of Jews at the time of National Socialism. Some community members were able to emigrate, but the majority came in the course of the deportation of German Jews to death camps. Only the merchant Sigbert Baer outlasted the time of the Third Reich in Künzelsau. Population development Annexations 1 April 1912: Garnberg 1 October 1937: Nagelsberg 1 January 1972: Amrichshausen, Belsenberg, Kocherstetten, Laßbach, Nitzenhausen and Steinbach 1 April 1972: Gaisbach 1 January 1973: Morsbach 1 January 1977: Ort Sonnhofen Politics Town council The Kommunalwahl for 2009 had the following seats, as percentages in the town council: Through the abolition of loggerheads in local elections, the council was reduced from 34 to 26 seats. Mayor The mayor is directly elected for eight years. In the 2010 election, Stefan Neumann won. He replaced Volker Lenz on 1 September 2010, who had served since 1986. Coat of arms and flag The blazon of Kuenzel Auer coat of arms is: on an azure background, a silver plate, with the bearded golden head of John the Baptist. The city flag is blue and white. The severed head of John the Baptist, Patron of the Church of Künzelsau, was first used on seals of Künzelsau starting in 1525. The colors of the flag were probably set in the 18th or 19th century. Sister cities Künzelsau has, since 1992, developed partnerships with the city Marcali in Hungary. Economy and infrastructure Transport The main traffic artery of Künzelsau is federal highway B 19, which comes from the northern town of Bad Mergentheim through the Künzelsau district of Nagelberg to the Kocher, crosses Künzelsau, climbs out of the valley leaves again and then runs via Künzelsau-south towards Schwäbisch Hall and Gaildorf. In the southern neighboring community of Kupferzell, the B 19 connects to the Autobahn A 6 to Heilbronn to the west and to Nuremberg to the east. Künzelsau is connected by state and district roads with the places in the Kocher valley and the surrounding plateaus. Künzelsau is no longer connected to the railway network. The city had acquired a connection to the rail system in 1892. When the Royal Württemberg State Railways opened the Kocher Valley Railway from Waldenburg to Künzelsau, it also built a station in Haag with a type I entrance building. The line was extended to Forchtenberg in 1924, giving Nagelberg a railway connection. In 1981, passenger services to Hohenlohe were closed in 1991,