The city's main landmarks are the market square with St Michael's Church (St. Michaelskirche), Comburg Castle (a former Benedictine monastery) with St Nicholas' Church (St. Nikolaus und St. Maria), and the Hallian-Franconian Museum (Hällisch-Fränkisches Museum), dedicated to the art and history of Schwäbisch Hall and surrounding Heilbronn-Franconia.

It might be derived from a West Germanic word family that means "drying something by heating it", possibly referring to the open-pan salt making method[4] used there until the saltworks closed down in 1925.

[6] After the fall of the house of Hohenstaufen, Hall defended itself successfully against the claims of a noble family in the neighbourhood[6] (the Schenken von Limpurg).

The conflict was finally settled in 1280 by Rudolph I of Habsburg; this allowed the undisturbed development into a Free Imperial City (Reichsstadt) of the Holy Roman Empire.

From the 14th to the 16th centuries, Hall systematically acquired a large territory in the surrounding area, mostly from noble families and the Comburg monastery.

However, it was forced to pay enormous sums to the armies of the various parties, especially to the imperial, Swedish and French troops, who also committed numerous atrocities and plundered the city and the surrounding area.

Following the Treaty of Lunéville (1801), the duke of Württemberg was allowed by Napoleon to occupy the city and several other minor states as a compensation for territories on the Left Bank of the Rhine that fell to France.

A long economic crisis during the 19th century forced many citizens to move to other places in Germany or to emigrate overseas, mostly to the United States.

The economic situation improved during the second half of the 19th century — a main factor was the railway line to Heilbronn (1862) — but was not followed by a significant growth of the city.

[6] During Kristallnacht on 9 November 1938, local Nazis burned the synagogue in Steinbach and devastated shops and houses of Jewish citizens.

[6] Approximately 40 Jewish citizens of Schwäbisch Hall fell victim to the Holocaust in extermination camps in Eastern Europe.

The train station at Hall was targeted by an American air raid on February 23, 1945, but the devastation was mostly limited to the suburbs of St. Katharina and Unterlimpurg.

The city was occupied by US Army troops on April 17, 1945, without serious resistance; though several buildings were destroyed or damaged, the historical old town suffered comparatively little.

[6] From the end of World War II until the end of the Cold War, Dolan Barracks and Schwäbisch Hall Army Air Field was a kaserne which hosted a series of US Army aviation units and ordnance units until it was turned back over to German control in 1993.

[3] Schwäbisch Hall and the surrounding area offer a plenty of leisure activities which includes sports flying, swimming, hiking and cycling.

[14] Due to a branch of the Goethe-Institut at Schwäbisch Hall, the city attracts up to 2,000 students a year, coming from countries around the world to study the German language.

[16] There are also extensive library collections in the literature on the history of Schwäbisch Hall and the region, as well as valuable historical prints.

[19] Formerly, salt was important to Schwäbisch Hall,[8] but today the economy is shaped by a group of medium-sized companies,[6] focusing mainly on trade and services sectors.

[3] A number of businesses dealing in property finance, solar energy and telecommunications sectors also have their headquarters in Schwäbisch Hall.

[21] The sports played in Schwäbisch Hall include swimming, light athletics, tennis, shooting, soccer, baseball, handball and American football.