The Kraichgau () is a hilly region in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

, southwestern

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. It is bordered by the

Odenwald The Odenwald () is a low mountain range in the German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg. Location The Odenwald is located between the Upper Rhine Plain with the Bergstraße and the ''Hessisches Ried'' (the northeastern se ...

and the

Neckar The Neckar () is a river in Germany, mainly flowing through the southwestern state of Baden-Württemberg, with a short section through Hesse. The Neckar is a major right tributary of the Rhine. Rising in the Schwarzwald-Baar-Kreis near Sc ...

to the North, the

Black Forest The Black Forest (german: Schwarzwald ) is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is ...

to the South, and the

Upper Rhine Plain The Upper Rhine Plain, Rhine Rift Valley or Upper Rhine Graben ( German: ''Oberrheinische Tiefebene'', ''Oberrheinisches Tiefland'' or ''Oberrheingraben'', French: ''Vallée du Rhin'') is a major rift, about and on average , between Basel in the s ...

to the West. To the east, its boundary is considered to be the Stromberg and the

Heuchelberg The Heuchelberg is a hill ridge, about 15 kilometres long and up to , a few kilometres southwest of the city of Heilbronn in the eponymous county in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. Location The Heuchelberg and the adjacent Stromb ...

. The largest towns of the Kraichgau are

Sinsheim Sinsheim (, South Franconian: ''Sinse'') is a town in south-western Germany, in the Rhine Neckar Area of the state Baden-Württemberg about south-east of Heidelberg and about north-west of Heilbronn in the district Rhein-Neckar. Geography ...

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. Eppingen lies in the Kraichgau, a hilly region in southwestern Germany, close to the confl ...

, and Bretten. On the western end of the Kraichgau is the town of

Bruchsal Bruchsal (; orig. Bruohselle, Bruaselle, historically known in English as Bruxhall; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Brusel'') is a city at the western edge of the Kraichgau, approximately 20 km northeast of Karlsruhe in the state ...

, the gateway to the Rhineland plains.

Origins of the name

The word "Kraich" apparently arose from the Celtic word "Creuch," meaning "mud" or "loam." The territory of a

Gau (country subdivision) ''Gau'' (German language, German , nl, gouw , fy, gea or ''goa'' ) is a Germanic languages, Germanic term for a region within a country, often a former or current province. It was used in the Middle Ages, when it can be seen as roughly corres ...

signifies an open area, free from woods, such as farmland or meadows. The area of Kraichgau was first mentioned in the

Early Middle Ages The Early Middle Ages (or early medieval period), sometimes controversially referred to as the Dark Ages, is typically regarded by historians as lasting from the late 5th or early 6th century to the 10th century. They marked the start of the M ...

, in the

Lorsch codex The Lorsch Codex (Chronicon Laureshamense, Lorscher Codex, Codex Laureshamensis) is an important historical document created between about 1175 to 1195 AD in the Monastery of Saint Nazarius in Lorsch, Germany. The codex is handwritten in Carol ...

, as "Creichgowe" in the year 769. In 773, it was called "Chrehgauui," in 778 "Craichgoia." By 1594, the name was closer to its modern form, being referred to as "Kreuchgau."

Origins of the name

See also