Freinsheim
Encyclopedia
Freinsheim is a town in the Bad Dürkheim
district in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
. With about 5,000 inhabitants, it is among the state’s smaller towns. It is also the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde
, a kind of collective municipality.
at the eastern edge of the Palatinate forest, roughly 20 km west of Ludwigshafen between Bad Dürkheim
(about 6 km to the southwest) and Grünstadt
near the German Wine Route. Within town limits rises the Fuchsbach.
finds, Freinsheim’s municipal area has been continuously settled by human beings for roughly 5,000 years. An organized community likely existed beginning in the 6th century, as witnessed by the discovery of a Merovingian
linear graveyard. Freinsheim had its first documentary mention in 773 in the Weißenburg Monastery’s records (this place is now Wissembourg
in Alsace
, France
).
In the 15th century, Freinsheim passed to Electoral Palatinate, under whose care the existing fortifications were completed. The town wall’s most recent building work is the äußeres Eisentor (“outer iron gate”), finished in 1514. In 1689, Freinsheim sustained heavy destruction in the Nine Years' War (known in Germany as the Pfälzischer Erbfolgekrieg, or War of the Palatine Succession); only foundations were left standing. In the 18th century came reconstruction. Administrative functions within Electoral Palatinate (such as the institution of an Unteramt) helped bring about an economic upswing. After the French Revolution
and the Congress of Vienna
, Freinsheim passed to the Kingdom of Bavaria
along with the rest of the Palatinate on the Rhine’s left bank. Until 1818, Freinsheim belonged to a Ganerbschaft (a kind of condominium
), which comprised the Leiningen villages of Leistadt, Herxheim am Berg
and Kallstadt
as well as the Electoral Palatinate villages of Freinsheim and Weisenheim am Sand
.
A small number of immigrants are known to have moved from Freinsheim to Pennsylvania
in the 18th century.
After the Second World War, Freinsheim belonged to the newly founded federal state
of Rhineland-Palatinate
. It has been seat of the Verbandsgemeinde
since 1972. With effect from 23 June 1979, given its historical importance, the Rhineland-Palatinate Landtag bestowed the title Stadt (“town”) upon Freinsheim.
The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
might be described thus: Per fess azure a demi-lion rampant sinister Or armed, langued and crowned gules and argent an uppercase letter F of the third between two bunches of grapes in fess of the first.
The crowned lion symbolizes the historical connection with Electoral Palatinate, since this charge
was that state’s emblem (although it is halved here), while the F is, of course, the town’s initial. The two bunches of blue grapes stand for the local winegrowing, which began quite early on with red wine varieties, which nowadays take up almost half of the cultivated vineyard area within the town.
The town’s earliest seal comes from the early 15th century, and shows the arms borne by the local fiefholders, the Lords of Meckenheim. However, the current arms are based on the town’s second seal, dating from 1446. Some versions since that time have shown roses instead of the grapes that appear now.
Historically, the Palatine Lion should be shown on a sable (black) field. When these arms were granted, though, the tincture
s were not the traditional Palatine ones, but rather the Bavarian ones, as the town was part of the Kingdom of Bavaria
at the time.
The arms have been borne since 1845.
, Dackenheim
, Erpolzheim
, Herxheim am Berg
, Kallstadt
, Weisenheim am Berg
and Weisenheim am Sand
.
, Saône-et-Loire
, France
Buttstädt
, Sömmerda
, Thuringia
, Hilde Domin
, Carola Stern, Marcel Reich-Ranicki
and Marion Gräfin Dönhoff.
town wall with its towers and gates, which has been almost wholly preserved and is roughly 1 300 m long. It forms the basis of the town’s historical appearance. Worthiest of note is the outer gate at the Eisentor (“Iron Gate”) with its flanking towers and Electoral Palatinate coat of arms. The heart of the town is extraordinarily well restored.
Evangelical
The old main church of Freinsheim was, until its destruction in 1689, probably a Late Gothic hall church. Today it has a flat ceiling. The lower floor of the tower is still Romanesque
.
’s biggest winegrowing centres. Because of the historic Old Town, meanwhile, tourism
has also grown into an important economic factor.
–Grünstadt
) and the Freinsheim–Frankenthal railway line, affording direct links towards Neustadt
, Frankenthal
and, by way of Grünstadt
, to Monsheim
or Ramsen
.
From both Neustadt and Frankenthal run long-distance links towards Mannheim, Saarbrücken and Mainz
.
Over the nearby Bundesstraße
271, Freinsheim is linked to the Autobahnen A 6
(Mannheim
–Saarbrücken
), A 61
(Koblenz
–Speyer
) and A 65
(Ludwigshafen–Karlsruhe
).
Except on the main thoroughfares (Landesstraßen, or State Roads), the whole town is either a 30 km/h zone or a zone with traffic-calming measures in place.
Bad Dürkheim (district)
Bad Dürkheim is a district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Kaiserslautern, Donnersbergkreis and Alzey-Worms, the city of Worms, the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, the city of Neustadt/Weinstraße, the districts of Südliche Weinstraße, the city of Landau , the district...
district in Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. With about 5,000 inhabitants, it is among the state’s smaller towns. It is also the seat of the like-named Verbandsgemeinde
Freinsheim (Verbandsgemeinde)
Freinsheim is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district of Bad Dürkheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Freinsheim....
, a kind of collective municipality.
Geography
Freinsheim lies in the Upper Rhine PlainUpper Rhine Plain
The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben is a major rift, straddling the border between France and Germany. It forms part of the European Cenozoic Rift System, which extends across central Europe...
at the eastern edge of the Palatinate forest, roughly 20 km west of Ludwigshafen between Bad Dürkheim
Bad Dürkheim
Bad Dürkheim is a spa town in the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration, and is the seat of the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
(about 6 km to the southwest) and Grünstadt
Grünstadt
Grünstadt is a town in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with roughly 13,200 inhabitants. It does not belong to any Verbandsgemeinde – a kind of collective municipality – but is nonetheless the administrative seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Grünstadt-Land.- Location :The...
near the German Wine Route. Within town limits rises the Fuchsbach.
History
As established by various archaeologicalArchaeology
Archaeology, or archeology , is the study of human society, primarily through the recovery and analysis of the material culture and environmental data that they have left behind, which includes artifacts, architecture, biofacts and cultural landscapes...
finds, Freinsheim’s municipal area has been continuously settled by human beings for roughly 5,000 years. An organized community likely existed beginning in the 6th century, as witnessed by the discovery of a Merovingian
Merovingian dynasty
The Merovingians were a Salian Frankish dynasty that came to rule the Franks in a region largely corresponding to ancient Gaul from the middle of the 5th century. Their politics involved frequent civil warfare among branches of the family...
linear graveyard. Freinsheim had its first documentary mention in 773 in the Weißenburg Monastery’s records (this place is now Wissembourg
Wissembourg
Wissembourg is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in northeastern France.It is situated on the little River Lauter close to the border between France and Germany approximately north of Strasbourg and west of Karlsruhe. Wissembourg is a sub-prefecture of the department...
in Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
).
In the 15th century, Freinsheim passed to Electoral Palatinate, under whose care the existing fortifications were completed. The town wall’s most recent building work is the äußeres Eisentor (“outer iron gate”), finished in 1514. In 1689, Freinsheim sustained heavy destruction in the Nine Years' War (known in Germany as the Pfälzischer Erbfolgekrieg, or War of the Palatine Succession); only foundations were left standing. In the 18th century came reconstruction. Administrative functions within Electoral Palatinate (such as the institution of an Unteramt) helped bring about an economic upswing. After the French Revolution
French Revolution
The French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
and the Congress of Vienna
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna was a conference of ambassadors of European states chaired by Klemens Wenzel von Metternich, and held in Vienna from September, 1814 to June, 1815. The objective of the Congress was to settle the many issues arising from the French Revolutionary Wars, the Napoleonic Wars,...
, Freinsheim passed to the Kingdom of Bavaria
Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Bavarian Elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach became the first King of Bavaria in 1806 as Maximilian I Joseph. The monarchy would remain held by the Wittelsbachs until the kingdom's dissolution in 1918...
along with the rest of the Palatinate on the Rhine’s left bank. Until 1818, Freinsheim belonged to a Ganerbschaft (a kind of condominium
Condominium (international law)
In international law, a condominium is a political territory in or over which two or more sovereign powers formally agree to share equally dominium and exercise their rights jointly, without dividing it up into 'national' zones.Although a condominium has always been...
), which comprised the Leiningen villages of Leistadt, Herxheim am Berg
Herxheim am Berg
Herxheim am Berg is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
and Kallstadt
Kallstadt
Kallstadt is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :Kallstadt lies on the German Wine Route...
as well as the Electoral Palatinate villages of Freinsheim and Weisenheim am Sand
Weisenheim am Sand
Weisenheim am Sand is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
.
A small number of immigrants are known to have moved from Freinsheim to Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania is a U.S. state that is located in the Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States. The state borders Delaware and Maryland to the south, West Virginia to the southwest, Ohio to the west, New York and Ontario, Canada, to the north, and New Jersey to...
in the 18th century.
After the Second World War, Freinsheim belonged to the newly founded federal state
States of Germany
Germany is made up of sixteen which are partly sovereign constituent states of the Federal Republic of Germany. Land literally translates as "country", and constitutionally speaking, they are constituent countries...
of Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate is one of the 16 states of the Federal Republic of Germany. It has an area of and about four million inhabitants. The capital is Mainz. English speakers also commonly refer to the state by its German name, Rheinland-Pfalz ....
. It has been seat of the Verbandsgemeinde
Verbandsgemeinde
A Verbandsgemeinde is an administrative unit in the German Bundesländer of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt.-Rhineland-Palatinate:...
since 1972. With effect from 23 June 1979, given its historical importance, the Rhineland-Palatinate Landtag bestowed the title Stadt (“town”) upon Freinsheim.
Town council
The council is made up of 20 council members, who were elected at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman.The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
| SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
CDU | FDP Free Democratic Party (Germany) The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government... |
FWG Free Voters Free Voters is a German concept in which an association of persons participates in an election without having the status of a registered political party. Usually it is a locally organized group of voters in the form of a registered association . In most cases, Free Voters are active only at the... |
Total | |
| 2009 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 5 | 20 seats |
| 2004 | 8 | 7 | 1 | 4 | 20 seats |
Coat of arms
The town’s armsCoat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
might be described thus: Per fess azure a demi-lion rampant sinister Or armed, langued and crowned gules and argent an uppercase letter F of the third between two bunches of grapes in fess of the first.
The crowned lion symbolizes the historical connection with Electoral Palatinate, since this charge
Charge (heraldry)
In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an escutcheon . This may be a geometric design or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object or other device...
was that state’s emblem (although it is halved here), while the F is, of course, the town’s initial. The two bunches of blue grapes stand for the local winegrowing, which began quite early on with red wine varieties, which nowadays take up almost half of the cultivated vineyard area within the town.
The town’s earliest seal comes from the early 15th century, and shows the arms borne by the local fiefholders, the Lords of Meckenheim. However, the current arms are based on the town’s second seal, dating from 1446. Some versions since that time have shown roses instead of the grapes that appear now.
Historically, the Palatine Lion should be shown on a sable (black) field. When these arms were granted, though, the tincture
Tincture (heraldry)
In heraldry, tinctures are the colours used to emblazon a coat of arms. These can be divided into several categories including light tinctures called metals, dark tinctures called colours, nonstandard colours called stains, furs, and "proper". A charge tinctured proper is coloured as it would be...
s were not the traditional Palatine ones, but rather the Bavarian ones, as the town was part of the Kingdom of Bavaria
Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria was a German state that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Bavarian Elector Maximilian IV Joseph of the House of Wittelsbach became the first King of Bavaria in 1806 as Maximilian I Joseph. The monarchy would remain held by the Wittelsbachs until the kingdom's dissolution in 1918...
at the time.
The arms have been borne since 1845.
Verbandsgemeinde
As seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Freinsheim, Freinsheim is home to its administration. Belonging to the Verbandsgemeinde are the municipalities of Bobenheim am BergBobenheim am Berg
Bobenheim am Berg is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
, Dackenheim
Dackenheim
Dackenheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
, Erpolzheim
Erpolzheim
Erpolzheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
, Herxheim am Berg
Herxheim am Berg
Herxheim am Berg is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
, Kallstadt
Kallstadt
Kallstadt is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :Kallstadt lies on the German Wine Route...
, Weisenheim am Berg
Weisenheim am Berg
Weisenheim am Berg is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :The municipality lies on the edge of the Haardt range in the Palatinate...
and Weisenheim am Sand
Weisenheim am Sand
Weisenheim am Sand is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
.
Town partnerships
Freinsheim fosters partnerships with the following places: MarcignyMarcigny
Marcigny is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.It is where Adela of Normandy, Countess of Blois, mother of King Stephen of England died in or around 1137.-References:*...
, Saône-et-Loire
Saône-et-Loire
Saône-et-Loire is a French department, named after the Saône and the Loire rivers between which it lies.-History:When it was formed during the French Revolution, as of March 4, 1790 in fulfillment of the law of December 22, 1789, the new department combined parts of the provinces of southern...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
Buttstädt
Buttstädt
Buttstädt is a town in the district of Sömmerda, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated 16 km northeast of Weimar....
, Sömmerda
Sömmerda (district)
Sömmerda is a Kreis in the north of Thuringia, Germany. Neighboring districts are the districts Kyffhäuserkreis, the Burgenlandkreis in Saxony-Anhalt, the district Weimarer Land and the district-free city Erfurt, and the districts Gotha and Unstrut-Hainich.-History:The district Sömmerda was...
, Thuringia
Thuringia
The Free State of Thuringia is a state of Germany, located in the central part of the country.It has an area of and 2.29 million inhabitants, making it the sixth smallest by area and the fifth smallest by population of Germany's sixteen states....
Literature prize
In memory of one of Freinsheim’s most important citizens, the Hermann-Sinsheimer-Preis has been awarded since 1983. Prizewinners thus far have been, among others, Siegfried LenzSiegfried Lenz
Siegfried Lenz is a German writer, who has written novels and produced several collections of short stories, essays, and plays for radio and the theatre. He was awarded the Goethe Prize in Frankfurt-am-Main on the 250th Anniversary of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's birth...
, Hilde Domin
Hilde Domin
Hilde Domin , whose real name was Hilde Palm , was a German lyric poet and writer. She was amongst the most important German-language poets of her time.-Biography:...
, Carola Stern, Marcel Reich-Ranicki
Marcel Reich-Ranicki
Marcel Reich-Ranicki is a Polish-born German literary critic and member of the literary group Gruppe 47. He is regarded as one of the most influential contemporary literary critics in the field of German literature and therefore was in Germany often called the 'Pope of literature' .-Life:Marcel...
and Marion Gräfin Dönhoff.
Buildings
Town wall
A particularity of Freinsheim is the Late GothicGothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
town wall with its towers and gates, which has been almost wholly preserved and is roughly 1 300 m long. It forms the basis of the town’s historical appearance. Worthiest of note is the outer gate at the Eisentor (“Iron Gate”) with its flanking towers and Electoral Palatinate coat of arms. The heart of the town is extraordinarily well restored.
EvangelicalEvangelical Church in GermanyThe Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
parish church
The old main church of Freinsheim was, until its destruction in 1689, probably a Late Gothic hall church. Today it has a flat ceiling. The lower floor of the tower is still RomanesqueRomanesque architecture
Romanesque architecture is an architectural style of Medieval Europe characterised by semi-circular arches. There is no consensus for the beginning date of the Romanesque architecture, with proposals ranging from the 6th to the 10th century. It developed in the 12th century into the Gothic style,...
.
Former castle
The moated castle, which was held by Electoral Palatinate beginning in 1471, lies outside the town wall. The round moat is still filled with water today. The main building standing today is a private house from the early 19th century.Wayside shrine
In the vineyards on the road to Ungstein stands a Late Gothic Bildstock with a Crucifixion group in a frame with a pointed arch. It bears the name Schwarzes Kreuz (“Black Cross”), after which one of Freinsheim’s wineries has named itself.West tower
The Romanesque Westturm at the mountain graveyard south of and somewhat outside the town is a former entrance tower to the likewise Romanesque Chapel of Our Lady on the Mountain. Forms on the west portal suggest an origin in the mid 11th century. The original roofing is no longer present.Rotweinwanderweg
The Rotweinwanderweg (“Red Wine Trail”) is held on the fourth weekend in January. It opens on the Friday at dusk with a torchlight hike on which log torches (Schwedenfeuer) are made. On the Saturday and Sunday, the hiking takes place in the daytime, during which local winemakers along the trail through the vineyards around Freinsheim offer hikers selected red wines and dishes to go with them.Freinsheimer Altstadtfest
Each year on the first weekend in June, the Freinsheim Old Town Festival is held. Its motto is Wein und Kultur auf historischen Plätzen (“Wine and culture on historic squares”). In this, the town of Freinsheim places much importance on sophisticated cultural performances, which are then presented at the marketplace, the Retzerhof or the Saarhof. As a rule, the festival lasts from Friday to Sunday.Stadtmauerfest
The Town Wall Festival held on the third weekend in July in the historic gate is among the region’s biggest wine festivals.Kulinarischer Weinwanderweg
The Culinary Wine Trail is held on the fourth weekend in September, running through the town’s vineyards. Winemakers and gastronomical businesses offer traditional Palatine cooking, Mediterranean dishes, wine and Federweisser.Weihnachtsmarkt
The Christmas Market on the four weekends in Advent attracts visitors with its Nativity scene, in which living animals are used.Economy
Although winegrowing has been edging fruitgrowing out as the town’s main agricultural endeavour since the mid 20th century, the town is nevertheless still the seat of one of Germany’s great fruit juice producers. Today, Freinsheim is among the PalatinatePalatinate (wine region)
Palatinate is a German wine-growing region in the area of Bad Dürkheim, Neustadt an der Weinstraße, and Landau in Rhineland-Palatinate. Before 1993, it was known as Rhine Palatinate . With under cultivation in 2008, the region is the second largest wine region in Germany after Rheinhessen...
’s biggest winegrowing centres. Because of the historic Old Town, meanwhile, tourism
Tourism
Tourism is travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. The World Tourism Organization defines tourists as people "traveling to and staying in places outside their usual environment for not more than one consecutive year for leisure, business and other purposes".Tourism has become a...
has also grown into an important economic factor.
Transport
Freinsheim railway station is at the junction of the Pfälzische Nordbahn (Bad DürkheimBad Dürkheim
Bad Dürkheim is a spa town in the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration, and is the seat of the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
–Grünstadt
Grünstadt
Grünstadt is a town in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with roughly 13,200 inhabitants. It does not belong to any Verbandsgemeinde – a kind of collective municipality – but is nonetheless the administrative seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Grünstadt-Land.- Location :The...
) and the Freinsheim–Frankenthal railway line, affording direct links towards Neustadt
Neustadt an der Weinstraße
Neustadt an der Weinstraße is a town located in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With 53,892 inhabitants as of 2002, it is the largest town called Neustadt.-Etymology:...
, Frankenthal
Frankenthal
Frankenthal is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.- History :Frankenthal was first mentioned in 772. In 1119 an Augustinian monastery was built here, the ruins of which — known, after the founder, as the Erkenbertruine — still stand today in the town...
and, by way of Grünstadt
Grünstadt
Grünstadt is a town in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with roughly 13,200 inhabitants. It does not belong to any Verbandsgemeinde – a kind of collective municipality – but is nonetheless the administrative seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Grünstadt-Land.- Location :The...
, to Monsheim
Monsheim
Monsheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Alzey-Worms district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
or Ramsen
Ramsen
Ramsen is a municipality in the canton of Schaffhausen in northern Switzerland.-Coat of arms:The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Azure three Ears of Wheat leaved Or issuant from a Mount of the same.-Geography:...
.
From both Neustadt and Frankenthal run long-distance links towards Mannheim, Saarbrücken and Mainz
Mainz
Mainz under the Holy Roman Empire, and previously was a Roman fort city which commanded the west bank of the Rhine and formed part of the northernmost frontier of the Roman Empire...
.
Over the nearby Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
271, Freinsheim is linked to the Autobahnen A 6
Bundesautobahn 6
, also known as Via Carolina is a 477 km long German autobahn. It starts at the French border near Saarbrücken in the west and end at the Czech border near Waidhaus in the east....
(Mannheim
Mannheim
Mannheim is a city in southwestern Germany. With about 315,000 inhabitants, Mannheim is the second-largest city in the Bundesland of Baden-Württemberg, following the capital city of Stuttgart....
–Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken is the capital of the state of Saarland in Germany. The city is situated at the heart of a metropolitan area that borders on the west on Dillingen and to the north-east on Neunkirchen, where most of the people of the Saarland live....
), A 61
Bundesautobahn 61
is an autobahn in Germany that connects the border to the Netherlands near Venlo in the northwest to the interchange with A 6 near Hockenheim. In 1965, this required a re-design of the Hockenheimring....
(Koblenz
Koblenz
Koblenz is a German city situated on both banks of the Rhine at its confluence with the Moselle, where the Deutsches Eck and its monument are situated.As Koblenz was one of the military posts established by Drusus about 8 BC, the...
–Speyer
Speyer
Speyer is a city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located beside the river Rhine, Speyer is 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities...
) and A 65
Bundesautobahn 65
is an autobahn in southwestern Germany. The newest section, between Neustadt and Landau, was opened only in the early 1990s.Plans to build a final stretch between Kandel or Wörth am Rhein and the French autoroute towards Haguenau and Strasbourg were not implemented during the 1990s when the focus...
(Ludwigshafen–Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
).
Except on the main thoroughfares (Landesstraßen, or State Roads), the whole town is either a 30 km/h zone or a zone with traffic-calming measures in place.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Jacob Gottfried Weber (1779–1839), trained jurist, was a musician at the Mannheim Conservatory.
- Philipp Lorenz Geiger (1785–1836), chemist and pharmacist
- Philipp Tillmann (1809–?), politician
- Philipp MerklePhilipp MerklePhilipp Merkle, also known as Philip Merkle and Philip Merkel, was a prominent German-American Freethinker and preacher in New York in the nineteenth century who was active as a Masonic leader and also co-founded two influential German-American fraternal societies, one of which...
(1811–1899), German-American Freethinker and preacher - Hermann Sinsheimer (1883–1950), journalist and jurist, was editor-in-chief of SimplicissimusSimplicissimusSimplicissimus was a satirical German weekly magazine started by Albert Langen in April 1896 and published through 1967, with a hiatus from 1944-1954. It became a biweekly in 1964...
; in his honour Freinsheim awards the Hermann-Sinsheimer-Preis. In his Am Schwarzen Kreuz (“At the Black Cross”) stories, Sinsheimer wrote down his memories of his childhood in Freinsheim. - Franz Lind (1900–1966), painter and sculptor
- Manfred Scherer (1951– ), politician (CDU)
Famous people associated with the town
- Emil Bert Hartwig (1907–1996), painter, student of the master Paul Klee, lived in Freinsheim and died there.
- Friedrich Jossé (1897–1994), painter and graphic artist, grew up in Freinsheim.
Further reading
- Hermann Sinsheimer: Gelebt im Paradies, Beschreibung einer Kindheit und Jugend im Freinsheim des ausgehenden 19. Jahrhunderts. München 1953, ISBN 3-87629-099-6
- Alexander Thon: Freinsheim. In: Jürgen Keddigkeit (Hrsg.): Pfälzisches Burgenlexikon. Beiträge zur pfälzischen Geschichte Bd. 12/2, Institut für Pfälzische Geschichte und Volkskunde, Kaiserslautern 2002, S. 135–139, ISBN 3-927754-48-X.
- Clemens Jöckle: Freinsheim. Schnell & Steiner, Regensburg 1998
- Eduard Finke: " Die romanischen Kirchtürme in der Pfalz", Mainz 1994, ISBN 3-929135-03-5.