Waiblingen

Waiblingen (German pronunciation: [ˈvaɪblɪŋən] ; Swabian: Woiblinge) is a town in the state of Baden-Württemberg, in southwestern Germany. Lying on the river Rems in the densely populated Stuttgart region, it is the seat and largest town of the Rems-Murr district. As of 31 December 2024, Waiblingen had 57,313 inhabitants in its central town and five outlying districts. The settlement is of Alemannic origin and was a Carolingian royal estate, first documented in 885 during a stay by Emperor Charles the Fat. It later belonged to the Salian and then the Hohenstaufen dynasties; by tradition, the Hohenstaufen battle cry "Hie Waibling!" gave rise to the Italian term Ghibelline (Ghibellini), one of the two factions in the conflict between Guelphs and Ghibellines that divided medieval Europe. From the 13th century Waiblingen grew into a town under the Counts of Württemberg, to whose territory it would belong for the following centuries. It was almost entirely destroyed by imperial troops in 1634 during the Thirty Years' War, and its present old town with its colourful timber-framed houses largely dates from the following Baroque reconstruction. The arrival of the railway in the late 19th century turned Waiblingen into an industrial centre, and its population grew steadily through the 20th century. It was raised to a major district town (Große Kreisstadt) in 1962 and became the administrative seat of the newly created Rems-Murr district in 1973. Waiblingen is the seat of Stihl, the world's largest manufacturer of chainsaws and the town's biggest employer.