Sinsheim (; ) is a town in southwestern

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 ...

, in the Rhine Neckar Area of the state

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 ...

about southeast of

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

and about northwest of

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. From the late Middle Ages on, it developed into an important trading centre. At the begi ...

in the district Rhein-Neckar.

Geography

Overview

Sinsheim consists of a town centre and 12 suburbs with a total population of 36,780 (as of March 2023). Its area encompasses . The Elsenz, an unnavigable left-bank tributary of the Neckar, flows through the town, reaching the Neckar at Neckargemünd.

Subdivisions

The list below shows the 12 suburban villages (''Stadtteile''). Population data was as of 31 December 2020 and the one of Sinsheim (the town proper) was of 12,914.

History

The region around Sinsheim has been settled since 700,000 BC, as shown by the finding of the fossil ''

Homo heidelbergensis ''Homo heidelbergensis'' is a species of archaic human from the Middle Pleistocene of Europe and Africa, as well as potentially Asia depending on the taxonomic convention used. The species-level classification of ''Homo'' during the Middle Pleis ...

'' in the village of Mauer, about 12 km (7 miles) north of Sinsheim. The Romans ruled the area from 90 AD to 260 AD. The city was possibly founded in about 550 AD by the

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

nobleman Sunno. It was first historically mentioned in 770 AD in the Codex of the cloister Lorsch. Since 1192, the town had city rights, a privilege first granted by

Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV (; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105, King of Germany from 1054 to 1105, King of Italy and List of kings of Burgundy, Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was t ...

. Sinsheim was affected by wars and poverty from the 1500s to the 1700s. Sinsheim-born revolutionary Franz Sigel became a famous Union general in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861May 26, 1865; also known by Names of the American Civil War, other names) was a civil war in the United States between the Union (American Civil War), Union ("the North") and the Confederate States of A ...

. The Elsenz Valley Railway and Sinsheim station were opened in 1868 and the nearby Steinsfurt–Eppingen line was opened in 1900; electricity and public water pipes were introduced into the city from 1910 on. The

World War A world war is an international War, conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I ...

s and the

Great Depression The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...

kept Sinsheim from growing until the A6

Autobahn The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...

was built in 1968. It connected Sinsheim to national and international roads, with

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 ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

Ludwigshafen 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 ...

all now within an hour by car. While traditionally being an agricultural town, the highway made it into a small industrial centre, but it has been hit by

recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction that occurs when there is a period of broad decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be tr ...

and international

outsourcing Outsourcing is a business practice in which companies use external providers to carry out business processes that would otherwise be handled internally. Outsourcing sometimes involves transferring employees and assets from one firm to another ...

in recent years.

Demographics

The numbers are estimates, census results(¹) or official data of the statistical offices (only primary residences). ¹ census results

Main sights

Sinsheim's main tourist attraction is the Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum situated in the suburb Steinsfurt, displaying a collection of historic vehicles to over 1 million visitors per year. In 1989, a

trade fair A trade show, also known as trade fair, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific Industry (economics), industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest Product (business), products and se ...

area was established that features various industrial and popular events. Additionally, Sinsheim has a medieval city core; the ''Altes Rathaus'' (old Town Hall) is a museum for the town and its role in the

1848 revolution The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

. An old fortress, ''Burg Steinsberg'' in the village of Weiler, overlooks Sinsheim. With its octagonal tower, dating back to the 13th century, the fortress has sometimes been called the "compass" of the Kraichgau region, and nowadays contains a restaurant.

Sport

Stadium

On September 19, 2006, the mayor of Sinsheim announced a stadium would be built not far from the Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum, for the town's most successful

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V. (), commonly known as TSG Hoffenheim (), are a German professional association football, football club based in Sinsheim. Originally founded in 1899 as a gymnastics club, Hoffenheim came into bei ...

. Construction of the

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists of a stylized letter E (or epsilon), crossed by t ...

100 million stadium, which seats 30,164, was funded by Dietmar Hopp, a co-founder and major share holder of software giant SAP and a former player in the youth system of TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. The club christened their new stadium "Rhein Neckar-Arena" on 31 January 2009 with a 2–0 win over

Energie Cottbus FC Energie Cottbus (Lower Sorbian: ''Energija Chóśebuz'') is a Football in Germany, German football club based in Cottbus, Brandenburg. It was founded in 1963 as SC Cottbus in what was East Germany. After the German reunification, reunificatio ...

Twin towns – sister cities

Sinsheim is twinned with: *

Barcs Barcs (; ; or ) is a border town in Somogy County, Hungary, and the seat of Barcs District. The Drava River marks the southern boundary of the settlement. Geography Located at the Croatian border and the River Drava, the town is surrounded by ...

, Hungary * Longué-Jumelles, France

People

* Hans Seyffer (c.1460–1509), stone sculptor and wood carver * Carl Friedrich Schuster (1823–1891], German politician, lord mayor of

Freiburg im Breisgau Freiburg im Breisgau or simply Freiburg is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fourth-largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg after Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Its built-up area has a population of abou ...

and member of the Reichstag * Franz Sigel (1824–1902), U.S. Army General in the American Civil War. * August Karolus (1893–1972), professor and physicist who conducted fundamental research in television technology * Franz Bachelin (1895–1980), German art director. * Emil Rupp (1898–1979), German physicist and imposter * David Heinz Gumbel (1906–1992), Israeli designer and silversmith born in Sinsheim * Walter Horn (1908–1995), German-American

medievalist The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

scholar *Wilhelm Bauer (1924–2013), local history reasearcher and honorary citizen of Sinsheim * Volker Kauder (born 1949), German politician (CDU) *Matto Barfuss (born 1970), artist, photographer, filmmaker environmentalist and author *Roland Wester (born 1971), professor and physicist * Ulrich Lechte (born 1977), German politician (FDP)

Sport

* Christian Eichner (born 1982), football player and manager, played 230 games * Matthias Krieger (born 1984), a paralympic judoka and bronze medallist at the

2012 Summer Paralympics The 2012 Summer Paralympics, branded as the London 2012 Paralympic Games, were an international Multi-sport event, multi-sport parasports event held from 29 August to 9 September 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. They were the 14th Sum ...

. * Sarai Linder (born 1999), footballer, played 12 games for the

Germany women's national football team The Germany women's national football team () represents Germany in international Women's association football, women's football. The team is governed by the German Football Association (DFB). The Germany national team is one of the most succ ...

* Andreas Müller (born 2000), footballer

Music

* Liquido (1996-2009), rock band

References

External links

{{Authority control Towns in Baden-Württemberg Rhein-Neckar-Kreis