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60-538: From the late Middle Ages on, it developed into an important trading centre. At the beginning of the 19th century, Heilbronn became one of the centres of early industrialisation in Württemberg. Heilbronn's old town was completely destroyed during the air raid of 4 December 1944 and rebuilt in the 1950s. Today Heilbronn is the economic centre of the Heilbronn-Franken region . Heilbronn is known for its wine industry and

120-507: A "red hot spot" ; numerous worker and sports clubs were begun. Already prior to World War I the SPD cornered the majority of the vote and stayed that course during the Weimar Republic . At his visit to the city on May 15, 1926, Hitler was clearly not welcome by everyone, and several people were injured when a man was mistaken for Hitler and attacked. Hitler himself was able to give his speech in

180-564: A brisk trade, and the numerous Roman finds in "Free Germania" (as far as Jutland and Scandinavia ). Attempts were occasionally also made to settle Roman legions beyond the limes or, more often, to recruit auxiliaries . As a result, the Romanization of the population extended beyond the limes . Interest in the limes as the remains of a site dating to the Roman period was rekindled in Germany at

240-600: A connection to the power plant in Lauffen; thus Heilbronn became the first city in the world to enjoy long-distance electric power. With the dissolution of monarchy in the German Reich as a result of World War I, Heilbronn became part of the Free People's State of Württemberg in 1918. After almost a century of economic boom and growth of the local industry Heilbronn's citizenry included many labourers. The city came to be known as

300-613: A fact that became front-page news during the missile accident on January 11, 1985. After the INF Treaty was signed in 1987, the missiles were removed. In the 1980s, Heilbronn hosted Heimatttage and Landesgartenschau staged by the State of Baden-Württemberg. In 1998, Heilbronn was connected to the S-Bahn net with Karlsruhe. This further transformed the city centre, and an extension of the S-Bahn towards Öhringen opened on December 10, 2005, marking

360-660: A natural boundary such as a river or typically an earth bank and ditch with a wooden palisade and watchtowers at intervals. A system of linked forts was built behind the Limes. The term limes (plural: limites ) originally meant "border path" or "swathe" in Latin. In Germany, "Limes" usually refers to the Rhaetian Limes and Upper Germanic Limes, collectively referred to as the Limes Germanicus . Both sections of limes are named after

420-554: A regal advocate to rule the city. In addition to the advocate he put a council in place that was headed up by a mayor. Around 1300, the first city hall was erected in the market place and the Kilianskirche (built on the foundation of the Michaelsbasilica) was expanded. The Neckar privilege gave the city the right to modify the flow of the river in 1333, which meant it now had the right to construct dams, harbors and mills. Because of

480-553: A regional economic centre. Heilbronn shares a border with the following cities and towns, all part of Heilbronn County and listed here clockwise from the North: Bad Wimpfen , Neckarsulm , Erlenbach , Weinsberg , Lehrensteinsfeld , Untergruppenbach , Flein , Talheim , Lauffen am Neckar , Nordheim , Leingarten , Schwaigern , Massenbachhausen and Bad Rappenau . The city is divided into nine boroughs : The oldest traces of humans in and around Heilbronn date back to

540-625: A while Heilbronn suffered from the upheavals of the Baden Revolution that its civil guard participated in. During that time the 8th infantry regiment switched sides and joined the revolutionaries until it was subsequently disarmed and force-transferred out of the area. In 1849, the Hoerner Bank , one of the oldest still functioning banks in Germany , was founded in Heilbronn. Heilbronn became part of

600-464: Is a region in northeastern Baden-Württemberg , Germany , in the Stuttgart subdivision (Regierungsbezirk) . It consists of the former Free imperial city of Heilbronn , Heilbronn district and the districts of Hohenlohe , Main-Tauber and Schwäbisch Hall . It covers an area of 4765 km in the northeast of Baden-Wuerttemberg, with a population of roughly 0.9 million. The administrative seat of

660-565: Is a 550-kilometre-long section of the former external frontier of the Roman Empire between the rivers Rhine and Danube . It runs from Rheinbrohl to Eining on the Danube. The Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes is an archaeological site and, since 2005, a UNESCO World Heritage Site . Together with the Lower Germanic Limes it forms part of the Limes Germanicus . The Limes used either

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720-684: Is nicknamed Käthchenstadt , after Heinrich von Kleist 's Das Käthchen von Heilbronn . Heilbronn is located in the northern corner of the Neckar basin at the bottom of the Wartberg (308 m). It occupies both banks of the Neckar, and the highest spot inside city limits is the Schweinsberg with a height of 372 meters. Heilbronn is adjacent to the Swabian-Franconian Forest Nature Park and

780-557: Is now known as the Dachstein hiking disaster . The opening of the Autobahn A 6 from Heilbronn to Mannheim in 1968 was an important economic event. When the A 81 to Würzburg and the A 6 to Nuremberg was completed in 1974 and 1979, respectively, Heilbronn became an important logistical centre in southern Germany. As a result, many large companies opened offices in Heilbronn. When Klingenberg became part of Heilbronn on January 1, 1970,

840-862: Is surrounded by vineyards. Heilbronn and its surroundings are located in the northern part of the larger Stuttgart metropolitan area. The city is the economic center of the Heilbronn-Franken region and is one of fourteen such cities in the Baden-Württemberg master plan of 2002. It also serves Abstatt , Bad Rappenau , Bad Wimpfen , Beilstein , Brackenheim , Cleebronn , Eberstatt , Ellhofen , Eppingen , Flein , Gemmingen , Güglingen , Ilsfeld , Ittlingen , Kirchardt , Lauffen am Neckar , Lehrensteinsfeld , Leingarten , Löwenstein , Massenbachhausen , Neckarwestheim , Nordheim , Obersulm , Pfaffenhofen , Schwaigern , Siegelsbach , Talheim , Untergruppenbach , Weinsberg , Wüstenrot , and Zaberfeld as

900-694: The Diocese of Würzburg as villa Helibrunna (together with a Michaelsbasilica ), and in 841, King Louis the German set up court here for a period of time. The name Heilbrunna ( healing well ) hints to a well that is located not far from the basilica. In 1050, a significant settlement of Jews is noted in official documents, and the Codex of the monastery in Hirsau documented Heilbronn's right to hold market days and mint coins, mentioning its harbor and vineyards as well. The name of

960-677: The German Empire in 1871 during the unification of Germany . In the 1860s the city's train tracks were extended to Heidelberg via Bad Wimpfen , to Würzburg via Osterburken , and to Crailsheim (and later on to Nuremberg ) via Schwäbisch Hall . In 1880, the Kraichgau line was completed and created an important connection towards Karlsruhe , and by the end of the 19th century, Heilbronn had become an important hub, second in Wuerttemburg to Stuttgart in industrial output. The year 1892 brought

1020-533: The Jewish community was all but eliminated. Starting in 1942 during World War II, the salt mines in and around Heilbronn were used to store art and artifacts from Germany, France, and Italy. Similarly, important producers of the war industry were moved into the mine shafts . The expansion of the shafts was undertaken by labour brigades of the concentration camp branches in Kochendorf and Neckargartach. From Heilbronn all

1080-644: The Judengasse ( Lohtorstraße ). In 1298, 143 Jews were killed during the Rintfleisch-Pogrom and in 1350 Jews suffered attacks again during a European epidemic of the Bubonic plague . The city's constitution required the council to include Jews, but already in the middle of the 15th century Jews were the target of vigilantes again until they were evicted from the city in 1490 with the blessings of Emperor Frederick III . Heilbronn-Franconia Heilbronn-Franken

1140-581: The Neckar-Odenwald Limes . Local limes commissions were established but were confined to small areas, for example, in the Grand Duchy of Hesse or Grand Duchy of Baden , due to the political situation. Johann Alexander Döderlein was the first person to record the course of the limes in the Eichstätt region. In 1723, he was the first to interpret the meaning of the limes correctly and published

1200-616: The Old Stone Age (30,000 BC). The fertile Neckar floodplains in the Heilbronn basin aided early settlement by farmers and ranchers. The city limits of present-day Heilbronn contain many sites of Bronze Age finds. Later on, but still before AD, the Celts already mined here for salt from brine. Under Roman Emperor Domitian (AD 81–96) the Romans pushed east away from the Rhine and the outer boundary of

1260-587: The Rococo style. On September 9, 1802, Heilbronn lost its status as an Imperial Free City when the troops of Duke Friedrich I of Württemberg arrived. The duke had conceded the left bank of the Rhine to France during the French Revolutionary Wars but had been compensated with areas on the right bank. This is how Heilbronn and other former Imperial Free Cities became part of Württemberg in 1803. Heilbronn became

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1320-526: The Roman Empire was set at the Neckar-Odenwald Limes . A castle in today's borough of Böckingen was part of that limes , and nearby numerous Roman villas and plantations were built. Around AD 150, the Neckar-Odenwald Limes became obsolete when the boundary of the Roman Empire was moved approximately 30 km (19 mi) to the east, where it was subsequently fortified with the construction of

1380-546: The Theresienwiese . Tsar Alexander I of Russia met in Heilbronn with the Baltic Baroness Juliane von Krüdener , who talked him into founding the " Holy Alliance ". Industrialization arrived in 1820. When the first train lines were placed in service in Württemberg, Heilbronn was at the end of the line of the northern branch that connected Heilbronn with Stuttgart and further fueled industrialization. For

1440-624: The Upper Germanic Limes complete with parapet and trenches . Around 260, the Romans surrendered the limes, and the Alamanni became rulers of the Neckar basin. Between the 4th and 7th centuries, the area became part of the Frankish Empire , and the first settlement was built in the general vicinity of the present center of town. In 741, Heilbronn is first mentioned in an official document of

1500-580: The 1970s, the centre of the city was transformed into a pedestrian zone and the rededication of the city theatre in 1982 closed one of the largest holes left in the inner city from World War II. Pursuant to the NATO Double-Track Decision of 1979, Pershing II intermediate-range nuclear missiles were stationed just uphill of Heilbronn in the Waldheide. This made Heilbronn the only major city in Germany with atomic missiles inside its city limits —

1560-459: The Böckingen train transfer station. As a result of 1,168 bombs dropped that day, 281 residents died. The city was carpet-bombed from the southern quarter all the way to the Kilianskirche in the center of town. The church was burnt out. After a ten-day battle , with the allies advancing over the strategically important Neckar crossings, the war ended for the destroyed city, and it was occupied by

1620-679: The Commission in 1937. The individual reports went under the title of The Upper Rhaetian Limes of the Roman Empire (ORL), which was published in fifteen volumes, of which seven cover the route of the limes and eight cover the various camps and forts. The documents of the Imperial Limes Commission are now in the custody of the Roman-Germanic Commission of the German Archaeological Institute . The RLK numbered

1680-647: The Roman Empire. It includes the longest land border in the European section of the limes , interrupted for only a few kilometres, by a section that follows the River Main between Großkrotzenburg and Miltenberg . By contrast, elsewhere in Europe, the limes is largely defined by the rivers Rhine ( Lower Germanic Limes ) and Danube ( Danube Limes ). The function of the Roman military frontiers has been increasingly discussed for some time. The latest research tends to view at least

1740-622: The U.S. Army on April 12, 1945. Local NSDAP leader Richard Drauz became a fugitive because of executions of American prisoners of war he had ordered in March 1945. He was eventually arrested, tried, and hanged by the Allies in Landsberg on December 4, 1946. After the war, Emil Beutinger, mayor until 1933, returned to office and began the formidable task of reconstruction that was subsequently continued by his successors Paul Metz and Paul Meyle. Milestones were

1800-549: The Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes not as a primarily military demarcation line , but rather a monitored economic boundary for the non-Roman lands. The limes , it is argued, was not really suitable for fending off systematic external attacks. Thanks to a skillful economic policy , the Roman Empire extended its influence far to the northeast, beyond the frontier. Evidence of this are the many border crossings which, although guarded by Roman soldiers, would have enabled

1860-853: The acceptance of the Augsburg Confession by city council and residents and the Heilbronn Catechism of 1536 is the second oldest catechism in the Protestant Church. In 1538 Heilbronn joined the Schmalkaldic League but by 1546 squabbles between troops of the Schmalkaldic League and those of the Emperor Charles V escalated into battles that were won by the Emperor. As a result, Charles V spent Christmas 1546 in Heilbronn to attend

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1920-486: The adjacent Roman provinces of Raetia (Rhaetia) and Germania Superior (Upper Germania). In the Roman limites we have, for the first time in European history, clearly defined territorial borders of a sovereign state that were visible on the ground to friend and foe alike. Most of the Upper German-Rhaetian Limes did not follow rivers or mountain ranges, which would have formed natural boundaries for

1980-540: The city area in recent years include two Neckar bridges, the two shopping centres Stadtgalerie and Klosterhof, the experimenta Science Center and the Bildungscampus. In 2021, the State of Baden-Wuerttemberg decides to locate its new innovation park artificial intelligence in Heilbronn. Ever since the Franks under Chlodwig settled in the Neckar region around 500 the area has been predominantly Christian and when Heilbronn

2040-592: The city became a widespread Jewish surname in many varieties, see Heilprin , Halpern , and Halperin . In 1225, Heilbronn was incorporated into the Hohenstaufen Empire as oppidum Heilecbrunnen . Oppidum signified a city fortified by parapet and trenches . Later during the 13th century, the Teutonic Knights obtained ownership of a large area south of Heilbronn which would remain owned by that order until German Mediatisation in 1805. Starting in 1268,

2100-475: The city during the 15th century enabled it to expand, and many of its historic structures, such as the Kilianskirche (1455–60), trace their origins to that era. Götz von Berlichingen spent three years in "knightly custody" in Heilbronn starting in 1519 and even spent a night in the tower of the bastion. That same year people first took note of the pub owner Jäcklein Rohrbach who with accomplices would later kill

2160-454: The city only lasted several months, the French were only persuaded to leave the surrounding areas in 1693, after a large defensive army had been put into the field and fortifications had been erected. During the 18th century, archives suggest all members of the city council enjoyed some sort of formal education; Schiller and Goethe came to visit; and elaborate buildings were being constructed in

2220-701: The city's community center Harmonie , but the SPD had the majority in Heilbronn over the NSDAP as late as the elections on March 5, 1933. Richard Drauz , who had been born into a respected Heilbronn family, became Heilbronn's NSDAP Kreisleiter (District Leader) in 1932. He was also elected to the Reichstag from 1933 on and pushed hard for the Gleichschaltung of the Heilbronn clubs and press in Nazi Germany . On July 28, 1935,

2280-423: The city's population exceeded 100,000 for the first time; thus Heilbronn attained "major city" ( Großstadt ) status. During the last district reform in the 1970s, Kirchhausen, Biberach, Frankenbach and Horkheim were incorporated into Heilbronn, and the city was reconfirmed as independent city and seat of Heilbronn County. It was also declared seat of the newly formed Franken region, now Heilbronn-Franken. Also during

2340-427: The city. From 1644 through 1647, Heilbronn was again part of the Holy Roman Empire, but then French troops moved in and later those of the Electorate of the Palatinate . The city was not free of occupying forces until four years after the Peace of Westphalia of 1648. But already in the 1670s the city again became the stage for armed manoeuvres, until it was occupied by French troops in 1688. But while that occupation of

2400-465: The completion of the east–west axis of the Baden-Wuerttemburg regional transportation system. In 2013, the north–south axis to Neckarsulm was opened. Heilbronn won the European competition "Entente Florale 2000" on September 9, 2000, in Broughshane, Northern Ireland, and in 2005–06 the city became the first UNICEF children's city in Germany. Late in 2005, Heilbronn was chosen to host the Bundesgartenschau in 2019. More than 2.3 million visitors came to

2460-404: The direction of the ancient historian, Theodor Mommsen . The work of this commission is considered pioneering for reworking of Roman provincial history. Especially productive were the first ten years of research, which worked out the course of the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes and named the camps along the border. The research reports on the excavations were published from 1894 to the dissolution of

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2520-467: The eastern parts of it (Hohenlohe) are, however, culturally a part of Franken (engl. Franconia , hence the second half of the name), as the population there mostly speaks Franconian rather than Swabian dialects of German . This area is known as Tauberfranken , after the Tauber river , that is flowing through it, and borders in the north and east with the Franconian regions of Lower Franconia and Middle Franconia , that belong to Bavaria . Towards

2580-417: The ensuing criminal proceedings. It is also Charles V who in 1522 changed the charter of the city and this charter survived almost unscathed until 1803. During the Thirty Years' War the city and surrounding villages suffered badly. After the battle of Wimpfen in 1622, Neckargartach was burnt to the ground. In 1631 Heilbronn was occupied by imperial troops but the same year the Swedes succeeded in conquering

2640-463: The executor of Böckingen. After he had spent some time in the Hohenlohe Plains and collected similarly minded characters around him, he returned to Heilbronn in April 1525 just as the German Peasants' War was getting into full swing. On April 16 the peasants killed many of the nobles in Weinsberg and on April 18 the Heilbronn monastery of the Order of Our Lady of Mt. Carmel was attacked and ransacked. The city opened its gates in response to demands of

2700-450: The first scholarly treatise about it in 1731. Only after the foundation of the German Empire could archaeologists begin to study more precisely the route of the limes , about which there had previously only been a rudimentary knowledge. As a result, they were able to make the first systematic excavations in the second half of the 19th century. In 1892, the Imperial Limes Commission (RLK) was established for this purpose in Berlin , under

2760-470: The garden and city exhibition in 2019, which took place on a former commercial site of about 40 hectares located directly north of the main station. Now a part of the site is being developed into a new Urban district called Neckarbogen, where up to 3,500 people will live and 1,000 people will work in the future. The first buildings of the green and family-friendly quarter have been highly acclaimed and already received several awards. Other major new buildings in

2820-407: The infrastructure thus created, during the 14th century Heilbronn grew attractive to merchants and craftspeople, who now demanded the right to determine their own fate. In 1371, Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor , issued a new charter to the city. Now Heilbronn needed to answer only to the Emperor and as such was an Imperial Free City . Craftspeople and merchants were now represented in its council and

2880-421: The order built the Deutschhof there as one of its residences. The church building of the order that was located on the premises was modified and expanded several times: First in 1350 it was expanded ( Gothic ), then it was remodeled in 1719 ( Baroque ), and in 1977, it was consecrated as a cathedral. After the demise of the Staufen dynasty, King Rudolf I returned city status to Heilbronn in 1281 and installed

2940-469: The peasants and consequently more churches and municipal institutions were robbed the next day. For about a month Heilbronn remained under the control of rebellious peasants. And even though Johann Lachmann , later a church reformer, had attempted to mediate, the peasants did not leave the city until one of their armies was defeated on May 12, 1525, in Böblingen . Their leader Rohrbach was executed on May 21, 1525, in Neckargartach and his home town of Böckingen

3000-401: The port was opened in a canal off the Neckar, and 1936 saw the Autobahn between Heilbronn and Stuttgart completed. Economy and infrastructure were booming in Württemberg, and Heilbronn was at the logistic centre of it all. As the result of a district reform on October 1, 1938, Heilbronn became the seat of the newly created Heilbronn County and regained independent city status. At the same time

3060-410: The previously independent communities of Böckingen, Sontheim, and Neckargartach were annexed, and with 72,000 residents Heilbronn then was the second largest city in Württemberg. The port turned into an important transfer station on the Neckar and one of the ten largest interior ports in the country. On November 10, 1938, the Heilbronn synagogue was destroyed during the Kristallnacht . Soon thereafter

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3120-453: The rededication of historic city hall in 1953 and the reopening of the community centre, Harmonie . Heilbronn was part of Württemberg-Baden until 1952, after which it became part of Baden-Württemberg . After 1951, US troops were permanently stationed in Heilbronn. They used barracks built prior to World War II and added some structures of their own. On April 15, 1954, during the Easter holiday 13 people from Heilbronn went missing in what

3180-433: The region is Heilbronn. The Heilbronn-Franken region is part of the European metropolitan region of Stuttgart and has the highest density of world market leaders among all regions across Germany measured against their number of inhabitants. Heilbronn-Franken has experienced an outstanding development with regard to the dynamic of its innovation process. The region is administratively part of Baden-Württemberg, especially

3240-421: The seat of an Oberamt (district), and the four Imperial Free villages became separate communities within the district. In 1806 the Duchy of Württemberg became the Kingdom of Württemberg . In 1815, Heilbronn again became a staging area for major armies ahead of the campaign against Napoleon , and 10,000 troops paraded in front of Emperor Franz of Austria and more than one hundred German princes and generals in

3300-404: The time of the Renaissance and Renaissance humanism . This was bolstered by the rediscovery of the Germania and Annales of Tacitus in monastic libraries in the 15th and early 16th centuries. Scholars like Simon Studion (1543-1605) researched inscriptions and discovered forts. Studion led archaeological excavations of the Roman camp of Benningen am Neckar on the Neckar section of

3360-433: The villages of Böckingen, Flein , Frankenbach and Neckargartach became part of Heilbronn's territory. As an Imperial Free City Heilbronn was threatened by the ambitious House of Württemberg . A relationship with the Holy Roman Emperor and a treaty with the Electorate of the Palatinate in effect from 1417 to 1622 strengthened Heilbronn's position and kept the House of Württemberg at bay. The political stability enjoyed by

3420-414: The way to Neckarelz numerous subterraneous complexes, some of them gigantic, were constructed ; on November 20, 1942, the Heilbronn Bureau of Labour had 8,000 forced labourers registered in its district. In 1940 allied air raids began, and the city and its surrounding area were hit about 20 times with minor damage. On September 10, 1944, a raid by the allies targeted the city specifically, in particular

3480-512: The west, the region borders the Rhine-Neckar region, to the south the Stuttgart Region . Apart from Heilbronn, smaller cities in the region are Bad Mergentheim , Crailsheim , Künzelsau , Neckarsulm , Öhringen , Schwäbisch Hall , Tauberbischofsheim and Wertheim . This Baden-Württemberg location article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Upper Germanic Limes The Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes ( German : Obergermanisch-Raetischer Limes ), or ORL ,

3540-424: Was first mentioned in an official document in 741 Christian Michaelsbasilica, present day's Kilianskirche , was mentioned along with the city. The Teutonic Knights constructed its church from the 13th century and both churches were continually expanded. They were joined later by other churches and cloisters in the city. Around 1050 an important Jewish community was mentioned that had settled in what became known as

3600-446: Was partially burnt to the ground in punishment. In 1528, the replacement of the mayor by Hans Riesser , a Protestant, brought on the previously delayed Reformation and through the efforts of Reformer Lachmann schools and healthcare were also reorganized. In 1529 the Kilianskirche (church tower of the Kilianskirche) was completed. It was the first important religious building of the Renaissance in Germany. The year 1530 brought about

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