Wachenheim
Encyclopedia
Wachenheim an der Weinstraße (formerly called Wachenheim im Speyergau) is a small town in the Bad Dürkheim
district in Rhineland-Palatinate
, Germany
, roughly 1 km south of Bad Dürkheim
and 20 km west of Ludwigshafen. It is known above all else for its various businesses in the field of winegrowing, and in particular for Sekt.
, to which also belong the neighbouring places of Friedelsheim
, Gönnheim
and Ellerstadt
, themselves also characterized by winegrowing and also partly by fruitgrowing.
(550 BC to 1). At this time, Celts were settling in the Upper Rhine Plain
area. About 60 BC, Germanic tribes
, presumably the Nemetes
, pushed into the region and drove the Celts out. The Romans
intervened in the disputes between the Germanic peoples and the Celts, and after their victory over Ariovistus
(57 BC) subdued the Nemetes and ruled the region for the next 400 years. Under Roman influence, crop farming was improved and also fruitgrowing and winegrowing began. Supposedly running through what is now Wachenheim’s municipal area was a Roman road: from Mußbach along the Haardt and through Rhenish Hesse to Bingen
.
After a brief invasion by the Huns
about AD 450, the Alamanni
advanced into the area, although by the late 5th century, they were being driven out of the region by the Franks
.
. There, on 30 March 766, the donation of a Wachenheim vineyard
is noted.
In the 11th century, Wachenheim’s lords were the Salians
. The town passed on Emperor Heinrich V’s
death to the House of Hohenstaufen. From this time comes the castle complex, which nowadays is only ruins, but which at one time belonged to a system of castles planned and built by the Hohenstaufens.
On 24 June 1341, Wachenheim was granted town rights by Emperor Louis the Bavarian
. In 1436, Emperor Ruprecht III’s
(1398–1410) son, Duke Stefan
built a mint
, which was in operation until 1471. In that year, Wachenheim, after hitherto having been under Duke Louis the Black’s
ownership, was taken over by Frederick I, Elector Palatine
. At the time of this conquest, Wachenheim Castle was burnt down and mostly destroyed, with only partial reconstruction taking place later. The castle and town weathered the War of the Bavarian-Palatine Succession, emerging relatively unscathed. During the German Peasants' War
, the castle was used by marauding peasants as a base for their raids.
, Wachenheim was occupied beginning in 1621 by Spanish
troops, who were driven out in 1631 by Swedish
troops under King Gustav II Adolf. After the Swedes’ defeat in 1634, little is known about the years that followed. There are, however, indications that the townsfolk had to flee several times to the nearby Hardenburg (castle) near Dürkheim
.
Even after the Thirty Years' War, the region was time and again beset with war. One of the highlights was the Nine Years' War (known in Germany as the Pfälzischer Erbfolgekrieg, or War of the Palatine Succession, 1688–1697), in the course of which Wachenheim was completely burnt down.
In the 18th century, Wachenheim was newly built and was developing favourably when along came the turmoil of the French Revolution
with its attendant hardships and destruction. In 1794, French
troops invaded the village and plundered it. Thereafter, and until 1815, Wachenheim belonged to the Department of Mont-Tonnerre
(or Donnersberg in German
), the Arrondissement of Speyer and the Canton of Durkheim (without the umlaut) in the French Empire. After Napoleon’s
downfall, the Palatinate on the Rhine’s left bank, and thereby Wachenheim as well, was governed by the Kingdom of Bavaria
beginning in 1816. In both the Franco-Prussian War
and the First World War, Wachenheim was spared further destruction and was occupied by France
at the end of the latter war, until the French pulled out of the Rhineland
on 1 July 1930.
Late in the Second World War, on 18 March 1945, parts of the Old Town were destroyed by several Allied
air raids, as parts of the German Army Command had stopped in town.
The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results:
might be described thus: Quarterly, first and fourth sable a lion rampant armed, langued and crowned gules, second and third bendy lozengy argent and azure, in a chief of the second, a letter W of the first.
As early as 1390, the town of Wachenheim used a seal with the quarterly composition charge
d with the Palatine Lion and the Bavarian “bendy lozengy” pattern (that is, slanted diamond shapes of alternating tincture
s formed out of two sets of bends, or slanted stripes, each set at a different angle), although alongside this, another coat of arms, this one with the escutcheon party per pale (divided down the middle), but also showing the Palatine Lion and the Bavarian “bendy lozengy” pattern, is also known. On the dexter (armsbearer’s right, viewer’s left) side appears the lion already holding a W. Both coats are found alongside each other.
The current composition is first known from 1739 in a seal . The lion holding the W was adopted again in 1748 in the so-called small seal, only this time by himself.
This coat, along with the quarterly shield as the great seal, prevailed in the time that followed, and the Royal conferral acceded to Wachenheim’s wish to be allowed to bear both coats, albeit with a chief
added to the great arms with a black W. The chief’s tincture was originally argent (silver); this has since become gules (red).
Approval for the arms came from King Ludwig I of Bavaria
and was issued on 7 October 1845.
, Saône-et-Loire
, France
Pegau
, Leipzig
, Saxony
Schwetzingen
, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis
, Baden-Württemberg
(wine sponsorship) Neuburg an der Donau
, Neuburg-Schrobenhausen
, Bavaria
(wine sponsorship)
The Kurpfalz-Park (“Electoral Palatinate Park”), lying in the Palatinate Forest on the Rotsteig, houses many kinds of animals, some of which are displayed in game reserves. Besides this there is the only summertime toboggan run in the Palatinate, along with other sources of entertainment, among which are a bird of prey show, a Kasperle
theatre, a Kurpfalz-Express and many others.
graveyard on Römerstraße is the oldest one in the region. It is a cultural monument.
. By land area, it is one of the Palatinate’s biggest winegrowing centres. In June, the town’s biggest event is held, the Burg- und Weinfest (“Castle and Wine Festival”).
One peculiarity is the candle manufacturer Eyrich, which has been running since 1966. It is the only company in this business in the Palatinate.
271. To relieve the traffic load, a bypass road was built in the 1990s that runs east of Wachenheim, linking Bad Dürkheim
with Neustadt an der Weinstraße
.
The town also has a halt on the single-tracked Pfälzische Nordbahn (Neustadt–Monsheim
), at which Regionalbahn
trains stop according to Rhineland-Palatinate timetabling.
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...
, roughly 1 km south of 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 :...
and 20 km west of Ludwigshafen. It is known above all else for its various businesses in the field of winegrowing, and in particular for Sekt.
Location
Wachenheim lies in the Middle Haardt at the eastern edge of the Palatinate Forest and is also the seat of the like-named VerbandsgemeindeWachenheim (Verbandsgemeinde)
Wachenheim is a Verbandsgemeinde in the district of Bad Dürkheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The seat of the Verbandsgemeinde is in Wachenheim....
, to which also belong the neighbouring places of Friedelsheim
Friedelsheim
Friedelsheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
, Gönnheim
Gönnheim
Gönnheim 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 Ellerstadt
Ellerstadt
Ellerstadt is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.- Location :...
, themselves also characterized by winegrowing and also partly by fruitgrowing.
Antiquity
The first traces of settlement in the Wachenheim area come from the early Iron AgeIron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...
(550 BC to 1). At this time, Celts were settling in the Upper Rhine Plain
Upper 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...
area. About 60 BC, Germanic tribes
Germanic peoples
The Germanic peoples are an Indo-European ethno-linguistic group of Northern European origin, identified by their use of the Indo-European Germanic languages which diversified out of Proto-Germanic during the Pre-Roman Iron Age.Originating about 1800 BCE from the Corded Ware Culture on the North...
, presumably the Nemetes
Nemetes
The Nemetes , by modern authors sometimes improperly called Nemeti, were an ancient Germanic tribe living by the Rhine between the Palatinate and Lake Constance where Ariovistus had led them, the Suebi and other allied Germanic peoples in the second quarter of the 1st century BC...
, pushed into the region and drove the Celts out. The Romans
Ancient 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....
intervened in the disputes between the Germanic peoples and the Celts, and after their victory over Ariovistus
Ariovistus
Ariovistus was a leader of the Suebi and other allied Germanic peoples in the second quarter of the 1st century BC. He and his followers took part in a war in Gaul, assisting the Arverni and Sequani to defeat their rivals the Aedui, after which they settled in large numbers in conquered Gallic...
(57 BC) subdued the Nemetes and ruled the region for the next 400 years. Under Roman influence, crop farming was improved and also fruitgrowing and winegrowing began. Supposedly running through what is now Wachenheim’s municipal area was a Roman road: from Mußbach along the Haardt and through Rhenish Hesse to Bingen
Bingen am Rhein
Bingen am Rhein is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.The settlement’s original name was Bingium, a Celtic word that may have meant “hole in the rock”, a description of the shoal behind the Mäuseturm, known as the Binger Loch. Bingen was the starting point for the...
.
After a brief invasion by the Huns
Huns
The Huns were a group of nomadic people who, appearing from east of the Volga River, migrated into Europe c. AD 370 and established the vast Hunnic Empire there. Since de Guignes linked them with the Xiongnu, who had been northern neighbours of China 300 years prior to the emergence of the Huns,...
about AD 450, 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...
advanced into the area, although by the late 5th century, they were being driven out of the region 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...
.
Middle Ages
Wachenheim’s first documentary mention – as Wackenheim – dates from Carolingian times and is found in the Lorsch codexLorsch codex
The Lorsch Codex is an important historical document created between about 1175 to 1195 AD in the Monastery of Saint Nazarius in Lorsch, Germany. It consists of 460 pages in large format containing more than 3800 entries...
. There, on 30 March 766, the donation of a Wachenheim vineyard
Vineyard
A vineyard is a plantation of grape-bearing vines, grown mainly for winemaking, but also raisins, table grapes and non-alcoholic grape juice...
is noted.
In the 11th century, Wachenheim’s lords were the Salians
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...
. The town passed on Emperor Heinrich V’s
Henry V, Holy Roman Emperor
Henry V was King of Germany and Holy Roman Emperor , the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. Henry's reign coincided with the final phase of the great Investiture Controversy, which had pitted pope against emperor...
death to the House of Hohenstaufen. From this time comes the castle complex, which nowadays is only ruins, but which at one time belonged to a system of castles planned and built by the Hohenstaufens.
On 24 June 1341, Wachenheim was granted town rights by 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....
. In 1436, Emperor Ruprecht III’s
Rupert of Germany
Rupert of Germany from the House of Wittelsbach was Elector Palatine from 1398 and German King from 1400 until his death...
(1398–1410) son, Duke Stefan
Stefan, Count Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken
Stephen of Simmern-Zweibrücken was Count Palatine of Simmern and Zweibrücken from 1410.He was the son of King Rupert of Germany and his wife Elisabeth of Nuremberg. After the death of Rupert the Palatinate was divided between four of his surviving sons...
built a mint
Mint (coin)
A mint is an industrial facility which manufactures coins for currency.The history of mints correlates closely with the history of coins. One difference is that the history of the mint is usually closely tied to the political situation of an era...
, which was in operation until 1471. In that year, Wachenheim, after hitherto having been under Duke Louis the Black’s
Louis I, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken
Louis I of Zweibrücken was Count Palatine and Duke of Zweibrücken and of Veldenz in 1444–1489.He was the younger son of Stefan, Count Palatine of Simmern-Zweibrücken and his wife Anna, heiress of the County of Veldenz, whom he had wed in 1409. Although Anne died in 1439, her widower did not...
ownership, was taken over by Frederick I, Elector Palatine
Frederick I, Elector Palatine
Frederick I, the Victorious was a Count Palatine of the Rhine and Elector Palatine from the House of Wittelsbach in 1451 - 1476....
. At the time of this conquest, Wachenheim Castle was burnt down and mostly destroyed, with only partial reconstruction taking place later. The castle and town weathered the War of the Bavarian-Palatine Succession, emerging relatively unscathed. During the German Peasants' War
German Peasants' War
The German Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt was a widespread popular revolt in the German-speaking areas of Central Europe, 1524–1526. At its height in the spring and summer of 1525, the conflict involved an estimated 300,000 peasants: contemporary estimates put the dead at 100,000...
, the castle was used by marauding peasants as a base for their raids.
Modern times
During the Thirty Years' WarThirty 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....
, Wachenheim was occupied beginning in 1621 by Spanish
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...
troops, who were driven out in 1631 by Swedish
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
troops under King Gustav II Adolf. After the Swedes’ defeat in 1634, little is known about the years that followed. There are, however, indications that the townsfolk had to flee several times to the nearby Hardenburg (castle) near 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 :...
.
Even after the Thirty Years' War, the region was time and again beset with war. One of the highlights was the Nine Years' War (known in Germany as the Pfälzischer Erbfolgekrieg, or War of the Palatine Succession, 1688–1697), in the course of which Wachenheim was completely burnt down.
In the 18th century, Wachenheim was newly built and was developing favourably when along came the turmoil of 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...
with its attendant hardships and destruction. In 1794, 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...
troops invaded the village and plundered it. Thereafter, and until 1815, Wachenheim belonged to the Department of Mont-Tonnerre
Mont-Tonnerre
Mont-Tonnerre is the name of a département of the First French Empire in present Germany. It is named after the highest point in the Rhenish Palatinate, the Donnersberg. It was the southernmost of four départements formed in 1798, when the west bank of the Rhine was annexed by France...
(or Donnersberg in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
), the Arrondissement of Speyer and the Canton of Durkheim (without the umlaut) in the French Empire. After Napoleon’s
Napoleon I
Napoleon Bonaparte was a French military and political leader during the latter stages of the French Revolution.As Napoleon I, he was Emperor of the French from 1804 to 1815...
downfall, the Palatinate on the Rhine’s left bank, and thereby Wachenheim as well, was governed by 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...
beginning in 1816. In both the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
and the First World War, Wachenheim was spared further destruction and was occupied by 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...
at the end of the latter war, until the French pulled out of the Rhineland
Rhineland
Historically, the Rhinelands refers to a loosely-defined region embracing the land on either bank of the River Rhine in central Europe....
on 1 July 1930.
Late in the Second World War, on 18 March 1945, parts of the Old Town were destroyed by several Allied
Allies of World War II
The Allies of World War II were the countries that opposed the Axis powers during the Second World War . Former Axis states contributing to the Allied victory are not considered Allied states...
air raids, as parts of the German Army Command had stopped in town.
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... |
WGR 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 | 4 | 7 | 2 | 7 | 20 seats |
| 2004 | 4 | 4 | 1 | 11 | 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: Quarterly, first and fourth sable a lion rampant armed, langued and crowned gules, second and third bendy lozengy argent and azure, in a chief of the second, a letter W of the first.
As early as 1390, the town of Wachenheim used a seal with the quarterly composition 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...
d with the Palatine Lion and the Bavarian “bendy lozengy” pattern (that is, slanted diamond shapes of alternating 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 formed out of two sets of bends, or slanted stripes, each set at a different angle), although alongside this, another coat of arms, this one with the escutcheon party per pale (divided down the middle), but also showing the Palatine Lion and the Bavarian “bendy lozengy” pattern, is also known. On the dexter (armsbearer’s right, viewer’s left) side appears the lion already holding a W. Both coats are found alongside each other.
The current composition is first known from 1739 in a seal . The lion holding the W was adopted again in 1748 in the so-called small seal, only this time by himself.
This coat, along with the quarterly shield as the great seal, prevailed in the time that followed, and the Royal conferral acceded to Wachenheim’s wish to be allowed to bear both coats, albeit with a chief
Chief (heraldry)
In heraldic blazon, a chief is a charge on a coat of arms that takes the form of a band running horizontally across the top edge of the shield. Writers disagree in how much of the shield's surface is to be covered by the chief, ranging from one-fourth to one-third. The former is more likely if the...
added to the great arms with a black W. The chief’s tincture was originally argent (silver); this has since become gules (red).
Approval for the arms came from King Ludwig I of Bavaria
Ludwig I of Bavaria
Ludwig I was a German king of Bavaria from 1825 until the 1848 revolutions in the German states.-Crown prince:...
and was issued on 7 October 1845.
Town partnerships
Wachenheim fosters partnerships with the following places: CuiseryCuisery
Cuisery is a commune in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne in eastern France.-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...
Pegau
Pegau
Pegau is a town in the Leipzig district in the Free State of Saxony, Germany, situated in a fertile country, on the Weiße Elster, 18 m. S.W. from Leipzig by the railway to Zeitz....
, Leipzig
Leipzig (district)
Leipzig is a district in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is named after the city Leipzig, which is surrounded by the district, but not part of it...
, Saxony
Saxony
The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....
Schwetzingen
Schwetzingen
Schwetzingen is a German town situated in the northwest of Baden-Württemberg, around southwest of Heidelberg and southeast of Mannheim.Schwetzingen is one of the 5 biggest cities of the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis district and it is a medium-sized centre including the cities and municipalities of...
, Rhein-Neckar-Kreis
Rhein-Neckar-Kreis
Rhein-Neckar-Kreis is a district in the northwest of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Bergstraße, Odenwaldkreis, Neckar-Odenwald, Heilbronn, Karlsruhe, district-free Speyer, the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, and district-free Mannheim and Heidelberg.-History:The district was created in...
, Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...
(wine sponsorship) Neuburg an der Donau
Neuburg an der Donau
Neuburg an der Donau, literally Neuburg on the Danube River, is a town which is the capital of the Neuburg-Schrobenhausen district in the state of Bavaria in Germany.-Divisions:The municipality has 16 divisions:-History:...
, Neuburg-Schrobenhausen
Neuburg-Schrobenhausen
Neuburg-Schrobenhausen is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Pfaffenhofen, Aichach-Friedberg, Donau-Ries and Eichstätt, and by the city of Ingolstadt.-History:...
, Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
(wine sponsorship)
Buildings
- Wachtenburg – Worth seeing are the Wachtenburg castle ruins, which owing to the view over the Upper Rhine PlainUpper Rhine PlainThe 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...
is also known as the “Balcony of the Palatinate”. From here, one can see the Rhine Valley, the OdenwaldOdenwaldThe Odenwald is a low mountain range in Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany.- Location :The Odenwald lies between the Upper Rhine Rift Valley with the Bergstraße and the Hessisches Ried in the west, the Main and the Bauland in the east, the Hanau-Seligenstadt Basin – a subbasin of...
and, on a clear day, the Black ForestBlack ForestThe Black Forest is a wooded mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Rhine valley to the west and south. The highest peak is the Feldberg with an elevation of 1,493 metres ....
. The Wachtenburg, lying above the town, has its roots in the 12th century and was all but destroyed in the 15th century. In 1689, a half of the keep was blown up by French troops. Since 1984, the Förderkreis zur Erhaltung der Ruine Wachtenburg e. V. (“Promotional Circle for Maintaining the Wachtenburg Ruins”) has been working on the care and restoration of these ruins. The castle is a popular outing destination for hikers, who can drop into the castle inn also found there. - Villa rustica – The villa rusticaVilla rusticaVilla rustica was the term used by the ancient Romans to denote a villa set in the open countryside, often as the hub of a large agricultural estate . The adjective rusticum was used to distinguish it from an urban or resort villa...
is a RomanAncient RomeAncient 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....
country seat unearthed in the 1970s during the FlurbereinigungFlurbereinigungFlurbereinigung is the German word used to describe land reforms in various countries, especially Germany and Austria. The term can best be translated as land consolidation. Another European country where those land reforms have been carried out is France...
. The foundation walls were reconstructed and convey an impression of the size of the complex that once existed. - Villa Wolf – The Villa Wolf is a uniquely designed country villa from the mid-19th century. It was completed in 1843 to plans by Karlsruhe architect Friedrich Eisenlohr. An extensive estate complex and a stately garden with impressive tree growth harmonically round out the whole of the estate.
- Saint George’s Church – St. Georgs Kirche was used, until the new Catholic church was built in 1989, by both Catholics and ProtestantsProtestantismProtestantism 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...
as a simultaneous churchSimultaneumA shared church, or Simultankirche, Simultaneum or, more fully, simultaneum mixtum, a term first coined in 16th century Germany, is a church in which public worship is conducted by adherents of two or more religious groups. Such churches became common in Europe in the wake of the Reformation...
. The sharing came about in the course of the Electoral-Palatine church division in 1707. The Catholics got the quire and an outbuilding, and the Protestants got the nave. - Town Wall – Soon after town rights were granted in 1341, Wachenheim was fortified with a town wall. The roughly 1 200 m-long wall encloses the historical town centre and is shaped like a clothes iron. The town wall was about 9 m high and at the foot 1.5 m thick. In the north and the south stood town gates. Today, the town wall’s course is still easy to make out and in places outside the town centre can also be viewed. In the town centre itself, however, the town wall has been widely incorporated into other structures and only parts can be directly seen.
- Schloss Wachenheim – The Schloss is said to be a cultural monument. Today it houses the Sekt cellar named after it, the Sektkellerei Schloss Wachenheim. The Schloss is located at Kommerzienrat-Wagner-Straße 1 and represents an extensive winemaking estate in a landscaped park. It was built in 1730, although later buildings were built about 100 years after this, and some even as late as the 20th century.
Parks
- Kurpfalz-Park
The Kurpfalz-Park (“Electoral Palatinate Park”), lying in the Palatinate Forest on the Rotsteig, houses many kinds of animals, some of which are displayed in game reserves. Besides this there is the only summertime toboggan run in the Palatinate, along with other sources of entertainment, among which are a bird of prey show, a Kasperle
Kasperle
Kasperle is a famous and traditional puppet character from Austria and Germany. Its roots date to 17th century and was at times so popular that Kasperltheater was synonymous with puppet theater. Kasperltheater includes the following characters: Kasper, Gretel, Seppel, princess, king, witch, robber,...
theatre, a Kurpfalz-Express and many others.
Jewish graveyard
The JewishJudaism
Judaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
graveyard on Römerstraße is the oldest one in the region. It is a cultural monument.
Winegrowing
The town is characterized by winegrowing and tourismTourism
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...
. By land area, it is one of the Palatinate’s biggest winegrowing centres. In June, the town’s biggest event is held, the Burg- und Weinfest (“Castle and Wine Festival”).
Established businesses
- Dr. Bürklin-Wolf winery
- Sektkellerei Schloss Wachenheim
- Die Zunft Aktiengesellschaft
One peculiarity is the candle manufacturer Eyrich, which has been running since 1966. It is the only company in this business in the Palatinate.
Transport
Through Wachenheim runs the German Wine Route, which formerly was the same road as BundesstraßeBundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
271. To relieve the traffic load, a bypass road was built in the 1990s that runs east of Wachenheim, linking 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 :...
with Neustadt an der Weinstraße
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:...
.
The town also has a halt on the single-tracked Pfälzische Nordbahn (Neustadt–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 :...
), at which Regionalbahn
RegionalBahn
The Regionalbahn is a type of local passenger train in Germany.-Service:Regionalbahn trains usually call at all stations on a given line, with the exception of RB trains within S-Bahn networks, these may only call at selected stations...
trains stop according to Rhineland-Palatinate timetabling.
Sons and daughters of the town
- Johannes Theobald Klein (1791–1870), politician
- Philipp Flad (1800–1869), Baden Amtmann
- Isaac RiceIsaac RiceIsaac Leopold Rice was a U.S. inventor and a chess patron and author.- Biography :...
(1850–1915), entrepreneur and chess player - Joseph Niedhammer (1851–1908), composer and cathedral musical directorKapellmeisterKapellmeister is a German word designating a person in charge of music-making. The word is a compound, consisting of the roots Kapelle and Meister . The words Kapelle and Meister derive from the Latin: capella and magister...
in Speyer - Albert Bürklin (1907–1979), winegrowing functionary
Famous people associated with the town
- Albert Bürklin (1844–1924), politician, General Intendant of the Karlsruher Hoftheater, President of the Goethe-Gesellschaft and winery owner in Wachenheim
- Leopold Reitz (1889–1972), teacher, writer and local poet, cofounder of the Weinbruderschaft der Pfalz (“Wine Brotherhood of the Palatinate”); in 1937 wrote the book Der Weinpfarrer von Wachenheim. Der abenteuerliche Roman des Weines (“The Wine Preacher from Wachenheim. The Adventurous Novel of Wine”)
- Hans Hoffmann (1893–1952), lawyer and notary in Wachenheim and politician (1947–1951 State Minister in Rhineland-Palatinate)
- Valentin Peter Feuerstein (1917–1999), artistic painter, restorer and glass painter, created the glass windows at the Wachenheim church