Eppelheim
Encyclopedia
Eppelheim is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg
Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...

 bordering Heidelberg
Heidelberg
-Early history:Between 600,000 and 200,000 years ago, "Heidelberg Man" died at nearby Mauer. His jaw bone was discovered in 1907; with scientific dating, his remains were determined to be the earliest evidence of human life in Europe. In the 5th century BC, a Celtic fortress of refuge and place of...

. It belongs to the district Rhein-Neckar-Kreis
Rhein-Neckar-Kreis
Rhein-Neckar-Kreis is a district in the northwest of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Bergstraße, Odenwaldkreis, Neckar-Odenwald, Heilbronn, Karlsruhe, district-free Speyer, the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, and district-free Mannheim and Heidelberg.-History:The district was created in...

.

Location and neighboring communities

Eppelheim is situated in the valley of the Upper Rhine
Upper Rhine
The Upper Rhine is the section of the Rhine in the Upper Rhine Plain between Basel, Switzerland and Bingen, Germany. The river is marked by Rhine-kilometers 170 to 529 ....

 southwest of the hills of the Odenwald
Odenwald
The Odenwald is a low mountain range in Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg in Germany.- Location :The Odenwald lies between the Upper Rhine Rift Valley with the Bergstraße and the Hessisches Ried in the west, the Main and the Bauland in the east, the Hanau-Seligenstadt Basin – a subbasin of...

 and directly on the Bundesautobahn 5
Bundesautobahn 5
is a 445 km long Autobahn in Germany. Its northern end is the Hattenbach triangle intersection is a 445 km (277 mi) long Autobahn in Germany. Its northern end is the Hattenbach triangle intersection is a 445 km (277 mi) long Autobahn in Germany. Its northern end is the...

.

The location of the city within the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis is almost completely surrounded by the urban district of Heidelberg. Eppelheim borders the Heidelberg boroughs of Wieblingen in the North, Pfaffengrund in the East, and Kirchheim in the South. To the West lies the municipality of Plankstadt
Plankstadt
Plankstadt is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany....

, also within the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis.

Another center in the Rhein-Neckar metropolitan region is Mannheim, about 20 km northwest of Eppelheim.

Boroughs

Eppelheim does not have any boroughs, but locals orient on the directions of the compass and refer to the parts of the city that way. For example, northeast Eppelheim. However, there are no exact demarcations.

History

Archaeological finds from the neolithic
Neolithic
The Neolithic Age, Era, or Period, or New Stone Age, was a period in the development of human technology, beginning about 9500 BC in some parts of the Middle East, and later in other parts of the world. It is traditionally considered as the last part of the Stone Age...

, the bronze age
Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a period characterized by the use of copper and its alloy bronze as the chief hard materials in the manufacture of some implements and weapons. Chronologically, it stands between the Stone Age and Iron Age...

, the iron age
Iron Age
The Iron Age is the archaeological period generally occurring after the Bronze Age, marked by the prevalent use of iron. The early period of the age is characterized by the widespread use of iron or steel. The adoption of such material coincided with other changes in society, including differing...

, and the early middle ages
Middle Ages
The Middle Ages is a periodization of European history from the 5th century to the 15th century. The Middle Ages follows the fall of the Western Roman Empire in 476 and precedes the Early Modern Era. It is the middle period of a three-period division of Western history: Classic, Medieval and Modern...

 indicate that the area where the city is located was inhabited by people for a long time. Eppelheim was first mentioned in historical documents pertaining to a grant in the year 770 in the Lorsch codex
Lorsch codex
The Lorsch Codex is an important historical document created between about 1175 to 1195 AD in the Monastery of Saint Nazarius in Lorsch, Germany. It consists of 460 pages in large format containing more than 3800 entries...

 under the name Ebbelenheim. From the 11th century Eppelheim was a typical small village of the Electoral Palatinate. The number of inhabitants remained continuously under 150 up until the 18th century. Among the reasons for this was the destruction of Eppelheim in 1689. The village, like so many others in the area, was burned down by French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

 troops on 28 January during the War of the Grand Alliance
War of the Grand Alliance
The Nine Years' War – often called the War of the Grand Alliance, the War of the Palatine Succession, or the War of the League of Augsburg – was a major war of the late 17th century fought between King Louis XIV of France, and a European-wide coalition, the Grand Alliance, led by the Anglo-Dutch...

.

Eppelheim was rebuilt and experienced a steady increase in population. In the 20th century the population boomed. The population went from 2644 in 1905 to 13,904 in 1997. The people of Eppelheim chose masonry as a career more than the average German in the 20th century. In 1908 there were over 400. Eppelheim is known in the region as a mason community.

In 1998 Eppelheim was elevated to city status by the State of Baden-Württemberg.

Municipal council

The municipal council of the city of Eppelheim has 22 members. They carry the title Stadträtin/Stadtrat (city councilor female/male).
Municipal Council 13 June 2004
Party Votes Seats
CDU
Christian Democratic Union (Germany)
The Christian Democratic Union of Germany is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It is regarded as on the centre-right of the German political spectrum...

 
% 10
SPD
Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany...

 
% 6
Green
Alliance '90/The Greens
Alliance '90/The Greens is a green political party in Germany, formed from the merger of the German Green Party and Alliance 90 in 1993. Its leaders are Claudia Roth and Cem Özdemir...

 
% 4
FDP
Free Democratic Party (Germany)
The Free Democratic Party , abbreviated to FDP, is a centre-right classical liberal political party in Germany. It is led by Philipp Rösler and currently serves as the junior coalition partner to the Union in the German federal government...

% 1
FWG (Freie Wähler Gemeinschaft) % 1
Voter Participation: %

Coat of arms

The coat of arms in its current form was introduced in 1900. It is based on a lost seal from 1689. The coat of arms matches inescutcheon of the old coat of arms of the Electoral Palatine, which refers to the honor of the counts palatine of the Rhine. The flag is yellow and red and was awarded by the Ministry of State in 1959.

International relations

Eppelheim is twinned
Town twinning
Twin towns and sister cities are two of many terms used to describe the cooperative agreements between towns, cities, and even counties in geographically and politically distinct areas to promote cultural and commercial ties.- Terminology :...

 with:
  • Wilthen
    Wilthen
    Wilthen is a town in the district of Bautzen, in the Free State of Saxony, Germany. It is located near the border with the Czech Republic, nine km south of Bautzen and fifty km east of Dresden.-Geography:...

     (Saxony
    Saxony
    The Free State of Saxony is a landlocked state of Germany, contingent with Brandenburg, Saxony Anhalt, Thuringia, Bavaria, the Czech Republic and Poland. It is the tenth-largest German state in area, with of Germany's sixteen states....

    ), since 1989
  • Dammarie-lès-Lys
    Dammarie-les-Lys
    Dammarie-lès-Lys is a commune in the south-eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located in the Seine-et-Marne department in the Île-de-France region from the center of Paris.-History:...

     (France
    France
    The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

    ), since 1996


Friendly contacts have been established with the following cities:
  • Vértesacsa
    Vértesacsa
    Vértesacsa is a village in Fejér county, Hungary, near the city of Székesfehérvár .- External links :*...

     (Hungary
    Hungary
    Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...

    )
  • Montebelluna
    Montebelluna
    Montebelluna is a town and comune in Veneto, Italy, approximately 67 kilometers northwest of Venice. It has an estimated population of 30,817.Fila has research and development facilities in Montebelluna. Northwave was started by Gianni Piva in Montebelluna...

     (Italy
    Italy
    Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

    )

Businesses

The largest employer in Eppelheim is the Rudolf-Wild-Werke
Wild (company)
Rudolf Wild GmbH & Co. KG is a company headquartered in Eppelheim, Germany, near Heidelberg.The company produces natural ingredients for food products...

 in the southern part of the city with about 1400 workers. The tax on the company's business is an important factor in determining the city budget.

The company Wild has its headquarters in Eppelheim.

Transportation

Eppelheim is directly on the Bundesautobahn 5
Bundesautobahn 5
is a 445 km long Autobahn in Germany. Its northern end is the Hattenbach triangle intersection is a 445 km (277 mi) long Autobahn in Germany. Its northern end is the Hattenbach triangle intersection is a 445 km (277 mi) long Autobahn in Germany. Its northern end is the...

 and has access through the Heidelberg/Schwetzingen exit.

The city is connected to the neighboring university city, Heidelberg by the well travelled streetcar line 22. The streetcar is run by the Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr GmbH (RNV). The connection leads to other public transit opportunities. Bus line 713 connects to Schwetzingen via Plankstadt. Intracity connections are offered by Eppelheim's bus line 732, run by Busverkehr Rhein-Neckar GmbH as the so called City-Bus.

Honorary citizens

The year awarded is given:
  • 2006: Hans-Peter Wild
    Hans-Peter Wild
    Hans-Peter Wild is a German entrepreneur and lawyer. He is the owner and chairman of Rudolf WILD GmbH & Co. KG, which, according to company information, is the world's largest private manufacturer of natural flavor ingredients for food products and beverages.-Biography:Hans-Peter Wild was born in...

    , entrepreneur
  • 2003: Hans Stephan, educational administrator
  • 2001: Inge Burck

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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