Wiesloch | |
|---|---|
 Town hall | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Wiesloch within Rhein-Neckar-Kreis district  | |
 Location of Wiesloch | |
  Wiesloch  Wiesloch | |
| Coordinates:49°17′39″N08°41′54″E / 49.29417°N 8.69833°E /49.29417; 8.69833 | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Baden-Württemberg |
| Admin. region | Karlsruhe |
| District | Rhein-Neckar-Kreis |
| Subdivisions | Kernstadt, 4 Stadtteile |
| Government | |
| • Lord mayor(2023–31) | Dirk Elkemann[1] (Ind.) |
| Area | |
• Total | 30.24 km2 (11.68 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 130 m (430 ft) |
| Population (2023-12-31)[2] | |
• Total | 27,120 |
| • Density | 896.8/km2 (2,323/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 69168 |
| Dialling codes | 06222 |
| Vehicle registration | HD |
| Website | www.wiesloch.de |
Wiesloch (German:[ˈviːslɔx]ⓘ,locally[ˈvɪslɔx];South Franconian:Wissloch) is a town in northernBaden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 13 kilometres south ofHeidelberg. AfterWeinheim andSinsheim, it is the third largest town in theRhein-Neckar-Kreis. It sharesWiesloch-Walldorf station with its neighbouring townWalldorf. Also in the vicinity of Wiesloch areDielheim,Malsch (bei Wiesloch),Mühlhausen,Rauenberg andSankt Leon-Rot.
Wiesloch's population grew to more than 20,000 when the administration of the area was reorganised in the 1970s. Wiesloch became aGroße Kreisstadt on 1 January 1973, when Altwiesloch, Baiertal, Frauenweiler and Schatthausen were amalgamated with Wiesloch to form the present municipality.
The settlement that is now Wiesloch town centre originated during the expansion of silver mining in the vicinity in the 10th century.[3]
The fossil remains of the oldesthummingbird found to date,Eurotrochilus inexpectatus, were found in a clay pit at Frauenweiler. This bird lived during the EarlyOligocene (30mya), when the area had a humid, subtropical climate similar to the northernCaribbean today.[4]
In 1077,Emperor Henry IV locked more than 100 of his enemies in the early church atWizinloch (as the place was then known) on the site of the presentProtestant church (Stadtkirche) and burnt the building down.[5] (There is no historical evidence that HRE Henry IV did this. It's either hearsay, or a story conflated with acts perpetrated by other rulers.)
There were three battles near Wiesloch, theBattle of Mingolsheim on 27 April 1622 (during theThirty Years' War), the1632 Battle of Wiesloch on 16 August 1632, (during the same war) and the1799 Battle of Wiesloch on 3 December 1799 (during theWar of the Second Coalition).
Wiesloch was attacked on 28 January 1689 by French troops underEzéchiel du Mas, Comte de Mélac, during theNine Years' War, and was almost completely burnt down and destroyed.
The city pharmacy in Wiesloch was the first "filling station" in the world, becauseBertha Benz stopped there on 5 August 1888, on the first long distance car trip, to refill the tank of herautomobile, which her husbandKarl Benz had invented. She was supplied withligroin by theapothecary Willi Ockel.
In 2008, theBertha Benz Memorial Route was officially designated an industrial heritage route, following Bertha Benz's route on the world's first long-distance journey by automobile. It is a 194 km signposted circuit fromMannheim viaHeidelberg and Wiesloch toPforzheim in theBlack Forest, and back.
TheCodex Manesse includes four sophisticatedMiddle High Germanlyrics in thetagelied genre ascribed to theMinnesinger von Wissenlo (meaning "minnesang poet from Wiesloch").[6][7] The identity of the Minnesinger von Wissenlo is not known, but the poet is conjectured to be Heinrich Swendinger von Wissenloch, who lived in the second half of the 13th century.[8] An illustration titledvon Wissenlo in the Codex Manesse shows a lady, a child, and a knight, and includes anescutcheon which does not match that of the Von Wissenloch family.[9]
There are two statues of the Minnesinger von Wissenlo in Wiesloch town centre: one, by Hatto Zeidler from 1978, is in the square by the united Protestant church (Stadtkirche) and shows the poet playing the lyre;[10] the other, an equestrian statue on a tall column, is part of a group by Karel Fron that was erected in the market square near the town hall in 1988.[11]
Wiesloch is situated partly on the southern foothills of theOdenwald, partly in theRhine Valley, and partly in theKraichgau.Five brooks flow through Wiesloch: theLeimbach, theGauangelbach, theWaldangelbach, the Ochsenbach, and the Maisbach.
MLP AG, a large German broker ofpersonal finance services, is headquartered at Wiesloch. Wiesloch also hosts the world's largest printing press manufacturing site, operated byHeidelberger Druckmaschinen.[12] Other large companies in the close vicinity areHeidelbergCement, the centralcool store warehouses for theREWE Group supermarket chain, and the global headquarters ofSAP SE.
"MetropolPark Wiesloch-Walldorf" is the brand name for the commercial and industrialbusiness park surrounding Wiesloch-Walldorf railway station.
The open-airLeimbach Park andWiesloch Feldbahn and Industrial Museum are in the region surrounding the joint railway station.
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