Schwäbisch Hall

The medium-size centre Schwäbisch Hall lies in the heart of Hohenlohe-Franconia. The Marktplatz (marketplace) at the foot of St. Michael lies at a height of 293 m. The highest point is the Einkorn at 510 m above mean sea level.

History
Church St. Michael The heights of the Kocher Valley were already settled in the Neolithic Age (5,000 BC). The operation of a Celtic salt works at the location of the later city of Schwäbisch Hall during the period 500-100 BC is proven. But the existence of a settlement can only be documented in writing with the (falsified) "Öhringer Stiftungsbrief" ["Öhringen Foundation Charter"], which probably stems from the final years of the 11th century AD.

The emergence of the city took place in several stages in the 12th century: Bishop Gebhard von Würzburg consecrated the newly built Michaelskirche [St. Michael's Church] and set up the Michaelismarkt [St. Michael's Market] in 1156. Starting in the second half of the 12th century, the "Heller" (halfpenny) coins were minted in Hall: Because they were really a low-grade currency that was easily replaced and widely disseminated. A document from 1204 designated Hall as a city for the first time.

The Gelbing 'suburb' burned down in 1680, and the majority of the core city also burned to the ground in 1728. Immediately thereafter, the city was rebuilt in baroque style, which still characterises the cityscape to this day.

Only in the 20th century did the city grow through the construction of new settlements outside the valley. Hall developed into an administrative location and service centre which was reinforced through the establishment of numerous schools, the foundation of the Diaconal Institution (1886, today's Evangelical Diaconal Works) and the war-related settlement of the Bausparkasse [Building & Loan Association] in 1944.