of 3,645 victims of the so-called „Euthanasia-campaign T4" were cremated in the cemetery of the town, including murdered inmates of regional concentration camps. In 1947 an obelisk was erected and plaques installed in their memory. In February and March 1945 Tuttlingen experienced 5 air raids, 4 of which were aimed at the station (Tuttlingen station). On 21 April 1945 Tuttlingen was occupied by parts of the French first army and became part of the "French Zone of Occupation". Railroad bridges were detonated and until 1952 the prison camp „Mühlau“ was the "Dépôt de transit N°2", a Transit and Exit encampment of the French Zone of Occupation for hundreds of thousands of German prisoners of war. In its location are the Immanuel-Kant-High School and the Otto-Hahn-High School today. In 1945 Tuttlingen became part of Württemberg-Hohenzollern, and in 1952 part of the newly founded state Baden-Württemberg and the subsection of Südwürttemberg-Hohenzollern within it. As its population had already grown beyond 20,000 in 1949, Tuttlingen was declared to be "Große Kreisstadt" as soon as the Baden-Württemberg council regulations were implemented on 1 April 1956. With the district reform of 1973 the district of Tuttlingen received its present-day extension, which increased its population by a third and its area 3 times. At the same time, Tuttlingen came under the administrative government of Freiburg. Number of inhabitants Sources: Census results or Statistical office Mayors and Lord mayors 1829–1866: Jakob Schnekenburger, Stadtschultheiß 1866–1876: Julius Schad, Stadtschultheiß 1877–1903: Christian Storz, Stadtschultheiß 1903–1908: Julius Keck, Lord mayor 1908–1938: Paul Scherer, Lord mayor 1938–1945: Max Haug, mayor 1945: Gustav Zimmermann, temporary mayor 1945–1946: Franz Heinkele, temporary mayor 1946: Fritz Fleck (SPD), temporary mayor 1946–1951: Otto Fink (CDU), mayor 1951–1980: Walter Balz (SPD), till 1952 mayor, then Lord mayor 1980–2004: Heinz-Jürgen Koloczek (CDU), Lord mayor since 2004: Michael Beck (CDU), Lord Mayor Economy Tuttlingen has 1,900 businesses ranging from one-man to multinational companies. It is the home of more than 600 surgical equipment companies. Fifty percent of the world's surgical equipment is manufactured in Tuttlingen. Tuttlingen's Medical technology firms are closely linked with the medical technology cluster in the Pakistani district Sialkot. Up until recently Tuttlingen was also a center for shoe manufacturing, as historically many tanneries were located at the Danube. List of important companies: Aesculap, the oldest and most renowned company of surgical equipment manufacturing in Tuttlingen, belongs to B. Braun Melsungen since 1998, largest employer, company buildings