Tauberbischofsheim () is a German town in the north-east of

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 ...

on the river

Tauber The Tauber () is a river in Franconia (Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria), Germany. It is a left tributary of the Main and is in length. The name derives from the Celtic word for water (compare: Dover). Course It flows through Rothenburg ob der ...

with a population of about 13,200. It is the capital of the Main-Tauber district. It is a popular tourist destination due to its numerous historical buildings, including substantial remains of the medieval town fortifications. Tauberbischofsheim is also known for its fencers, who have won several Olympic medals and world championships.

Geography

Location

Tauberbischofsheim is located in the ''

Tauberfranken The region of Tauber Franconia () is a part of the region of Franconia, most of which lies in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Tauber Franconia is almost coextensive with the county of Main-Tauber-Kreis, which is bisected by the River Tauber ...

'' region of

Franconia Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...

on the river

Constituent communities

Tauberbischofsheim consists of the main town of Tauberbischofsheim, as well as the '' Stadtteile'' Dienstadt, Distelhausen,

Dittigheim Dittigheim is a district of Tauberbischofsheim with 915 residents.Tauberbischofsheim''Die Stadtteile der Kreisstadt Tauberbischofsheim. Dittigheim. - The districts of the district principal town Tauberbischofsheim. Dittigheim'' www.tauberbischofsh ...

Dittwar Dittwar is a district of Tauberbischofsheim with 693 residents.Tauberbischofsheim''Die Stadtteile der Kreisstadt Tauberbischofsheim. Dittwar. - The districts of the district principal town Tauberbischofsheim. Dittwar'' www.tauberbischofsheim.de. 2 ...

, Hochhausen and Impfingen.Stadt Tauberbischofsheim
''Die Stadtteile der Kreisstadt Tauberbischofsheim''
. www.tauberbischofsheim.de. Accessed 19 October 2014. The boundaries of these ''Stadtteile'' are the same as that of the former independent municipalities. Dienstadt has 335 residents and is located west of Tauberbischofsheim. Distelhausen has 983 residents and is located south of Tauberbischofsheim. Dittigheim has 1042 residents and is located south of Tauberbischofsheim. Dittwar has 788 residents and is located south-west of Tauberbischofsheim. Hochhausen has 788 residents and is located north of Tauberbischofsheim. Impfingen has 788 residents and is located north of Tauberbischofsheim.

Climate

History

Prehistory

The area was settled at least since around 3000 B.C., based on prehistoric findings.

Middle Ages

The town was first mentioned in a biography of

Saint Lioba Leoba, (also Lioba and Leofgyth) (c. 710 – 28 September 782) was an Anglo-Saxon Benedictine nun and is recognized as a saint. In 746 she and others left Wimborne Minster in Dorset to join her kinsman Boniface in his mission to the German people ...

in 836. It bears its name ("bishop's place") due to its close relation to bishop

Saint Boniface Boniface, OSB (born Wynfreth; 675 –5 June 754) was an English Benedictines, Benedictine monk and leading figure in the Anglo-Saxon mission to the Germanic parts of Francia during the eighth century. He organised significant foundations of ...

. Boniface brought his relative Lioba to the town around 735, where she became abbess of a

monastery A monastery is a building or complex of buildings comprising the domestic quarters and workplaces of Monasticism, monastics, monks or nuns, whether living in Cenobitic monasticism, communities or alone (hermits). A monastery generally includes a ...

. Boniface founded the convent at Bischofsheim. In 1180 the town's oldest building, the Chapel of St. Peter, was built. Between 1237 and 1245 town rights were granted to Tauberbischofsheim. Around 1280 the ''Türmersturm''-tower and the ''Kurmainz Castle'' were constructed. In 1318 the Bischofsheim market was first mentioned in official records.

16th to 18th century

From 1525 to 1627 the town was denied self-rule after picking the losing side in the Peasant's War. New municipal laws were introduced by Albrecht, Archbishop of Mainz, severely restricting citizens' rights. In 1629

Franciscan The Franciscans are a group of related organizations in the Catholic Church, founded or inspired by the Italian saint Francis of Assisi. They include three independent Religious institute, religious orders for men (the Order of Friars Minor bei ...

friars settled in Bischofsheim. During 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 ...

Bischofsheim was under Swedish occupation from 1631 to 1635. In 1688 a ''Latin school'' was founded by the Franciscans. Later the school became the ''Matthias-Grünewald Grammar School''.

19th century

In 1803 Bischofsheim was placed under the rule of the

Prince of Leiningen The title of Prince of Leiningen () was created by the Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor, Joseph II, who elevated Carl Friedrich Wilhelm, 1st Prince of Leiningen, Carl Friedrich Wilhelm, Count of Leiningen-Dagsburg-Hardenburg (a yo ...

, after having been part of '' Kurmainz'' for over 560 years. In 1806 Bischofsheim joined the newly created

Grand Duchy of Baden The Grand Duchy of Baden () was a German polity on the east bank of the Rhine. It originally existed as a sovereign state from 1806 to 1871 and later as part of the German Empire until 1918. The duchy's 12th-century origins were as a Margravia ...

. In 1823 the Franciscan monastery (''Klosterhof'') was dissolved. Around 1850 the town became known as ''Tauberbischofsheim''. To distinguish the town from other towns named Bischofsheim, the name of the river Tauber was added to the name. The new town hall was built between 1865 and 1867. In 1866, a

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and force co ...

in the

Austro-Prussian War The Austro-Prussian War (German: ''Preußisch-Österreichischer Krieg''), also known by many other names,Seven Weeks' War, German Civil War, Second War of Unification, Brothers War or Fraternal War, known in Germany as ("German War"), ''Deutsc ...

took place in and around Tauberbischofsheim between troops from

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

and

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, ...

. Between 1894-95 the "Christuskirche" was built as a Protestant church. From 1910 to 1914 the Catholic Church of St. Martin was reconstructed. Tauberbischofsheim-Panorama

20th century

The six ''Stadtteile'' were incorporated to Tauberbischofsheim during the local government reform in Baden-Württemberg in the 1970s: July 1, 1971: Hochhausen and Impfingen (1 July 1971), Dienstadt (1 January 1972) and Distelhausen, Dittigheim and Dittwar (1 January 1975).

History of the ''Stadtteile''

Governance

Mayors

The mayors of Tauberbischofsheim since 1945 were: * 1945–1946: August Haun * 1946–1952: August Otto Bruch * 1952–1958: Anton Baumann * 1958–1972: Walter Grosch * 1973–1980: Hans Dörfle * 1981–1995: Erich Hollerbach (CDU) * 1995-2019: Wolfgang Vockel * since 2019: Anette Schmidt

Coat of Arms

In a red shield is a silver-white helmet crested by a wheel with seven spokes and attached by four ribbons ending in roses, all of the same colour.Fahnenversand
''Coat of Arms of Tauberbischofsheim''
www.fahnenversand.de. 22 May 2015. According to source the archbishopric of Mainz gained the village of Tauberbischofsheim in 1237 and the fiefdom of a castle in 1316. The archbishops were rulers of the city until 1802. The helmet is symbolizing this fiefdom. The image was taken from seals and was not changed until 1740. 1865 some elements had been added. Over time, the old version was re-established.

Arts and culture

Architecture

The old town, which was formerly completely surrounded by a defensive wall, features many historical buildings. The Tauberbischofsheim Castle dates back to second half of the 13th century. The marketplace is encircled by

half-timbered Timber framing () and "post-and-beam" construction are traditional methods of building with heavy Beam (structure), timbers, creating structures using squared-off and carefully fitted and Woodworking joints, joined timbers with joints secure ...

houses and the

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, 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 ...

town hall. The parish church of St. Martin ''()'' was completed in 1914 after its predecessor burnt down. The Gothic Revival church contains works of art from many past churches including an altar from the

Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...

workshop of Niklaus Weckmann the Elder with panel paintings by Hans Schäufelein, a Madonna by Hans Multscher and a copy of the Tauberbischofsheim altarpiece by Matthias Grünewald. The oldest church in the city is the ''Peterskapelle'', built in the 12th century. The Badischer Hof is the oldest hotel in Tauberbischofsheim. It was built in 1733. 2011 TBB Rathaus 2

For many years the town was home to the Tauberbischofsheim altarpiece, a monumental piece of German renaissance art by Master Mathis now kept in the Karlsruhe Kunsthalle.

Museums

In Tauberbischofsheim and its suburbs there are the following museums: * Pharmacy Museum * Farm Museum, Distelhausen * Village Museum, Dittwar * Village Museum, Impfingen * School Furniture Museum, Tauberbischofsheim * Tauber Franconian countryside museum in the Kurmainz Castle, Tauberbischofsheim

Regular events

Every May there is a traditional Maypole festival at Wörth square. In the same month there is an Italian Night at the market place. The "Tauberbischofsheimer Altstadtfest" (old town festival) is traditionally on the first weekend of July, from Friday to Sunday. During Advent, the traditional Tauberbischofsheim Christmas Market is a popular meeting place at the castle square.

Culinary specialties

Tauberbischofsheim and its environments are characterized in the lowlands by extensive fruit and wine growing areas. Here Tauber valley wines and sparkling wines are produced. Also beers (in the Distelhäuser brewery in the district Distelhausen), fruit brandies, regional cider and apple juice are produced. Regional specialties include ''Tauber trout'', ''Boeuf de Hohenlohe'', ''Tauber valley country pig'' products, ''Tauber valley lamb'' and regional '' Grünkern''.

Sports

Fencing

The Fencing-Club Tauberbischofsheim (commonly known as ''FC Tauberbischofsheim'') is the most successful fencing club in the world, based on its medal successes in international sporting events. Medalists have included

Thomas Bach Thomas Bach (born 29 December 1953) is a German lawyer, former foil fencer, and Olympic gold medalist. He has served as the ninth president of the International Olympic Committee since 2013, the first ever Olympic champion to be elected to tha ...

, Matthias Behr, Anja Fichtel, Zita Funkenhauser, Jürgen Hehn, Harald Hein and Alexander Pusch. The FC Tauberbischofsheim is based at the ''Tauberbischofsheim Olympic team training camp'' for the sport of

fencing Fencing is a combat sport that features sword fighting. It consists of three primary disciplines: Foil (fencing), foil, épée, and Sabre (fencing), sabre (also spelled ''saber''), each with its own blade and set of rules. Most competitive fe ...

Other sports

The ''TSV 1863 Tauberbischofsheim e. V'' is a popular sports club with 2,304 members (as of 2 October 2014) with eleven different departments for the following sports: Football (soccer), Judo, Gymnastics, Badminton, Basketball, Table tennis, Tennis, Rock n roll, Volleyball, Handball and Karate.

Economy

Tourism

Tauberbischofsheim is located on the Romantic Road (), a tourist route that connects many scenic cities and towns. The Romantic Road is the oldest tourist route in Germany. Tauberbischofsheim is also part of the ''Siegfried Road''.

Others

Diestelhausen is home to the Distelhäuser Brewery.

Infrastructure

Transport

The '' Taubertalradweg'' along the Tauber River connects Tauberbischofsheim in one direction with

Bad Mergentheim Bad Mergentheim (; Mergentheim until 1926; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Märchedol'') is a town in the Main-Tauber-Kreis district in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It has a population of around 23,000. An officially recogniz ...

and

Rothenburg ob der Tauber Rothenburg ob der Tauber () is a town located in the district of Ansbach (district), Ansbach of Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia), the Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. It is well known for its well-preserved Middle Ages, medieval old town, a d ...

(in the other direction with Wertheim).

Health

Tauberbischofsheim's hospital has a public indoor pool with sauna and exercise pool. The solar-heated ''Frankenbad'' is a municipal

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

.Stadt Tauberbischofsheim
''Frankenbad''
Online www.tauberbischofsheim.de. Accessed 23 May 2015.

Education

The ''Christian-Morgenstern-Grundschule'' and the ''Grundschule am Schloss'' are the primary schools in Tauberbischofsheim. Tauberbischofsheim operates one college-track high school (''Matthias-Grünewald-Gymnasium'') and two non-college-track high schools (''Riemenschneider-Realschule'', ''Pestalozzi-Werkrealschule''). There is also one special-education school run by the town (''Christophorus-Förderschule''). The '' Kaufmännische Schule Tauberbischofsheim'' (with ''Wirtschaftsgymnasium'') and the ''Gewerbliche Schule Tauberbischofsheim'' are vocational schools or professional training schools run by the Main-Tauber-Kreis. There are also two private schools: ''Volkshochschule Mittleres Taubertal e.V.'' and ''Euro Akademie Tauberbischofsheim''.

Notable people

Leoba Leoba, (also Lioba and Leofgyth) (c. 710 – 28 September 782) was an Anglo-Saxon Benedictine nun and is recognized as a saint. In 746 she and others left Wimborne Minster in Dorset to join her kinsman Boniface in his mission to the German people ...

, (ca. 710–782), established a local

convent A convent is an enclosed community of monks, nuns, friars or religious sisters. Alternatively, ''convent'' means the building used by the community. The term is particularly used in the Catholic Church, Lutheran churches, and the Anglican ...

where she became the

abbess An abbess (Latin: ''abbatissa'') is the female superior of a community of nuns in an abbey. Description In the Catholic Church (both the Latin Church and Eastern Catholic), Eastern Orthodox, Coptic, Lutheran and Anglican abbeys, the mod ...

Johannes Sichardus Johannes Sichardus (1499 Tauberbischofsheim1552 Tübingen, also known as ''Sichart'', ''Sichard, Sichardt'') was a humanist, jurist and law professor at the University of Türbingen. He also edited several editions for printers in Basel. Early li ...

(1499–1552), a humanist, jurist and university law professor * Jakob Löwenstein (1799–1869), rabbi and writer, died locally * Richard Trunk (1879–1968), a German composer, pianist, conductor and critic.

Sport

* Emil Beck, (1935–2006), national fencing team head coach, local honorary citizen * Reinhold Behr (born 1948), fencer, silver medallist at the

1976 Summer Olympics The 1976 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Montreal 1976 (), were an international multi-sport event held from July 17 to August 1, 1976, in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Montreal ...

* Harald Hein (1950–2008), Olympic champion and world champion in fencing * Hanns Jana (born 1952), fencer, team silver medallist at the

, (born 1953), current president of the

IOC The International Olympic Committee (IOC; , CIO) is the international, non-governmental, sports governing body of the modern Olympic Games. Founded in 1894 by Pierre de Coubertin and Demetrios Vikelas, it is based in L ...

since 2013; gold medallist at the

* Matthias Behr (born 1955), Olympic champion and world champion in fencing * Gerhard Heer (born 1955), former fencer, team gold medal at the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

* Alexander Pusch (born 1955), Olympic champion and world champion in épée fencing * Sabine Bischoff (1958–2013), fencer, trained locally, team gold medallist at the

, * Gerry Ehrmann (born 1959), football goalkeeper, played 303 games * Mathias Gey (born 1960), fencer, team silver medallist at the

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

* Frank Beck (born 1961), former fencer, team silver medallist at the

. * Ulrich Schreck (born 1962), Olympic champion and world champion in fencing * Anja Fichtel (born 1968), Olympic champion and world champion in fencing * Annette Dobmeier (born 1968), former fencer, team silver medallist at the

1992 Summer Olympics The 1992 Summer Olympics (, ), officially the Games of the XXV Olympiad (, ) and officially branded as Barcelona '92, were an international multi-sport event held from 25 July to 9 August 1992 in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain. Beginning in 1994 ...

* Sebastian Bachmann (born 1986), foil fencer, bronze medallist at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

References

External links

Official site of Tauberbischofsheim
(in German). {{Authority control Historic Jewish communities Main-Tauber-Kreis