Rastatt () is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an ori ...

with a Baroque core, District of Rastatt,

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 betwe ...

. It is located in the

Upper Rhine Plain The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben ( German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the ...

on the Murg river, above its junction with the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

and has a population of around 50,000 (2011). Rastatt was an important place of the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict that took place from 1701 to 1714. The death of childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700 led to a struggle for control of the Spanish Empire between his heirs, Phil ...

(

Treaty of Rastatt The Treaty of Rastatt was a peace treaty between France and Austria that was concluded on 7 March 1714 in the Baden city of Rastatt to end the War of the Spanish Succession between both countries. The treaty followed the Treaty of Utrecht of 11 A ...

) and the

Revolutions of 1848 in the German states In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...

History

Until the end of the 17th century, Rastatt held little influence, but after its destruction by the French in 1689, it was rebuilt on a larger scale by Louis William, Margrave of

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...

, the Imperial General in the Great Turkish War known popularly as ''Türkenlouis''. It then remained the residence of the Margraves of Baden-Baden until 1771. It was the location of the

First First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1). First or 1st may also refer to: *World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement Arts and media Music * 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and rec ...

and Second Congress of Rastatt, the former giving rise to the

while the second ended in failure in 1799. In the 1840s, Rastatt was surrounded by fortifications to form the Fortress of Rastatt. For about 20 years previous to 1866, it was occupied by the troops of the

German Confederation The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...

. The Baden revolution of 1849 began with a mutiny of soldiers at Rastatt in May 1849 under Ludwik Mieroslawski and

Gustav Struve Gustav Struve, known as Gustav von Struve until he gave up his title (11 October 1805 in Munich, Bavaria – 21 August 1870 in Vienna, Austria-Hungary), was a German surgeon, politician, lawyer and publicist, and a revolutionary during the Germa ...

, and ended there a few weeks later with the capture of the town by the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

ns. (See

The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

and

History of Baden History (derived ) is the systematic study and the documentation of the human activity. The time period of event before the invention of writing systems is considered prehistory. "History" is an umbrella term comprising past events as well ...

.) For some years, Rastatt was one of the strongest fortresses of the German empire, but its fortifications were dismantled in 1890. Between 1946 and 1954, about twenty major criminal proceedings (known as the Rastatt Trials) for crimes against foreign workers and prisoners in smaller camps in the National Socialist camp system in south-west

took place in front of the French Military Administration's Tribunal Général on the basis of Control Council Law No. 10, along with more than 2000 defendants. In 1992, a new

Mercedes-Benz Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...

car factory started production in Rastatt.

Local attractions

Rastatt and the surrounding area is home to a variety of historical buildings, includes palaces and castles such as

Schloss Rastatt Schloss Rastatt, also known as ''Residenzschloss Rastatt'', is a Baroque '' schloss'' in Rastatt, Germany. The palace and the garden were built between 1700 and 1707 by the Italian architect Domenico Egidio Rossi for Margrave Louis William of Bade ...

and Schloss Favorite. It lies in the vicinity of the

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 t ...

and the French border.

Twin towns – sister cities

Rastatt is twinned with: *

Fano Fano is a town and ''comune'' of the province of Pesaro and Urbino in the Marche region of Italy. It is a beach resort southeast of Pesaro, located where the '' Via Flaminia'' reaches the Adriatic Sea. It is the third city in the region by po ...

, Italy *

Guarapuava Guarapuava (population: 182,644) is a municipality in the state of Paraná in Brazil. It is the largest municipality in that state by area. Guarapuava is located at 25°23'36" south and 51°27'19" west. The region is known as the centre of the s ...

, Brazil * New Britain, United States *

Orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower *Orange (colour), from the color of an orange, occurs between red and yellow in the visible spectrum * ...

, France * Ostrov, Czech Republic * Woking, England, United Kingdom

Notable people

* Herman Fortunatus (1595–1665), Margrave of Baden-Rodemachern * Charles William (1627–1666), Margrave of Baden-Rodemachern * Augustus George (1706–1771), Margrave of Baden-Baden * Joseph Frank (1771–1842), physician * Wilhelm Stemmermann (1888–1944), general in the Wehrmacht * Luise Adolpha Le Beau (1850–1927), pianist and composer *

Bodo Uhse Bodo Uhse (12 March 1904 in Rastatt, Grand Duchy of Baden – 2 July 1963 in Berlin) was a German writer, journalist and political activist. He was recognised as one of the most prominent authors in East Germany. Early years Uhse came from a ...

(1904–1963), writer * Oliver Hassencamp (1921–1988), cabaret artist, actor and author *

Ricky King Ricky may refer to: Places *Říčky (Brno-Country District), a village and municipality in the Czech Republic *Říčky v Orlických horách, a village in the north of the Czech Republic *Rickmansworth, a town in England sometimes called "Ricky" ...

(born 1946), musician * Joachim Schuster (born 1962), politician (SDP) *

Christian Seifert Christian Seifert (born 8 May 1969, in Rastatt) is a German entrepreneur and business manager who served as a CEO of the Deutsche Fußball Liga (DFL) from 2019 to 2021. He was a member of the League Board and Vice President of the German Football ...

(born 1969), football functionary * Andria Lloyd (born 1971), Jamaican sprinter, Olympic medalist * Philipp Laux (born 1973), footballer

In literature

The plot of the historical novel ''The Lenz Papers'' by

Stefan Heym Helmut Flieg or Hellmuth Fliegel (10 April 1913 – 16 December 2001) was a German writer, known by his pseudonym Stefan Heym (). He lived in the United States and trained at Camp Ritchie, making him one of the Ritchie Boys of World War II. I ...

(published London 1964) is set in 1849 Rastatt, during the failed revolutions in Germany in 1848.

Gallery

Rastatt-Rathaus-04-2018-gje.jpg, Town hall Rastatt-Murg-04-Wasserturm-Brauerei Franz-2016-gje.jpg, Murg river Rastatt-Pagodenburg-10-Wasserturm-2006-gje.jpg, Pagodenburg and water tower Rastatt-Franziskanerkloster-04-2018-gje.jpg, Former Franciscan monastery Rastatt-Ludwig-Wilhelm-Gymnasium-06-2018-gje.jpg, Ludwig-Wilhelm school Close Act-Saurus-120-gje.jpg, Street theatre festival Rastatt-Hopfenschlingel-10-Bierwagen-2017-gje.jpg, Hopfenschlingel beer garden Rastatt-Schloss Favorite-Hauptfassade-28-2006-gje.jpg, Schloss Favorite

References

External links

Official websiteRastatt pictures
* * {{Authority control Rastatt (district) Baden