Giengen is a former Free Imperial City in eastern Baden-Württemberg near the border with Bavaria in southern Germany. The town is located in the district of Heidenheim at the eastern edge of the Swabian Alb, about 30 kilometers northeast of Ulm on the Brenz River.

Erich Ehrlinger was a member of the Nazi Party and SS. As commander of Special Detachment 1b, he was responsible for mass murder in the Baltic states and Belarus.