# Germersheim > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Germersheim > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Germersheim.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germersheim > Source revision: 1324274356 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Infobox German location |type = Stadt |image_coa = DEU Germersheim COA.svg |image_flag = Flagge Germersheim.svg |image_photo = Rheinbrücke Germersheim Eisenbahn.jpg |image_caption = Railway bridge over the Rhine River |coordinates = {{coord|49|13|00|N|8|22|00|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}} |image_plan = Germersheim in GER.svg |state = Rheinland-Pfalz |district = Germersheim |elevation = 105 |area = 21.68 |postal_code = 76726 |area_code = 07274 |licence = GER |Gemeindeschlüssel = 07 3 34 007 |website = [http://www.germersheim.de www.germersheim.de] |mayor = Marcus Schaile[https://www.wahlen.rlp.de/de/kw/direktwahlen/wahl-der-buergermeister-verbandsfreier-gemeinden/ Wahlen der Bürgermeister der verbandsfreien Gemeinden], Landeswahlleiter Rheinland-Pfalz, accessed 30 July 2021. |leader_term = 2017–25 |party = CDU }} '''Germersheim''' ({{IPA|de|ˈɡɛʁmɐshaɪm|lang|De-Germersheim.ogg}}) is a town in the [German state](/source/German_state) of [Rhineland-Palatinate](/source/Rhineland-Palatinate), of around 20,000 inhabitants. It is also the seat of the [Germersheim district](/source/Germersheim_(district)). The neighboring towns and cities are [Speyer](/source/Speyer), [Landau](/source/Landau), [Philippsburg](/source/Philippsburg), [Karlsruhe](/source/Karlsruhe) and [Wörth](/source/W%C3%B6rth_am_Rhein). ==Coat of arms== The coat of arms features a golden crowned eagle on a blue background. The eagle derives from the fact that, at one time the town was ruled directly by the emperor of Germany. ==History== After his invasion of [Gallia](/source/Gallia), [Gaius Iulius Caesar](/source/Julius_Caesar) made the [Rhine](/source/Rhine) river the border between the [Roman Empire](/source/Roman_Empire) and [Germania](/source/Germania). Some small areas east of it were later invaded and added to the [Roman province](/source/Roman_province) of [Agri Decumates](/source/Agri_Decumates). As it was attacked more and more it was given up in the second half of the third century and a military camp was founded, named "''Vicus Iulii''" ("''Village of Julius''/''Julius' Village''). It was supported up to the fourth century. The first record of the name "Germersheim" is from 1090, when it was named in the ''Sinsheimer Chronik'' (''[Chronicle](/source/Chronicle) of [Sinsheim](/source/Sinsheim)''). The citadel was rebuilt by the emperor [Conrad II](/source/Conrad_II%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor), and the German king [Rudolph von Habsburg](/source/Rudolf_I_of_Germany) (''Rudolf of Habsburg'') gave Germersheim city rights in 1276 (18 August).{{EB1911|inline=y|wstitle=Germersheim|volume=11|page=901}} There is a legend which says that he, as a sick man, rode from Germersheim to Speyer to die there and not in Germersheim. In 1325 the town was given to the [Electorate of the Palatinate](/source/Electorate_of_the_Palatinate) by [King Ludwig IV](/source/Louis_IV%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor). It got a higher status in the following centuries. A Catholic Order founded a monastery in 1298 which it used up to 1527. Having been nearly destroyed in the times of the [plague](/source/Bubonic_plague) and the [Thirty Years' War](/source/Thirty_Years'_War), during which it was conquered by [Austria](/source/Habsburg_monarchy) and then by [France](/source/Kingdom_of_France), Germersheim was burned down by French troops in 1674. Only the [crypt](/source/crypt) and the foundations of the Catholic Church survived. The death of the childless elector [Charles II](/source/Charles_II%2C_Elector_Palatine) in 1685 led to the devastating [War of the Palatinate Succession](/source/War_of_the_Palatinate_Succession) (1688-1697) during which Germersheim was claimed by the French as a dependency of [Alsace](/source/Alsace). Through the intervention of [the pope](/source/Pope_Clement_XI) in 1702, the French, on payment of a large sum, agreed to vacate the town, and in 1715 its fortifications were rebuilt. Still strategically important during the [French Revolutionary Wars](/source/French_Revolutionary_Wars), in July 1793 Germersheim was the scene of a significant French defeat when an [Austrian](/source/Holy_Roman_Empire) army under the veteran Field Marshal [von Wurmser](/source/Dagobert_Sigmund_von_Wurmser) defeated a [French](/source/Revolutionary_France) army under [Beauharnais](/source/Alexandre_de_Beauharnais).''The Century Cyclopaedia of Names'', coordinated by Benjamin E. Smith and published by the [De Vinne Press](/source/Theodore_Low_De_Vinne), New York 1894 (p. 434) From the year 1797, Germersheim belonged to [France](/source/France), incorporated into the newly created [Mont-Tonnerre](/source/Mont-Tonnerre) [department](/source/Departments_of_France) in 1798. It was conquered by [Bavaria](/source/Bavaria)n troops in 1814. After being retaken in 1814, Germersheim's Bavarian rulers started to build a fortress in 1831. It was completed in 1855, although excavations for underground passages continued until 1861. By this time, however, the fortress had become outdated, as artillery had improved greatly in the thirty years since work began. The fortress was destroyed in 1921/22 as a result of the [Treaty of Versailles](/source/Treaty_of_Versailles). Some parts still exist, such as the "''Fronte Beckers''", where the town's Music School is today. Germersheim was the scene of several conflicts between [French troops](/source/French_Army) and German veteran associations during the [occupation of the Rhineland](/source/occupation_of_the_Rhineland) following the [First World War](/source/First_World_War). General [Hans Graf von Sponeck](/source/Hans_Graf_von_Sponeck), who ordered the retreat of his troops from [Kerch](/source/Kerch_Peninsula) because they were going to be hopelessly cut off by the Russian landings at [Theodosia](/source/Feodosia) on the [Crimea](/source/Crimea)n peninsula, and against express instruction of his superior officer in the winter 1941, was interned here in the fortress after [Hitler](/source/Hitler) had commuted his death sentence to six years' detention. In the purge following the failed [assassination attempt on Hitler](/source/20_July_plot) Graf von Sponeck, although not involved, was shot. Today, a street in Germersheim is named ''Hans-Graf-von-Sponeck-Straße'' in his honour. == Transport == There are regular regional train connections to Karlsruhe and [Mannheim](/source/Mannheim). thumb|190px|Germersheim-Weissenburger Tor (Tor=gate) thumb|210px|Old train station [[File:130623-Germersheim-01.jpg|thumb|220px|Bridge over the [Rhine](/source/Rhine)]] ==Local council== {|class="wikitable" |- !colspan=3|Seat distribution in the town council (2014) |- | Party|| Percentage|| Number of seats |- | [CDU](/source/Christian_Democratic_Union_(Germany)) ||40.8||15 |- |[SPD](/source/Social_Democratic_Party_of_Germany)||20.3||7 |- |[FWG](/source/Freie_W%C3%A4hler)||19.7||7 |- |[REP](/source/Republicans_(Germany)) ||5.6||2 |- |[FDP](/source/Free_Democratic_Party_(Germany))|| 3.1||1 |- |[B90/Grüne](/source/Alliance_'90%2FThe_Greens) ||10.6||4 |- |} [[File:Eberhard Arbogast Germersheim 1.jpg|thumb|150px|Gravestone of [Eberhard Arbogast](/source/Eberhard_Arbogast) and his wife Katharina]] ==Notable people== * [Paul Josef Nardini](/source/Paul_Josef_Nardini) (1821–1862), theologian * [Eugen von Zimmerer](/source/Eugen_von_Zimmerer) (1843–1918), governor of [Cameroon](/source/Cameroon) and minister * [Frank Hardart](/source/Frank_Hardart), born as ''Franz Anton Hardardt'' (1850–1918), American entrepreneur, co-founder of the [Horn & Hardart](/source/Horn_%26_Hardart) food services company * [Otto Freiherr Kreß von Kressenstein](/source/Otto_Kre%C3%9F_von_Kressenstein) (1850–1929), Bavarian general and War Minister * Friedrich Kreß von Kressenstein (1855–1920), Bavarian General of the Infantry * [Hermann Kriebel](/source/Hermann_Kriebel) (1876–1941), officer, Freikorpsführer, diplomat, and NSDAP politician * Friedrich Krebs (1894–1961), lawyer and politician (NSDAP) * [Franz Sondinger](/source/Franz_Sondinger) (1896–1939), director, actor, director, and writer * [Karl Schmitt-Walter](/source/Karl_Schmitt-Walter) (1900–1985), opera singer * [Franz Immig](/source/Franz_Immig) (1918–1955), soccer player * [Lothar Fischer](/source/Lothar_Fischer) (1933–2004), sculptor * [Jule Brand](/source/Jule_Brand) (born 2002), footballer for the [Germany national team](/source/Germany_women's_national_football_team) and [OL Lyonnes](/source/OL_Lyonnes) ===Honorary Citizens=== * [Karl Schmitt-Walter](/source/Karl_Schmitt-Walter) (1900–1985), opera singer * Eduard Orth (1902–1968), politician ([CDU](/source/Christian_Democratic_Union_of_Germany)), Education minister of the state of [Rhineland-Palatinate](/source/Rhineland-Palatinate) from 1956 to 1967 ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{commons category}} *{{official website|http://www.germersheim.de/ }} {{in lang|de}} *[http://www.burgenwelt.de/germer/gehochb.htm History of the Germersheim fortress] {{in lang|de}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20110514225221/http://www.kreis-germersheim.de/roemer-in-der-region.html Project Via Rhenana - Roman Road along the Upper Rhine] *{{Cite AmCyc|wstitle=Germersheim |short=x}} {{Cities and towns in Germersheim (district)}} {{Authority control}} Category:Towns in Rhineland-Palatinate Category:Germersheim (district) Category:Palatinate (region) --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Germersheim](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germersheim) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germersheim?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.