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Bad Mergentheim (; Mergentheim until 1926; ) 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 recognized spa town since 1926, Bad Mergentheim is also known as the headquarters of the Teutonic Order from 1526 until 1809.
Following the Order's conquest of East Prussia and part of Livland in the 1230s, in 1309 the Grand Master of the order moved to the Malbork Castle. In 1340 Mergentheim was awarded town privileges. It rapidly became the most important of the eleven commanderies of the Teutonic Order. The Deutschmeister, highest ranking member inside the Holy Roman Empire (to which Prussia did not belong), moved his seat to Mergentheim in 1525 after his castle at Hornberg/Neckar had been destroyed by peasants. That same year, Grand Master Albrecht von Zollern-Brandenburg resigned his position, left the order, introduced Reformation, married and – supported by his liege lord the King of Poland – turned the order's eastern territories into a temporal duchy. The rulers of the order in Germany, now styling themselves Hoch- und Deutschmeister, then made Mergentheim the order's new headquarters and expanded the castle into a palatial residence.
Over the next centuries, the town served as the centre of the order's southern German territories much like the residence town of any ruling prince. Some grand masters, like Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria (1614–62), who in his 21 years in that role never once set foot in the town, were hardly ever present. Others, like Maximilian Franz (1756-1801), a son of Maria Theresa, loved the place. For the order's general chapter in 1791 he brought the orchestra of the Archbishopric of Cologne, including one Ludwig van Beethoven on viola. Mergentheim retained this role until the dissolution of the order in the countries of the Rheinbund in 1809 by Napoleon.. Additional citations: Höring, Das Karlsbad bei Mergentheim (Mergentheim 1887); and Schmitt, Garnisongeschichte der Stadt Mergentheim (Stuttgart, 1895).
Mergentheim's fortunes declined after that but were reversed in 1826, when a shepherd by the name of Franz Gehring discovered rich mineral springs in the surrounding area, during the time when spas were expanding in Germany at a rapid pace. The water turned out to be the strongest sodium sulfate water in Europe, reportedly effective for the treatment of digestive disorders.
In the 1970s during the Gemeindereform (administrative reform) several neighbouring villages were incorporated into the municipality.
The English landscape garden between palace and spa building is mainly due to Archduke Maximilian Franz. In 1797, he had a "mosque" built there to recall the past Turkish threat and in 1802 the Schellenhäusle, a late Chinoiserie. The obelisk was built under Duke Paul von Württemberg, a memorial for a dog that saved his life on one of his expeditions.
The castle complex is dominated by the Schlosskirche (palace church), begun in 1730 under Franz Ludwig Herzog von Pfalz-Neuburg in Baroque style. It was finished in 1735 under Clemens August von Wittelsbach. The plans for the interior were drawn up by François de Cuvilliés, the Electoral court architect of Cologne. Architects working on site were Joseph Roth and Friedrich Kirchenmayer. Its Rococo interior features elaborate ceiling by the court painter , depicting The Defense of Faith, the Glorification of the Cross in Heaven and on Earth and the Emperor Constantine's Vision of the Cross. The main altar painting is Die Salbung Jesu durch Maria in Bethanien by local painter . Side altar paintings were by Giambattista Pittoni ( Kreuzaufnahme, Armenspeisung durch die heilige Elisabeth). The crypt below the church is the burial site of the order's grand masters. For around 200 years the Schlosskirche has been a Protestant church.
Ottmar Mergenthaler Museum In Hachtel, the Ottmar Mergenthaler Museum is located in the old town hall building on Ottmar-Mergenthaler-Straße, which was the birthplace of Ottmar Mergenthaler. The building was re-built in 1954 to celebrate the 100th birth date of the inventor by the Mergenthaler Setzmaschinen-Fabrik company of Germany. Today, the museum hosts guest to view their working Linotype machine on the ground level with artifacts of Ottmar Mergenthaler’s life and invention and another Linotype machine on the second level. It is only open the first Sunday of every month, so planning your visit in advance is advised.
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