Haßloch
Encyclopedia
Haßloch is a municipality
in the Bad Dürkheim
district in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
. Unlike most municipalities in the district, it does not belong to any Verbandsgemeinde
– a kind of collective municipality. It lies near the Mannheim
/Ludwigshafen built-up area. The municipality has grown out of a single centre and is thus sometimes styled “Germany’s biggest village”. Haßloch is the Bad Dürkheim district’s biggest municipality, exceeding even the namesake district seat
. The village has at its disposal well developed infrastructure with educational and shopping facilities; the region’s surrounding centres can in the main be reached within 20 minutes.
and is part of the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration southwest of Mannheim
and Ludwigshafen. It also lies on the Mannheim–Kaiserslautern line. At the municipality’s northern limit runs Autobahn A 65
, and from there it is 25 km to either Ludwigshafen or Mannheim. Haßloch is on the whole a continuous built-up area, although Haßloch’s southeasternmost neighbourhood, the Wehlachsiedlung, lies somewhat apart from the main centre. Literally translated, the German name Hassloch means "Hate Hole".
with settlement activity by the Romans known to have been taking place about AD 400. About 500, the Alamanni
were driven out of the area by the Franks
. The village itself came into being sometime about 600, with its first documentary mention – as Hasalaha – coming in 773 or 774.
In 985, Haßloch was one of the many villages in the region subject to the Salischer Kirchenraub, or “Salian
Church Robbery”, a land grab in which Otto I, Duke of Carinthia
took over ownership of various landholdings formerly belonging to the Weißenburg Monastery (in the town now called Wissembourg
in Alsace
, France
) on the Upper and Middle Rhine.
Sometime between 900 and 1000, Haßloch became an Imperial
Village. In 1186, Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa
spent the night in Haßloch. In 1330, Emperor Louis the Bavarian
pledged Haßloch to Electoral Palatinate, who then in turn pledged three fourths of this pledge to the Counts of Leiningen in the same year.
In 1621, during the Thirty Years' War
, Haßloch was laid waste by the Spaniards
. In 1689, it met the same fate again, more than once, in the Nine Years' War (known in Germany as the Pfälzischer Erbfolgekrieg, or War of the Palatine Succession), this time at the hands of the Spaniards and the French
.
In 1797 came an end to the joint rule by Electoral Palatinate and the Counts of Leiningen. Haßloch – along with the rest of the region – was annexed to France.
In 1815 or 1816, as a result of the Congress of Vienna
, the Leiningen holdings, along with the Palatinate, passed to the Kingdom of Bavaria
, remaining Bavarian until the end of the Second World War. In 1843, the Pfälzische Ludwigsbahn (railway) was built.
In 1945, Haßloch became part of the French Zone of Occupation and the next year, part of the new state
of Rhineland-Palatinate
.
In 1969, the old district of Neustadt an der Weinstraße was abolished and Haßloch was assigned to the newly created district of Bad Dürkheim
.
community. This can even be seen in the church buildings. All the oldest ones – Christuskirche (“Christ Church” or “Church of Christ”), Lutherkirche and Pauluskirche (“Saint Paul’s”) are Evangelical
, whereas only the two newer ones – St. Gallus and St. Ulrich – belong to the Catholic parish.
The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
, he took on a guiding function in the years that followed.
The Youth Municipal Council represents in an advisory capacity the needs and interests of Haßloch’s youths in the municipality, either independently or through the permanent members on the social board and the partnership advisory body. It is supposed to acquaint youth with democratic decision-making structures and awaken interest in civic topics. It is a non-partisan board and is made up of 15 members (as of 2006).
Further activities in which the Youth Municipal Council engages are:
might be described thus: Per fess in chief per pale sable a lion rampant Or armed, langued and crowned gules and azure three eagles displayed argent armed and langued of the third, two in pale in dexter and one in sinister, in base argent the letter S turned backwards of the first.
The arms were designed in 1926 by the Munich Main State Archive and officially conferred in 1938. They show the gold Palatine Lion and next to this the three silver eagles borne as arms by the Counts of Leiningen. The double hook, as it is taken to be, which looks like the letter Ƨ, goes back to a court seal from the time when Haßloch was a pledged holding. Heraldry of the World, quoting another source, furthermore says that the Ƨ is a symbol that was used on “borderstones and decorations” beginning in the 18th century.
, Yvelines
, France
Gebesee
, Sömmerda
, Thuringia
Silifke
, Mersin Province
, Turkey
Wołczyn, Opole Voivodeship
, Poland
The first Haßloch Wine Festival likewise drew many visitors on 17 May 2009, and is to be held again in 2010.
Near Haßloch lies the Holiday Park
, an amusement park
with rides such as the Free Fall Tower (a 70-metre free fall), a log flume
and Expedition GeForce
.
Haßloch has an indoor swimming pool with an outdoor complex, the Badepark (“Bathing Park”), which even has at its disposal a sauna area. Furthermore, there are a horseracing track and several theatre stages in Haßloch.
Throughout the municipal area may be found sporting grounds and areas, even in the forest lying to the south, where, for instance, the Trimm-Dich-Pfad (“Trim-Yourself-Path”) can be found.
In Haßloch stands one of the world’s biggest and most modern drink can
factories, Ball Packaging Europe. Among other things, the first half-litre can (a beer can) was made in Haßloch.
Haßloch, along with the neighbouring municipality of Böhl-Iggelheim
, is also home to one of the 28 “open channels
” in Rhineland-Palatinate
. This regional broadcaster allows communal coverage by citizens for citizens.
name items and consumer products: At Haßloch retailers’ shops, products are available in advance that are only to be introduced into the rest of Germany in the future. On the local cable television
network, specially made commercials for these products are shown, and individual newspapers (such as Hörzu
and Bunte
) are published for Haßloch with special advertisements for the new products. Moreover, some citizens hold cards with barcodes that can be scanned with every purchase so that an individual household’s shopping habits can be tracked.
The Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung (“Company for Consumer Research”, GfK
) can thereby tell how tested products are being received by customers. The research that the GfK does here matches later market data with an accuracy of 90%.
Haßloch was chosen because this place exhibits a population structure that, by various criteria, comes quite close to the German average, for instance in its age structure and social classes. Haßloch’s structure is also midway between a town and a village.
or the RheinNeckar S-Bahn
. S-Bahn
lines S1, S2 – and mornings and evenings S3 and S4 – run every 15 minutes during peak times from Haßloch station.
Municipalities of Germany
Municipalities are the lowest level of territorial division in Germany. This may be the fourth level of territorial division in Germany, apart from those states which include Regierungsbezirke , where municipalities then become the fifth level.-Overview:With more than 3,400,000 inhabitants, the...
in the Bad Dürkheim
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...
. Unlike most municipalities in the district, it does not belong to any Verbandsgemeinde
Verbandsgemeinde
A Verbandsgemeinde is an administrative unit in the German Bundesländer of Rhineland-Palatinate and Saxony-Anhalt.-Rhineland-Palatinate:...
– a kind of collective municipality. It lies near the 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....
/Ludwigshafen built-up area. The municipality has grown out of a single centre and is thus sometimes styled “Germany’s biggest village”. Haßloch is the Bad Dürkheim district’s biggest municipality, exceeding even the namesake district seat
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 :...
. The village has at its disposal well developed infrastructure with educational and shopping facilities; the region’s surrounding centres can in the main be reached within 20 minutes.
Location
Haßloch lies east of Neustadt an der WeinstraßeNeustadt 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:...
and is part of the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration southwest of 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....
and Ludwigshafen. It also lies on the Mannheim–Kaiserslautern line. At the municipality’s northern limit runs Autobahn 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...
, and from there it is 25 km to either Ludwigshafen or Mannheim. Haßloch is on the whole a continuous built-up area, although Haßloch’s southeasternmost neighbourhood, the Wehlachsiedlung, lies somewhat apart from the main centre. Literally translated, the German name Hassloch means "Hate Hole".
History
Haßloch’s beginnings stretch at least as far back as Roman timesAncient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
with settlement activity by the Romans known to have been taking place about AD 400. About 500, the Alamanni
Alamanni
The Alamanni, Allemanni, or Alemanni were originally an alliance of Germanic tribes located around the upper Rhine river . One of the earliest references to them is the cognomen Alamannicus assumed by Roman Emperor Caracalla, who ruled the Roman Empire from 211 to 217 and claimed thereby to be...
were driven out of the area by the Franks
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
. The village itself came into being sometime about 600, with its first documentary mention – as Hasalaha – coming in 773 or 774.
In 985, Haßloch was one of the many villages in the region subject to the Salischer Kirchenraub, or “Salian
Salian dynasty
The Salian dynasty was a dynasty in the High Middle Ages of four German Kings , also known as the Frankish dynasty after the family's origin and role as dukes of Franconia...
Church Robbery”, a land grab in which Otto I, Duke of Carinthia
Otto I, Duke of Carinthia
Otto , called Otto of Worms, was Duke of Carinthia and Margrave of Verona from 978 to 985 and again from 1002 until his death....
took over ownership of various landholdings formerly belonging to the Weißenburg Monastery (in the town now called 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...
) on the Upper and Middle Rhine.
Sometime between 900 and 1000, Haßloch became an Imperial
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a realm that existed from 962 to 1806 in Central Europe.It was ruled by the Holy Roman Emperor. Its character changed during the Middle Ages and the Early Modern period, when the power of the emperor gradually weakened in favour of the princes...
Village. In 1186, Emperor Friedrich I Barbarossa
Frederick I, Holy Roman Emperor
Frederick I Barbarossa was a German Holy Roman Emperor. He was elected King of Germany at Frankfurt on 4 March 1152 and crowned in Aachen on 9 March, crowned King of Italy in Pavia in 1155, and finally crowned Roman Emperor by Pope Adrian IV, on 18 June 1155, and two years later in 1157 the term...
spent the night in Haßloch. In 1330, Emperor Louis the Bavarian
Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor
Louis IV , called the Bavarian, of the house of Wittelsbach, was the King of Germany from 1314, the King of Italy from 1327 and the Holy Roman Emperor from 1328....
pledged Haßloch to Electoral Palatinate, who then in turn pledged three fourths of this pledge to the Counts of Leiningen in the same year.
In 1621, during the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, Haßloch was laid waste by the Spaniards
Spain
Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...
. In 1689, it met the same fate again, more than once, in the Nine Years' War (known in Germany as the Pfälzischer Erbfolgekrieg, or War of the Palatine Succession), this time at the hands of the Spaniards and the French
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 1797 came an end to the joint rule by Electoral Palatinate and the Counts of Leiningen. Haßloch – along with the rest of the region – was annexed to France.
In 1815 or 1816, as a result of 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,...
, the Leiningen holdings, along with the Palatinate, 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...
, remaining Bavarian until the end of the Second World War. In 1843, the Pfälzische Ludwigsbahn (railway) was built.
In 1945, Haßloch became part of the French Zone of Occupation and the next year, part of the new 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 ....
.
In 1969, the old district of Neustadt an der Weinstraße was abolished and Haßloch was assigned to the newly created district of Bad Dürkheim
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...
.
Religion
Haßloch, because it was ruled by the Counts of Leiningen, is a ProtestantProtestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
community. This can even be seen in the church buildings. All the oldest ones – Christuskirche (“Christ Church” or “Church of Christ”), Lutherkirche and Pauluskirche (“Saint Paul’s”) are Evangelical
Evangelical Church in Germany
The 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...
, whereas only the two newer ones – St. Gallus and St. Ulrich – belong to the Catholic parish.
Population development
(each time at 31 December)- 1998 – 20,708
- 1999 – 20,747
- 2000 – 20,781
- 2001 – 20,826
- 2002 – 20,809
- 2003 – 20,789
- 2004 – 20,785
- 2005 – 20,722
Municipal council
The council is made up of 36 honorary council members, who were elected at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the fulltime 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 | GRÜNE Alliance '90/The Greens Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir... |
LINKE The Left (Germany) The Left , also commonly referred to as the Left Party , is a democratic socialist political party in Germany. The Left is the most left-wing party of the five represented in the Bundestag.... |
HLL 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... |
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... |
DUH | Total | |
| 2009 | 11 | 13 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 1 | 36 seats |
| 2004 | 13 | 17 | 2 | - | 4 | - | - | 36 seats |
Youth municipal council
The Haßloch Youth Municipal Council (Jugendgemeinderat Haßloch, until 1999 known as the Kinder- & Jugendgemeinderat Haßloch, or the Child and Youth Municipal Council) was enacted and established by Municipal Council on 17 May 1995. The initiative for this came from Youth Department head Jürgen Hurrle who complained that many measures were being enacted that affected youth without including these people in the decision-making process. In one of the first youth municipal councils in Rhineland-PalatinateRhineland-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 ....
, he took on a guiding function in the years that followed.
The Youth Municipal Council represents in an advisory capacity the needs and interests of Haßloch’s youths in the municipality, either independently or through the permanent members on the social board and the partnership advisory body. It is supposed to acquaint youth with democratic decision-making structures and awaken interest in civic topics. It is a non-partisan board and is made up of 15 members (as of 2006).
Further activities in which the Youth Municipal Council engages are:
- activities against racismRacismRacism is the belief that inherent different traits in human racial groups justify discrimination. In the modern English language, the term "racism" is used predominantly as a pejorative epithet. It is applied especially to the practice or advocacy of racial discrimination of a pernicious nature...
; - podium discussions before elections;
- sporting events (football and beach volleyballBeach volleyballBeach volleyball, or sand volleyball, is an Olympic team sport played by two teams of two players on a sand court divided by a net.Like volleyball, the object of the game is to send the ball over the net in order to ground it on the opponent’s court, and to prevent the same effort by the opponent....
tournaments); - leisure events and festivals.
Volunteering
The Lokales Bündnis für Familie (“Local Alliance for Family”) has been active in Haßloch since 2006. It promotes families and volunteer work in collaboration with politics, administration, citizens, educational institutions and clubs.Coat of arms
The municipality’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 in chief per pale sable a lion rampant Or armed, langued and crowned gules and azure three eagles displayed argent armed and langued of the third, two in pale in dexter and one in sinister, in base argent the letter S turned backwards of the first.
The arms were designed in 1926 by the Munich Main State Archive and officially conferred in 1938. They show the gold Palatine Lion and next to this the three silver eagles borne as arms by the Counts of Leiningen. The double hook, as it is taken to be, which looks like the letter Ƨ, goes back to a court seal from the time when Haßloch was a pledged holding. Heraldry of the World, quoting another source, furthermore says that the Ƨ is a symbol that was used on “borderstones and decorations” beginning in the 18th century.
Town partnerships
Haßloch fosters partnerships with the following places: ViroflayViroflay
Viroflay is a commune in the Yvelines department in the Île-de-France in north-central France. It is located in the south-western suburbs of Paris from the center and from the Palace of Versailles....
, Yvelines
Yvelines
Yvelines is a French department in the region of Île-de-France.-History:Yvelines was created from the western part of the defunct department of Seine-et-Oise on 1 January 1968 in accordance with a law passed on 10 January 1964 and a décret d'application from 26 February 1965.It gained the...
, 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...
Gebesee
Gebesee
Gebesee is a town in the district of Sömmerda, in Thuringia, Germany. It is situated near the confluence of the rivers Gera and Unstrut, 18 km northwest of Erfurt.-References:...
, 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....
Silifke
Silifke
-Antiquity:Located a few miles from the mouth of the Calycadnus River, Seleucia was founded by Seleucus I Nicator in the early 3rd century BCE, one of several cities he named after himself. It is probable that there were already towns called Olbia and Hyria and that Seleucus I merely united them...
, Mersin Province
Mersin Province
The Mersin Province is a province in southern Turkey, on the Mediterranean coast between Antalya and Adana. The provincial capital is the city of Mersin and the other major town is Tarsus, birthplace of St Paul...
, Turkey
Turkey
Turkey , known officially as the Republic of Turkey , is a Eurasian country located in Western Asia and in East Thrace in Southeastern Europe...
Wołczyn, Opole Voivodeship
Opole Voivodeship
- Administrative division :Opole Voivodeship is divided into 12 counties : 1 city county and 11 land counties. These are further divided into 71 gminas.The counties are listed in the following table .- Economy :...
, Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
Regular events
In September, the Andechser Bierfest is held. It is opened by the Sommertagsprinzessin (“Summer Day Princess”) and draws several thousand visitors.The first Haßloch Wine Festival likewise drew many visitors on 17 May 2009, and is to be held again in 2010.
Buildings
The oldest house in Haßloch is a three-sided estate from 1599 with a façade that dominates the street and a mighty gate. Since 1986 it has been open to the public as a local history museum and a cultural centre. The house’s interior has been restored and affords a glimpse into living conditions in such a house in its day.Sport and leisure
Holiday Park, Germany
Holiday Park is an amusement park in Haßloch, Germany. It is one of Germany's most popular theme parks and is part park and part woodland. Its Free Fall Tower was the first amusement ride of its kind in Europe. The Park also offers several rollercoasters, including Expedition GeForce, a waterpark,...
, an amusement park
Amusement park
thumb|Cinderella Castle in [[Magic Kingdom]], [[Disney World]]Amusement and theme parks are terms for a group of entertainment attractions and rides and other events in a location for the enjoyment of large numbers of people...
with rides such as the Free Fall Tower (a 70-metre free fall), a log flume
Log flume (attraction)
Log flumes originally referred to a special construct used to transport lumber and logs down mountainous terrain to a sawmill by using flowing water. Today, however, the term is also used to refer to an amusement ride consisting of a water flume and artificial hollow logs or boats...
and Expedition GeForce
Expedition GeForce
bigFM Expedition GeForce is a steel roller coaster located at Holiday Park in Haßloch, Germany. It is one of the largest roller coasters in Europe and has an 82 degree first drop, the steepest in Germany. The trains travel up to through a course long with seven periods of weightlessness...
.
Haßloch has an indoor swimming pool with an outdoor complex, the Badepark (“Bathing Park”), which even has at its disposal a sauna area. Furthermore, there are a horseracing track and several theatre stages in Haßloch.
Throughout the municipal area may be found sporting grounds and areas, even in the forest lying to the south, where, for instance, the Trimm-Dich-Pfad (“Trim-Yourself-Path”) can be found.
Economy and infrastructure
In Haßloch, the better part of the resident industry is in metalworking. This is shown in the three “great” production companies in Haßloch (Ball-Packaging, Gottlieb Duttenhöfer GmbH and Dinex Deutschland GmbH).In Haßloch stands one of the world’s biggest and most modern drink can
Beverage can
A beverage can is a tin can designed to hold a specific portion of a beverage. Beverage cans are made of tin-plated steel or aluminium.- History :...
factories, Ball Packaging Europe. Among other things, the first half-litre can (a beer can) was made in Haßloch.
Haßloch, along with the neighbouring municipality of Böhl-Iggelheim
Böhl-Iggelheim
Böhl-Iggelheim is a municipality in the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It has about 8.200 inhabitants and is situated approx. 15 km southwest of Ludwigshafen, and 10 km northwest of Speyer.-Geography:...
, is also home to one of the 28 “open channels
Public-access television
Public-access television is a form of non-commercial mass media where ordinary people can create content television programming which is cablecast through cable TV specialty channels...
” 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 ....
. This regional broadcaster allows communal coverage by citizens for citizens.
Haßloch as a test market
Haßloch is a test market for new brandBrand
The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...
name items and consumer products: At Haßloch retailers’ shops, products are available in advance that are only to be introduced into the rest of Germany in the future. On the local cable television
Cable television
Cable television is a system of providing television programs to consumers via radio frequency signals transmitted to televisions through coaxial cables or digital light pulses through fixed optical fibers located on the subscriber's property, much like the over-the-air method used in traditional...
network, specially made commercials for these products are shown, and individual newspapers (such as Hörzu
Hörzu
Hörzu is a German weekly television listings magazine published by Axel Springer. The magazine first appeared in 1946 as the first radio program magazine to be produced in what was then the British zone of occupation...
and Bunte
Bunte
Bunte is a German weekly magazine; coverage includes celebrity, gossip, news and lifestyle matters. It is published by Bunte Entertainment Verlag GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Hubert Burda Media....
) are published for Haßloch with special advertisements for the new products. Moreover, some citizens hold cards with barcodes that can be scanned with every purchase so that an individual household’s shopping habits can be tracked.
The Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung (“Company for Consumer Research”, GfK
GfK
The GfK Group, established in 1934 as Gesellschaft für Konsumforschung is Germany's largest market research institute, and the fourth largest market research organisation in the world, after Nielsen Company, Kantar Group, and IMS Health...
) can thereby tell how tested products are being received by customers. The research that the GfK does here matches later market data with an accuracy of 90%.
Haßloch was chosen because this place exhibits a population structure that, by various criteria, comes quite close to the German average, for instance in its age structure and social classes. Haßloch’s structure is also midway between a town and a village.
Transport
Haßloch has at its disposal good transport links towards the region’s centre (Mannheim/Ludwigshafen/Heidelberg), be it by Autobahn A 65Bundesautobahn 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...
or the RheinNeckar S-Bahn
RheinNeckar S-Bahn
The Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn forms the backbone of the urban rail transport network of the Rhine Neckar Area, including the cities of Mannheim, Heidelberg and Ludwigshafen....
. S-Bahn
S-Bahn
S-Bahn refers to an often combined city center and suburban railway system metro in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Denmark...
lines S1, S2 – and mornings and evenings S3 and S4 – run every 15 minutes during peak times from Haßloch station.
Public institutions
Available weekdays to Haßloch’s citizens is the citizens’ office for all questions and applications.Education
Given its size, Haßloch can be said to have many educational institutions.- Primary schools:
- Ernst-Reuter-Schule
- Schiller-Schule
- Secondary schoolSecondary schoolSecondary school is a term used to describe an educational institution where the final stage of schooling, known as secondary education and usually compulsory up to a specified age, takes place...
s:- Kurpfalzschule-HauptschuleHauptschuleA Hauptschule is a secondary school in Germany and Austria, starting after 4 years of elementary schooling, which offers Lower Secondary Education according to the International Standard Classification of Education...
- Sophie-SchollSophie SchollSophia Magdalena Scholl was a German student, active within the White Rose non-violent resistance group in Nazi Germany. She was convicted of high treason after having been found distributing anti-war leaflets at the University of Munich with her brother Hans...
-RealschuleRealschuleThe Realschule is a type of secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary and in the Russian Empire .-History:The Realschule was an outgrowth of the rationalism and empiricism of the seventeenth and... - Hannah-ArendtHannah ArendtHannah Arendt was a German American political theorist. She has often been described as a philosopher, although she refused that label on the grounds that philosophy is concerned with "man in the singular." She described herself instead as a political theorist because her work centers on the fact...
-GymnasiumGymnasium (school)A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
- Kurpfalzschule-Hauptschule
- Special schools:
- Gottlieb-Wenz-Schule, a school whose focus is on learning
- Other scholastic institutions:
- Folk high schoolFolk high schoolFolk high schools are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal...
- Music school
- Folk high school
Sons and daughters of the town
- Jakob Klaus (1788–1855?), barber and compiler of memoirs about his participation in the Peninsular WarPeninsular WarThe Peninsular War was a war between France and the allied powers of Spain, the United Kingdom, and Portugal for control of the Iberian Peninsula during the Napoleonic Wars. The war began when French and Spanish armies crossed Spain and invaded Portugal in 1807. Then, in 1808, France turned on its...
- Theo Becker (1927–2006), oenologist, for three decades Grand Master of the Wine Brotherhood of the Palatinate
- Helma Schmitt (1931– ), politician (CDU)
- Eduard Ohlinger (1967–2004), weightlifter and Olympian
Famous people associated with the municipality
- Johann Michael Hartung (1708–1763), master organ builder, built the organ in Haßloch in 1751
- Werner Schröter (1944– ), Palatine politician (SPD) and former wrestler; grew up in Haßloch
- Ronny WellerRonny WellerRonny Weller is a German weightlifter who competed for East Germany and later for Germany....
(b. 22 July 1969), Olympic weightlifter
Further reading
- Joachim Kuntz: Der Gemeindewald von Hassloch. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte des Kommunalwaldes in Rheinland-Pfalz mit wirtschaftlichem Schwerpunkt. Forstgeschichte in Rheinland-Pfalz, Nr. 2. Arbeitskreis Forstgeschichte in Rheinland-Pfalz, Haßloch 1995, 291 (26) S.