REUTLINGEN a manufacturing town of "Wurtemberg, situated in a fertile and pretty district on the Echatz, an affluent of the Neckar, near the base of the Achalm, and 20 miles to the south of Stuttgart. It is a quaint but well-built town, with numerous picturesque houses and a fine Gothic church of the 13th and 14th centuries, overtopped by a lofty spire. The tanneries of Reutlingen are extensive, producing large quantities of leather; and its other industrial products are very multifarious, including cotton, woollen, and knitted goods, lace, ribbons, hats, shoes, paper, machinery, hardware, and lime. To fruitgrowers Reutlingen is interesting as the seat of a celebrated pomological institute, while the Christian-socialist refuges of Pastor Werner are widely known in philanthropic circles. In 1880 the town contained 16,609 inhabitants, of whom 809 were Roman Catholics and 44 Jews.

Reutlingen was made a free imperial town by Frederick II. in 1240, and was unflinching in its loyalty to the emperors of his line. It successfully resisted a siege by Heinrich Raspe, the rival of Conrad IV., and in 1377 its citizens defeated Count Ulrich of Wiirtemberg at the Achalm. At a later period Reutlingen became a member of the Swabian League, and it was among the first Swabian towns to embrace the Reformation. It was annexed to Wiirtemberg in 1802.