Extent

The area of the district is 581 hectares (1,440 acres). Of the district's area, 65.1% is used for agricultural purposes, 25.6% is forest area, 8.6% consists of settlements and roads, and 2.2% other.

Neighbour localities

The territories of the following villages adjoin Schwalldorf; they are, clockwise, beginning with the north: Bad Niedernau, Weiler, Dettingen, Hirrlingen, Frommenhausen, Bieringen and Obernau (all in the admin. district of Tübingen). All bordering villages, except for Hirrlingen, are suburbs of Rottenburg am Neckar.

Faiths

The population of the village is predominantly Roman Catholic. About 100 people are evangelical. A small amount are nondenominational or members of another denomination.

Schultheißen, mayors and local representatives

The first Schultheiß of Schwalldorf was mentioned in 1425. The Schultheiß was the chairperson of the village court (precursor of the council). The name of the first Schultheiß is not known. On 10 July 1470 Hans Gefrör was mentioned as the second Schultheiß in a document.^[6]

Mayors from 1917 until 1972

In 1917 the term Schultheiß was replaced by mayor.

• 1917–1940: Lukas Jungel
• 1940–1945: Jakob U. Wiest (without election)
• 1946–1972: Fabian Straub

Local representatives since 1972

When the Municipality of Schwalldorf was incorporated into the Town of Rottenburg on 1 January 1972, the mayor was replaced by a local representative (Ortsvorsteher). The local representative is elected by the members of the advisory body for a period of five years. The local representative is the chairperson of the advisory body and the spokesperson of the suburb.

• 1972–1979: Fabian Straub
• 1980–1989: Adolf Straub
• 1989–2004: Ernst Rößner, senior prosecutor
• since 2004: Klaus Krajewski

Advisory body

In Schwalldorf there has been a village court since the 15th century, which was directed by the Schultheiß. The village court is regarded as the precursor of the later council. The names of the councillors of the former municipality of Schwalldorf are passed down since 1932. The council of the former municipality had up to ten councillors in the terms of office since 1932.

In 1972 the council of the municipality was dissolved and replaced by an advisory body (German: Ortschaftsrat) in the course of the incorporation of the municipality into the Town of Rottenburg. The advisory body is elected by the citizens of the village for a period of five years. The advisory body represents the interests of the citizens of the suburb towards the town administration and the town council. Thereby the advisory body acts as administrative body. In the first session the advisory body also elects the local representative for a period of five years. The current advisory body was elected on 7 June 2009. All seven members of the body are from the voter's association Bürgerliste Schwalldorf ('Citizen's List Schwalldorf').

Coat of arms

Coat of arms of Schwalldorf

The coat of arms of the village was designed in 1952. It was adopted as official seal by the Municipality of Schwalldorf. The coat of arms shows a blue swallow and a blue auger snail divided by a blue waved fess on a silver shield. The blue auger snail below the waved fess refers to the Schneckenhof ('snail yard'), which is one of the two settlement cores the village emerged from. The blue waved fess shows a water amount and interprets the name of Schwalldorf, that shall derive from a well. In the area of the village, however, there is no water. Another theory, which is more folk etymological, is represented by the blue swallow (German: Schwalbe) above the fess. Due to the fact that the village is a Frankish-Alemannic village, the most likely theory is that the village name derives from an Alemannic clan ruler named Swalo.

Buildings

Associations and Institutions

Regular events

• Swabian-Alemannic Fasnet: The Fasnet ('Swabian-Alemannic Carnival') has a high significance in the area of Rottenburg. A Vassnacht was first documented in Rottenburg in the 15th century. In the Catholic town of Rottenburg and nearby, wild parties have become a tradition. The first carnival group in Schwalldorf was the Elbenlocher Hexen ('witches of the Elbenloch'), in Swabian dialect Elbaloch Hexa. It was founded in 1984. The Elbenloch is a forest on the boundary of Schwalldorf. According to a legend the Elbenloch was a meeting place for witches in the Middle Ages. During the Middle Ages, Rottenburg was a center for witch hunts. The carnival group Elbenlocher Hexen is an allusion to that. In 1989 the Narrenzunft Schwalldorf ('Schwalldorf Carnival Guild') was founded. Nowadays the Carnival Guild has three carnival groups, two music groups and several single characters. The Fasnet season begins officially on 6 January with the traditional dusting of the wood masks. The so-called Fleggafasnet (Swabian for 'village carnival') with the parade takes place on Saturday, one week before the Hauptfasnet ('Main Fasnet'). The Hauptfasnet is the time from Fat Thursday to Ash Wednesday and is the high season for carnival in Rottenburg. In the past few years, more than one thousand participants from approximately 30–40 carnival guilds attended the parade in Schwalldorf.
• Onion Tart Festival: On the last weekend of summer vacation (usually the first or second weekend in September), local associations arrange the Zwiebelbeeten Fest ('Onion Tart Festival'). It is a small contemplative festival in the village core. The festival has been held since 1986 and has established itself as a village fair.

Telecommunication

Until a modification of the local network in 2005, internet access was only possible with ISDN. Since then DSL light (384 kbit/s) has been available on some streets. A faster Internet connection is not possible due to old wires. A modernization of the connection is refused by Deutsche Telekom because of little profitability. The village has about 250 households. Deutsche Telekom requires a minimum number of 300 households demanding a faster connection in order for the old wires to be replaced; though there are those, especially seniors, who are not interested in a faster broadband connection.

Several suburbs of Rottenburg are concerned about slow internet connection speeds. In July 2008 a citizens' group for DSL was founded in Bieringen, a neighboring village of Schwalldorf. The aim was to reach a faster Internet connection by radio. In addition a radio mast would have had to be built on the plateau near Schwalldorf. However, in August the plan was canceled, because the town administration of Rottenburg announced an open call for tender. If the project succeeds, DSL at a speed of probably 16,000 kbit/s will be available in Schwalldorf.{{

Traffic

The Kreisstraße 6943 (K 6943, district road 6943) leads from Bad Niedernau (Rottenburg) or Frommenhausen into the village. The road was formerly known as Landstraße 392 (L 392, state road 392), before it was downgraded to a district road. The K 6943 serves as a communication road between the L 370 (Horb-Rottenburg-Tübingen) and the L 392 (Hirrlingen-Felldorf). It discharges into the L 392 in Frommenhausen and into the L 370 next to Bad Niedernau. The volume of traffic is low, so there is very little noise exposure.

Public transport

For local public transport, there is a bus connection between Rottenburg and Horb am Neckar or Felldorf – bus route 7626. The village is situated in sector 112 of the Neckar-Alb-Donau Transportation Association. On workdays (Monday–Friday) buses run roughly every hour from about 6:00 a.m. until 7:00 p.m. On Saturday there is a route at a regular interval of two hours from about 7:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. Buses run only by request (Anmeldefahrten) between 7:00 p.m. and midnight on workdays, as well as Friday to Saturday night and Saturday to Sunday night. The bus has to be requested at least 60 minutes before departure according to the schedule.

Education

Schwalldorf has a kindergarten and an elementary school. St. Andreas kindergarten is a Roman Catholic kindergarten and was originally organized by nuns, though it is also open to non-Catholic children. The elementary school was opened in 1995 and has no special name. It is named Grundschule Schwalldorf-Frommenhausen ('Schwalldorf-Frommenhausen Elementary School'). Frommenhausen is the neighbouring village.

Sons and daughters of the village

Noteworthy persons who were born in Schwalldorf:

• Michael Mayer (1833–1892), sculptor
• Lukas Jungel (1886–1940), Mayor, victim of National Socialism

Persons who lived in the village

Noteworthy persons who acted there:

• Franz Egger (1882–1945), parish priest, victim of National Socialism