Wachenheim

For other uses, seeWachenheim (disambiguation).

Wachenheim
Town
Coat of arms
Location of Wachenheim within Bad Dürkheim district
Wachenheim Wachenheim
Coordinates:49°26′28″N8°10′48″E
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
District	Bad Dürkheim
Municipal assoc.	Wachenheim
Government
•Mayor(2019–24)	Torsten Bechtel(CDU)
Area
• Total	24.97 km2(9.64 sq mi)
Elevation	141 m (463 ft)
Population (2022-12-31)
• Total	4,561
• Density	180/km2(470/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00(CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00(CEST)
Postal codes	67157
Dialling codes	06322
Vehicle registration	DÜW
Website	wachenheim.de

Wachenheim an der Weinstraße(formerly calledWachenheim im Speyergau) is a small town in theBad Dürkheimdistrict inRhineland-Palatinate,Germany,roughly 1 km south ofBad Dürkheimand 20 km west ofLudwigshafen.It is known above all else for its various businesses in the field ofwinegrowing,and in particular forSekt.

Geography

Location

Wachenheim lies in theMiddle Haardtat the eastern edge of thePalatinate Forestand is also the seat of theeponymousVerbandsgemeinde,to which also belong the neighbouring places ofFriedelsheim,GönnheimandEllerstadt,themselves also characterized by winegrowing and also partly by fruitgrowing.

History

Antiquity

Panorama: view from the lookout tower at the Wachtenburg

The first traces of settlement in the Wachenheim area come from the earlyIron Age(550 BC to 1). At this time,Celtswere settling in theUpper Rhine Plainarea. About 60 BC,Germanic tribes,presumably theNemetes,pushed into the region and drove the Celts out. TheRomansintervened in the disputes between the Germanic peoples and the Celts, and after their victory overAriovistus(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 throughRhenish HessetoBingen.

After a brief invasion by theHunsabout AD 450, theAlamanniadvanced into the area, although by the late 5th century, they were being driven out of the region by theFranks.

Middle Ages

Wachenheim's first documentary mention – asWackenheim– dates fromCarolingiantimes and is found in theLorsch codex.There, on 30 March 766, the donation of a Wachenheimvineyardis noted.

In the 11th century, Wachenheim's lords were theSalians.The town passed onEmperor Heinrich V'sdeath to theHouse 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 byEmperor Louis the Bavarian.In 1436,Emperor Ruprecht III's(1398–1410) son, DukeStephenbuilt amint,which was in operation until 1471. In that year, Wachenheim, after hitherto having been under DukeLouis the Black'sownership, was taken over byFrederick 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 theGerman Peasants' War,the castle was used by marauding peasants as a base for their raids.

Modern times

During theThirty Years' War,Wachenheim was occupied beginning in 1621 bySpanishtroops, who were driven out in 1631 bySwedishtroops under KingGustav 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) nearDürkheim.

Even after the Thirty Years' War, the region was time and again beset with war. One of the highlights was theNine Years' War(known in Germany as thePfälzischer 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 theFrench Revolutionwith its attendant hardships and destruction. In 1794,Frenchtroops invaded the village and plundered it. Thereafter, and until 1815, Wachenheim belonged to the Department ofMont-Tonnerre(or Donnersberg inGerman), theArrondissement of Speyerand the Canton of Durkheim (without theumlaut) in the French Empire. AfterNapoleon'sdownfall, thePalatinateon theRhine’s left bank, and thereby Wachenheim as well, was governed by theKingdom of Bavariabeginning in 1816. In both theFranco-Prussian Warand theFirst World War,Wachenheim was spared further destruction and was occupied byFranceat the end of the latter war, until the French pulled out of theRhinelandon 1 July 1930.

Late in theSecond World War,on 18 March 1945, parts of the Old Town were destroyed by severalAlliedair raids, as parts of the German Army Command had stopped in town.

Politics

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	CDU	FDP	WGR	Total
2009	4	7	2	7	20 seats
2004	4	4	1	11	20 seats

Mayors

• Torsten Bechtel (CDU), since 21 June 2009
• Arnold Nagel (FWG), 1979–2009

Coat of arms

The town'sarmsmight 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 compositionchargedwith thePalatine Lionand the Bavarian “bendy lozengy” pattern (that is, slanted diamond shapes of alternatingtincturesformed 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 theescutcheonparty 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 achiefadded 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 KingLudwig I of Bavariaand was issued on 7 October 1845.

Town partnerships

Wachenheim fosters partnerships with the following places:

• Cuisery,Saône-et-Loire,France
• Pegau,Leipzig,Saxony
• Schwetzingen,Rhein-Neckar-Kreis,Baden-Württemberg(wine sponsorship)
• Neuburg an der Donau,Neuburg-Schrobenhausen,Bavaria(wine sponsorship)

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

The Wachtenburg ruins, Wachenheim's landmark

• Wachtenburg– The Wachtenburg castle ruins, owing to the view over theUpper Rhine Plainis also known as the “Balcony of thePalatinate”.From here, one can see the Rhine Valley, theOdenwaldand, on a clear day, theBlack Forest.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, theFörderkreis 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– Thevilla rusticais aRomancountry seat unearthed in the 1970s during theFlurbereinigung.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 country villa from the mid-19th century. It was completed in 1843 to plans by Karlsruhe architectFriedrich Eisenlohr.An extensive estate complex and a garden with impressive tree growth round out the whole of the estate.
• Saint George's Church–St. Georgs Kirchewas used, until the newCatholicchurch was built in 1989, by both Catholics andProtestantsas asimultaneous church.The sharing came about in the course of theElectorate of the Palatinatechurch 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– TheSchlosshouses theSektcellar named after it, theSektkellerei Schloss Wachenheim.TheSchlossis 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

TheKurpfalz-Park( “Electoral Palatinate Park” ), lying in thePalatinate Foreston theRotsteig,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, aKasperletheatre, aKurpfalz-Expressand many others.

Jewish graveyard

TheJewishgraveyard on Römerweg is the oldest one in the region and a cultural monument.

Economy and infrastructure

Winegrowing

The town is characterized bywinegrowingandtourism.By land area, it is one of the Palatinate's biggest winegrowing centres. In June, the town's biggest event is held, theBurg- 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 theGerman Wine Route,which used to be the same road asBundesstraße271. To relieve the traffic load, a bypass road was built in the 1990s that runs east of Wachenheim, linkingBad DürkheimwithNeustadt an der Weinstraße.

The town also has a halt on the single-trackedPfälzische Nordbahn(Neustadt–Monsheim), at whichRegionalbahntrains stop according to Rhineland-Palatinate timetabling.

Famous people

Sons and daughters of the town

• Isaac Rice(1850–1915), entrepreneur and chess playermusical directorin Speyer
• Hans Hüttig(1894–1980), Nazi SS concentration camp commandant
• Godfrey Morse(1846–1911), German-American lawyer
• Heiko Vogel(born 1975), German football manager

External links

• Town’s official webpage(in English)
• Verbandsgemeindeof Wachenheim(in German)
• Wachenheim Lions Club(in German)
• Wachenheim, Germany, Planetware