Winnenden (Swabian: Wẽnnede) is a small town in the Rems-Murr district of the Stuttgart Region in Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany. It lies in a wine-growing area approx. northeast of Stuttgart and has a population of fewer than 28,000. The town is home to the Kärcher Company, makers of cleaning equipment namely pressure washers. History The earliest record of Winnenden is found in a document of 1181 where Gottfried of Schauenburg-Winnenden is mentioned as a witness testifying that Emperor Friedrich I held the castle in the town. Around 1200 the castle, which was then called Windin, came into the possession of Heinrich of Neuffen. In 1277 it was transferred to Konrad von Weinsberg. On 10 October 1325 the castle and town were sold to Württemberg. In the German Peasants' War Winnenden was first under the control of the Armer Konrad or the peasants' army, but by 1519 it was under the control of the Swabian League. In 1616 an epidemic took the lives of approximately half of the population of Winnenden. During the Thirty Years' War the city was pillaged twice, in 1638 and 1643, and Imperial, French, and Swedish troops occasionally occupied Winnenden during this conflict. Around the same time the town's castle became the seat of the Württemberg-Winnental line of the House of Württemberg. In March 2008, Winnenden and the nearby town of Backnang jointly hosted the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships in cooperation with the German Debating Society. The competition was conducted at one of Winnenden's high schools, the Lessinggymnasium, and at a high school in Backnang, the Max-Borngymnasium. Politics The following parties constitute the city council according to the 2004 municipal elections: the CDU (10 seats), voter Free Association (8), SPD (5), and Green Alternative List (3) 2009 school shooting incident On 11 March 2009, the town made international headlines following a school shooting at the Albertville-Realschule, one of Winnenden's secondary schools. The gunman was a former pupil who opened fire without warning. The shooting resulted in the deaths of twelve people, and the attacker committed suicide at Wendlingen after killing three civilians. According to Heribert Rech, interior minister for Baden-Württemberg state, most of the victims at the school were female; eight female students, three female teachers, and one male student were killed in the school shooting. Breuningsweiler Since 1972, Breuningsweiler is a village in Winnenden in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Breuningsweiler has about 1000 inhabitants. History