Kirchheim unter Teck (Swabian: Kircha) is a town in Baden-Württemberg, Germany, in the district of Esslingen.

The city holds a variety of regular scheduled markets and fairs for its residents and tourists alike.

A weekly farmers market offers a wide variety of seasonal fruits, vegetables and fresh flowers amongst other regional specialties.

Every first Monday of the month a ‘Krämermarkt’ with roughly 100 additional booths offering clothing, household goods and more is added.

Alamannic graves prove the existence of three settlements in the area of the city during the migration period.

Although the first written mention of Kirchheim dates only to the year 960, the town certainly existed during the Alemannic era of the 6th and 7th century.

Perhaps the current settlement was founded during the Christianization when several older villages were merged and a church was built and dedicated to St. Martin.

In a process which lasted from 1303 until 1386, Kirchheim became a part of Austria and later of Württemberg, due to economic difficulties of the Dukes of Teck.

After Duke Ulrich returned from exile in 1539, Kirchheim was expanded to a fortress of Württemberg and at the same time, the ducal palace was constructed.

After World War II, the population of the city grew significantly due to the influx of refugees and displaced persons.

In 1948, the population exceeded the limit of 20,000, and under the Baden-Württemberg Municipal Code, the city received on 1 April 1956 the legal status of Große Kreisstadt.

There are three launch pads for the Luftwaffe Bachem Ba 349 Natter rocket interceptors located in the Hasenholz forest near Kirchheim unter Teck.

The three launchpads are arranged in the form of an equilateral triangle, whose sides point toward the east and the south.

The circular concrete pads on which the Bachem Ba 349s and their launch towers once stood still exist.

In the center of each of the three concrete plates is a square hole approximately 50 centimeters deep, which once served as the foundation for the launch tower.

The Natter launchpads at Kirchheim unter Teck are considered the only remnants of these rocket launch pads on publicly accessible terrain, as the ramp in the Lager Heuberg, where Lothar Sieber took off for his fatal manned test flight, is still in a restricted military area.

As the city belonged to Württemberg at the time of the Reformation, Protestantism was introduced here as early as 1535 by Duke Ulrich.

The districts of Jesingen and Nabern were also introduced early to the Reformation, due to their being part of Württemberg as well.

These two parishes now form the Pastoral Care Unit 5 in the Deanery Esslingen-Nürtingen of the Diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart.

The population figures are estimates, census results (¹) or official updates of the respective statistical offices (only primary residences are counted).

In early times, the head of the city Kirchheim unter Teck was called an Amtmann ("bailiff/magistrate"); and later the title was Obervogt ("chief advocate").

Inside the city, the bus lines of the public transport group service multiple stops.

It was the most important wool market in South Germany, and also had a trade in fruit, timber and pigs.

[4] Some early companies do not exist any longer, such as the textile company Kolb & Schüle AG, the Schrauben- und Flanschenfabrik Emil Helfferich Nachfolger, the engineering works Kirchheim, the iron foundry Grüninger and Prem, or the MBB armaments factory.

The Recaro group filed for bankruptcy protection in July 2024; the Italian Promo Group has bought Recaro and will operate in Italy, taking a few employees and plant equipment to Italy for a start in 2025 per December 2024 news reports.

In Kirchheim unter Teck there are a Pedagogical Seminar (teacher training) and a large number of primary and secondary schools.

The Community College Kirchheim unter Teck eV (founded in 1947), provides a wide range of courses.