Every design for Göppingen

Göppingen is the home of Märklin, and for generations of children its name has been printed on the box of the train set under the Christmas tree. The town also hosts the headquarters of TeamViewer, and companies such as Schuler keep the industrial tradition of the nineteenth century alive.

There is a homely feeling to the place, perhaps because it sits so snugly at the foot of the Hohenstaufen in the valley of the Fils, with the Swabian Alb rising behind. According to tradition, an Alemannic leader called Geppo founded it centuries ago. A great fire in 1782 destroyed most of the town, which was rebuilt straight away, and the Göppinger Schloss still stands in the centre. The Märklineum lets you see the model railways up close, and the Museum im Storchen tells the wider story.

If you grew up here, you remember the view up to the Hohenstaufen from the Fils valley, the walks through Faurndau or Jebenhausen and the trains that ran round the living-room floor. That is the town on this map.