In the past...

Kuppingen was one of those original Alemannic villages covering a wide area in which centurions not subject to the court had their manor houses and after Christianisation constructed their castle and castle church. This castle stood on the walls of the present churchyard. Our St. Stephen's Church is also believed to have been one of these churches within the castle compound.

Kuppingen is first mentioned in 961 A.D. in a document signed by Emperor Otto I. Following a quarrel with the Count Palatine of Tuebingen, the castle had to be demolished in 1314. Kuppingen is mentioned again in a document transferring control to the County of Wirtemberg in 1436. Under Eberhard im Bart, Kuppingen is again mentioned in the stock ledger of Boeblingen Cellar in 1495. This is where the rights to rule over a village were registered in those days. The next mention of Kupplingen occurs in the Herrenberg Wine Cellar stock ledger from 1523 on. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the population increased to 1,100 (1855). By now the land available was insufficient to ensure an adequate living for the whole population. This led to emigration to America and to south-east Europe, the Danube area. Kuppingen was a principal parish. Together with the modern districts of Affstaett and Oberjesingen it had been part of a community of villages from time immemorial. Kuppingen also enjoyed judicial sovereignty. In 1817-1819 the community of villages was dissolved and the three members reverted to autonomous status.

Today...

i.e. since the 1-12-1971, Kuppingen is part of the town of Herrenberg, as a result of a voluntary decision taken within the framework of community reform in the federal Land of Baden-Wuerttemberg. Herrenberg itself was promoted to the status of major district town in 1975. After 1950, economic development in the village, which had always had a strongly agricultural structure, began to provide employment opportunities outside farming. This economic development has subsequently turned Kuppingen increasingly into a residential village with a current population of 4,100. Thanks to the general economic upswing of the past decades, significant achievements have been made in the fields of communal, social and cultural activities. A sensitive renovation scheme for the village centre has given a "new face" to large areas of the centre at the same time as respecting its historical identity. Until this time, the centre of the village was thinly populated and many old buildings simply could not be preserved. New flats were constructed as well as buildings for services, green areas and parking areas were created and the street design was improved. The infrastructure now could scarcely be improved. In the school centre, we find a neighbourhood secondary modern school and a primary school, a sports hall and one of three kindergartens. The range of public facilities is completed by a community hall in the west of the village, the "Old School" which has been renovated for the benefit of local clubs, several children's playgrounds, community houses - some of which are new - run by church parishes, sports grounds and tennis courts in a pleasant location near woodland. A total of 22 clubs and church or social organisations ensure a lively community scene. Two banks, a general medical practice and two dental surgeries, a chemist's, a cake shop, a baker's, two butchers' and one of the two hairdressers are located in new or renovated buildings and can quickly be reached on foot via the pedestrian zone. In the second half of June every year, a farmer's market is held together with an onion-cake festival. During this market, which is part of the village tradition, over 1,000 onion-cakes are baked in the two remaining bakeries and distributed to the guests.