Heilbronn

Sister cities

• Solothurn
• Novorossiysk
• Frankfurt (Oder)
• Neath Port Talbot
• Słubice
• Béziers

History

The oldest traces of humans in and around Heilbronn date back to 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 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 to the east, where it was subsequently fortified with the construction of 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 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 the city became a widespread Jewish surname in many varieties, see…

Geography

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 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 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: * 001: Heilbronn itself * 002: Böckingen * 003: Neckargartach * 004: Sontheim * 005: Klingenberg * 006: Frankenbach * 007: Kirchhausen * 008: Biberach * 009: Horkheim

Most-observed species

• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,713
• Zoropsid spider

  Zoropsis spinimana (Dufour, 1820) · Arachnida
  1,657
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,617
• Common Buzzard

  Buteo buteo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,541
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,451
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,366
• Eurasian Kestrel

  Falco tinnunculus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,161
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  1,154

Most recent

• M 3.4 — 2022-10-16
  Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
• M 4 — 2022-07-09
  2 km NNE of Grosselfingen, Germany
• 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
• M 2.7 — 2008-07-09
  1 km WSW of Dußlingen, Germany