Weinheim

Sister cities

• Imola
• Eisleben
• Cavaillon
• Ramat Gan

History

Weinheim celebrated its 1250th anniversary in 2005. The earliest record of Weinheim dates back to 755 CE, when the name "Winenheim" was recorded in the Lorsch codex, the record book of Lorsch Abbey. In 1000, Emperor Otto III bestowed on Weinheim the right to hold markets, and in 1065 the right to mint and issue coins. A new town developed next to the old town from 1250. In 1308, the old town was transferred to the Electorate of the Palatinate and from 1368 the whole town belonged to the Electorate. From the end of the 14th century, the whole town belonged to the Heidelberg Oberamt district. With the transfer to Baden in 1803, Weinheim became the seat of its own Amt, until unification with the Mannheim Landkreis (district) in 1936. Weinheim has been within the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis since its formation on 1 January 1973. A Jewish community in Weinheim is recorded from 1228. There are records of Jewish persecution in 1298 (Rintfleisch massacres) and 1348–49 (Black Death persecutions) before the Jews were expelled from Weinheim in 1391. The Weinheim Jewish community began to grow again during the Thirty Years' War. There was a synagogue, a beth midrash, and a mikveh, and, in the 19th century, a school for boys together with a teacher-training college. The synagogue was destroyed in the Kristallnacht (9–10 November 1938) and the last remaining Jews were sent to Gurs on 22 October 1940.

Geography

Weinheim is situated on the Bergstraße theme route on the western rim of the Odenwald. The old town lies in the valley, with the new part of town further to the west. The Market Square is filled with numerous cafes, as well as the old Rathaus (guildhall). Further to the south is the Schlossgarten (Palace Garden) and the Exotenwald (Exotic Forest), which contains species of trees imported from around the world, but mostly from North America and Japan.