Bruchsal

Sister cities

• Gornja Radgona
• Cwmbran
• Sainte-Marie-aux-Mines
• Sainte-Menehould
• Volterra

History

Excavations and artifacts provide evidence of a settlement on the Michelsberg (Untergrombach) as early as 4000 BC during the Neolithic. In the core of Bruchsal the oldest settlement discovered was dated back to AD 640. It is located near today's Saint Peter's Church. The first mention of Bruchsal in official documents occurred in 976, when the king came to town. In October 980, Otto II and his court stayed at the king's palace in Bruchsal for several days. Henry II of Germany became ruler of Bruchsal in 1002 following the subjugation of his rival Herrmann of Swabia. In 1056 Henry III of Germany presented the settlement to the bishop of Speyer (Konrad I) as a gift. The city remained part the diocese until the German Mediatisation in 1802. It also was the seat of an administrative district that originally only consisted of the core of Bruchsal (i.e., the city as it existed prior to the various district reforms). In 1067 Henry IV resided in Bruchsal from time to time. 1248 was the first time Bruchsal was referred to as a city, and in 1278 Saint Peter's Church was mentioned for the first time. After extensive damage to both, the Palace and Saint Peter's Church were reconstructed in 1320. The Bergfried (an outlook and defensive tower bastion) was erected in 1358, and the city wall was completed in 1452. In 1460 the first coin was minted in Bruchsal. In 1502 the first peasant revolt (Bundschuh), led by Joß Fritz of Untergrombach, chose Bruchsal as its target. Traitors to the rebellion allowed the authorities to take the revolt's leaders into custody. Ten were decapitated in the Bruchsal Palace courtyard. Joß Fritz got away and went into hiding in the Southern Black Forest. In 1525 the peasant revolts peaked. Inflation, hunger and the Plague added to the desperation, and…

Geography

Bruchsal is located at the edge of the Upper Rhine River Plains and the Kraichgau along the Saalbach, which is a small tributary of the Rhine that joins it between Philippsburg and Oberhausen. The following cities and towns share a border with Bruchsal. They all belong to the district of Karlsruhe and are listed clockwise, starting in the North: Forst (Baden), Ubstadt-Weiher, Kraichtal, Bretten, Gondelsheim, Walzbachtal, Weingarten (Baden), Stutensee and Karlsdorf-Neuthard. In addition the exclave of Bruchsal situated North of Karlsdorf-Neuthard shares borders with the towns of Graben-Neudorf, Waghäusel und Hambrücken. The city of Bruchsal is made up of Bruchsal proper along with the boroughs of Büchenau, Heidelsheim, Helmsheim, Obergrombach and Untergrombach. A few neighborhoods within the city limits are known by their own name, but their limits are not precisely documented. Furthermore, former homesteads are located inside today's city limits. These often only consist of one or several buildings, such as Langental, Rohrbacher Hof, Scheckenbronnerhof, Staighof, Talmühle and Auf dem Michaelsberg in the borough of Untergrombach.

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  6,193
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  5,885
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  5,602
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  5,529
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,638
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,477
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  4,371
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  4,146

Most recent

• M 3.4 — 2022-10-16
  Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
• M 4 — 2022-07-09
  2 km NNE of Grosselfingen, Germany
• M 4.1 — 2021-06-26
  2 km SE of Hœrdt, France
• M 3.6 — 2014-05-17
  2 km ESE of Pfungstadt, Germany
• M 2.5 — 2008-12-12
  2 km ESE of Nehren, Germany
• M 2.8 — 2008-11-25
  1 km S of Steinmauern, Germany