Herrenberg (Swabian: Härrabärg or Haerebärg) is a town in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, about 30 km south of Stuttgart and 20 km from Tübingen. After Sindelfingen, Böblingen, and Leonberg, it is the fourth largest town in the district of Böblingen. Location Herrenberg is situated on the western edge of the Schönbuch forest and is a central town within the Gäu region. The Stiftskirche, which houses the Glockenmuseum (bell museum), is a tourist attraction in the main square. The following towns and municipalities border Herrenberg. They are listed in clockwise direction beginning in the north: Deckenpfronn, Gärtringen, Nufringen, Hildrizhausen and Altdorf (all Böblingen district), Ammerbuch (Tübingen district), Gäufelden and Jettingen (both Böblingen district) as well as Wildberg (Calw district). History The once small community Herrenberg was formed out of the hamlets "Mühlhausen" and "Raistingen", who were combinated in the 13th century, when Herrenberg was founded. In 1278, Herrenberg was first documented, although Pfalzgraf Rudolf von Tübingen already wrote in 1228 "castrum nostrum herrenberc" into a certificate. From 1276, the church building was started, which at the time, had two towers. The supposed founder of the Rosicrucian movement in Europe, Johann Valentin Andreae, who also wrote The Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz, was born in Herrenberg on 17 August 1586. Town arrangement Herrenberg consists of the town centre and the 7 additional towns which were merged in the regional reorganization of the 1960s and 1970s. The number of inhabitants of Herrenberg exceeded 20,000 in 1972 due to the incorporation of the following formerly independent municipalities: 1965: Affstätt 1971: Haslach, Kayh, Kuppingen, and Mönchberg 1972: Oberjesingen 1975: Gültstein In each different area of Herrenberg there is an office for the district and a town clerk. Population ¹ Census results ² Herrenberg Amtsblatt 23 November 2006 Politics The local council has, since the last election on 13 June 2004, has a total of 40 Seats. The distribution of the different parties and groups are as follows: (in German) CDU 30,6% (-2,4) - 13 Seats (-1) FW 21,8% (-2,3) - 9 Seats (-1) SPD 21,9% (+0,4) - 9 Seats (=) Grüne 16,3% (+5,6) - 6 Seats (+2) Frauenliste 9,4% (+2,4) - 3 Seats (+1) Others 0,0% (-3,7) - 0 Seats (-1) Business Internationally known businesses located in Herrenberg include: Frog Design (industrial design) IBM (IT training and sales) Omega Pharma (pharmaceuticals) Walter Knoll (furniture) Transport Herrenberg station is on the Stuttgart–Horb railway and is at