EPPINGEN

'Eppingen ' is a small town in the northwest of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is situated in the district of Heilbronn. The town has about 21,145 inhabitants and has the second largest population in the district.
Eppingen lies in the Kraichgau, a hilly region in southwestern Germany, close to the confluence of the Elsenz and Hilsbach Rivers .

Contents

History

Population Change

Previous Mayors and Head Mayors

Town Crest

Economy and Infrastructure

Traffic and Roads

Landmarks

Town partnerships

See also

External links

History

Eppingen was first mentioned in 985 when Otto III gave the settlement to the diocese of Worms. The ending "-ingen" was common for towns colonised by the Alamanni clan in the 3rd and 4th centuries.
Eppingen was owned by Salier in the 11th century, and by the Staufer in the 12th century. In 1188, it became a fortified village and, in 1192, a town, elevated by Heinrich VI. The town was distrained several times in the 14th century, but never lost the status of a town. After the win of the Electoral Palatinate over margraviate Baden in 1435, it finally became a part of the Electoral Palatinate but was once more distrained to the knights of Gemmingen, from 1469 to approximately 1520. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Eppingen underwent an economic boom during which its Latin school was first mentioned (1421).
During the Palatinate wars of succession, Eppingen functioned as the main storage facility for the German army. From 1695 to 1697, the Eppinger "Linien" (Eppingen lines of defence) were built. They served as large defending walls against French raids at that time. One watchtower, called the Chartaque, is still accessible. Eppingen was affiliated to Baden in 1803. It maintained the second oldest school of agriculture in Baden. At the end of the 19th century, Eppingen was connected to the railway network (1879 to Karlsruhe, 1880 to Heilbronn and 1899 to Heidelberg).
During 1971 and 1972, Eppingen annexed the six surrounding communities of Adelshofen, Elsenz, Richen, Rohrbach am Gießhübel, Kleingartach and Mühlbach. In 2000, Eppingen's population exceeded 20,000; and it attained the status of a district town in 2002.

Population Change

Year Population 1778 1.570 1809 2.320 1825 2.750 1852 3.266 1 December 1871 3.337 1 December 1880 ¹ 3.621 1 December 1890 ¹ 3.546 1 December 1900 ¹ 3.467 1 December 1910 ¹ 3.402 8 October 1919 ¹ 3.372 16 June 1925 ¹ 3.389 16 June 1933 ¹ 3.506

Year Population 17 May 1939 ¹ 3.416 December 1945 3.863 13 September 1950 ¹ 4.891 6 June 1961 ¹ 5.501 27 May 1970 ¹ 6.708 31 December 1975 14.870 31 December 1980 14.833 27 May 1987 ¹ 15.462 31 December 1990 16.418 31 December 1995 18.688 31 December 2000 20.257 30 June 2004 21.017

Previous Mayors and Head Mayors

★ 1808-1813: Heinrich Jakob Raußmüller, Head Mayor

★ 1813-1816: Carl Morano, Head Mayor

★ 1816-1831: Ludwig Lother, Head Mayor

★ 1831-1844: Friedrich Hochstetter, Mayor

★ 1844-1847: Johann Ludwig Raußmüller, Mayor

★ 1847-1859: Wilhelm Lother, Mayor

★ 1859-1866: Gustav Hochstetter, Mayor

★ 1866-1870: Ludwig Lother, Mayor

★ 1870-1878: Heinrich Raußmüller, Mayor

★ 1878-1890: Paul Bentel, Mayor

★ 1890-1894: Heinrich Schmelcher, Mayor

★ 1894-1903: Philipp Vielhauer, Mayor

★ 1903-1933: Albert Wirth, Mayor

★ 1933-1937: Karl Doll, Mayor

★ 1937-1945: Karl Zutavern, Mayor

★ 1945-1948: Jakob Dörr, Mayor

★ 1948-1966: Karl Thomä, Mayor

★ 1966-1980: Rüdiger Peuckert, Mayor

★ 1980-2004: Erich Pretz, Mayor until 1. January 2002 then Head Mayor

★ 2004-now: Klaus Holaschke, Head Mayor

Town Crest

The crest of Eppingen shows a two gold beams split with a red beam, with a red and gold eagle on the right. The crest is bordered in black, and the city flag is red-yellow.

Economy and Infrastructure

Traffic and Roads

Eppingen can be reached by Freeway 6 (Mannheim-Heilbronn). Also, the B293 (Karlsruhe–Heilbronn) goes through to town zone, however it acts as a bypass around the main town area.

Landmarks

The Pfeifferturm, built in the 13th century, serves as the town's landmark. The "Old University" (German: Alte Universität) was built in 1494 and 1495 in the style of a late medieval store. Its name is a reminder of the year 1564, when a part of Heidelberg University was moved to Eppingen because of the plague. The Baumann House (German: Baumannsche Haus) is one of the prettiest and most famous timbered houses in the entire area of northern Baden. There are many beautiful timbered houses in downtown Eppingen, and because of this the city is a part of the German 'Fachwerkstraße' (German route of the most beautiful timbered houses).

Town partnerships

Eppingen has official partnerships with the French town of Wassy (département Haute-Marne) since 1967, the English town of Epping (Essex) since 1981 and the Hungarian town of Szigetvár (Baranya) since 1992. There are student exchange programs between schools of Eppingen and the partner towns every year.

See also

VfB Eppingen

External links

★ Stadt Eppingen website (in German)

★ Eppingen Local Portal (in German)