Wiesloch
Encyclopedia
Wiesloch is a city
in Germany
, in northern Baden-Württemberg
. It is situated 13 kilometres south of Heidelberg
.
After Weinheim
, Sinsheim
and Leimen
it is the fourth largest city of the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis
and is in the north-central area near Heidelberg
with its neighbouring town Walldorf
. Also in the vicinity of Wiesloch are the cities and towns of Dielheim
, Malsch (bei Wiesloch)
, Mühlhausen
, Rauenberg and Sankt Leon-Rot
.
During the reformation of the area in the 1970s Wiesloch's inhabitants exceeded 20,000. Wiesloch became a "Große Kreisstadt" on January 1, 1973, when Altwiesloch, Baiertal, Frauenweiler and Schatthausen were joined with the town of Wiesloch to form the present municipality.
found to date, Eurotrochilus inexpectatus, were found in a clay pit at Frauenweiler. This bird lived during the Early Oligocene
(30 mya), when the area had a humid, subtropical climate similar to the northern Caribbean
today.
), the 1632 Battle of Wiesloch on August 16, 1632, (during the same war) and the 1799 Battle of Wiesloch
on December 3, 1799 (during the War of the Second Coalition
).
Wiesloch was attacked on January 28, 1689 by French troops under Ezéchiel du Mas, Comte de Mélac
, during the Nine Years' War, and was almost completely burnt down and destroyed.
" in the world, because Bertha Benz
stopped there on August 5, 1888, on the first long distance car trip, to refill the tank of her automobile
which her husband Karl Benz
had invented. She was supplied with ligroin by the apothecary
Willi Ockel.
In 2008 Bertha Benz Memorial Route
was officially approved as a route of industrial heritage, as it follows Bertha Benz's route for the world's first long-distance journey by automobile. Now everybody can follow the 194 km of the signposted route from Mannheim
via Heidelberg
and Wiesloch to Pforzheim
(Black Forest
) and back.
, partly in the Rhine Valley
and partly in the Kraichgau
.
Five brooks flow through Wiesloch: the Leimbach, the Gauangelbach, the Waldangelbach, the Ochsenbach, and the Maisbach.
services. It also hosts the world’s largest printing press manufacturing site, operated by Heidelberger Druckmaschinen
.
City
A city is a relatively large and permanent settlement. Although there is no agreement on how a city is distinguished from a town within general English language meanings, many cities have a particular administrative, legal, or historical status based on local law.For example, in the U.S...
in 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...
, in northern 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...
. It is situated 13 kilometres south of Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
.
After Weinheim
Weinheim
Weinheim is a town in the north west of the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany with 43 000 inhabitants, approximately 15 km north of Heidelberg and 10 km northeast of Mannheim. Together with these cities, it makes up the Rhine-Neckar triangle...
, Sinsheim
Sinsheim
Sinsheim is a town in southwestern Germany, in the Rhine Neckar Area of the state Baden-Württemberg about 22 kilometers southeast of Heidelberg and about 28 kilometers northwest of Heilbronn in the district Rhein-Neckar. It consists of a city center and 11 suburbs with a total population of 35,605...
and Leimen
Leimen (Baden)
Leimen is a town in north-west Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is about south of Heidelberg and the third largest town of the Rhein-Neckar district after Weinheim and Sinsheim...
it is the fourth largest city of the 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...
and is in the north-central area near Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
with its neighbouring town Walldorf
Walldorf
Walldorf is a town in the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis of Baden-Württemberg in Germany.Walldorf is currently probably best known as the city that headquarters the world's third largest software company SAP, but it is also the birthplace of the millionaire John Jacob Astor, at the time of his death the...
. Also in the vicinity of Wiesloch are the cities and towns of Dielheim
Dielheim
Dielheim is a municipality in the Rhein-Neckar district of Baden-Württemberg, Germany.-Location:Dielheim lies on the western edge of the Kraichgau and the upper Rhine valley. The Leimbach flows East to West through the center of Dielheim and its boroughs Horrenberg and Balzfeld...
, Malsch (bei Wiesloch)
Malsch (bei Wiesloch)
Malsch is a town in the district of Rhein-Neckar in Baden-Württemberg in Germany....
, Mühlhausen
Mühlhausen (Kraichgau)
Mühlhausen is a town in the district of Rhein-Neckar in Baden-Württemberg in Germany....
, Rauenberg and Sankt Leon-Rot
Sankt Leon-Rot
Sankt Leon-Rot is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 16 km south of Heidelberg.-External links:*...
.
During the reformation of the area in the 1970s Wiesloch's inhabitants exceeded 20,000. Wiesloch became a "Große Kreisstadt" on January 1, 1973, when Altwiesloch, Baiertal, Frauenweiler and Schatthausen were joined with the town of Wiesloch to form the present municipality.
Partnerships
Wiesloch is a sister city to:- SturgisSturgis, MichiganSturgis, is a city in St. Joseph County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 10,994 at the 2010 census. The city is located at the northeast corner of Sturgis Township and at the intersection of US 12 and M-66....
, St. Joseph CountySt. Joseph County, Michigan-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 62,422 people, 23,381 households, and 16,600 families residing in the county. The population density was 124 people per square mile . There were 26,503 housing units at an average density of 53 per square mile...
, MichiganMichiganMichigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, USA - AmaranteAmarante, PortugalAmarante is a city in Amarante Municipality, Portugal.The city itself has a population of 11,261 inhabitants. It sits on the banks of the Tâmega River.It is a sister city of Wiesloch, Germany.- Culture :...
, PortugalPortugalPortugal , officially the Portuguese Republic is a country situated in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. Portugal is the westernmost country of Europe, and is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the West and South and by Spain to the North and East. The Atlantic archipelagos of the... - Fontenay-aux-RosesFontenay-aux-RosesFontenay-aux-Roses is a commune in the southwestern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris.École Normale Supérieure was a girls school located in the area....
, FranceFranceThe 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... - Ząbkowice ŚląskieZabkowice SlaskieZąbkowice Śląskie is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in south-western Poland. It is the seat of Ząbkowice Śląskie County, and of the smaller administrative district called Gmina Ząbkowice Śląskie....
, PolandPolandPoland , 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...
Fossil Site
The fossil remains of the oldest hummingbirdHummingbird
Hummingbirds are birds that comprise the family Trochilidae. They are among the smallest of birds, most species measuring in the 7.5–13 cm range. Indeed, the smallest extant bird species is a hummingbird, the 5-cm Bee Hummingbird. They can hover in mid-air by rapidly flapping their wings...
found to date, Eurotrochilus inexpectatus, were found in a clay pit at Frauenweiler. This bird lived during the Early Oligocene
Oligocene
The Oligocene is a geologic epoch of the Paleogene Period and extends from about 34 million to 23 million years before the present . As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that define the period are well identified but the exact dates of the start and end of the period are slightly...
(30 mya), when the area had a humid, subtropical climate similar to the northern Caribbean
Caribbean
The Caribbean is a crescent-shaped group of islands more than 2,000 miles long separating the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea, to the west and south, from the Atlantic Ocean, to the east and north...
today.
Battles
There were three battles near Wiesloch, the Battle of Mingolsheim on April 27, 1622 (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....
), the 1632 Battle of Wiesloch on August 16, 1632, (during the same war) and the 1799 Battle of Wiesloch
Battle of Wiesloch (1799)
The Battle of Wiesloch occurred on 3 December 1799, during the War of the Second Coalition, part of the French Revolutionary Wars. Lieutenant Field Marshal Anton Count Sztáray de Nagy-Mihaly commanded the far right wing protecting the main Austrian army in Swabia, under the command of Archduke...
on December 3, 1799 (during the War of the Second Coalition
War of the Second Coalition
The "Second Coalition" was the second attempt by European monarchs, led by the Habsburg Monarchy of Austria and the Russian Empire, to contain or eliminate Revolutionary France. They formed a new alliance and attempted to roll back France's previous military conquests...
).
Wiesloch was attacked on January 28, 1689 by French troops under Ezéchiel du Mas, Comte de Mélac
Ezechiel du Mas, Comte de Melac
Ezéchiel du Mas, Comte de Mélac was a career soldier in the French army under King Louis XIV and war minister Louvois....
, during the Nine Years' War, and was almost completely burnt down and destroyed.
Bertha Benz
The city pharmacy in Wiesloch was the first "filling stationFilling station
A filling station, also known as a fueling station, garage, gasbar , gas station , petrol bunk , petrol pump , petrol garage, petrol kiosk , petrol station "'servo"' in Australia or service station, is a facility which sells fuel and lubricants...
" in the world, because Bertha Benz
Bertha Benz
Bertha Benz was born on 3 May 1849 in Pforzheim, Germany. She married inventor Karl Benz on 20 July 1872, and died 5 May 1944 in Ladenburg...
stopped there on August 5, 1888, on the first long distance car trip, to refill the tank of her automobile
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
which her husband Karl Benz
Karl Benz
Karl Friedrich Benz, was a German engine designer and car engineer, generally regarded as the inventor of the gasoline-powered car, and together with Bertha Benz pioneering founder of the automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz...
had invented. She was supplied with ligroin by the apothecary
Apothecary
Apothecary is a historical name for a medical professional who formulates and dispenses materia medica to physicians, surgeons and patients — a role now served by a pharmacist and some caregivers....
Willi Ockel.
In 2008 Bertha Benz Memorial Route
Bertha Benz Memorial Route
The Bertha Benz Memorial Route is a German tourist and theme route in Baden-Württemberg and member of the European Route of Industrial Heritage...
was officially approved as a route of industrial heritage, as it follows Bertha Benz's route for the world's first long-distance journey by automobile. Now everybody can follow the 194 km of the signposted route from 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....
via Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...
and Wiesloch to Pforzheim
Pforzheim
Pforzheim is a town of nearly 119,000 inhabitants in the state of Baden-Württemberg, southwest Germany at the gate to the Black Forest. It is world-famous for its jewelry and watch-making industry. Until 1565 it was the home to the Margraves of Baden. Because of that it gained the nickname...
(Black Forest
Black Forest
The 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 ....
) and back.
Geography
Wiesloch is partly situated on the southern foothills of the OdenwaldOdenwald
The 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...
, partly in the Rhine Valley
Rhine Valley
The Rhine Valley is a glacial alpine valley, formed by the Alpine Rhine , i.e. the section of the Rhine River between the confluence of the Anterior Rhine and Posterior Rhine at Reichenau and its mouth at Lake Constance....
and partly in the Kraichgau
Kraichgau
The Kraichgau is a hilly region in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Odenwald and the Neckar to the North, the Black Forest to the South, and the Upper Rhine Plain to the West. To the east, its boundary is considered to be the Stromberg, the Hardt, and the...
.
Five brooks flow through Wiesloch: the Leimbach, the Gauangelbach, the Waldangelbach, the Ochsenbach, and the Maisbach.
Economy
Wiesloch includes the global headquarter of the MLP AG, a large German broker of personal financePersonal finance
Personal finance is the application of the principles of finance to the monetary decisions of an individual or family unit. It addresses the ways in which individuals or families obtain, budget, save, and spend monetary resources over time, taking into account various financial risks and future...
services. It also hosts the world’s largest printing press manufacturing site, operated by Heidelberger Druckmaschinen
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen
Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG is a German precision mechanical engineering company with head offices in Heidelberg . It is a manufacturer of offset printing presses sold globally. The company has a worldwide market share of more than 47% in this area and is the largest global manufacturer of...
.