Winnenden Winnenden Winnenden (Swabian: "Wẽnnede") is a small town in the Rems-Murr district of the Stuttgart Region in Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany. It lies in a wine-growing area approx. northeast of Stuttgart and has a population of fewer than 28,000. The town is home to the Kärcher Company, makers of cleaning equipment namely pressure washers. The earliest record of Winnenden is found in a document of 1181 where Gottfried of Schauenburg-Winnenden is mentioned as a witness testifying that Emperor Friedrich I held the castle in the town. Around 1200 the castle, which was then called Windin, came into the possession of
Winnenden the town's castle became the seat of the Württemberg-Winnental line of the House of Württemberg. In March 2008, Winnenden and the nearby town of Backnang jointly hosted the World Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championships in cooperation with the German Debating Society. The competition was conducted at one of Winnenden's high schools, the Lessinggymnasium, and at a high school in Backnang, the Max-Borngymnasium. The following parties constitute the city council according to the 2004 municipal elections: the CDU (10 seats), voter Free Association (8), SPD (5), and Green Alternative List (3) On 11 March 2009, the town made international headlines