Dossenheim () is a municipality in the

Rhein-Neckar-Kreis The Rhein-Neckar-Kreis is a district in the northwest of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The administrative headquarters are based in the city Heidelberg, which is a district-free city. As of 2019, the district is the most populous in Baden-Württem ...

(district) in

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 (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. It is located on Bergstraße and Bertha Benz Memorial Route.

Geography

Location

Dossenheim lies 5 kilometers north of

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

along the Bergstraße at the foot of the

Odenwald The Odenwald () is a low mountain range in the German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Location The Odenwald is located between the Upper Rhine Plain with the Bergstraße and the ''Hessisches Ried'' (the northeastern se ...

. Dossenheim borders Heidelberg,

Ladenburg Ladenburg is a town in northwestern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It lies on the right bank of the river Neckar, northwest of Heidelberg and east of Mannheim. The town's history goes back to the Celtic and Roman Ages, when it was called Lop ...

, and Schriesheim.

Boroughs

The hamlet Schwabenheim belongs to Dossenheim.

History

Dossenheim was first mentioned in the

Lorsch codex The Lorsch Codex (Chronicon Laureshamense, Lorscher Codex, Codex Laureshamensis) is an important historical document created between about 1175 to 1195 AD in the Monastery of Saint Nazarius in Lorsch, Germany. The codex is handwritten in Carol ...

in 766. 1130 is the first mention of the noble family Wolfsölden-Schauenburg, who ruled the area from the Schauenburg. After this family died out in 1280, the inheritors sold the lands to the electors of the

Palatinate of the Rhine The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...

of Heidelberg in 1303. As early as 1319, the

prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the Holy Roman Emperor, emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century ...

archbishopric of Mainz The Electorate of Mainz (german: Kurfürstentum Mainz or ', la, Electoratus Moguntinus), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the ...

had won all the rights that the fief of Schaenberg had pawned to the knights of Handschuhsheim. After a long period of rivalry between the Archbishop of Mainz and the

, until

Frederick I Frederick I may refer to: * Frederick of Utrecht or Frederick I (815/16–834/38), Bishop of Utrecht. * Frederick I, Duke of Upper Lorraine (942–978) * Frederick I, Duke of Swabia (1050–1105) * Frederick I, Count of Zol ...

conquered the area for the Palatinate and destroyed the Schauenberg. In the

Landshut War of Succession The War of the Succession of Landshut resulted from a dispute between the duchies of Bavaria-Munich (''Bayern-München'' in German) and Bavaria-Landshut (''Bayern-Landshut''). An earlier agreement between the different Wittelsbach lines, the T ...

, the Hessian landgrave destroyed Dossenheim in 1504. During 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 battl ...

Tilly's troops, more than others, destroyed and plundered Dossenheim in 1622. After seizing the capital Heidelberg, Dossenheim belonged to the Archbishop of Mainz for a short time. However, as part of the Bergstrasse Cease-fire of 1650, Dossenheim was returned to the Palatinate. In the Dutch War and in the

War of the Grand Alliance 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 France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarc ...

French troops set fire to numerous building in 1674, 1689, and 1693. In 1714,

Lothar Franz von Schönborn Lothar Franz von Schönborn-Buchheim (4 October 1655 – 30 January 1729) was the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz from 1694 to 1729 and the Bishop of Bamberg from 1693 to 1729. As Archbishop of Mainz, he was also Archchancellor of the Holy Roman Em ...

, the archbishop of Mainz renounced all claims to Dossenheim forever. In 1803 the Palatinate was dissolved and Dossenheim became part 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 ...

. In 1925 Schwabenheim was annexed to Dossenheim.

Government

Municipal council

The council of Dossenheim has 22 members elected by direct suffrage for five years, in addition to the presiding mayor. The seat distribution after the local elections of 2009 is as follows:

Mayor

The Mayor is elected by direct suffrage for a term of eight years. The Mayor of Dossenheim is Hans Lorenz (CDU). * 1963–1979 Heinrich Schumacher * 1979–1995 Peter Denger * since 1995 Hans Lorenz (CDU).

Coat of arms

The coat of arms comes from a court seal from the year 1495 upon which appeared a grape vine. In 1901 it was officially awarded by the General State Archive. The flag is green and white. The date it was chosen is unknown.

Sister cities

* Le Grau du Roi,

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan ar ...

Culture and sights

Local attractions include an indoor swimming pool and a little shopping center in the area Am Petrus. Dossenheim's Kermesse (''Kerwe'') occurs on the third Sunday in September every year. In Dossenheimer tradition this is a street festival. Dossenheim's location in the Rhine river flood plain at the edge of the Odenwald, offers a variety of landscapes. The agricultural landscape of the flood plain climbs steeps from 110 m above sea level through the forests of the

to 548 m at the top of the Weißer Stein (''White Stone''). The Weißer Stein is the site of a lookout tower made of sandstone and a broadcast tower (not the broadcast tower of SWR). The ruins of the Schauenberg to the North, offer a view over the flood plain. When the air is clear, one can see the Hambacher Schloss in the Palatinian forest and the cities of Mannheim, Ludwigshafen, Speyer, and Karlsruhe. Abandoned Porphyry quarries can be found in the wooded areas. In the Spring, fruit trees blossom white and red.

Museums

Dossenheim has a museum of local history.

Notable buildings and edifices

*Ruins of Schauenburg *Television broadcast tower atop the Weißer Stein *Historic city hall (houses the museum of local history) *Locks on the river

Neckar The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis near Sc ...

at Schwabenheim (a difference of 8.7 m in height) *Lookout tower on the Weißer Stein *Preparation facilities and parts of the overhead tramway for goods in the porphyry quarry Vatter *Skatepark *Former

mediumwave Medium wave (MW) is the part of the medium frequency (MF) radio band used mainly for AM broadcasting, AM radio broadcasting. The spectrum provides about 120 channels with more limited sound quality than FM stations on the FM broadcast band. Du ...

broadcast tower of the SWR. In Dossenheim SWR operated a mediumwave broadcast tower until 30 April 2004 for the frequency 711 kHz with a broadcast power of 5 kilowatts. Together with broadcast towers Heilbronn-Obereisesheim and Ulm-Jungingen it formed a

single-frequency network A single-frequency network or SFN is a broadcast network where several transmitters simultaneously send the same signal over the same frequency channel. Analog AM and FM radio broadcast networks as well as digital broadcast networks can operate ...

. This facility has been taken down in the meantime. *Broadcast tower Weißer Stein

Regular events

*Dossenheimer ''Sommertagszug'' (summer day parade) in May *Kermesse on the 3rd Sunday in September *Christmas market in December on the Kronenburger Hof

Economy and infrastructure

Dossenheim is primarily a residential community. Because of its proximity to Heidelberg Dossenheim is attractive to people who work at the

Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public university, public research university in Heidelberg, B ...

German Cancer Research Center The German Cancer Research Center (known as the Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum or simply DKFZ in German) is a national cancer research center based in Heidelberg, Germany. It is a member of the Helmholtz Association of German Research Centres, ...

(''Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum DKFZ'') or scientific companies (located in Heidelberg

Technology Park A science park (also called a "university research park", "technology park”, "technopark", “technopole", or a "science and technology park" (STP)) is defined as being a property-based development that accommodates and fosters the growt ...

). There is limited industry and commerce in Dossenheim. Dossenheim has a history of being a stone mining village. In Dossenheim there were 2 large quarries. The raw porphyry would be transported to the transfer station with a tramway that has since been dismantled. The stone was used primarily for construction of water projects (

hydraulic engineering Hydraulic engineering as a sub-discipline of civil engineering is concerned with the flow and conveyance of fluids, principally water and sewage. One feature of these systems is the extensive use of gravity as the motive force to cause the mov ...

) and road construction. Both quarries have fallen into disuse. The scars can be seen far into the flood plain of the Rhine.

Transport

Dossenheim is on the A 5 as well as the federal highway B 3. The Upper Rhine Railway (''Oberrheinische Eisenbahn'', OEG), now part of '' Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr (RNV) GmbH'', connects Dossenheim to the metropolitan centers nearby: Mannheim, Heidelberg and

Weinheim Weinheim (; pfl, Woinem) is a town with about 43,000 inhabitants in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is in the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, approximately north of Heidelberg and northeast of Mannheim. Weinheim is known as the "Zwei ...

. Dossenheim has 3 light rail stops: Dossenheim-Nord, Dossenheim OEG-Bahnhof and Dossenheim-Süd.

Government offices and institutions

* Freiwillige Feuerwehr Dossenheim (volunteer fire department) * Biologische Bundesanstalt für Land- und Forstwirtschaft (BBA) (Federal Biological Institute for Agriculture and Forestry)

Clubs

* Angelsportverein ( fishing club ) * Bertha Benz Memorial Club e.V. * Bertha Benz Memorial Route e.V. * Biblisches Lebenszentrum Dossenheim e.V. (

pentecostal Pentecostalism or classical Pentecostalism is a Protestant Charismatic Christian movement

church) * Boule- Club ( Boule club) * Cantus Vivus Konzertchor ( concert choir ) * Deutsches Rotes Kreuz (DRK) - OV Dossenheim (

Deutsches Rotes Kreuz The German Red Cross (german: Deutsches Rotes Kreuz ; DRK) is the national Red Cross Society in Germany. With 4 million members, it is the third largest Red Cross society in the world. The German Red Cross offers a wide range of services within ...

) * DJK Dossenheim * DLRG Dossenheim * Dossema Bannweidbuwe ( Dossenheim Kermesse club) * FC Dossenheim ( Football (soccer) club ) * Musikkapelle der katholischen Pfarrgemeinde Dossenheim e.V. (brass orchestra) * Musikverein 1893. e.V. Dossenheim * Schützenverein ( Gun Club ) * TSG Germania ( sports club including Handball and children's gymnastics ) * Verein zur Pflege der Livemusik

Notable natives

* Charly Körbel, professional soccer player (Eintracht Frankfurt) * Markus Bähr, professional soccer player (1.FC Köln, Karlsruher SC) * Otto Hitzfeld, " Der Löwe von Sewastopol "

References

External links

Official site of Dossenheim
(in German)

''StahlArt: Industrial and Architectural Photography'', Harald Finster, last accessed 15 January 2007
Bertha Benz Memorial Route
{{Authority control Towns in Baden-Württemberg Populated places on the Neckar basin Populated riverside places in Germany Baden