Reutlingen
The city of Reutlingen lies on the river Echaz in an attractive region between the hills of the Swabian Jura and the valley of the river Neckar. Its documented history stretches back to the 5th and 6th centuries CE. Nowadays Reutlingen is a prosperous and attractive city with over 110,000 inhabitants. It has good shopping facilities, including an open-air market, and also an excellent public library, several museums, and a wide variety of cafés, restaurants and bistros. Stuttgart, some 40 km to the north, and Reutlingen's near neighbour, Tübingen, offer art, music, dance, ballet, and opera.
Situated on the edge of town and acting as a link between commercially oriented Reutlingen and the university town of Tübingen, the Reutlingen-Tübingen Science and Technology Park is an important economic feature of the region, providing thousands of jobs for local people.
Linguistically, the Reutlingen area evidences several varieties of the Swabian dialect (not just accents!), and many people speak Swabian to one degree or another. International students should be prepared for an initial period of linguistic acclimatisation!
