Ulm
Ulm (German pronunciation: [ʊlm] ) is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city.
For other uses, see Ulm (disambiguation).
Ulm
854 AD
18 Stadtteile
118.69 km2 (45.83 sq mi)
478 m (1,568 ft)
128,928
1,100/km2 (2,800/sq mi)
0731, 07304,
07305, 07346
UL
Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the upper course of the River Danube, at the confluence with the small Blau Stream, coming from the Blautopf in the west. The mouth of the Iller also falls within Ulm's city limits. The Danube forms the border with Bavaria, where Ulm's twin city Neu-Ulm lies. The city was part of Ulm until 1810, and Ulm and Neu-Ulm have a combined population of around 190,000. Ulm forms an urban district of its own (Stadtkreis Ulm), and is the administrative seat of the Alb-Donau-Kreis, the district that surrounds it on three sides, but which the city itself is not a part of. Ulm is the overall 11th-largest city on the Danube River, and the third-largest German Danubian city after Regensburg and Ingolstadt.
Founded around 850, Ulm is rich in history and traditions as a former free imperial city. Ulm is an economic centre due to its varied industries, and is the seat of the University of Ulm (Universität Ulm), and of the Ulm University of Applied Sciences (Technische Hochschule Ulm (THU)). The city lies on the international railway corridor "Main Line for Europe", from Paris to Bratislava and Budapest, via Strasbourg, Karlsruhe, Stuttgart, Ulm, Augsburg, Munich, Salzburg, Linz and Vienna. The Ulm Minster (Ulmer Münster) is the tallest church in the world (161.53 m or 529.95 ft).
In 1927, the then tiny village of Wiblingen was incorporated into Ulm, which led to that Wiblingen Abbey with its monastic library and its True Cross reliquary (Heilig-Kreuz-Reliquie), that allegedly contains wood particles from the True Cross, is now part of Ulm.
Famous personalities born in Ulm include Johann Georg Niederegger (*1777), Karl Heinrich Kässbohrer (*1864), Albert Einstein (*1879), Otto Kässbohrer (*1904) and Hildegard Knef (*1925).
Town subdivisions[edit]
The city is divided into 18 districts (German: Stadtteile): Ulm-Mitte, Böfingen, Donaustetten, Donautal, Eggingen, Einsingen, Ermingen, Eselsberg, Gögglingen, Grimmelfingen, Jungingen, Lehr, Mähringen, Oststadt, Söflingen (with Harthausen), Unterweiler, Weststadt, and Wiblingen.
Nine districts were integrated during the latest municipality reform in the 1970s: Eggingen, Einsingen, Ermingen, Gögglingen-Donaustetten, Jungingen, Lehr, Mähringen und Unterweiler. They have their own local councils which acquire an important consulting position to the whole city council concerning issues that are related to the prevailing districts. But at the end, final decisions can only be made by the city council of the entire city of Ulm.
The city has very old trading traditions dating from medieval times and a long history of industrialisation, beginning with the establishment of a railway station in 1850. The most important sector is still classical industry (machinery, especially motor vehicles; electronics; pharmaceuticals). The establishment of the University of Ulm in 1967, which focuses on biomedicine, the sciences, and engineering, helped support a transition to high-tech industry, especially after the crisis of classical industries in the 1980s.
Companies with headquarters in Ulm include:
Companies with important sites in Ulm include:
Ecology[edit]
In 2007 the City of Ulm was awarded the European Energy Award for its remarkable local energy management and its efforts to combat climate change.[13] Examples of these efforts are a biomass power plant operated by the Fernwärme Ulm GmbH (10 MW electrical output), and the world's biggest passive house office building, the so-called Energon, located in the "Science City" near the university campus. Moreover, the city of Ulm boasts the second largest solar power production in Germany.[14] For all new buildings, a strict energy standard (German KFW40 standard) has been mandatory since April 2008. Ulm Minster has been fully powered by renewables since January 2008.[15] Until the end of 2011 as a European pilot project a self-sustaining data-centre will be constructed in the west-city of Ulm.[16] There is a solar-powered ferry that crosses the Danube 7 days a week in summer.[17] The "Bündnis 100% Erneuerbare Energien" was founded in February 2010 with the aim of bringing together the people and organisations seeking to promote the transition to 100% renewable energy in Ulm and Neu-Ulm by 2030.[18]