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-Stadt", the "town of two castles", after two fortresses overlooking the town from the edge of the Odenwald in the east.
Geography
Weinheim is situated on the Bergstraße
theme route on the western rim of the
Odenwald. 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 record book of Lorsch Abbey.
In 1000, Emperor Otto III 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 and from 1368 the whole town belonged to the Electorate. From the end of the 14th century, the whole town belonged to the Heidelberg Oberamt district. With the transfer to Baden in 1803, Weinheim became the seat of its own Amt, until unification with the Mannheim Landkreis (district) in 1936. Weinheim has been within the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis since its formation on 1 January 1973.
A Jewish community in Weinheim is recorded from 1228. There are records of Jewish persecution in 1298 (Rintfleisch massacres) and 1348–49 (Black Death persecutions) before the Jews were expelled from Weinheim in 1391. The Weinheim Jewish community began to grow again during the Thirty Years' War. There was a synagogue, a beth midrash, and a mikveh, and, in the 19th century, a school for boys together with a teacher-training college. The synagogue was destroyed in the Kristallnacht (9–10 November 1938) and the last remaining Jews were sent to Gurs on 22 October 1940.
Local attractions
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Windeck Castle, originally built around 1100 to protect the Lorsch monastery; it was badly damaged in the Thirty Years' War and again by Louis XIV of France in the Nine Years' War.
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Wachenburg Castle, built between 1907 and 1928 by German Student Corps fraternities; the annual convention of the Weinheimer Senioren-Convent is held at the Wachenburg.
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The Market Square
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The Schloss, home of the town council
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Gerberbach Quarter, the former tanning district
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Schlosspark
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Waidsee Lido (Strandbad Waidsee), swimming beach on the Waidsee artificial lake
-
Miramar (Weinheim) thermal spa and sauna complex, next to the Waidsee lake
-
Exotenwald Weinheim, a forest arboretum
-
Schau- und Sichtungsgarten Hermannshof, a botanical garden
Museum
Weinheim's town museum occupies the former local headquarters of the
Teutonic Order and holds exhibits about Weinheim and its surroundings. Exhibits include
archaeology from the prehistoric through to the Merovingian dynasty, the highlight of which is the Nächstenbach bronze hoard of 76 objects from the
Urnfield culture, and displays documenting the medieval and modern social history of the town together with works from contemporary artists.
Events
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February: High-jump Gala, with world class high-jumpers
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March: the Sommertagszug, a festival celebrating the coming of summer.
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May/June (near Ascension Day): day of the Weinheimer Senioren-Convents
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June–August: Weinheim's summer of culture
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June: Scheuerfest (barn party) in Ritschweier
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July: the Weinheim road race
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May–September: Kerwes in Rippenweier, Sulzbach, Lützelsachsen, Oberflockenbach und Hohensachsen
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August (second weekend, Friday-Monday): Weinheim's Kerwe
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September (first Friday-Sunday): Weinheimer UKW-Tagung, a three-day international amateur radio meeting held annually since 1956
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October: Bergsträßer Winzerfest (lit. "mountain-road vintner festival") in Lützelsachsen
Economy
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Freudenberg Group
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Wiley-VCH publishers
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SAP SE
Transport
Trains
Weinheim has two main train stations on the Main-Neckar Railway: Weinheim (Bergstraße) station (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.
Weinheim is also served by the OEG tramway, which visits the town on the journey between Mannheim and Heidelberg.
Air
The closest airports to Weinheim are:
Twin towns – sister cities
Weinheim is
Sister city with:
Population
Population figures are made up of a combination of official estimations,
Volkszählungsergebnisse (semi-official figures, demarcated by a ¹), and official statistics based on place of residence (
Hauptwohnsitz) registrations.
| { | ! style="background:#efefef;" Year
! style="background:#efefef;" | Population |
| 1,780 |
| 1,774 |
| 4,039 |
| 5,000 |
| 6,350 |
| 7,159 |
| 8,243 |
| 11,167 |
| 14,170 |
| 14,550 |
| 15,793 |
| 17,486 |
| 18,561 |
| valign="top" |
|
| 19,944 |
| 25,199 |
| 27,859 |
| 29,670 |
| 41,005 |
| 41,654 |
| 41,934 |
| 42,241 |
| 42,812 |
| 42,520 |
| 43,417 |
| 42,745 |
| 43,014 |
| 44,928 |
| 45,174 |
| 45,311 |
| 45,462 |
| 45,581 |
| 45,497 |
| 45,321 |
| 45,417 |
| 45,524 |
| 45,574 |
|}
¹ These are taken from a Volkszählungsergebnis.
Notable people
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Federico Rauch (1786–1829), colonel who fought and died in Argentina
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Heinrich Hübsch (1795–1863), a German architect, head of public works in Karlsruhe
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Philipp Bickel, (1829–1914), baptist theologian and publisher
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Valentine Dell (1829-1885), newspaper editor, publisher, politician and U.S. marshal in Arkansas.
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August Bender, (1847–1926), chemist and entrepreneur
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Wilhelm Platz, (1866–1929), author and factory owner
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Richard Freudenberg (1892–1975), politician (FDP)
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Erwin Linder (1903–1968), a German stage, film and TV actor.
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Hartmut K. Lichtenthaler (born 1934), botanist, plant physiologist and university professor.
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Werner Andreas Albert (1935–2019), an Australian conductor.
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Valentino Bellucci (1975–2021), an Italian philosopher, sociologist, poet, painter and essayist.
Sport
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Heidi Mohr (born 1967), footballer, played 104 games for Germany women's national team
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Ralf Sonn (born 1967), high jumper
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Sven Barth (born 1980), racing driver
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Stefan Zinnow (born 1980), a former footballer who played 276 games
Worked in the town
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Karl Friedrich Bender, (1806–1869), theologian, teacher, principal of the Erziehungsanstalt für Knaben (boys' school)
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Ingrid Noll (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
-
1913: Aute Bode, chief engineer and the architect behind the Wachenburg
-
1918: Hermann Ernst Freudenberg, Geheimer Kommerzienrat (royal economist)
-
1922: Georg Friedrich Vogler, vice-mayor
-
1923: Adam Karrillon, doctor and author
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1928: Emil Hartmann, construction engineer
-
1928: Prof. Arthur Wienkoop, Architect
-
1933: Paul von Hindenburg, German President
[For 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.]
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1940: Georg Peter Nickel, agriculturist
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1949: Richard Freudenberg, factory owner
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1953: Hans Freudenberg, factory owner
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1954: Sepp Herberger, manager of the German World Cup winning side of 1954
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1962: Wilhelm Brück, Lord Mayor
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1986: Theo Gießelmann, Lord Mayor
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2004: Dieter Freudenberg, factory owner
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2004: Wolfgang Daffinger, mayor and representative in the Landtag
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2005: Uwe Kleefoot, Lord Mayor
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2011: Hans-Werner Hector, mathematician
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2011: Josephine Hector, city patron
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2023: Ingrid Noll, author
External links
