Schwaigern
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Schwaigern is a town in the district of Heilbronn
Heilbronn (district)
Heilbronn is a district in the north of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Neckar-Odenwald, Hohenlohe, Schwäbisch Hall, Rems-Murr, Ludwigsburg, Enz, Karlsruhe and Rhein-Neckar...
, 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...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
. It is situated 12 km west of 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....
.
Neighbouring municipalities
The neighbouring towns and municipalities of Schwaigern (clockwise) are: LeingartenLeingarten
Leingarten is a municipality in the district of Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 7 km west of Heilbronn. It was formed 1 January 1970, when the municipalities of Großgartach and Schluchtern merged.-Location:...
, Nordheim (Württemberg)
Nordheim, Baden-Württemberg
Nordheim is a town in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in Germany....
, Brackenheim
Brackenheim
Brackenheim is a town in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. It is situated 15 km southwest of Heilbronn.With an area of 826 hectare of vineyards, it's the biggest grape-growing municipality of Württemberg....
, Eppingen
Eppingen
Eppingen is a town in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The town has the second-largest population in the district....
, Gemmingen
Gemmingen
Gemmingen is a town in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany....
and Massenbachhausen
Massenbachhausen
Massenbachhausen is a town in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in Germany....
(all in the district of Heilbronn).
Town structure
Schwaigern consists of Schwaigern itself and its districts Massenbach, Stetten am Heuchelberg and Niederhofen. Schwaigern has approximately 11,000 inhabitants.History
Finds of the NeolithicNeolithic
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...
era and during the Roman
Ancient Rome
Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that grew on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered on the city of Rome, it expanded to one of the largest empires in the ancient world....
period show an early settlement of this area.
The town was first mentioned in writing 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...
of 766
766
Year 766 was a common year starting on Wednesday of the Julian calendar. The denomination 766 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years.-Asia:* Karluks, defeat Turgesh...
.
The construction of a church is proved in the 13th century. During this time the Herren von Neipperg first appeared. The village received the right to hold a market in 1486. After 1630 the Black Death
Black Death
The Black Death was one of the most devastating pandemics in human history, peaking in Europe between 1348 and 1350. Of several competing theories, the dominant explanation for the Black Death is the plague theory, which attributes the outbreak to the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Thought to have...
killed a large proportion of the inhabitants. In 1690, 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...
, the then Schwaigern Castle was burned down. In 1806, the town came 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....
by mediatization
Mediatization
Mediatisation is the loss of imperial immediacy. Broadly defined it is the subsumption of one monarchy into another monarchy in such a way that the ruler of the annexed state keeps his sovereign title and, sometimes, a measure of local power...
and Reichsdeputationshauptschluss. Several fires destroyed large areas of the medieval town centre in the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1971/1972 Massenbach, Stetten am Heuchelberg and Niederhofen were incorporated.
Religions
Each of Schwaigern, Stetten am Heuchelberg and Niederhofen is a Protestant parish. Massenbach and Massenbachhausen have a common Protestant parish. The Catholic parish St. Martinus Schwaigern is responsible for Schwaigern, Stetten, Niederhofen and Neipperg (part of Brackenheim). The Catholic parish St. Kilian Massenbachhausen is responsible for Massenbachhausen and Massenbach. Also the New Apostolic ChurchNew Apostolic Church
The New Apostolic Church is a chiliastic church, converted to Protestantism as a free church from the Catholic Apostolic Church. The church has existed since 1879 in Germany and since 1897 in the Netherlands...
has a parish in Schwaigern.
The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavour
Young People's Society of Christian Endeavour
The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor was a nondenominational evangelical society founded in Portland, Maine, in 1881 by Francis Edward Clark...
has local groups in Schwaigern, Stetten and Niederhofen. In Massenbach there is a local group of the YMCA
YMCA
The Young Men's Christian Association is a worldwide organization of more than 45 million members from 125 national federations affiliated through the World Alliance of YMCAs...
.
Districts
- Massenbach:
Massenbach was first mentioned in writing in 773. In the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
the castle was destroyed and rebuilt in 1760.
- Stetten am Heuchelberg:
Stetten was mentioned in 1140 and came to Württemberg in 1571.
- Niederhofen:
Niederhofen is the youngest district, since it was first mentioned in 1332. But it already came to Württemberg in 1360.
District council
The district council of Schwaigern has 23 seats by the municipal election of June 13, 2004. The result is as follows:| party | amount | seats | ||
| FWV / BuW | 37.9% | (+1.0) | 9 | (=) |
| 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... |
27.9% | (+0.9) | 7 | (=) |
| SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
19.6% | (−4.0) | 4 | (−2) |
| LGU | 14.7% | (+2.2) | 3 | (+1) |
One further member of the district council, and its chairman, is the mayor.
Arms
BlazonBlazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image...
: In red three (2:1) silver rings. Above the sign growing John the Baptist
John the Baptist
John the Baptist was an itinerant preacher and a major religious figure mentioned in the Canonical gospels. He is described in the Gospel of Luke as a relative of Jesus, who led a movement of baptism at the Jordan River...
with halo and put on fur, raising the rights, holding a lamb and a cross rod with a flag on his left hand. These arms are provable since 1512. The town colours are red-white.
Town twinnings
Twin municipalities of Schwaigern are:- since 1988: The AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
n municipality PöndorfPöndorfPöndorf is a municipality in the district of Vöcklabruck in Upper Austria, Austria....
in Upper AustriaUpper AustriaUpper Austria is one of the nine states or Bundesländer of Austria. Its capital is Linz. Upper Austria borders on Germany and the Czech Republic, as well as on the other Austrian states of Lower Austria, Styria, and Salzburg...
(with a district called Schwaigern). - since 2004: The FrenchFranceThe 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...
municipality La Teste-de-BuchLa Teste-de-BuchLa Teste-de-Buch is a commune in the Gironde department in Aquitaine in southwestern France.It is located on the south shore of Arcachon Bay, lying in the southwestern part of Gironde....
in the Department GirondeGirondeFor the Revolutionary party, see Girondists.Gironde is a common name for the Gironde estuary, where the mouths of the Garonne and Dordogne rivers merge, and for a department in the Aquitaine region situated in southwest France.-History:...
.
Museum
The Karl-Wagenplast-Museum in the old graveyard chapel shows archaeological exhibitions from the NeolithicNeolithic
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...
to the 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...
of the Leintal. It is named after the honorary citizen and archaeologist Karl Wagenplast.
Buildings
Jerg Ratgeb
Jerg Ratgeb was a German painter and contemporary of Dürer.-Life and works:...
. The witch tower on the south-east border of the medieval town was built in 1461. The previous wine-press is a timber framing of 1659. The rococo castle next to the town church was built in 1702, but was rebuilt and enlarged during the 19th century. The town hall was built in 1905/1906 by Ludwig Knortz.
Stetten impresses by its parish church of the 15th century as well as its baroque vicarage of 1775. Besides it contains a town hall of the 16th century.
Sport and leisure
The TSV Schwaigern was founded in 1898 as a gymnastics club. Apart from the traditional gymnastics there are the disciplines of badminton, basketball, chess and the rare discipline wheel gymnastics. In 1992 and 1993, the departments of tennis (TC Schwaigern) and football (FSV Schwaigern) became independent.In addition, Schwaigern has a heated swimming pool.
In Stetten there are also some clubs. The TSV Stetten founded in 1909 runs football, table tennis, badminton, women gymnastics and child gymnastics. The tennis club of Stetten founded in 1981 as a department of the TSV became independent in 1999. The marksman club Heuchelberg is located next to the Mühlwald, and there is also a golf course in Stetten.
With the Leintalzoo Schwaigern has the biggest connected chimpanzee group in Germany.
Economy and infrastructure
The biggest company in Schwaigern is the Walter Söhner GmbH & Co. KG which produces synthetics and has more than 500 employees. Also in Schwaigern and its districts there are some other smaller companies. However, in Stetten and Massenbach the provision of public utility has a downward tendency. For several years up to 2000, Massenbach had no stores.Traffic
Schwaigern is situated at the KraichgauKraichgau
The Kraichgau is a hilly region in Baden-Württemberg, southwestern Germany. It is bordered by the Odenwald and the Neckar to the North, the Black Forest to the South, and the Upper Rhine Plain to the West. To the east, its boundary is considered to be the Stromberg, the Hardt, and the...
bahn running from 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....
to Karlsruhe
Karlsruhe
The City of Karlsruhe is a city in the southwest of Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg, located near the French-German border.Karlsruhe was founded in 1715 as Karlsruhe Palace, when Germany was a series of principalities and city states...
. Besides the B293 (Heilbronn-Karlsruhe) passes the town. The A6
Bundesautobahn 6
, also known as Via Carolina is a 477 km long German autobahn. It starts at the French border near Saarbrücken in the west and end at the Czech border near Waidhaus in the east....
is running 10 kilometres north of Schwaigern.
Education
Schwaigern, Massenbach and Stetten each have an elementary school. Also in Schwaigern there is a modern school and a junior high school. The next grammar school is located in Heilbronn.Wine-growing
Wine-growing in Schwaigern was first mentioned in 799. The primary sorts of wine are TrollingerTrollinger
Trollinger is a light-red, late-maturing wine grape variety that was originally cultivated in the wine regions of South Tyrol and Trentino.It probably reached the southern regions of Germany during Roman times...
, Riesling
Riesling
Riesling is a white grape variety which originated in the Rhine region of Germany. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet and sparkling white wines. Riesling wines are usually varietally...
, Lemberger
Blaufränkisch
Blaufränkisch is a dark-skinned variety of grape used for red wine. Blaufränkisch, which is a late-ripening variety gives red wines which are typically rich in tannin and may exhibit a pronounced spicy character...
and Pinot meunier
Pinot meunier
Pinot Meunier, , also known as Meunier or Black Riesling, is a variety of black wine grape most noted for being one of the three main grapes used in the production of champagne...
. The fourth biggest winepress of Baden-Württemberg is located there.
The positions of Schwaigern's wine-growing is part of the wine-growing area Württemberg.
Honorary citizens
- Karl Wagenplast, native scientist
- Horst Haug, mayor of Schwaigern from 1962 until 1999.
Sons of the town
- Wilhelm Reinhard von NeippergWilhelm Reinhard von NeippergCount Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg was an Austrian general.Born in Schwaigern, he descended from an ancient comital family from Swabia, his father Count Eberhard Friedrich von Neipperg having been an Imperial field marshal. He spent his boyhood in Vienna and in 1702 joined the Imperial service...
(1684-1774), Austrian general - Eberhard von Neipperg (d. 1717) Field Marshal of the Holy Roman Empire
- 1765, November 27, Günther Heinrich Baron von Berg, + September 9, 1843 in Oldenburg, German jurist and politician
- 1813, April 6, Erwin von Neipperg + March 2, 1897, Austrian general