Eppingen () is a town in the district of Heilbronn in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

in southern

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The town has the second-largest population in the district. Eppingen lies in the Kraichgau, a hilly region in southwestern Germany, close to the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also ''conflux'') occurs where two or more watercourses join to form a single channel (geography), channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main ...

of the Elsenz and Hilsbach Rivers.

History

Eppingen was first mentioned in 985 when Otto III gave the settlement to the diocese of

Worms The World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) is a taxonomic database that aims to provide an authoritative and comprehensive catalogue and list of names of marine organisms. Content The content of the registry is edited and maintained by scien ...

. The ending "-ingen" was common for towns colonised by the

Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE, the Alemanni c ...

clan in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Eppingen was owned by Salier in the 11th century, and by the Staufer in the 12th century. In 1188, it became a fortified village and, in 1192, a town, elevated by Heinrich VI. The town was distrained several times in the 14th century, but never lost the status of a town. After the win of the

Electorate of the Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate was a Imperial State, constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire until it was annexed by the Electorate of Baden in 1803. From the end of the 13th century, its ruler was one of the Prince-electors who elected the Holy ...

over margraviate Baden in 1435, it finally became a part of the

but was once more distrained to the knights of Gemmingen, from 1469 to approximately 1520. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Eppingen underwent an economic boom during which its Latin school was first mentioned (1421). In a time of the plague a part of the Heidelberg University moved to the Latin school in 1496. During the Palatinate wars of succession, Eppingen functioned as the main storage facility for the German army. From 1695 to 1697, the Eppingen Lines (''Eppinger Linien''), a string of earthwork fortifications and watchtowers, were built. They served as large defending walls against French raids at that time. One watchtower, called the Chartaque, was built by local students to show the architecture of those ancient buildings. Eppingen was affiliated to Baden in 1803. It maintained the second oldest school of agriculture in Baden. At the end of the 19th century, Eppingen was connected to the railway network; the Kraichgau Railway was opened to

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

in 1879 and to Heilbronn in 1880 and the Steinsfurt–Eppingen railway, which connected to

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

, was opened in 1899. During 1971 and 1972, Eppingen annexed the six surrounding communities of Adelshofen, Elsenz, Richen, Rohrbach am Gießhübel, Kleingartach and Mühlbach. In 2000, Eppingen's population exceeded 20,000; and it attained the status of a district town in 2002.

Population Change

Mayors

*1808-1813: Heinrich Jakob Raußmüller *1813-1816: Carl Morano *1816-1831: Ludwig Lother *1831-1844: Friedrich Hochstetter *1844-1847: Johann Ludwig Raußmüller *1847-1859: Wilhelm Lother *1859-1866: Gustav Hochstetter *1866-1870: Ludwig Lother *1870-1878: Heinrich Raußmüller *1878-1890: Paul Bentel *1890-1894: Heinrich Schmelcher *1894-1903: Philipp Vielhauer *1903-1933: Albert Wirth *1933-1937: Karl Doll *1937-1945: Karl Zutavern *1945-1948: Jakob Dörr *1948-1966: Karl Thomä *1966-1980: Rüdiger Peuckert *1980-2004: Erich Pretz *2004–Present: Klaus Holaschke

Coat of arms

The arms of Eppingen are: Or, a bend gules, impaling sable, an eagle displayed or, wings elevated, armed gules. The city flag is red-yellow.

Economy and Infrastructure

see: Dieffenbacher

Transport

Eppingen can be reached by A 6 (Mannheim-Heilbronn). Also, the B 293 (Karlsruhe–Heilbronn) goes through to town zone, however it acts as a bypass around the main town area. Eppingen station is on the Kraichgau Railway, and is served by line S4 of the Karlsruhe Stadtbahn running to

and Heilbronn. It is also connected by the Steinsfurt–Eppingen line to

, which is served by line S5 of the Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn.

Landmarks

The Pfeifferturm, a tower built in the 13th century, serves as the town's landmark. The "Old University" (German: Alte Universität) was built in 1494 and 1495 in the style of a late medieval store. Its name is a reminder of the year 1564, when a part of Heidelberg University was moved to Eppingen because of the plague. The Baumann House (German: Baumannsche Haus) is one of the prettiest and most famous timbered houses in the entire area of northern Baden. There are many beautiful timbered houses in downtown Eppingen, and because of this the city is a part of the German 'Fachwerkstraße' (German route of the most beautiful timbered houses).

Town partnerships

Eppingen has official partnerships with: * Wassy (

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

) (département

Haute-Marne Haute-Marne (; English: Upper Marne) is a department in the Grand Est region of Northeastern France. Named after the river Marne, its prefecture is Chaumont. In 2019, it had a population of 172,512.Epping (

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

) (

Essex Essex ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England, and one of the home counties. It is bordered by Cambridgeshire and Suffolk to the north, the North Sea to the east, Kent across the Thames Estuary to the ...

) since 1981 * Szigetvár (

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

) ( Baranya) since 1992

Sports

The VfB Eppingen is a local

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club.

Notable people

* Alfred Beck (1889–1957), born in Richen, veterinary physician * Johan Maurits Mohr (1716–1775), German-Dutch clergyman and astronomer *

Rosemarie Wenner Rosemarie Wenner (born July 1, 1955) is a German Methodist bishop. She was the Presiding Bishop of the United Methodist Church in Germany from April 2005 until May 2017. Rosemarie Wenner studied in Reutlingen, Germany. After her ordination she w ...

(born 1955), Bishop of the Evangelical-Methodist Church for Germany

Notes

External links

Stadt Eppingen website
(in German)
Eppingen Local Portal
(in German) {{Authority control