The history of Schwäbisch Hall - an overview

The heights of the Kocher valley where already inhabited during the stone age (5th millenium BC). Archeological excavations have proven that celtic saltworks existed in the southern old town area from the 5th to the 1st century.The medieval settlement is first mentioned in a forged document called "Öhringer Stiftungsbrief" that dates from the last years of the 11th century. At this time, the settlement was probably situated in the northern area of the old town and stretched from the salt well close to the river to the market square. Owners where the counts of Comburg-Rothenburg, later the imperial house of Hohenstaufen.

The development into a town took place in several steps during the 12th century. In 1156 bishop Gebhard von Würzburg consecrated the church of St Michael and founded the annual St Michael's fair. In the second half of the 12th century the coining of the "Heller" started. Because these silver coins where quite inferior money, they replaced the older, better coins and where widely distributed. In a document of 1204 Hall is first called a town. After 1280 the status as a imperial town was undisputed - the town had sucessfully defended itself against the attempts of a noble family, the Schenken von Limpurg, to subdue it under their rule. In 1340 internal conflicts forced emperor Ludwig I. to intervene. His constitutional charter regulated the composition of the council and established its position as leading committee of the town's administration. Between 1340 and 1512 it consisted of twelve noblemen, six "middle burghers" (probably wealthy shopkeepers) and eight craftsmen. As  a result of another internal conflict in the years of 1510-1512 the noble families lost their leading position. Afterwards the council was dominated by a group of burgher families that formed a new, increasingly academically-educated ruling class.

During the 14th, 15th and 16th century Schwäbisch Hall acquired a vast territory that covered 330 square kilometres with approximately 21.000 inhabitants (1802). However, it did not contain the neighbouring Comburg, a Benedictine monastery founded in 1079 and transformed into a collegiate chapter in 1488.

In 1523 Johannes Brenz, who had become preacher of St Michael's church in 1522, started to introduce the Protestant Reformation. After the defeat of the Schmalkaldic League - in which Schwäbisch Hall was a member - by emperor Charles V. Brenz was forced to leave the town in 1548. He later served the duke of Württemberg. Shortly before the Thirty Years' War, Schwäbisch Hall joined the Protestant Union and suffered heavily in the following years. Between 1634 and 1638 every fifth inhabitant fell victim to the plague, to typhoid fever and hunger.

In 1680 the "Gelbinger Gasse" suburb was burned, the "Great Fire" of 1728 destroyed two thirds of the town. It was rebuilt immediately afterwards in the Baroque style which shapes it until today. The new, palace-like city hall was finished in 1735. During the 18th century the council enforced the modernization of the saltworks against the resistance of the salt simmerers. As a consequence, the production rose to approximately 100,000 pounds per year around 1800. At this time, the saltworks of Schwäbisch Hall where the biggest in southwestern Germany.

The duke and later king Frederick I. of Württemberg occupied the town 1802 as a compensation for possessions on the left side of the Rhine that had been given up to France. Schwäbisch Hall lost its independence and became the seat of an "Oberamt" (comparable to a county) of the kingdom of Württemberg. The first half of the 19th was characterized by stagnation and even decline. The industrialization began only hesitantly. Many inhabitants left their hometown and emigrated to overseas, particularly into the USA, as well as into German industrial centers. The saltworks where taken over by the crown in 1804; they lost their economical significance at the end of the 19th century and where closed in 1924. The opening of the railway connection to Heilbronn in 1862 improved the conditions for the local industry, also for tourism and the salt water health spa. It was also the starting point for the rediscovery of the salt simmerer traditions. 

It lasted into the 20th century until the town started to grow out of the valley. Since the 1930s, new settlements where established on the heights of the Kocher. Hall turned into a center of administration and service, a development that was strengthened by the establishment of numerous schools, the deaconess hospital (1886, today "Evangelisches Diakoniewerk", a protestant welfare work institution) and the home savings and loan company "Bausparkasse der deutschen Volksbanken" (today: "Bausparkasse Schwäbisch Hall AG") that came from Berlin during the Second World War (1944). The establishment of the open air theater festivals in 1925 was an important step on the way to become a cultural center of the region. Several museums like the "Hohenloher Freilandmuseum", the "Hällisch-Fränkisches Museum" or the Würth art gallery followed.

Besides this, the economy is shaped by a group of medium-sized industrial companies, many of them in the machine-building line of business and some of them still with roots from the 19th century.

The beginning of the Nazi reign in 1933 was followed by persecutions of political enemies and Jews.  During the "Pogromnacht" of 9 November 1938 local Nazis burned the synagogue at Steinbach  and devastated shops and houses. Around 40 Jewish citizens of Schwäbisch Hall where killed in the extinction camps of eastern Europe. The construction of an air force base at Hessental was started in 1934. During the war it was garrisoned with bomber and night fighter squadrons. The Nazi regime established a concentration camp close to the railway station at Hessental in 1944. The prisoners where used as slave labourers. The town survived the Second World War and the occupation by US troops without serious damage, the former air force base was taken over by the US Army and used until 1993 under the name of "Dolan barracks. 

After 1945, there was a substantial increase in the population by refugees from eastern Germany. The "Heimbachsiedlung" is one of the biggest refugee settlements of Württemberg. In 1960 Schwäbisch Hall reached the status of a "Große Kreisstadt" (which means that it took over some tasks of the Landkreis/county). After Steinbach, Hessental and Hagenbach had already been incorporated in the 1930s, a municipal reform added Tüngental, Weckrieden, Sulzdorf, Gailenkirchen, Bibersfeld, Gelbingen and Heimbach between 1972 and 1978. Today Schwäbisch Hall counts more than 36,000 inhabitants.

Further information on the history of Schwäbisch Hall can be found at the city archives.