page_title: Heilbronn
section_title: Since World War II
hierarchical_section_title: Heilbronn / History / Since World War II
caption_attribution_description: Municipal Theatre Of The City Heilbronn - Germany
context_page_description: Heilbronn is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is surrounded by Heilbronn District and, with approximately 123,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state.
  The city on the Neckar is a former Imperial Free City and is the seat of Heilbronn District. Heilbronn is also the economic center of the Heilbronn-Franken region that includes most of northeast Baden-Württemberg. Furthermore, Heilbronn is known for its wine industry and is nicknamed Käthchenstadt, after Heinrich von Kleist's Das Käthchen von Heilbronn.
context_section_description: After the war, Emil Beutinger, mayor until 1933, returned to office and began the formidable task of reconstruction that was subsequently continued by his successors Paul Metz and Paul Meyle. Milestones were the rededication of historic city hall in 1953 and the reopening of the community centre, Harmonie. Heilbronn was part of Württemberg-Baden until 1952, after which it became part of Baden-Württemberg.
  After 1951, US troops were permanently stationed in Heilbronn. They used barracks built prior to World War II and added some structures of their own.
  The opening of the Autobahn A 6 from Heilbronn to Mannheim in 1968 was an important economic event. When the A 81 to Würzburg and the A 6 to Nuremberg was completed in 1974 and 1979, respectively, Heilbronn became an important logistical centre in southern Germany. As a result, many large companies opened offices in Heilbronn.
  When Klingenberg became part of Heilbronn on January 1, 1970, the city's population exceeded 100,000 for the first time; thus Heilbronn attained "major city" (Großstadt) status. During the last district reform in the 1970s, Kirchhausen, Biberach, Frankenbach and Horkheim were incorporated into Heilbronn, and the city was reconfirmed as independent city and seat of Heilbronn County. It was also declared seat of the newly formed Franken region, now Heilbronn-Franken.
  Also during the 1970s, the centre of the city was transformed into a pedestrian zone and the rededication of the city theatre in 1982 closed one of the largest holes left in the inner city from World War II.
  Pursuant to the NATO Double-Track Decision of 1979, Pershing II intermediate-range nuclear missiles were stationed just uphill of Heilbronn in the Waldheide. This made Heilbronn the only major city in Germany with atomic missiles inside its city limits — a fact that became front-page news during the missile accident on January 11, 1985. After the INF Treaty was signed in 1987, the missiles were removed.
  In the 1980s, Heilbronn hosted Heimatttage and Landesgartenschau staged by the State of Baden-Württemberg. In 1998, Heilbronn was connected to the S-Bahn net with Karlsruhe. This further transformed the city centre, and an extension of the S-Bahn towards Öhringen opened on December 10, 2005, marking the completion of the east–west axis of the Baden-Wuerttemburg regional transportation system. The north–south axis was in the planning stages as of February 2006.
  Heilbronn won the European competition "Entente Florale 2000" on September 9, 2000, in Broughshane, Northern Ireland, and in 2005–06 the city became the first UNICEF children's city in Germany.
  Late in 2005, Heilbronn was chosen to host the Bundesgartenschau in 2019. An entire new borough along the S-Bahn line Böckingen–Theresienwiese–Neckargartach is planned.
caption: Stadttheater Heilbronn.
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