Germersheim () is a town in the

German state The Federal Republic of Germany is a federation and consists of sixteen partly sovereign ''states''. Of the sixteen states, thirteen are so-called area-states ('Flächenländer'); in these, below the level of the state government, there is a ...

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 ...

, of around 20,000 inhabitants. It is also the seat of the Germersheim district. The neighboring towns and cities are

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 ...

Landau Landau (), officially Landau in der Pfalz (, ), is an autonomous (''kreisfrei'') town surrounded by the Südliche Weinstraße ("Southern Wine Route") district of southern Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is a university town (since 1990), a long ...

Philippsburg Philippsburg () is a town in the district of Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. History Before 1623, Philippsburg was known as "Udenheim". The city was a possession of the Bishop of Speyer from 1316 to 1803. The town is named after P ...

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 ...

and Wörth.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms features a golden crowned eagle on a blue background. The eagle derives from the fact that, at one time the town was ruled directly by the emperor of Germany.

History

After his invasion of

Gallia Gaul () was a region of Western Europe first clearly described by the Romans, encompassing present-day France, Belgium, Luxembourg, and parts of Switzerland, the Netherlands, Germany, and Northern Italy. It covered an area of . According to Ju ...

, Gaius Iulius Caesar made the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, 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 Austria–Swit ...

river the border between the

Roman Empire The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

and

Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...

. Some small areas east of it were later invaded and added to the

Roman province The Roman provinces (, pl. ) were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was ruled by a Roman appointed as Roman g ...

of Agri Decumates. As it was attacked more and more it was given up in the second half of the third century and a military camp was founded, named "''Vicus Iulii''" ("''Village of Julius''/''Julius' Village''). It was supported up to the fourth century. The first record of the name "Germersheim" is from 1090, when it was named in the ''Sinsheimer Chronik'' (''

Chronicle A chronicle (, from Greek ''chroniká'', from , ''chrónos'' – "time") is a historical account of events arranged in chronological order, as in a timeline. Typically, equal weight is given for historically important events and local events ...

of Sinsheim''). The citadel was rebuilt by the emperor Conrad II, and the German king Rudolph von Habsburg (''Rudolf of Habsburg'') gave Germersheim city rights in 1276 (18 August). There is a legend which says that he, as a sick man, rode from Germersheim to Speyer to die there and not in Germersheim. In 1325 the town was given to the

Electorate of the Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate was a Imperial State, constituent state of the Holy Roman Empire until it was annexed by the Electorate of Baden in 1803. From the end of the 13th century, its ruler was one of the Prince-electors who elected the Holy ...

by King Ludwig IV. It got a higher status in the following centuries. A Catholic Order founded a monastery in 1298 which it used up to 1527. Having been nearly destroyed in the times of the plague and the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, during which it was conquered by

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

and then by

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, Germersheim was burned down by French troops in 1674. Only the

crypt A crypt (from Greek κρύπτη (kryptē) ''wikt:crypta#Latin, crypta'' "Burial vault (tomb), vault") is a stone chamber beneath the floor of a church or other building. It typically contains coffins, Sarcophagus, sarcophagi, or Relic, religiou ...

and the foundations of the Catholic Church survived. The death of the childless elector Charles II in 1685 led to the devastating War of the Palatinate Succession (1688-1697) during which Germersheim was claimed by the French as a dependency of

Alsace Alsace (, ; ) is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in the Grand Est administrative region of northeastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine, next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2021, it had a population of 1,9 ...

. Through the intervention of

the pope The pope is the bishop of Rome and the visible head of the worldwide Catholic Church. He is also known as the supreme pontiff, Roman pontiff, or sovereign pontiff. From the 8th century until 1870, the pope was the sovereign or head of sta ...

in 1702, the French, on payment of a large sum, agreed to vacate the town, and in 1715 its fortifications were rebuilt. Still strategically important during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

, in July 1793 Germersheim was the scene of a significant French defeat when an Austrian army under the veteran Field Marshal von Wurmser defeated a French army under

Beauharnais The House of Beauharnais (or ''House of Leuchtenberg''; ) is a French noble family. It is now headed by the Duke of Leuchtenberg, descendant in male line of Eugène de Beauharnais. History Originating in Brittany, the Beauharnais (or Beau ...

.''The Century Cyclopaedia of Names'', coordinated by Benjamin E. Smith and published by the De Vinne Press, New York 1894 (p. 434) From the year 1797, Germersheim belonged to

, incorporated into the newly created

Mont-Tonnerre Mont-Tonnerre () was a department of the First French Republic and later the First French Empire in present-day Germany. It was named after the highest point in the Palatinate, the '' Donnersberg'' ("Thunder Mountain", possibly referring to Do ...

department in 1798. It was conquered by

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

n troops in 1814. After being retaken in 1814, Germersheim's Bavarian rulers started to build a fortress in 1831. It was completed in 1855, although excavations for underground passages continued until 1861. By this time, however, the fortress had become outdated, as artillery had improved greatly in the thirty years since work began. The fortress was destroyed in 1921/22 as a result of the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles was a peace treaty signed on 28 June 1919. As the most important treaty of World War I, it ended the state of war between Germany and most of the Allies of World War I, Allied Powers. It was signed in the Palace ...

. Some parts still exist, such as the "''Fronte Beckers''", where the town's Music School is today. Germersheim was the scene of several conflicts between French troops and German veteran associations during the

occupation of the Rhineland The Occupation of the Rhineland placed the region of Germany west of the Rhine river and four bridgeheads to its east under the control of the victorious Allies of World War I from 1December 1918 until 30June 1930. The occupation was imposed a ...

following the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

. General Hans Graf von Sponeck, who ordered the retreat of his troops from

Kerch Kerch, also known as Keriç or Kerich, is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of Crimea. It has a population of Founded 2,600 years ago as the Colonies in antiquity#Greek colonies, ancient Greek colony Pantik ...

because they were going to be hopelessly cut off by the Russian landings at Theodosia on the

Crimea Crimea ( ) is a peninsula in Eastern Europe, on the northern coast of the Black Sea, almost entirely surrounded by the Black Sea and the smaller Sea of Azov. The Isthmus of Perekop connects the peninsula to Kherson Oblast in mainland Ukrain ...

n peninsula, and against express instruction of his superior officer in the winter 1941, was interned here in the fortress after

Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

had commuted his death sentence to six years' detention. In the purge following the failed assassination attempt on Hitler Graf von Sponeck, although not involved, was shot. Today, a street in Germersheim is named ''Hans-Graf-von-Sponeck-Straße'' in his honour.

Transport

There are regular regional train connections to Karlsruhe and

Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (), is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, second-largest city in Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, the States of Ger ...

Local council

Notable people

* Paul Josef Nardini (1821–1862), theologian * Eugen von Zimmerer (1843–1918), governor of

Cameroon Cameroon, officially the Republic of Cameroon, is a country in Central Africa. It shares boundaries with Nigeria to the west and north, Chad to the northeast, the Central African Republic to the east, and Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the R ...

and minister * Frank Hardart, born as ''Franz Anton Hardardt'' (1850–1918), American entrepreneur, co-founder of the Horn & Hardart food services company * Otto Freiherr Kreß von Kressenstein (1850–1929), Bavarian general and War Minister * Friedrich Kreß von Kressenstein (1855–1920), Bavarian General of the Infantry * Hermann Kriebel (1876–1941), officer, Freikorpsführer, diplomat, and NSDAP politician * Friedrich Krebs (1894–1961), lawyer and politician (NSDAP) * Franz Sondinger (1896–1939), director, actor, director, and writer * Karl Schmitt-Walter (1900–1985), opera singer * Franz Immig (1918–1955), soccer player * Lothar Fischer (1933–2004), sculptor * Jule Brand (born 2002), footballer for the Germany national team and

VfL Wolfsburg Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg e. V., commonly known as VfL Wolfsburg (), is a German professional sports club based in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony. The club grew out of a multi-sports club for Volkswagen workers in the city of Wolfsburg. I ...

Honorary Citizens

* Karl Schmitt-Walter (1900–1985), opera singer * Eduard Orth (1902–1968), politician ( CDU), Education minister of the state of

from 1956 to 1967

References

External links

*
History of the Germersheim fortress

* {{Authority control Towns in Rhineland-Palatinate Germersheim (district) Palatinate (region)