Plochingen (Swabian: Blocheng or Blochenga) is a town in the district of Esslingen in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It lies on the river Neckar, on which it has a river port. With about 14,000 inhabitants, it is part of the Stuttgart Metropolitan Region. Geography Geographical location Plochingen is about nine kilometres east-southeast of the district town Esslingen am Neckar and in the same direction about 19 kilometres from the state capital Stuttgart. The town is situated on the right banks of the Fils and the outflowing Neckar. In the area of the town, three Natural areas collide, the Foreland of the central Swabian Alb in the southeast, the subspace Schurwald of the natural area Schurwald and Welzheimer Wald in the northeast, and the subspace Nürtinger-Esslinger Neckartal, which is part of the Filder, along the larger of the two rivers in the west. The lowest point in the town area is in the very west at the outflow of the Neckar at 247 metres above sea level, the highest point is in the very north at the White Stone on the Schurwaldkamm at about 448 metres above sea level, from which forest areas cover a large part of the town area. Neighboring villages/towns Neighbouring towns are in turn the community Altbach in the west, the district town Esslingen am Neckar in the northwest, the community Baltmannsweiler in the northeast and the community Reichenbach an der Fils in the east, in the southeast briefly the municipality Hochdorf, in the south the town Wernau (Neckar), in the southwest the municipality Deizisau, all of which also belong to the district of Esslingen. Urban planning Plochingen includes the town of Plochingen and the district of Stumpenhof to the north-east of the town. Land usage According to data from the Statistical State Office Baden-Württemberg, status 2014. History Ancient Due to its convenient location at the mouth of the Fils into the Neckar, people have been living in the area since the earliest times, which is attested by finds from the Stone Age. Finds of weapons and grave goods from the Bronze Age give evidence of a settlement belonging to the Urnfield culture. Also from the Hallstatt period grave mounds indicate that there might have been a continuous Celtic settlement up to the Roman period. In classical antiquity the Romans and in the early Middle Ages the Alamanni settled in the area. From the middle ages to