Germersheim | |
|---|---|
 Railway bridge over the Rhine River | |
 Flag  Coat of arms | |
Location of Germersheim within Germersheim district  | |
 Location of Germersheim | |
  Germersheim  Germersheim | |
| Coordinates:49°13′00″N8°22′00″E / 49.21667°N 8.36667°E /49.21667; 8.36667 | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Rhineland-Palatinate |
| District | Germersheim |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2017–25) | Marcus Schaile[1] (CDU) |
| Area | |
• Total | 21.68 km2 (8.37 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 105 m (344 ft) |
| Population (2023-12-31)[2] | |
• Total | 21,295 |
| • Density | 982.2/km2 (2,544/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 76726 |
| Dialling codes | 07274 |
| Vehicle registration | GER |
| Website | www.germersheim.de |
Germersheim (German:[ˈɡɛʁmɐshaɪm]ⓘ) is a town in theGerman state ofRhineland-Palatinate, of around 20,000 inhabitants. It is also the seat of theGermersheim district. The neighboring towns and cities areSpeyer,Landau,Philippsburg,Karlsruhe andWörth.
The coat of arms features a golden crowned eagle on a blue background. The eagle derives from the fact that, at one time the town was ruled directly by the emperor of Germany.
After his invasion ofGallia,Gaius Iulius Caesar made theRhine river the border between theRoman Empire andGermania. Some small areas east of it were later invaded and added to theRoman province ofAgri Decumates. As it was attacked more and more it was given up in the second half of the third century and a military camp was founded, named "Vicus Iulii" ("Village of Julius/Julius' Village). It was supported up to the fourth century.
The first record of the name "Germersheim" is from 1090, when it was named in theSinsheimer Chronik (Chronicle ofSinsheim). The citadel was rebuilt by the emperorConrad II, and the German kingRudolph von Habsburg (Rudolf of Habsburg) gave Germersheim city rights in 1276 (18 August).[3] There is a legend which says that he, as a sick man, rode from Germersheim to Speyer to die there and not in Germersheim.
In 1325 the town was given to theElectorate of the Palatinate byKing Ludwig IV. It got a higher status in the following centuries. A Catholic Order founded a monastery in 1298 which it used up to 1527.Having been nearly destroyed in the times of theplague and theThirty Years' War, during which it was conquered byAustria and then byFrance,[3] Germersheim was burned down by French troops in 1674. Only thecrypt and the foundations of the Catholic Church survived.
The death of the childless electorCharles II in 1685 led to the devastatingWar of the Palatinate Succession (1688-1697) during which Germersheim was claimed by the French as a dependency ofAlsace. Through the intervention ofthe pope in 1702, the French, on payment of a large sum, agreed to vacate the town, and in 1715 its fortifications were rebuilt.[3]
Still strategically important during theFrench Revolutionary Wars, in July 1793 Germersheim was the scene of a significant French defeat when anAustrian army under the veteran Field Marshalvon Wurmser defeated aFrench army underBeauharnais.[4]
From the year 1797, Germersheim belonged toFrance, incorporated into the newly createdMont-Tonnerredepartment in 1798. It was conquered byBavarian troops in 1814. After being retaken in 1814, Germersheim's Bavarian rulers started to build a fortress in 1831. It was completed in 1855, although excavations for underground passages continued until 1861. By this time, however, the fortress had become outdated, as artillery had improved greatly in the thirty years since work began. The fortress was destroyed in 1921/22 as a result of theTreaty of Versailles. Some parts still exist, such as the "Fronte Beckers", where the town's Music School is today.
Germersheim was the scene of several conflicts betweenFrench troops and German veteran associations during theoccupation of the Rhineland following theFirst World War.
GeneralHans Graf von Sponeck, who ordered the retreat of his troops fromKerch because they were going to be hopelessly cut off by the Russian landings atTheodosia on theCrimean peninsula, and against express instruction of his superior officer in the winter 1941, was interned here in the fortress afterHitler had commuted his death sentence to six years' detention. In the purge following the failedassassination attempt on Hitler Graf von Sponeck, although not involved, was shot. Today, a street in Germersheim is namedHans-Graf-von-Sponeck-Straße in his honour.
There are regular regional train connections to Karlsruhe andMannheim.
| Seat distribution in the town council (2014) | ||
|---|---|---|
| Party | Percentage | Number of seats |
| CDU | 40.8 | 15 |
| SPD | 20.3 | 7 |
| FWG | 19.7 | 7 |
| REP | 5.6 | 2 |
| FDP | 3.1 | 1 |
| B90/Grüne | 10.6 | 4 |
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Germersheim".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 11 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 901.
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