Weinheim (; ) is a town with about 43,000 inhabitants in northwest

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 in the

Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region The Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region (, ), often referred to as the Rhein-Neckar Triangle, is a polycentric metropolitan region located in south western Germany, between the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region to the north and the Stuttgart Region to ...

, approximately north 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 northeast of

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 ...

. Weinheim is known as the "Zwei-Burgen-Stadt", the "town of two castles", after two fortresses overlooking the town from the edge of the

Odenwald The Odenwald () is a low mountain range in the Germany, German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Location The Odenwald is located between the Upper Rhine Plain with the Bergstraße Route, Bergstraße and the ''Hessisches Ried' ...

in the east.

Geography

Weinheim is situated on the Bergstraße theme route on the western rim of the

. The old town lies in the valley, with the new part of town further to the west. The Market Square is filled with numerous cafes, as well as the old ''Rathaus'' (guildhall). Further to the south is the ''Schlossgarten'' (Palace Garden) and the ''Exotenwald'' (Exotic Forest), which contains species of trees imported from around the world, but mostly from North America and Japan.

History

Weinheim celebrated its 1250th anniversary in 2005. The earliest record of Weinheim dates back to 755 CE, when the name "Winenheim" was recorded in the

Lorsch codex The Lorsch Codex (Chronicon Laureshamense, Lorscher Codex, Codex Laureshamensis) is an important historical document created between about 1175 to 1195 AD in the Lorsch Abbey, Monastery of Saint Nazarius in Lorsch, Germany. The codex is handwrit ...

, the record book of

Lorsch Abbey Lorsch Abbey, otherwise the Imperial Abbey of Lorsch (; or ''Laurissa''), is a former Imperial abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about east of Worms, Germany, Worms. It was one of the most important monasteries of the Carolingian Empire. Even in its ru ...

. In 1000, Emperor

Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was the Holy Roman emperor and King of Italy from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was c ...

bestowed on Weinheim the right to hold markets, and in 1065 the right to mint and issue coins. A new town developed next to the old town from 1250. In 1308, the old town was transferred 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 ...

. From 1368 the whole town belonged to the

, and since the end of the 14th century to the

''Oberamt'' district. With the transfer to

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 ...

in 1803, Weinheim became the seat of its own ''

Amt Amt is a type of administrative division governing a group of municipalities, today only in Germany, but formerly also common in other countries of Northern Europe. Its size and functions differ by country and the term is roughly equivalent to ...

'', which was unified with

Landkreis In 13 German states, the primary administrative subdivision higher than a '' Gemeinde'' (municipality) is the () or (). Most major cities in Germany are not part of any ''Kreis'', but instead combine the functions of a municipality and a ''K ...

in 1936. From 1938 onwards Weinheim belonged to Landkreis Mannheim until January 1, 1973, when the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis was formed. A Jewish community in Weinheim is first recorded in 1228. There were persecutions in Weinheim in 1298 (

Rintfleisch massacres The Rintfleisch or Rindfleisch movement was a series of massacres against Jews in 1298. The event, in later terminology a pogrom, was the first large-scale persecution in Germany since the First Crusade. History It occurred in the Franconian regi ...

) and 1348–49 (

Black Death persecutions The persecution of Jews during the Black Death consisted of a series of violent mass attacks and massacres. Jewish communities were often blamed for outbreaks of the Black Death in Europe. From 1348-1351, acts of violence were committed in Toulo ...

). The Jews were expelled from Weinheim in 1391. The Weinheim Jewish community began to grow again in 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 ...

. There was a

synagogue A synagogue, also called a shul or a temple, is a place of worship for Jews and Samaritans. It is a place for prayer (the main sanctuary and sometimes smaller chapels) where Jews attend religious services or special ceremonies such as wed ...

, a

beth midrash A ''beth midrash'' (, "house of learning"; : ''batei midrash''), also ''beis medrash'' or ''beit midrash'', is a hall dedicated for Torah study, often translated as a "study hall". It is distinct from a synagogue (''beth knesseth''), althoug ...

, and a

mikveh A mikveh or mikvah (, ''mikva'ot'', ''mikvot'', or (Ashkenazi Hebrew, Ashkenazic) ''mikves'', lit., "a collection") is a bath used for ritual washing in Judaism#Full-body immersion, ritual immersion in Judaism to achieve Tumah and taharah, ...

, and, in the 19th century, a school for boys and a teacher-training college. The synagogue was destroyed in the

Kristallnacht ( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...

(9–10 November 1938) and the last few Jews sent to

Gurs Gurs () in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in south-western France. History Gurs was the site of the Gurs internment camp. Nothing remains of the camp; after World War II, a forest was planted on the site where it stood. Geography Gurs ...

on 22 October 1940.

Local attractions

* Windeck Castle, originally built around 1100 to protect the

Lorsch Lorsch () is a town in the Bergstraße district in Hessen, Germany, 60 km south of Frankfurt. Lorsch is well known for the Lorsch Abbey, which has been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Geography Location Lorsch lies about 5 km ...

monastery; it was badly damaged in the Thirty Years' War and again by Louis XIV of France in the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

. *

Wachenburg The Wachenburg () is a castle on a hill overlooking Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It was built between 1907 and 1928 by the Weinheimer Senioren-Convent Weinheimer Senioren-Convent (abbreviation: WSC) is the secon ...

Castle, built between 1907 and 1928 by

German Student Corps Corps (or Korps; "''das ~''" ('' n''), (''sg.''), (''pl.'')) are the oldest still-existing kind of '' Studentenverbindung'', Germany's traditional university corporations; their roots date back to the 15th century. The oldest corps still exist ...

fraternities; the annual convention of the

Weinheimer Senioren-Convent Weinheimer Senioren-Convent (abbreviation: WSC) is the second oldest association of German Studentenverbindungen. It comprises 58 German Student Corps, German Student ''Corps'', all of which are based upon the principle of tolerance. History ...

is held at the Wachenburg. * The Market Square * The Schloss, home of the town council * Gerberbach Quarter, old haunt of the leather makers * Schlosspark * Waidsee Lido (), swimming beach on the Waidsee artificial lake *

Miramar (Weinheim) Miramar is a water park, salt-water spa and sauna complex opened in 1973 at the Waidsee Lake, Weinheim, Germany. , approximately 50% of the 650,000 annual visitors pay extra for the Sauna area. The catchment area for visitors covers a radius, inc ...

thermal spa and sauna complex, next to the Waidsee lake *

Exotenwald Weinheim The Exotenwald Weinheim (about 60 hectares) is a forest arboretum located beside the Schlosspark in Weinheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is open daily without charge. The arboretum was established in 1871 by Christian Friedrich Gustav Freih ...

, a forest

arboretum An arboretum (: arboreta) is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees and shrubs of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, many modern arbor ...

Schau- und Sichtungsgarten Hermannshof The Schau- und Sichtungsgarten Hermannshof (2.2 hectares), also known as the Hermannshof Weinheim, is a privately owned show and trial garden at Babostraße 5, Weinheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is open to the public daily, admission is f ...

, a

botanical garden A botanical garden or botanic gardenThe terms ''botanic'' and ''botanical'' and ''garden'' or ''gardens'' are used more-or-less interchangeably, although the word ''botanic'' is generally reserved for the earlier, more traditional gardens. is ...

Museum

Weinheim's town museum occupies what used to be the local headquarters of the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

and holds exhibits about Weinheim and its surroundings:

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

from the prehistoric through to the

Merovingian dynasty The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

, the highlight of which is the Nächstenbach bronze hoard of 76 objects from the

late Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

; displays documenting the Medieval and modern social history of the town and works from contemporary artists.

Events

*February: High-jump Gala, with world class high-jumpers *March: the ''Sommertagszug'', a festival celebrating the coming of summer. *May/June (near

Ascension Day The Feast of the Ascension of Jesus Christ (also called the Solemnity of the Ascension of the Lord, Ascension Day, Ascension Thursday, or sometimes Holy Thursday) commemorates the Christian belief of the bodily Ascension of Jesus into Heaven. It ...

): day of the

s *June–August: Weinheim's summer of culture *June: ''Scheuerfest'' (barn party) in Ritschweier *July: the Weinheim road race *May–September: Kerwes in Rippenweier, Sulzbach, Lützelsachsen, Oberflockenbach und Hohensachsen *August (second weekend thereof): Weinheim's Kerwe (Friday to Monday) *September (first Friday-Sunday): Weinheimer UKW-Tagung, a three-day international

amateur radio Amateur radio, also known as ham radio, is the use of the radio frequency radio spectrum, spectrum for purposes of non-commercial exchange of messages, wireless experimentation, self-training, private recreation, radiosport, contesting, and emer ...

meeting held annually since 1956 *October: ''Bergsträßer Winzerfest'' (lit. "mountain-road vintner festival") in Lützelsachsen

Economy

Freudenberg Group The Freudenberg Group is a German family-owned diversified group of companies whose products include housewares and cleaning products, automobile parts, textiles, building materials, specialty chemicals and medical products. Its headquarters ar ...

Wiley-VCH Wiley-VCH is a German publisher owned by John Wiley & Sons. It was founded in 1921 as Verlag Chemie (meaning "Chemistry Press": VCH stands for ''Verlag Chemie'') by two German learned societies A learned society ( ; also scholarly, intellect ...

publishers *

SAP SE Sap is a fluid transported in the xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a s ...

Transport

Trains

Weinheim has two main train stations on the

Main-Neckar Railway The Main-Neckar Railway (, MNE) is a main line railway west of the Odenwald in the Upper Rhine Plain of Germany that connects Frankfurt am Main to Heidelberg via Darmstadt, Bensheim and Weinheim. It was opened in 1846 and is one of the oldest r ...

, these being

Weinheim (Bergstraße) station Weinheim (; ) is a town with about 43,000 inhabitants in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is in the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, approximately north of Heidelberg and northeast of Mannheim. Weinheim is known as the "Zwei-Burgen-Sta ...

(served by Regional and long-distance IC trains) and Lützelsachsen (served by Regional trains). These provide connections to Frankfurt, Hamburg and other destinations within Germany. * Deutsche Bahn * Rhein-Neckar Verkeh
VRN , Startseite
Weinheim is also served by the OEG tramway, which is used daily by people who use this to commute to the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg.

Air

The closest airports to Weinheim are: *

Frankfurt Airport Frankfurt Airport ( ) , is Germany's busiest international airport by passenger numbers, located in Frankfurt, Germany's fifth-largest city. Its official name according to the German Aeronautical Information Publication is Frankfurt Main Airpor ...

Baden Airpark Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport (German: ''Flughafen Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden'') is the international airport of Karlsruhe, the third-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, and also serves the spa town of Baden-Baden. It is the stat ...

Twin towns – sister cities

Weinheim is twinned with: *

Anet Anet () is a commune in the Eure-et-Loir department in the Centre-Val de Loire region of north-central France. It lies 14 km north-northeast of Dreux between the rivers Eure and Vesgre, the latter flowing into the former some 4 km n ...

, France *

Cavaillon Cavaillon (; ) is a commune in the Vaucluse department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France.

, France *

Eisleben Eisleben is a town in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. It is famous as both the hometown of the influential theologian Martin Luther and the place where he died; hence, its official name is Lutherstadt Eisleben. First mentioned in the late 10th century ...

, Germany *

Imola Imola (; or ) is a city and ''comune'' in the Metropolitan City of Bologna, located on the river Santerno, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. The city is traditionally considered the western entrance to the historical region Romagna ...

, Italy *

Ramat Gan Ramat Gan (, ) is a city in the Tel Aviv District of Israel, located east of the municipality of Tel Aviv, and is part of the Gush Dan, Gush Dan metropolitan area. It is home to a Diamond Exchange District (one of the world's major diamond exch ...

, Israel * Varces-Allières-et-Risset, France

Population

These are the population figures for particular years. There are drawn from guesses, Volkszählungsergebnisse'' (semi-official figures, demarcated by a ¹) and official statistics based on place of residence (

Hauptwohnsitz In German-speaking countries, Hauptwohnsitz () denotes the Primary residence, primary place of residence. In Germany and Austria, the concept of Hauptwohnsitz has special legal ramifications, primarily involving tax. In Austria the Hauptwohnsitz

). ¹ These are taken from a Volkszählungsergebnis.

Notable people

Federico Rauch Federico Rauch (né ''Friedrich Rauch'') (Weinheim, Electoral Palatinate, 1790 – Las Vizcacheras, Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making ...

(1786–1829), colonel who fought and died in Argentina *

Heinrich Hübsch Heinrich Hübsch (9 February 1795 – 3 April 1863) was a German architect. After studies in Heidelberg (1813–15) and at Friedrich Weinbrenner's school of architecture in Karlsruhe (1815–17) he traveled extensively in Greece and Italy (181 ...

(1795–1863), a German architect, head of public works in Karlsruhe * Philipp Bickel, (DE Wiki) (1829–1914), baptist theologian and publisher * Valentine Dell (1829-1885), newspaper editor, publisher, politician and

U.S. marshal The United States Marshals Service (USMS) is a federal law enforcement agency in the United States. The Marshals Service serves as the enforcement and security arm of the U.S. federal judiciary. It is an agency of the U.S. Department of Jus ...

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

. * August Bender, (DE Wiki) (1847–1926), chemist and entrepreneur * Wilhelm Platz, (DE Wiki) (1866–1929), author and factory owner * Richard Freudenberg (1892–1975), politician (FDP) *

Erwin Linder Erwin Linder (1903–1968) was a German stage, film and television actor.Meyer p.76 Selected filmography * '' Only One Night'' (1950) * '' Klettermaxe'' (1952) * '' Dreaming Lips'' (1953) * '' Wedding in Transit'' (1953) * '' Don't Forget Love'' ...

(1903–1968), a German stage, film and TV actor. *

Hartmut K. Lichtenthaler Hartmut K. Lichtenthaler (born 20 June 1934 in Weinheim, Germany) is a German botanist, plant physiologist and university professor. Life Hartmut Lichtenthaler studied pharmacy, biology and chemistry at the University of Karlsruhe (TH). In 195 ...

(born 1934), botanist, plant physiologist and university professor. *

Werner Andreas Albert Werner Andreas Albert (10 January 1935 – 10 November 2019) was a German-born Australian conductor. Personal life Albert was born in Weinheim. He began his studies in musicology and history, and later studied conducting with Herbert von Karaja ...

(1935–2019), an Australian conductor. * Valentino Bellucci (1975–2021), an Italian philosopher, sociologist, poet, painter and essayist.

Sport

Heidi Mohr Heidi Mohr (29 May 1967 – 7 February 2019) was a German association football, footballer who played as a forward (association football), forward. She was renowned for her speed and her ability to shoot with both feet. In 1999 she was voted Eur ...

(born 1967), footballer, played 104 games for Germany women *

Ralf Sonn Ralf Sonn (born 17 January 1967 in Weinheim) is a retired German high jumper. His personal best, achieved during the indoor season in March 1991 in Berlin, was 2.39 metres. Only five athletes ( Sotomayor, Thränhardt, Sjöberg, Conway and Holm) ...

(born 1967), high jumper * Sven Barth (born 1980), racing driver * Stefan Zinnow (born 1980), a former footballer who played 276 games

Worked in the town

* Karl Friedrich Bender, (DE Wiki) (1806–1869), theologian, teacher, principal of the ''Erziehungsanstalt für Knaben'' (boys' school) *

Ingrid Noll Ingrid Noll (married name Ingrid Gullatz, born 29 September 1935 in Shanghai) is a German thriller writer. She has written several novels, including ''Head Count'' (''Die Häupter meiner Lieben''), ''Hell Hath No Fury'' (''Der Hahn ist tot'') ...

(born 1935), a German thriller writer, (e.g. ''Die Apothekerin''), lived in Weinheim * Markus Kuhn (born 1986), NFL player

Honorary citizens

The town of Weinheim has made the following people honorary citizens (''Ehrenbürger''): *1894: Carl Johann Freudenberg, ''Geheimer Kommerzienrat'' (royal economist) *1904: Erhard Bissinger,

Consul general A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

*1913: Aute Bode, chief engineer and the architect behind the

*1918: Hermann Ernst Freudenberg, ''Geheimer Kommerzienrat'' (royal economist) *1922: Georg Friedrich Vogler, vice-mayor *1923: Adam Karrillon, doctor and author *1928:

Emil Hartmann Emil Hartmann (1 February 1836–18 July 1898) was a Danish composer of the romantic period, fourth generation of composers in the Danish Hartmann musical family. His music is distinctly Nordic and tuneful and won great popularity in his t ...

, construction engineer *1928: Prof. Arthur Wienkoop, Architect *1933:

Paul von Hindenburg Paul Ludwig Hans Anton von Beneckendorff und von Hindenburg (2 October 1847 – 2 August 1934) was a German military and political leader who led the Imperial German Army during the First World War and later became President of Germany (1919� ...

, German PresidentFor those made honorary citizens in 1933, see Heinz Keller: ''Weinheim 1933-1945 − Zeitskizzen.'' in: Stadt Weinheim (Hrsg.): ''Die Stadt Weinheim zwischen 1933 und 1945.'' (= ''Weinheimer Geschichtsblatt Nr. 38''), Weinheim 2000, , S. 13f. *1940: Georg Peter Nickel, agriculturist *1949: Richard Freudenberg, factory owner *1953: Hans Freudenberg, factory owner *1954:

Sepp Herberger Josef "Sepp" Herberger (28 March 1897 – 28 April 1977) was a German football player and manager. He is most famous for being the manager of the West Germany national team that won the 1954 FIFA World Cup final, a match later dubbed '' The Mir ...

, sports trainer, trainer of the German

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

winning side of 1954 *1962: Wilhelm Brück, Lord Mayor *1986: Theo Gießelmann, Lord Mayor *2004: Dieter Freudenberg, factory owner *2004: Wolfgang Daffinger, mayor, representative in the

Landtag A ''Landtag'' (State Diet) is generally the legislative assembly or parliament of a federated state or other subnational self-governing entity in German-speaking nations. It is usually a unicameral assembly exercising legislative competence ...

*2005: Uwe Kleefoot, Lord Mayor *2011: Hans-Werner Hector, mathematician *2011: Josephine Hector, city patron *2023:

, author

References

External links

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