Roigheim
Encyclopedia
Roigheim (ˈʁɔʏk.haɪm) is a small municipality in Southwest Germany, in Heilbronn
Heilbronn
Heilbronn is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is completely surrounded by Heilbronn County and with approximately 123.000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state....

 County, situated along the Seckach
Seckach
Seckach is a town in the district of Neckar-Odenwald-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany.-References:...

 river. With approximately 1,400 inhabitants, Roigheim is the smallest independent community in the German state (Bundesland) 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...

. It is also the home of Pucaro Elektro-Isolierstoffe GmbH.

History

Archeologists have found remains that date back to the stone age
Stone Age
The Stone Age is a broad prehistoric period, lasting about 2.5 million years , during which humans and their predecessor species in the genus Homo, as well as the earlier partly contemporary genera Australopithecus and Paranthropus, widely used exclusively stone as their hard material in the...

. The first proof of a settlement comes from the Roman Empire
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....

 at around 150 AD. The first time Roigheim was mentioned in a chronicle was in 1110 as Rohinkheim. In 1287 the small village became part of the area of the duke of Hohenlohe
Hohenlohe
Hohenlohe is the name of a German princely family and the name of their principality.At first rulers of a county, its two branches were raised to the rank of principalities of the Holy Roman Empire in 1744 and 1764 respectively; in 1806 they lost their independence and their lands formed part of...

 and only in 1504 it was bequeathed to Württemberg
Württemberg
Württemberg , formerly known as Wirtemberg or Wurtemberg, is an area and a former state in southwestern Germany, including parts of the regions Swabia and Franconia....

. It changed hands again in 1521 when it was given to the bishop of Würzburg
Würzburg
Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....

. On May 10, 1719 there was a devastating fire in which 115 houses burned down.
During most of its early history, the majority of the population was working the many farms. The moderate climate allowed the farming on the surrounding hillsides. In the 19th century a paper mill and a gypsum factory were built. The former continues to exist today as a factory for manufacturing insulation material for power plants with the name of Pucaro.
Roigheim survived World War I relatively unharmed. World War II, however, brought the village closer to the front. In 1945 there were 356 refugees placed in Roigheim and about 50 foreign prisoners working in the gypsum factory.
From Tuesday, April 3, 1945 Roigheim was occupied by the Americans
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 and the village became part of the American occupation zone. On May 6, 1946 there was the first election after the war but the people of Roigheim, still deeply rooted in traditional ideas, were not yet true democrats. The mayor, Christian Hübler, who was elected was only a pawn to be replaced by the former mayor, Eugen Reichert. Reichert had not been allowed to run for office in 1946 due to U.S. policy but after the three years had passed, in 1948, Hübler stepped down and was replaced by Reichert
Reichert
Reichert may refer to:* Alexander Julius Reichert, mayor* Benjamin Reichert, footballer* Craig Reichert, ice hockey player* Dan Reichert, baseballer* Dave Reichert, politician* Don Reichert, artist* Isabel Reichert, artist...

.

Origin of the name

There are two versions for the origin of the name Roigheim. One story says that Roigheim comes from the Alemannic
Alamanni
The Alamanni, Allemanni, or Alemanni were originally an alliance of Germanic tribes located around the upper Rhine river . One of the earliest references to them is the cognomen Alamannicus assumed by Roman Emperor Caracalla, who ruled the Roman Empire from 211 to 217 and claimed thereby to be...

 warrior Roho who is supposed to have settled what he then named Rohingen before 500. When the Franconian
Franks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...

s conquered the villages they renamed it Rohinkheim. The second story claims that the founder of Roigheim was called Rohink. As he was a Franconian, he named the village Rohinkheim, heim being the customary ending for Franconian villages.

Facts and figures

Roigheim’s area consists of 46% farm land, 32% wood, 4% waste land and water, 8% settled terrain, and 10% pastures (1980).
In 1992 there were 72% Protestant-Lutheran, 18% Catholics, and 10% rest. This is a great contrast to 1907 when 98% were Protestant-Lutheran and 2% Catholic.
The population has also experienced great change. In 1939 only 935 people were living in Roigheim. After that date the population increased rapidly to 1,620 in 1960 when it peaked. In 1992 the population had receded slightly to 1,498.
In 1993, 6% of the population were citizens of other countries than Germany.

Source

Englert, Karlheinz. 1994. Roigheim: damals und heute. Heimatkundlicher Arbeitskreis Roigheim.

External links

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