Geinsheim is a village in the town of

Neustadt an der Weinstraße Neustadt (German for ''new town'' or ''new city'') may refer to: Places * Neustadt (urban district) Czech Republic *Neustadt an der Mettau, Nové Město nad Metují *Neustadt an der Tafelfichte, Nové Město pod Smrkem * Nové Město na Mo ...

in the

Anterior Palatinate The Palatinate (; ; Palatine German: ''Palz''), or the Rhenish Palatinate (''Rheinpfalz''), is a historical region of Germany. The Palatinate occupies most of the southern quarter of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate (''Rheinla ...

in the German state of

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

. It was incorporated into the town on 7 June 1969, its parent town lying 10 kilometres to the northwest of Geinsheim.

Geography

The

Palatine A palatine or palatinus (Latin; : ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman Empire, Roman times.

village of Geinsheim is a

ribbon development A ribbon or riband is a thin band of material, typically cloth but also plastic or sometimes metal, used primarily as decorative binding and tying. Cloth ribbons are made of natural materials such as silk, cotton, and jute and of synthetic mate ...

that lies, as its name indicates, in the so-called ''Gäu'', the flat terrain between the

German Wine Road The German Wine RouteScheunemann J., Stewart J., Walker N. and Williams C. (2011), ''Back Roads Germany'', Dorling Kindersley, London. . or Wine Road (, ) is the oldest of Germany's tourist wine routes. Located in the Palatinate region of the ...

and the

River Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Swiss-Austrian border. From Lake Const ...

, on 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 ...

. Geinsheim is roughly equidistant from Neustadt to the west and the town of

Speyer Speyer (, older spelling ; ; ), historically known in English as Spires, is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in the western part of the Germany, Federal Republic of Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the r ...

to the east. Cycleways and footpaths, notably the Neustadt to Speyer cycleway, characterise the flat

landscape A landscape is the visible features of an area of land, its landforms, and how they integrate with natural or human-made features, often considered in terms of their aesthetic appeal.''New Oxford American Dictionary''. A landscape includes th ...

, through which the ''Hörstengraben'' stream flows, north of the village, before emptying into the

Speyerbach The Speyerbach is a left tributary of the Rhine in the Palatinate part of Rhineland-Palatinate. In Speyer, the river split into ''Gießhübelbach'' and ''Woogbach''. The Woogbach changes its name to ''Nonnenbach'', then flows into Gießhübe ...

near Hanhofen. Its neighbouring communities are, clockwise from the north, across a short piece (several metres) of the Neustadt village of Lachen-Speyerdorf,

Haßloch Haßloch () is a municipality in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Unlike most municipalities in the district, it does not belong to any '' Verbandsgemeinde'' – a type of collective municipality. It lies near the Man ...

in the district of

Bad Dürkheim Bad Dürkheim () is a spa town in the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration. It is the seat of the Bad Dürkheim (district), Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, and the site of the discovery of the element caesium, in 1860. Geogra ...

, Hanhofen and Harthausen in the district of

Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis The Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis () is a district (''Kreis'') in the east of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) the district-free city Worms, Germany, Worms, the district Bergstraße (district), Bergstraße, dis ...

Gommersheim Gommersheim is a municipality in Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, western Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea ...

and

Böbingen Böbingen is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstraße district, in Rhineland-Palatinate, 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 t ...

in the district of

Südliche Weinstraße Südliche Weinstraße (; ; ) is a district (''Kreis'') in the south of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from west clockwise) Südwestpfalz, Bad Dürkheim, the district-free city Neustadt (Weinstraße), Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis ...

and Duttweiler another sub-district of Neustadt.

Sights

Heritage site

The heart of the village, which is up to 500 years old, is protected as a heritage site.

Church buildings

The protected zone includes the landmark of the municipality, the

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

parish church A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the Church (building), church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in com ...

of '' St. Peter und Paul'' with its

Neogothic Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half of the 19th century ...

facade and its tower that, for some time, has once again been a

nest A nest is a structure built for certain animals to hold Egg (biology), eggs or young. Although nests are most closely associated with birds, members of all classes of vertebrates and some invertebrates construct nests. They may be composed of ...

ing place for the

white stork The white stork (''Ciconia ciconia'') is a large bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. Its plumage is mainly white, with black on the bird's wings. Adults have long red legs and long pointed red beaks, and measure on average from beak tip to en ...

. It is the largest church in the ''Gäu'' and is therefore known by the locals as the ''Gäu-Dom'' or "Gäu Cathedral". The church was built around 1500 and the

tower A tower is a tall Nonbuilding structure, structure, taller than it is wide, often by a significant factor. Towers are distinguished from guyed mast, masts by their lack of guy-wires and are therefore, along with tall buildings, self-supporting ...

and

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

with its

sacristy A sacristy, also known as a vestry or preparation room, is a room in Christianity, Christian churches for the keeping of vestments (such as the alb and chasuble) and other church furnishings, sacred vessels, and parish records. The sacristy is us ...

date to that period. File:Geinsheimer-Schulhaus-01.JPG, School and community hall File:Geinsheimer-Dom-04.JPG, Towers of the parish church File:Geinsheimer-Dom-10.JPG, Storks' nest on the church tower File:Geinsheimer-Dom-24.JPG, Interior of the parish church

Secular buildings

The oldest secular building in the conservation zone, with the address ''Gäustraße 96'', dates to the year 1600 and is built in the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

style. The estate farm in ''Gäustraße 79/81'', with its

barn A barn is an agricultural building usually on farms and used for various purposes. In North America, a barn refers to structures that house livestock, including cattle and horses, as well as equipment and fodder, and often grain.Allen G ...

in which the

donation A donation is a gift for Charity (practice), charity, humanitarian aid, or to benefit a cause. A donation may take various forms, including money, alms, Service (economics), services, or goods such as clothing, toys, food, or vehicles. A donati ...

s to Speyer's

cathedral chapter According to both Catholic and Anglican canon law, a cathedral chapter is a college of clerics ( chapter) formed to advise a bishop and, in the case of a vacancy of the episcopal see in some countries, to govern the diocese during the vacancy. In ...

were stored, dates to the

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

period. The old

Classicist Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...

school building, in which the village council is now house, as well as several double and three-sided farmsteads, date to the 18th to 20th centuries and complete the conservation zone.

Economy and Infrastructure

Economy

In addition to some

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented fruit. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the fruit and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Wine is most often made f ...

the main crops are

asparagus Asparagus (''Asparagus officinalis'') is a perennial flowering plant species in the genus ''Asparagus (genus), Asparagus'' native to Eurasia. Widely cultivated as a vegetable crop, its young shoots are used as a spring vegetable. Description ...

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

sugar beet A sugar beet is a plant whose root contains a high concentration of sucrose and that is grown commercially for sugar production. In plant breeding, it is known as the Altissima cultivar group of the common beet (''Beta vulgaris''). Together with ...

grain A grain is a small, hard, dry fruit (caryopsis) – with or without an attached husk, hull layer – harvested for human or animal consumption. A grain crop is a grain-producing plant. The two main types of commercial grain crops are cereals and ...

and

potatoes The potato () is a starchy tuberous vegetable native to the Americas that is consumed as a staple food in many parts of the world. Potatoes are underground stem tubers of the plant ''Solanum tuberosum'', a perennial in the nightshade famil ...

. Home-grown

fruit In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants (angiosperms) that is formed from the ovary after flowering. Fruits are the means by which angiosperms disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particular have long propaga ...

and

vegetable Vegetables are edible parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. This original meaning is still commonly used, and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including edible flower, flo ...

s are often sold by the growers immediately in front of their house on the road or in the farmyards.

Transport

Geinsheim is on the B 39 federal highway from Neustadt to Speyer. After decades of planning and four years of construction work the 3.4 kilometre long

ring road A ring road (also known as circular road, beltline, beltway, circumferential (high)way, loop or orbital) is a road or a series of connected roads encircling a town, city or country. The most common purpose of a ring road is to assist in reducin ...

was opened on 30 August 2005. With the completion of this bypass to the north of the village, the last ring road on this 18-kilometre long stretch of the B 39 between Neustadt and Speyer was finished. Over 10,000 vehicles pass Geinsheim daily. Geinsheim is also connected via the B 39 to the national road network. Six kilometres to the west is the A 65 motorway from

Ludwigshafen am Rhein Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning "Ludwig I of Bavaria, Ludwig's Port upon the Rhine"; Palatine German dialects, Palatine German: ''Ludwichshafe''), is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in the German state of Rh ...

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 ...

; the nearest junction being Neustadt-Süd. 10 kilometres to the east is the B 9 (Ludwigshafen–

Wörth am Rhein Wörth am Rhein (, ) is a town in the southernmost part of the district of Germersheim, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is on the left bank of the Rhine approximately 10 km west of the city centre of Karlsruhe and is just north of the G ...

, junction Speyer-Mitte), via which the A 61 (

Koblenz Koblenz ( , , ; Moselle Franconian language, Moselle Franconian: ''Kowelenz'') is a German city on the banks of the Rhine (Middle Rhine) and the Moselle, a multinational tributary. Koblenz was established as a Roman Empire, Roman military p ...

–

Hockenheim Hockenheim () is a town in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 20 km south of Mannheim and 10 km west of Walldorf. It is located in the Upper Rhine Plain, Upper Rhine valley on the tourist theme routes "Baden Asparagus Route" ( ...

, junction Speyer-Nord), 4 kilometres beyond, can be reached.

Clubs

The ''Chorsängern 1791 Geinsheim'' claims to be Germany's oldest

male voice choir A men's chorus or male voice choir (MVC) (German: ''Männerchor''), is a choir consisting of men who sing with either a tenor or bass voice, and whose music is typically arranged into high and low tenors (1st and 2nd tenor), and high and low bas ...

. There is a football club, SV 1920 Geinsheim that once played in the Oberliga-Verein. In 1973, an 18-hole golf course was opened by the ''Golf-Club Pfalz'' ("Palatinate Golf Club").

Festivals

On the last weekend in August, Geinsheim celebrates the traditional wine festival known as the ''Wein- und Ludwigskerwe''. The 3rd weekend in June is the occasion of the two-day fire service festival run by the Geinsheim Fire Service (''Löschgruppe Geinsheim'').

Population growth

Geinsheim was originally a typical farming and wine-growing village; today it is increasingly a residential suburb of Neustadt. In June 2011 Geinsheim had a population of 1,937; in January 2012 it had fallen to 1,954.Homepage der Stadt Neustadt
/ref>

Sons and daughters of the village

Theodor Schneider __NOTOC__ Theodor Schneider (7 May 1911 – 31 October 1988) was a German mathematician, best known for providing proof of what is now known as the Gelfond–Schneider theorem, who was born in Frankfurt am Main and died in Freiburg im Breisgau. Sc ...

(1703–1764), Jesuit; first German Roman Catholic missionary in the USA * Thaddäus Stahler (1857–1938), prelate; canon, dean and ''Domdekan'' in the Bishopric of Würzburg as well as the chairman of the Bavarian Clergy Association for many years.

References

External links

www.geinsheim-pfalz.de: Geinsheim in der Pfalz

{{authority control Villages in Rhineland-Palatinate