Rastatt () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

with a Baroque core, District of Rastatt,

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, 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 i ...

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 the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. 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 In enzymology, an undecaprenyldiphospho-muramoylpentapeptide beta-N-acetylglucosaminyltransferase () is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction :UDP-N-acetylglucosamine + Mur2Ac(oyl-L-Ala-gamma-D-Glu-L-Lys-D-Ala-D-Ala)-diphosphoundecapreno ...

river, above its junction with 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 ...

and has a population of around 51,000 (2022). Rastatt was an important place of the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

(

Treaty of Rastatt The Treaty of Rastatt was a peace treaty between Kingdom of France, France and Archduchy of Austria, Austria that was concluded on 7 March 1714 in the Margraviate of Baden, Baden city of Rastatt to end the War of the Spanish Succession between bo ...

) and the

Revolutions of 1848 in the German states In political science, a revolution (, 'a turn around') is a rapid, fundamental transformation of a society's class, state, ethnic or religious structures. According to sociologist Jack Goldstone, all revolutions contain "a common set of elemen ...

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 southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

, the Imperial General in the

Great Turkish War The Great Turkish War () or The Last Crusade, also called in Ottoman sources The Disaster Years (), was a series of conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the Holy League (1684), Holy League consisting of the Holy Roman Empire, Polish–Lith ...

known popularly as ''Türkenlouis''. It then remained the residence of the

Margraves of Baden-Baden The Margraviate of Baden-Baden was an early modern southwest German territory within the Holy Roman Empire. It was created in 1535 along with the Margraviate of Baden-Durlach as a result of the division of the Margraviate of Baden. Its territory ...

until 1771. It was the location of the

First First most commonly refers to: * First, the ordinal form of the number 1 First or 1st may also refer to: Acronyms * Faint Images of the Radio Sky at Twenty-Centimeters, an astronomical survey carried out by the Very Large Array * Far Infrared a ...

and

Second Congress of Rastatt The Second Congress of Rastatt, which began its deliberations in November 1797, was intended to negotiate a general peace between the French Republic and the Holy Roman Empire, and to draw up a compensation plan to compensate those princes whose ...

, 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 Rastatt Fortress () was built from 1842 to 1852. The construction of this federal fortress was one of the few projects that the German Confederation was able to complete. The fortress site covered the Baden town of Rastatt and, in 1849, played a ...

. For about 20 years previous to 1866, it was occupied by the troops of the

German Confederation The German Confederation ( ) 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, which had been dissolved ...

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

Ludwik Mieroslawski Ludwik () is a Polish given name. Notable people with the name include: * Ludwik Czyżewski, Polish WWII general * Ludwik Fleck (1896–1961), Polish medical doctor and biologist * Ludwik Gintel (1899–1973), Polish-Israeli Olympic soccer player ...

and

Gustav Struve Gustav Struve, known as Gustav von Struve until he gave up his title (11 October 1805 – 21 August 1870), was a German surgeon, politician, lawyer and publicist, and a revolutionary during the German revolutions of 1848–1849 in Baden, Germa ...

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

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

ns. (See

The Revolutions of 1848 in the German states ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

and

History of Baden History is the systematic study of the past, focusing primarily on the human past. As an academic discipline, it analyses and interprets evidence to construct narratives about what happened and explain why it happened. Some theorists categ ...

.) For some years, Rastatt was one of the strongest fortresses of the German empire, but its fortifications were dismantled in 1890. In the same year, the town's

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

was relocated closer to the centre of Rastatt, from a location formerly outside the town walls, in what is now an industrial area. 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 simply as Mercedes and occasionally as Benz, is a German automotive brand that was founded in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz Group, established in 2019) is based in Stuttgart, ...

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 architecture, Baroque ''schloss'' in Rastatt, Germany. The palace and the garden were built between 1700 and 1707 by the Italian architect Domenico Egidio Rossi for Margrav ...

and Schloss Favorite. It lies in the vicinity of the

Black Forest The Black Forest ( ) is a large forested mountain range in the States of Germany, 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 th ...

and the French border.

Climate

By most sources, it is the warmest place in Germany. Under the Köppen system, Rastatt has an meditteran and

oceanic climate An oceanic climate, also known as a marine climate or maritime climate, is the temperate climate sub-type in Köppen climate classification, Köppen classification represented as ''Cfb'', typical of west coasts in higher middle latitudes of co ...

(''Cfb''), closely bordering an incredibly rare 48°N

humid subtropical climate A humid subtropical climate is a subtropical -temperate climate type, characterized by long and hot summers, and cool to mild winters. These climates normally lie on the southeast side of all continents (except Antarctica), generally between ...

(''Cfa''), with mildly cold winters and long, very hot summers. The city is close to the Karlsruhe. At the weatherstation in Rastatt a temperature of 46.3°C was recorded on 9th August 2003.

Climate types

Twin towns – sister cities

Rastatt is twinned with: *

Fano Fano () is a city 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 pop ...

, Italy *

Guarapuava Guarapuava is a municipality in the state of Paraná in Brazil. It is the largest municipality in that state by area. Considered a regional development hub with a strong influence on neighboring municipalities, it is also part of a railroad junct ...

, Brazil *

New Britain New Britain () is the largest island in the Bismarck Archipelago, part of the Islands Region of Papua New Guinea. It is separated from New Guinea by a northwest corner of the Solomon Sea (or with an island hop of Umboi Island, Umboi the Dampie ...

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

, United States *

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

, France *

Vantaa Vantaa (; , ) is a city in Finland. It is located to the north of the capital, Helsinki, in southern Uusimaa. The population of Vantaa is approximately . It is the most populous municipality in Finland. Vantaa is part of the Helsinki Metropoli ...

, Finland * Ostrov, Czech Republic *

Woking Woking ( ) is a town and borough status in the United Kingdom, borough in north-west Surrey, England, around from central London. It appears in Domesday Book as ''Wochinges'', and its name probably derives from that of a Anglo-Saxon settleme ...

, 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 __NOTOC__ Wilhelm Stemmermann (23 October 1888 – 18 February 1944) was a German general in the ''Wehrmacht'' of Nazi Germany during World War II who commanded the XI Army Corps. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak ...

(1888–1944), general in the Wehrmacht *

Luise Adolpha Le Beau Luise Adolpha Le Beau (25 April 1850 in Rastatt, Grand Duchy of Baden – 17 July 1927 in Baden-Baden) was a German composer of classical music. She studied with noted musicians Clara Schumann and Franz Lachner, but her primary instruct ...

(1850–1927), pianist and composer of classical music *

Bodo Uhse Bodo Uhse (12 March 1904 – 2 July 1963) 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 Prussian Junker family with a long tradition ...

(1904–1963), writer *

Oliver Hassencamp Oliver Hassencamp (1921–1988) was a German writer and actor.Goble p.685 Selected filmography Film adaptations *', directed by Franz Peter Wirth (1963, based on the novel ''Bekenntnisse eines möblierten Herrn'') *'' Burg Schreckenstein'', di ...

(1921–1988), cabaret artist, actor and author *

Ricky King Ricky King (born Hans Lingenfelder March 12, 1946 in Rastatt, Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the ...

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

Sport

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, studied locally, team bronze medalist at the

1996 Summer Olympics The 1996 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXVI Olympiad, also known as Atlanta 1996 and commonly referred to as the Centennial Olympic Games) were an international multi-sport event held from July 19 to August 4, 1996, in Atlanta, ...

Philipp Laux Philipp Laux (born 25 January 1973) is a German former footballer, now a sports psychologist for Borussia Dortmund. Playing career Laux, who played as a goalkeeper, began his senior career in 1993 with Borussia Dortmund. After one year with the ...

(born 1973), footballer, played 230 games *

Christian Essig Christian Essig (born January 24, 1986) is a retired German footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American footba ...

(born 1986), retired footballer, played 295 games

In literature

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

Stefan Heym Helmut Flieg (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 in 1943, making him one of the Ritchie Boys of World War II. In 1952, he r ...

(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)