Blaubeuren () is a town in the district of Alb-Donau near Ulm in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. it had 11,963 inhabitants. Geography Geographical location The core city Blaubeuren lies at the foot of the Swabian Jura, west of Ulm. Neighboring communities The city is borders to the north to Suppingen and Berghülen, on the east to Blaustein, in the south to Ulm and Erbach and in the west to Schelklingen and Heroldstatt. Constituent The city Blaubeuren consists of the districts Blaubeuren, Gerhausen, Altental, Asch, Beiningen, Pappelau, Beimerstetten, Sotzenhausen, Seißen, Wennenden, Sonderbuch and Weiler with the core city Blaubeuren and 18 other villages, hamlets, farms and (individual) houses. Castles Within the town borough are the ruins of a number of castles: Ruck Castle and Blauenstein Castle, Hohengerhausen Castle (in Gerhausen), Günzelburg Castle and Burkartsweiler (both in Seißen), Sirgenstein Castle (in Weiler), and Gleißenburg Castle (in Beiningen). Coat of arms The coat of arms for the town shows the so-called Blaumännle (little blue man), a small man dressed in blue on a gold background. Economy and infrastructure Companies The Merckle group (pharmaceutical industry) is headquartered in Blaubeuren. Blaubeuren is also the headquarters of Centrotherm Photovoltaics. Transport Blaubeuren is located on the Ulm–Sigmaringen railway. Once an hour regional express trains run to Sigmaringen and Ulm, and every two hours to Donaueschingen and Titisee-Neustadt. Blaubeuren belongs to the Donau-Iller-Nahverkehrsverbund (DING). Blaubeuren is located on the Bundesstraße 28 between Reutlingen and Ulm. In the city also begins the Bundesstraße 492 to Ehingen. The next junction of the Bundesautobahn 8 from Stuttgart to Munich is 12 kilometers (7 miles) away. Religion Blaubeuren is the seat of the church district Blaubeuren of the Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg. The Roman Catholic church Mariä Heimsuchung is located in Blaubeuren and has a branch church in Gerhausen. The New Apostolic Church also has here a municipality. The Muslim community in Blaubeuren is largely Turkish dominated, originated by the migration of workers since the early 1960s from Turkey. Buildings Near the Blautopf lies the former Blaubeuren Abbey (founded in 1085). Blaubeuren also has an old town with many half-timbered buildings. In 1926 the "Ruckenkreuz" was erected on a rocky mountain, an tall memorial cross made of reinforced concrete with a span of , which commemorates the fallen of the First World War. Museums The "Urgeschichtliches Museum Blaubeuren" displays archaeological findings, including the Venus of Hohle Fels, the earliest known undisputed example of a