Schwäbisch Gmünd is a city in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of around 60,000, the city is the second largest in the Ostalb district and the whole East Württemberg region after Aalen. The city is a Große Kreisstadt since 1956, i.e. a chief city under district administration; it was the administrative capital of its own rural district until the local government reorganisation on 1 January 1973.
There are some institutions of higher education in the city, most notably the Pädagogische Hochschule Schwäbisch Gmünd and the Landesgymnasium für Hochbegabte.
Schwäbisch Gmünd was a self-ruling free imperial city from the 13th century until its annexation to Württemberg in 1802.