Weikersheim is a town in the Main-Tauber district of

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 ...

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 ...

History

Town rights Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...

were granted to Weikersheim in 1313. As one of the seats of the

House of Hohenlohe The House of Hohenlohe () is a Germans, German princely dynasty. It formerly ruled an Imperial immediacy, immediate territory within the Holy Roman Empire, which was divided between several branches. In 1806, the area of Hohenlohe was 1,760 ...

, until 1756 Weikersheim's

town center A town centre is the commercial or geographical centre or core area of a town. Town centres are traditionally associated with shopping or retail. They are also the centre of communications with major public transport hubs such as train or bus st ...

was dominated by

Weikersheim Castle Weikersheim Palace (Schloss Weikersheim) is a palace in Weikersheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was a medieval seat and later a Renaissance residence of the princely House of Hohenlohe. History The castle was built in the 12th century as ...

, residence of the

Hohenlohe The House of Hohenlohe () is a German princely dynasty. It formerly ruled an immediate territory within the Holy Roman Empire, which was divided between several branches. In 1806, the area of Hohenlohe was 1,760 km² and its estimated pop ...

-Weikersheim line. During the process of

German mediatization German mediatisation (; ) was the major redistribution and reshaping of territorial holdings that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany by means of the subsumption and Secularization (church property), secularisation of a large number of ...

from 1806 to 1809, Weikersheim was awarded to the

Kingdom of Württemberg The Kingdom of Württemberg ( ) was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918, located within the area that is now Baden-Württemberg. The kingdom was a continuation of the Electorate of Württemberg, which existed from 1803 to 1806. Geogr ...

, whose government assigned the city to . In 1938, the Oberamt was reorganized as , under whose jurisdiction Weikersheim remained. From 1 January 1972 to 1 January 1975, Weikersheim incorporated eight municipalities. In that time, , and as a result Weikersheim was assigned to the newly created Main-Tauber district. In 2000, the old town and palace were placed under protection as cultural monuments.

Geography

The township ('' Stadt'') of Weikersheim covers of the Main-Tauber district of

, a

state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

of the

Federal Republic of 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 constituent states have a total population of over 84 ...

. Weikersheim is physically located in the , a landscape of

muschelkalk The Muschelkalk (German for "shell-bearing limestone"; ) is a sequence of sedimentary rock, sedimentary rock strata (a lithostratigraphy, lithostratigraphic unit) in the geology of central and western Europe. It has a Middle Triassic (240 to 230 m ...

crossed by numerous river valleys, but especially the

Tauber The Tauber () is a river in Franconia (Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria), Germany. It is a left tributary of the Main and is in length. The name derives from the Celtic word for water (compare: Dover). Course It flows through Rothenburg ob der ...

and Vorbach. The lowest elevation above sea level in the municipal area,

Normalnull ("standard zero") or (short N. N. or NN) is an outdated official vertical datum used in Germany. Elevations using this reference system were to be marked (“meters above standard zero”). has been replaced by (NHN). History In 187 ...

(NN), is found on the Tauber, near . The highest elevation, , is found to the south-east, near the border with Oberndorf (Weikersheim). Part of the federally-protected nature reserve is located within Weikersheim's municipal area.

Coat of arms

Weikersheim's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

displays a large "W" in

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

below a golden crown upon a

field Field may refer to: Expanses of open ground * Field (agriculture), an area of land used for agricultural purposes * Airfield, an aerodrome that lacks the infrastructure of an airport * Battlefield * Lawn, an area of mowed grass * Meadow, a grass ...

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

. The first

seal Seal may refer to any of the following: Common uses * Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly: ** Earless seal, also called "true seal" ** Fur seal ** Eared seal * Seal ( ...

associated with Weikersheim is dated to 1435 and contained the "W", but from 1593 onward, it was supported by two

lions The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large cat of the genus ''Panthera'', native to Sub-Saharan Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; a short, rounded head; round ears; and a dark, hairy tuft at the tip of its tail. It is se ...

and positioned above images of the

Sun The Sun is the star at the centre of the Solar System. It is a massive, nearly perfect sphere of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core, radiating the energy from its surface mainly as visible light a ...

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It Orbit of the Moon, orbits around Earth at Lunar distance, an average distance of (; about 30 times Earth diameter, Earth's diameter). The Moon rotation, rotates, with a rotation period (lunar ...

, and the planet Mercury. On 7 November 1949, the State of

awarded Weikersheim a coat of arms based on the original pattern, but with a new red-silver

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

. This pattern and tincture was affirmed on 31 May 1968 by the approval of the Federal Ministry of the Interior.

Notable people

Raphael Levi Hannover Raphael Levi Hannover (1685 – May 17, 1779) was a German Jewish mathematician and astronomer. The son of Jacob Joseph, Hannover was born at Weikersheim, Franconia in 1685. He was educated at the Jewish school of Hanover and at the yeshivah of F ...

(1685–1779), a German Jewish mathematician and astronomer. * Joseph von Maier (1797–1873), German rabbi and

Landesrabbiner (; ) are spiritual leader, spiritual heads of the History of the Jews in Europe, Jewish communities of a country, province, or district, History of the Jews in Germany, particularly in Germany and Austria. The office is a result of the legal cond ...

, a spiritual leader

Citations

External links