Swabian Alb (with Hohenzollern Castle and Sigmaringen Castle ), as well as the largely pristine Swabian Forest , the Upper Rhine Valley , and Lake Constance , where all kinds of water sports are popular, with the former Imperial, today border town of Konstanz (where the Council of Constance took place), the Neolithic and Bronze Age village at Unteruhldingen ,
2464-615: The region of Grand Est ), and Switzerland (cantons of Basel-Landschaft , Basel-Stadt , Aargau , Zürich , Schaffhausen and Thurgau ). Most of the major cities of Baden-Württemberg straddle the banks of the Neckar River , which has its source in Villingen-Schwenningen and runs downstream (from southwest to the centre, then northwest) through the state past Tübingen , Stuttgart , Heilbronn , Heidelberg , and Mannheim . The Rhine (German: Rhein ) forms
2520-523: The region, has 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 Germany were located in Baden-Württemberg, most of them in the Stuttgart area. Baden-Württemberg is also the region with the highest GDP of the Four Motors for Europe . A study performed in 2007 by
2576-408: The river Neckar, are popular smaller towns. Sites of former monasteries such as the ones on Reichenau Island and at Maulbronn (both World Heritage Sites ) as well as Bebenhausen Abbey are to be found. Baden-Württemberg also boasts rich old Free Imperial Cities such as Biberach , Esslingen am Neckar , Heilbronn , Ravensburg , Reutlingen , Künzelsau , Schwäbisch Hall and Aalen as well as
2632-661: The second most popular theme park in Europe, after Disneyland Paris . Baden-Württemberg is home to some of the oldest, most renowned, and prestigious universities in Germany, such as the universities of Heidelberg (founded in 1386, the oldest university within the territory of modern Germany), Freiburg (founded in 1457), and Tübingen (founded in 1477). It also contains three of the eleven German excellence universities (Heidelberg, Tübingen, Konstanz and Karlsruhe and formerly, Freiburg ). Other university towns are Mannheim and Ulm . Furthermore, two universities are located in
2688-431: The site of a Roman Castra ); it is the only major city in Germany with vineyards in an urban territory. The residential (court) towns of Ludwigsburg and Karlsruhe , the spas and casino of luxurious Baden-Baden , the medieval architecture of Ulm ( Ulm Münster is the tallest church in the world), the vibrant, young, but traditional university towns of Heidelberg and Tübingen with their old castles looking out above
2744-469: The southern part of Germany's western border with France . With more than 11.07 million inhabitants as of 2019 across a total area of nearly 35,752 km (13,804 sq mi), it is the third-largest German state by both area (behind Bavaria and Lower Saxony ) and population (behind North Rhine-Westphalia and Bavaria). As a federated state , Baden-Württemberg is a partly-sovereign parliamentary republic . The largest city in Baden-Württemberg
2800-496: The southernmost and sunniest city of Germany, Freiburg , close to Alsace and Switzerland, being an ideal base for exploring the heights of the nearby Black Forest (e.g., for skiing in winter or for hiking in summer) with its traditional villages and the surrounding wine country of the Rhine Valley of South Baden. The countryside of the lush Upper Neckar valley (where Rottweil is famous for its Fastnacht carnival) and
2856-473: The southernmost part of Germany. The climate across the states varies. This is mostly due to a high amount of mountains and highlands inside of the state. Most parts in the western parts (Baden) lower than 500–800 metres (1,600–2,600 ft) enjoy an almost year round mild oceanic climate (cfb in Köppen classification). The climate in the eastern parts of the state is more continental. For instance, winters in
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#17327932820132912-672: 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 (Film Academy Baden-Wuerttemberg). The private International University in Germany was situated in Bruchsal , but closed in 2009. Another private university is located in Friedrichshafen, Zeppelin University . Furthermore, there are more than
2968-419: The state is among the most prosperous and wealthiest regions in Europe with a generally low unemployment rate historically. The state's economic performance benefits from and relies on its well-developed infrastructure. Apart from the city-states of Berlin , Bremen and Hamburg , Baden-Württemberg offers the fourth-shortest routes to trains and buses on average among all German states. Baden-Württemberg has
3024-528: The state's railway infrastructure. Passenger train services in Baden-Württemberg are operated partly by various subsidiaries of Deutsche Bahn , the national railway operator, such as DB Fernverkehr with its high-speed ICE , as well as IC trains ; and DB Regio , operating some regional train services in the state. Cross-border train services are also provided by French Railways ' TGV trains, as well as by Swiss Federal Railways and Austrian Federal Railways (including its Nightjet night trains). Since
3080-400: The urban cores ( tram-trains ). Swabian German Swabian can be difficult to understand for speakers of Standard German due to its pronunciation and partly differing grammar and vocabulary. In 2009, the word Muggeseggele (a Swabian idiom ), meaning the scrotum of a housefly , was voted in a readers' survey by Stuttgarter Nachrichten , the largest newspaper in Stuttgart , as
3136-741: The western border as well as large portions of the southern border. The Black Forest (Schwarzwald), the central mountain range of the state, rises east of the Upper Rhine valley . The high plateau of the Swabian Alb , between the Neckar, the Black Forest, and the Danube, is an essential European watershed . Baden-Württemberg shares Lake Constance (Bodensee, also known regionally as the Swabian Sea) with Switzerland, Austria and Bavaria,
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