Mühlacker is a town in the eastern part of the Enz district of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a 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 inhabitants across a ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. Mühlacker station has direct rail connections with

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the Sw ...

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students ...

, Pforzheim and the Northern

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is ...

. Mühlhausen an der Enz where

Spree killer A spree killer is someone who commits a criminal act that involves two or more murders or homicides in a short time, in multiple locations. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics defines a spree killing as "killings at two or more locations w ...

Ernst August Wagner killed 13 people in 1913 has been a part of the city since 1972. The community of Ötisheim joined onto the city so as to act as a single municipality for certain tasks.

History

Thirty Years' War

The

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

brought hardship and misery. In 1648 only 50 inhabitants survived from originally 1242 inhabitants (1622). In the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between Kingdom of France, France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by t ...

(1688-1697) Dürrmenz was looted in 1692 by French troops. Eckenweiher was incorporated to Dürrmenz in 1832.

Industrialisation

With the opening of the Württemberg Western Railway

Bruchsal Bruchsal (; orig. Bruohselle, Bruaselle, historically known in English as Bruxhall; South Franconian: ''Brusel'') is a city at the western edge of the Kraichgau, approximately 20 km northeast of Karlsruhe in the state of Baden-Württemberg, ...

in 1853 the industrial age began in the Dürrmenz-Mühlacker area. As the Karlsruhe-Mühlacker railway was built in 1863, Mühlacker was at the same railway junction and border station. As a curiosity, until 1930 it had two stations side by side, the larger Württemberg station and the Baden railway station. Favored by the dismantling of custom barriers 1819-1851 and the abolition of the compulsory guild (1862), industrial enterprises settled near the train station.

20th century

After

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

inflation In economics, inflation is an increase in the general price level of goods and services in an economy. When the general price level rises, each unit of currency buys fewer goods and services; consequently, inflation corresponds to a reduct ...

great depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

and high unemployment interrupted the further development. In 1930, the large

Mühlacker radio transmitter The Mühlacker Broadcasting Transmission Facility is a radio transmission facility near Mühlacker, Germany, first put into service on November 21, 1930. It uses two guyed steel tube masts as aerials and one guyed steel framework mast, which are ...

was put into operation. With the dissolution of Oberamt Maulbronn, young city Mühlacker in 1938 was incorporated into district Vaihingen. During the Nazi period five of the eight Jewish citizens of Mühlacker were murdered in

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed int ...

. The

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

ended in Mühlacker with destruction by air raids and artillery shelling. After 1945, 3000 refugees and displaced persons found settled in Mühlacker. As part of the district reform on January 1, 1973, the district Vaihingen was dissolved. The western region, with the town of Mühlacker became part of the newly formed

Enzkreis Enzkreis is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the northwest of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from west clockwise) Karlsruhe, Heilbronn, Ludwigsburg, Böblingen and Calw. The district-free Pforzheim area in the south is nea ...

. The eastern part of the district Vaihingen was incorporated into the district of Ludwigsburg.

Sights

Since 1930, Mühlacker has been transmitter site, at which between 1934 and 1945 the tallest tower ever built of wood stood (height: 190 metres). Further landmark are the water tower and the Löffelstelz castle ruin.

Twin towns – sister cities

Mühlacker is twinned with: *

Bassano del Grappa Bassano del Grappa ( vec, Basan or ''Bassan'', ) is a city and ''comune'', in the Vicenza province, in the region of Veneto, in northern Italy. It bounds the communes of Cassola, Marostica, Solagna, Pove del Grappa, Romano d'Ezzelino, Campolongo ...

, Italy * Schmölln, Germany

Notable people

* Anna Catharina Wedderkopf (1715–1786), businesswoman, consultant and feminist *

Hellmut G. Haasis Hellmut G. Haasis (born 7 January 1942)''Südwest Presse'' (7 January 2012)Hellmut G. Haasis wird 70" (Hellmut G. Haasis turns 70). Retrieved 14 October 2012. is a German historian, author, and broadcaster. He is particularly known for his biogra ...

(born 1942), writer and historian * Verena Veh (born 1977), volleyball player * Florian Naroska (born 1982), water polo player *

Kim Jeffrey Kurniawan Kim Jeffrey Kurniawan (born 23 March 1990) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga 1 club PSS Sleman. Born in Germany, he represented Indonesia at international level. Personal life Kim Kurniawan was born in Germany t ...

(born 1990), Indonesian footballer

References

External links

*
War memorials in Muehlacker cemetery at "Sites of Memory" webpage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Muhlacker Enzkreis Württemberg Holocaust locations in Germany