Linz am Rhein (in English ''Linz on the Rhine'') is a municipality in the
district of Neuwied, in
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) 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 ...
,
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 situated on the right bank of the river
Rhine
The Rhine ; french: Rhin ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label=Sursilvan, Rein, rm, label=Sutsilvan and Surmiran, Ragn, rm, label=Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian dialect, Al ...
near
Remagen
Remagen ( ) is a town in Germany in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate, in the district of Ahrweiler. It is about a one-hour drive from Cologne, just south of Bonn, the former West German capital. It is situated on the left (western) bank of ...
, approx. 25 km southeast of
Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in the German state of North Rhine-Westphalia, with a population of over 300,000. About south-southeast of Cologne, Bonn is in the southernmost part of the Rhine-Ru ...
and has about 6,000 inhabitants. It is the sister city of
Marietta, Georgia
Marietta is a city in and the county seat of Cobb County, Georgia, United States. At the 2020 census, the city had a population of 60,972. The 2019 estimate was 60,867, making it one of Atlanta's largest suburbs. Marietta is the fourth largest ...
in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., federal district, five ma ...
,
Linz
Linz ( , ; cs, Linec) is the capital of Upper Austria and third-largest city in Austria. In the north of the country, it is on the Danube south of the Czech border. In 2018, the population was 204,846.
In 2009, it was a European Capital ...
in
Austria
Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...
and
Pornic
Pornic (; ''Pornizh'' in Breton, ''Port-Nitz'' in Gallo) is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.
In 1973 the commune of Pornic absorbed the neighbouring municipalities of Sainte-Marie-sur-Mer and Clion-sur-Mer.
Pop ...
in
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 ...
.
Linz is the seat of the ''
Verbandsgemeinde
A Verbandsgemeinde (; plural Verbandsgemeinden) is a low-level administrative unit in the German federal states of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt. A Verbandsgemeinde is typically composed of a small group of villages or towns.
Rhine ...
'' ("collective municipality")
Linz am Rhein.
The town is also a destination for tourists thanks to its location next to the Rhine river and its colorful half-timbered houses.
History
The town of Linz was first mentioned in an official document in 874 and called "Lincesce".
Between 1206 and 1214 the parish church of St. Martin was built at the most elevated spot of the town. A former church, which was located at the same place, had been destroyed during the fights of
Otto IV and
Philip of Swabia
Philip of Swabia (February/March 1177 – 21 June 1208) was a member of the House of Hohenstaufen and King of Germany from 1198 until his assassination.
The death of his older brother Emperor Henry VI in 1197 meant that the Hohenstaufen rule ( ...
in 1198. During reconstruction work in 1981 the remains of graves and foundations belonging to the former church were found.
The most important political decision for Linz was taken in the late Middle Ages. Between 1304 and 1332 Linz was officially awarded city status by the
Archbishop of Cologne
The Archbishop of Cologne is an archbishop governing the Archdiocese of Cologne of the Catholic Church in western North Rhine-Westphalia and is also a historical state in the Rhine holding the birthplace of Beethoven and northern Rhineland-Pala ...
,
Heinrich II of Virneburg. Shortly after having been declared a "city", the castle
Burg Linz was built.
In 1391 a fire destroyed two thirds of the city. In 1475 the Emperor's troops occupied Linz during the
Neuss War. The town hall, which is one of the major sights of Linz, was built in 1517.
In 1815, Linz became part of Prussia. One year later in 1816 Linz received the status of a district town ("Kreisstadt"). This status was revoked in 1822 and Linz became part of the Neuwied county.
After the
Second World War
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 ...
, Linz became a part of Rhineland-Palatinate in 1946.
In the 1970s the city expanded with the new residential area "Roniger Hof". In 1979 the local hospital was put into service.
Gallery
File:505linz, burg.jpg, Town hall
File:Rheintor Linz am Rhein.jpg, Rhine tower
File:Schloss Rennenberg 4.jpg, Rennenberg castle
Mayors
* 1812–1813: Engelbert Schwamborn
* 1817–1820: Friedrich Adolph von Cocy
* 1820–1842: Franz Kerp
* 1842–1848: Franz Stephan Christmann
* 1848–1851: Rudolf Jakob von Gerolt zur Leyen
* 1851–1856: Hubert Hubaleck
* 1856: Johann Schmitz
* 1856–1871: Willibrord Thiesen
* 1871–1910: Julius Lerner
* 1910–1914: Hugo Menzel
* 1914–1932: Paul Pieper
* 1933: Eugen Mehliß
* 1933: Rahms (given name unknown)
* 1933–1938: Franz Weyand,
* 1939–1944: Paul Wiezorke
* 1944–1945: Matthias Wagner
* 1945:
Franz-Josef Wuermeling
Franz-Josef Wuermeling (8 November 1900 - 7 March 1986) was a West German CDU politician and minister who served as Federal Minister for Family Affairs from 1953 to 1962.
Early life and education
Wuermeling was born in Charlottenburg, Berlin in ...
, CDU
* 1945–1947: Wilhelm Hoffmann
* 1947–1948: Peter Frings CDU
* 1948–1956: Wilhelm Hoffmann
* 1956–1972: Leo Thönnissen, SPD
* 1972–1974: Theo Lück, SPD
* 1974–1979: Hans Breitenbach, CDU
* 1979–1989: Theo Lück, first SPD, from 1984 FWG
* 1989–2014: Adi Buchwald, CDU
* since 2014: Hans Georg Faust, CDU
Notable people

*
Ferdinand von Malaisé
Ferdinand Malaisé, after 1862 Ritter Ferdinand von Malaisé (23 February 1806, Linz on the Rhine, Germany – 29 June 1892, Munich, Germany). Knight of the Order of St. Joseph of Tuscany (III Class), the Iron Crown of Austria (II Class wit ...
(1806-1892); Bavarian General, Educator of King
Ludwig III of Bavaria
Ludwig III (Ludwig Luitpold Josef Maria Aloys Alfried; 7 January 1845 – 18 October 1921) was the last King of Bavaria, reigning from 1913 to 1918. Initially he served in the Bavarian military as a lieutenant and went on to hold the rank of Oberl ...
*
Anton Joseph Weidenbach (1809-1871), historian and archivist
*
Manfred Bruns
Manfred Bruns (1934, Linz am Rhein – 22 October 2019) was a federal prosecutor at the Federal Court of Justice of Germany, and a famous German gay civil rights activist. He was until 2016 a member of the Board of Directors of the Lesbian and Ga ...
(born 1934), Federal Prosecutor at the Federal Court of Justice
*
Alex Kempkens (born 1942), photographer
*
Osvaldo Bayer (born 1927), German-Argentine anarchist journalist and historian, resided in the town during the 1976-1983 Argentine
Dirty War
The Dirty War ( es, Guerra sucia) is the name used by the military junta or civic-military dictatorship of Argentina ( es, dictadura cívico-militar de Argentina, links=no) for the period of state terrorism in Argentina from 1974 to 1983 ...
See also
*
Martinus-Gymnasium Linz
Notes
External links
Official website
{{Authority control
Populated places on the Rhine
Neuwied (district)
Middle Rhine