Neustadt an der
Weinstraße (, formerly known as ; lb, Neustadt op der Wäistrooss ; pfl, Naischdadt) is a town in
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
, Germany. With 53,300 inhabitants , it is the largest town called ''Neustadt''.
Geography
Location
![Verband Rhein-Neckar Neustadt](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2b/Verband_Rhein-Neckar_Neustadt.png)
The town itself lies in the western park of the
Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region
The Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region (german: Metropolregion Rhein-Neckar, ), often referred to as Rhein-Neckar-Triangle, is a polycentric metropolitan region located in south western Germany, between the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main region to the North ...
between the
Haardt mountains, the eastern edge of the
Palatinate Forest, and the western edge of 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 ...
in the middle of the
Palatinate wine region
Palatinate (german: Pfalz) is a German wine-growing region (''Weinbaugebiet'') in the area of Bad Dürkheim, Neustadt an der Weinstraße, and Landau in Rhineland-Palatinate. Before 1993, it was known as Rhine Palatinate (''Rheinpfalz''). With un ...
, an area that is around 10 km wide and 85 km long. The
Speyerbach
The Speyerbach is a left tributary of the Rhine in the Palatinate part of Rhineland-Palatinate. In Speyer, the river split into ''Gießhübelbach'' and ''Woogbach''. The Woogbach changes its name to ''Nonnenbach'', then flows into Gießhübe ...
river flows through the town from west to east as does the
Rehbach
Rehbach is an '' Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Kreuznach district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It belongs to the ''Verbandsgemeinde'' of Bad Sobernheim ...
, which separates from the Speyerbach within the town at the ''Winzinger Wassergescheid'' before emptying into the
River Rhine
), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source1_coordinates=
, source1_elevation =
, source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein
, source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland
, source2_coordinates=
, sourc ...
several kilometres further north than the Speyerbach.
The borough, with its incorporated parishes, measures from west to east and from north to south. Its highest point is at the Hohe Loog House at the top of the
Hohe Loog mountain and its lowest is in the village of Geinsheim.
Municipal divisions
Town and town quarters
Over time the original town and its surrounding settlements,
hamlets
A hamlet is a human settlement that is smaller than a town or village. Its size relative to a parish can depend on the administration and region. A hamlet may be considered to be a smaller settlement or subdivision or satellite entity to a lar ...
and
farmsteads
A farm (also called an agricultural holding) is an area of land that is devoted primarily to agricultural processes with the primary objective of producing food and other crops; it is the basic facility in food production. The name is used ...
have grown together, blurring the original boundaries of the town. Today these have become the town quarters of
Branchweilerhof in the southeast, the
Hambacher Höhe to the southwest, the
Afrikaviertel (so named because its streets are named after researchers into Africa) and the
Schöntal
Schöntal is a municipality in the district of Hohenlohe in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is principally known as the location of Schöntal Abbey.
Subdivisions
The munisipality consists of the following districts.
* Aschhausen
* Berlichin ...
to the west. These quarters do not have any particular privileges and are not legally incorporated districts, although some voting precinct borders match part of the boundaries.
The best-known quarter is
Winzingen which was first recorded in 774 and thus much older than the ''Neustadt'' or "new town" founded in the early 13th century. It was a wine growing village that lay below the Speyerbach, i.e. to the east of the new settlement. In 1892 it was incorporated into the then ''Neustadt an der Haardt''. Since then the town has grown beyond Winzingen to the east.
Inclusive all its incorporated subdistricts, Neustadt covers an area of 11,713.5
hectares. Of that, 5,020.0 ha is woodland, 2,216.0 ha are vineyards, 2,300.0 ha are used for other agricultural purposes, 1,607.0 is built up and 50.0 ha are industrial and retail areas.
Subdistricts
Neustadt Weinstr Diedesfeld.png, Diedesfeld
Neustadt Weinstr Duttweiler.png, Duttweiler
Neustadt Weinstr Geinsheim.png, Geinsheim
Neustadt Weinstr Haardt.png, Haardt
Neustadt Weinstr Hambach.png, Hambach
Neustadt Weinstr Koenigsbach.png, Königsbach
Neustadt Weinstr Gimmeldingen.png, Gimmeldingen
Neustadt Weinstr Lachen-Speyerdorf.png, Lachen-Speyerdorf
Neustadt Weinstr Mussbach.png, Mußbach
Neustadt Weinstr Stadtmitte.png, Neustadt (Kernstadt)
In 1969 the villages of
Diedesfeld,
Geinsheim,
Gimmeldingen
Gimmeldingen is a village of 2636 inhabitants () and part of the town of Neustadt an der Weinstraße in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the s ...
,
Haardt,
Hambach,
Königsbach,
Lachen-Speyerdorf and
Mußbach were incorporated into the borough, followed in 1974 by
Duttweiler. These villages lie between one and ten kilometres from the main town. They are legally constituted subdistricts, are known as ''Ortsteil'' and have a parish chair (''Ortsvorsteher'') to whom some of the functions of the former
mayor
In many countries, a mayor is the highest-ranking official in a municipal government such as that of a city or a town. Worldwide, there is a wide variance in local laws and customs regarding the powers and responsibilities of a mayor as well a ...
s have been transferred.
Neustadt adw steinberg.JPG, Neustadt seen from Steinberg
Blick auf neustadt hambach.jpg, View of Neustadt and the Hambach Schloss
Weinberge Neustadt Weinstraße.jpg, Houses on the slopes of the Haardt
Gimmeldinger-mandelblüte-am-neuberg-2002.jpg, Almond blossom in Gimmeldingen
König-ludwig-pavillion-gimmeldingen.jpg, King Ludwig's Pavilion on the Gimmelding Neuberg
Mussbach Kirchturm Storchenturm.jpg, Mußbach: part of the manor house courtyard
2006-07-02-1656-Mussbach-WeissesHaus01.jpg, The White House in Mußbach
Rathaus Diedesfeld.JPG, Diedesfeld's 1601 village hall
Population in 2012
Neighbouring communities
Neustadt's neighbouring municipalities running clockwise from the north are the small town of
Deidesheim
Deidesheim ( pfl, Daisem) is a town in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with some 3,700 inhabitants.
The town lies in the northwest of the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration and since 1973 it has been the seat of the ''V ...
the municipalities of
Ruppertsberg
Ruppertsberg is an ''Ortsgemeinde'' – a municipality belonging to a ''Verbandsgemeinde'', a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.
Geography
Location
The municipality is a winegro ...
,
Meckenheim
Meckenheim (; ksh, Meckem) is a town in the Rhein-Sieg district, in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is situated approximately 15 km south-west of Bonn
The federal city of Bonn ( lat, Bonna) is a city on the banks of the Rhine in t ...
,
Haßloch
Haßloch (or Hassloch) is a municipality in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Unlike most municipalities in the district, it does not belong to any ''Verbandsgemeinde'' – a type of collective municipality. It lies ne ...
and
Maikammer, the small town of
Lambrecht and the municipality of
Lindenberg.
Climate
![Klimadiagramm-Neustadt a-d- Weinstrasse-Deutschland-metrisch-deutsch](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Klimadiagramm-Neustadt_a-d-_Weinstrasse-Deutschland-metrisch-deutsch.png)
Neustadt has an equable climate, like that of the whole of
Anterior Palatinate
The Palatinate (german: Pfalz; Palatine German: ''Palz'') is a region of Germany. In the Middle Ages it was known as the Rhenish Palatinate (''Rheinpfalz'') and Lower Palatinate (''Unterpfalz''), which strictly speaking designated only the wes ...
: warm summers (around ; lower curve of the climatic diagram) during which most of the precipitation falls, albeit the annual total of (upper curve) is quite low, and mild, yet drier winters. Annual precipitation figures are in the lower quartile of those recorded in Germany; only 12% of the monitoring stations of the
German Weather Service
The () or DWD for short, is the German Meteorological Service, based in Offenbach am Main, Germany, which monitors weather and meteorological conditions over Germany and provides weather services for the general public and for nautical, avia ...
register lower values . The driest month is March; the most rain falls in June, 1.7 times more than in March. However, they vary only slightly and are very evenly distributed throughout the year; only 3% of the weather stations register lower seasonal variations in precipitation.
However, this climate chart is from a weather station at in the subdistrict of
Haardt above the town, which is 25 metres lower. So the values differ, with temperatures being a little lower and rainfall higher. The chart shows an annual average temperatures of to in the summer months dropping during the winter. Its annual precipitation measured .
History
Chronological table
Chronology
Early history
The oldest traces of settlement and archaeological finds indicate that
Celts
The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancien ...
used to live in the area of the present town. They have left behind
ringwork
A ringwork is a form of fortified defensive structure, usually circular or oval in shape. Ringworks are essentially motte-and-bailey castles without the motte. Defences were usually earthworks in the form of a ditch and bank surrounding the sit ...
s, clay pots, coins and weapons that date to the time around 150 B.C.
The Romans probably took possession of the land around 20 A. D. Around 400 it was taken by the
Alemanni
The Alemanni or Alamanni, were a confederation of Germanic tribes
*
*
*
on the Upper Rhine River. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Caracalla of 213, the Alemanni captured the in 260, and later expanded into pres ...
who were superseded in turn around 500 A.D. by the
Germanic Franks
The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools, ...
.
There are no precise details for the centuries after the end of Roman rule, but it is known that villages already existed before the actual town of ''Neustadt'' was founded:
Winzingen, today a town quarter, was already mentioned in 774. The subdistricts of
Mußbach,
Lachen-Speyerdorf,
Geinsheim,
Duttweiler and
Hambach are also considerable older than the main town. In general it is fair to say that the history of Neustadt is closely linked to that of the
Palatinate region
The Palatinate (german: Pfalz; Palatine German: ''Palz'') is a region of Germany. In the Middle Ages it was known as the Rhenish Palatinate (''Rheinpfalz'') and Lower Palatinate (''Unterpfalz''), which strictly speaking designated only the wes ...
.
Middle ages
Just a few decades after its foundation in the early 13th century, Neustadt was granted
town rights
Town privileges or borough rights were important features of European towns during most of the second millennium. The city law customary in Central Europe probably dates back to Italian models, which in turn were oriented towards the tradition ...
on 6 April 1275 based on those given to
Speyer
Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer li ...
.
Town quarters
In the
Late Middle Ages
The Late Middle Ages or Late Medieval Period was the Periodization, period of European history lasting from AD 1300 to 1500. The Late Middle Ages followed the High Middle Ages and preceded the onset of the early modern period (and in much of Eur ...
Neustadt was divided into four town quarters, whose names indicate the status and occupations of their inhabitants or give important local information:
In the ''Lauerviertel'' (from ''Loheviertel'' = "
Tanbark
Tanbark is the bark of certain species of trees, traditionally used for tanning hides into leather.
The words "tannin", "tanning", "tan," and " tawny" are derived from the Medieval Latin ''tannare'', "to convert into leather."
Bark mills are ...
Quarter") next to the Speyerbach worked the
tanners Tanners may refer to:
* Tanners (company), a British wine company
* Tanners, Virginia, an unincorporated community located in Madison County, United States
* Jerald and Sandra Tanner, opponents of the LDS Church (Mormons)
* Leatherhead F.C., a fo ...
. The ''Kesselringviertel'' was named after an influential family of the 14th century. In the ''Frauenviertel'' ("Women's Quarter") were ecclesiastical possessions under the
patronage
Patronage is the support, encouragement, privilege, or financial aid that an organization or individual bestows on another. In the history of art, arts patronage refers to the support that kings, popes, and the wealthy have provided to artists su ...
of
Saint Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother of ...
's. The
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
community lived in the ''Judenviertel'' ("Jewish Quarter").
Towards the end of the 15th century, other quarters were established outside the town fortifications: the ''Stadtgasserviertel'', the ''Kirschgartenviertel'' and the ''Ägyptenvorstadt''.
Reformation
In the
Peasants' Uprising, rebellious peasant bands entered the town unopposed on 6 May 1525.
During
the Reformation
The Reformation (alternatively named the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation) was a major movement within Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the Catholic Church and in ...
,
Louis the Pacific ruled the Palatinate until 1544 and strove for reconciliation. His 1538 religion edict allowed
Lutherans
Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched ...
to preach and take
communion. Equally even-handed was his brother and successor,
Frederick the Wise
Frederick III (17 January 1463 – 5 May 1525), also known as Frederick the Wise ( German ''Friedrich der Weise''), was Elector of Saxony from 1486 to 1525, who is mostly remembered for the worldly protection of his subject Martin Luther.
Frede ...
. Not until his successor were there strict Protestant rulers. When
Frederick III died in 1576, he left a clause in his will that his Lutheran son,
Louis VI should not inherit the ''Ämter'' of
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern (; Palatinate German: ''Lautre'') is a city in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfur ...
and Neustadt, but that they should go instead to his Calvinist brother,
John Casimir.
![Casimirianum](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5d/Casimirianum.jpg)
In 1578, Count Palatine John Casimir founded the Neustadt College that was named after him, the
Casimirianum, because his Lutheran brother, Louis had cleared the university in
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
of Calvinists; John Casimir was active as an advocate of the reformed faith and offered the exiled professors and students asylum. When he moved to Heidelberg in 1583 in order to take over the regency for his still under-age son there after the death of the brother's reign, Neustadt's short time as a university seat ended.
17th century
![Meisner Neustad an der Hard Sic floret honore decus](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Meisner_Neustad_an_der_Hard_Sic_floret_honore_decus.jpg)
Denominational disputes over the following century were no longer pursued purely by argument, but with weapons, and the Palatinate was invaded by one campaign after another. Neustadt was conquered six times during the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history
The history of Europe is traditionally divided into four time periods: prehistoric Europe (prior to about 800 BC), classical antiquity (80 ...
; in 1622 by the Spaniards, in 1631 by Sweden, in 1635 by Imperial troops, in 1638 by troops of Duke Bernard of Weimar, in 1639 by the French under Field Marshal
Henri II d'Orleans,
Duke of Longueville
Duke of Longueville (''Longueville-sur-Scie'') was a title of French nobility, though not a peerage of France.
History
The title was created in 1505 by King Louis XII of France for his first cousin once removed, François d'Orléans, Count of ...
and 1644 again by the French. After each occasion the occupying forces attempted to enforce their confession.
Unlike other Palatine towns, Neustadt survived the
War of the Palatine Succession
The Nine Years' War (1688–1697), often called the War of the Grand Alliance or the War of the League of Augsburg, was a conflict between France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by the Habsburg monarc ...
(1689–1697) almost unscathed.
18th and 19th centuries
In 1744 of the town population of 2,496, 1,676 were reformed, 620 were Roman Catholics and 200 were Lutherans. Jews were not included in these statistics.
In the 18th century the town lost its medieval appearance, because its militarily obsolete and superfluous town walls were demolished. When, in 1722, the state road to
Mannheim
Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...
, the new residence of the
Elector
Elector may refer to:
* Prince-elector or elector, a member of the electoral college of the Holy Roman Empire, having the function of electing the Holy Roman Emperors
* Elector, a member of an electoral college
** Confederate elector, a member of ...
had been built (today the
B 38), in 1723 the northern town wall was pierced.
Following the seizure of the
Left Bank of the Rhine during the
French Revolution
The French Revolution ( ) was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considere ...
in 1797–98, Neustadt became just an insignificant administrative centre, the canton capital of the
département
In the administrative divisions of France, the department (french: département, ) is one of the three levels of government under the national level ("territorial collectivity, territorial collectivities"), between the regions of France, admin ...
of
Donnersberg
The Donnersberg ("thunder mountain") is the highest peak of the Palatinate (german: Pfalz) region of Germany. The mountain lies between the towns of Rockenhausen and Kirchheimbolanden, in the Donnersbergkreis district, which is named after the ...
.
Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
passed through the town on his retreat from Erfurt to Paris and its official celebrated his visit. When, five years later, parts of the emperor's army, defeated near Leipzig, marched through the town the sentiment was, however, quite the opposite.
In 1815, Neustadt became part of the
Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...
until 1945, along with the rest of the Palatinate which was one of 8 Bavarian districts (Rhine District). As of 1837 the district was renamed as ''Pfalz''. As a result of this resubordination, in 1818 the town became the seat of a ''
Landkommissariat
In all States of Germany, German states, except for the three City-state, city states, the primary administrative subdivision higher than a ''Municipalities of Germany, Gemeinde'' (municipality) is the (official term in all but two states) or ...
'' (called a ''Bezirksamt'' from 1862 and a ''Landkreis'' from 1939). In 1832 the
Hambach Festival
The Hambacher Festival was a German national democratic festival celebrated from 27 May to 30 May 1832 at Hambach Castle, near Neustadt an der Weinstraße, in present-day Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. The event was disguised as a nonpolitical co ...
took place near the town. In 1847, Neustadt was connected to the railway network by the
Palatine Ludwig Railway
A palatine or palatinus (in Latin; plural ''palatini''; cf. derivative spellings below) is a high-level official attached to imperial or royal courts in Europe since Roman times. .
20th century
A
Workers and Soldiers Council was established during the
German Revolution of 1918
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
. Three delegates were sent to see
Kurt Eisner
Kurt Eisner (; 14 May 1867 21 February 1919)"Kurt Eisner – Encyclopædia Britannica" (biography), ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', 2006, Britannica.com webpageBritannica-KurtEisner. was a German politician, revolutionary, journalist, and theatre c ...
, the premier of newly founded
People's State of Bavaria
The People's State of Bavaria (german: Volksstaat Bayern) was a short-lived socialist state in Bavaria from 1918 to 1919. The People's State of Bavaria was established on 8 November 1918 during the German Revolution, as an attempt at a socialist ...
. These delegates consisted of a member of the
Majority Social Democratic Party of Germany
The Majority Social Democratic Party of Germany (german: Mehrheitssozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands, MSPD) was the name officially used by the Social Democratic Party of Germany (SPD) during the period 1917-1922. This differentiated it from ...
, a member of the emergent
German People's Party
The German People's Party (German: , or DVP) was a liberal party during the Weimar Republic that was the successor to the National Liberal Party of the German Empire. A right-liberal, or conservative-liberal political party, it represented politi ...
and a third linked to the interests of the local wine trade.
However, Eisner failed to take notice of their concerns and despite his subsequent assertion that the Pfalz was an integral part of Bavaria, this indifference helped fuel separatist sentiment in the area.
According to the
Armistice Agreement the Pfalz region fell within the French zone during the
occupation of the Rhineland
The Occupation of the Rhineland from 1 December 1918 until 30 June 1930 was a consequence of the collapse of the Imperial German Army in 1918, after which Germany's provisional government was obliged to agree to the terms of the 1918 armist ...
. The
Siamese Expeditionary Forces
The Siamese Expeditionary Force ( th, กองทหารอาสาสยาม) (also known as Siamese Volunteer Corps) consisted of the Royal Siamese Army sent to Europe under the command of Major General Phraya Pichai Charnyarit in 1917 to ...
occupied Neustadt following the end of
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
.
In 1920 Neustadt, like six others in the Palatinate, separated from its ''Bezirksamt'' and became an independent town.
Neustadt's role during the
Nazi era
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
began in 1927 when it became the seat of the ''
Gauleiter
A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a ''Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany, Gau'' or ''Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest Ranks and insignia of the Nazi Party, rank in ...
'' for the
Nazi Party
The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right politics, far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that crea ...
. It retained this function ''de facto'' until 1945, although in 1939
Kaiserslautern
Kaiserslautern (; Palatinate German: ''Lautre'') is a city in southwest Germany, located in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate at the edge of the Palatinate Forest. The historic centre dates to the 9th century. It is from Paris, from Frankfur ...
was nominated as the ''Gauhauptstadt'' ("capital of the Gau") and the state authorities, who were formed in 1940 from the Palatine and Saarland administrations in
Speyer
Speyer (, older spelling ''Speier'', French: ''Spire,'' historical English: ''Spires''; pfl, Schbaija) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer li ...
and
Saarbrücken
Saarbrücken (; french: link=no, Sarrebruck ; Rhine Franconian: ''Saarbrigge'' ; lb, Saarbrécken ; lat, Saravipons, lit=The Bridge(s) across the Saar river) is the capital and largest city of the state of Saarland, Germany. Saarbrücken is S ...
and were led by the ''Gauleiter'' in personal union, were also not based in Neustadt. The town was given the function of a normal Palatine seat of administration on 8 September 1945, In 1946 it became the seat of the Rhineland-Palatinate province (''Regierungsbezirk'') of the Palatinate.
On 7 June 1969 the hitherto independent municipalities of Geinsheim, Gimmeldingen, Haardt an der Weinstraße, Hambach an der Weinstraße, Königsbach an der Weinstraße, Lachen-Speyerdorf, Mussbach an der Weinstraße and Diedesfeld were incorporated into the town's borough. On 16 March 1974 they were followed by Duttweiler.
Neustadt 1 Mittelgasse.1.jpg, The Old Town: ''Mittelgasse''
Neustadt 3 Rathaus.1.jpg, The Old Town Hall
Neustadt 4 Rathausplatz.1.jpg, ''Rathausplatz'' and the ''Scheffelhaus''
Saalbau-2006-Neustadt-Weinstrasse-001-b.jpg, Concert hall
1503085-Neustadt-adW-01.jpg , Central station
Neustadt 8 Innenstadt.1.jpg, Historic house in the Old Town
Neustadt 14 Hintergasse.1.jpg, Portico of a timber-framed house in der Old Town
Neustadt Tore 1.1.jpg, Archway in the Old Town
Neustadt Tore 8.1.jpg, Archway of an old pub in the Old Town
Neustadt Tore 11.1.jpg, Archway in the Old Town
Etymology
Officially abbreviated as ''Neustadt a. d. Weinstr''., the name can be shortened as ''Neustadt/Weinstrasse'' (as on train departure and arrival boards) or ''Neustadt (Weinstrasse)''. The name literally means "new town on the
wine route", as it lies on the
German wine route
The German Wine RouteScheunemann J., Stewart J., Walker N. and Williams C. (2011), ''Back Roads Germany'', Dorling Kindersley, London. . or Wine Road (german: Deutsche Weinstraße) is the oldest of Germany's tourist wine routes. Located in th ...
(Deutsche Weinstrasse), in
Rhineland-Palatinate
Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; german: link=no, Rheinland-Pfalz ; lb, Rheinland-Pfalz ; pfl, Rhoilond-Palz) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the ...
, in Germany.
It is one of several dozen German and Austrian places called ''Neustadt''. These ''new towns'' are typically differentiated by the rivers upon which they lie (e. g.,
Neustadt (Aisch)
Neustadt an der Aisch (officially: ''Neustadt a.d.Aisch'') is a small town of around 13,000 inhabitants in the northern part of Bavaria (Germany), within the Franconian administrative region Middle Franconia.
"Neustadt an der Aisch" (mapping) ...
), the regions they are located in (e. g.,
Neustadt/Hessen) or, in this case, a peculiar distinctive feature – namely ''Weinstraße'' – "Wine Route."
Culture, nature and sights
Culture
The following venues are available for cultural events: the
Saalbau as a theatre and concert hall, the restored
Herrenhof Mußbach as a cultural centre, the
open air stage in the grounds of
Villa Böhm, the ''Kleinkunstbühne'', ''die reblaus'' in the Catacombe Theatre, the ''Theater in der Kurve'' in Hambach and the historic
Steinhäuser Hof as the home venue of ''Jazzclub NW''.
Nature
Neustadt's borough extends from the Rhine Plain into the
Palatine Forest Nature Park, the largest contiguous forest region in Germany and part of the
Palatine Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve
The Franco-German Palatinate Forest-North Vosges Biosphere Reserve (german: Biosphärenreservat Pfälzerwald-Nordvogesen, french: Réserve de biosphère transfrontalière des Vosges du Nord-Forêt palatine) was created in 1998 as the first UNESCO t ...
. There is a total of twelve
nature reserves
A nature reserve (also known as a wildlife refuge, wildlife sanctuary, biosphere reserve or bioreserve, natural or nature preserve, or nature conservation area) is a protected area of importance for flora, fauna, or features of geological or o ...
in the borough:
Am Wolfsberg, Lochbusch-Königswiesen, Mußbacher Baggerweiher, Haardtrand–Am Häuselberg, Haardtrand–Berggewanne, Haardtrand–Am Wetterkreuz, Haardtrand–Im Erb, Haardtrand–Am Klausental, Haardtrand–Schloßberg, Haardtrand–Am Heidelberg, Haardtrand–Am Sonnenweg und Rehbachwiesen-Langwiesen.
Structures
![Wandgemälde Altstadt Neustadt a](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/Wandgem%C3%A4lde_Altstadt_Neustadt_a._Weinstr..jpg)
Neustadt's main attraction is its historic ''
Altstadt'' or Old Town. Notable buildings include its 14th century collegiate church, the
former university of Casimirianum and the ''Steinhäuser Hof''. More recently the
Elwetritsche Fountain by Gernot Rumpf and the murals by Werner Holz have been added.
Outside the residential areas there are palaces and castles:
Hambach Castle
Hambach Castle (german: Hambacher Schloss) is a castle near the urban district Hambach of Neustadt an der Weinstraße in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is considered a symbol of the German democracy movement because of the Hambacher Fest which ...
, the
Wolfsburg
Wolfsburg (; Eastphalian: ''Wulfsborg'') is the fifth largest city in the German state of Lower Saxony, located on the river Aller. It lies about east of Hanover and west of Berlin.
Wolfsburg is famous as the location of Volkswagen AG's hea ...
,
Winzingen Castle,
Haardt Castle and the rather more distant
Spangenberg Castle above the
Elmstein Valley. In the quarter of Hambacher Höhe, by the edge of the Haardt, lies the Abbey of the Sacred Heart.
The outlying villages also have their sights; for example Mußbach with its Old Church of St. John, the manor house, White House and Carl Theodor Hof; or Gimmeldingen with St. Nicholas' Church, the Mithras Shrine, the Old Castle and King Ludwig's Pavilion.
Monuments
![Stolperstein neustadtanderweinstraße](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bf/Stolperstein_neustadtanderweinstra%C3%9Fe.JPG)
In Neustadt, the artist, Gunter Demnig, has laid 41 so-called ''
Stolpersteine'', metal paving stones, in memory of the Jewish victims of Nazism. The first ''Stolperstein'' was laid on 6 December 2002 in front of the
Kurfürst Ruprecht Gymnasium in ''Landwehrstraße'' in memory of
Karl Strauß, a former teacher at the school.
On 10 March 2013 the Justice Minister for Rhineland-Palatinate, Jochen Hartloff, and Neustadt's Lord Mayor, Hans Georg Löffler, opened the memorial site to Nazi victims which had been established in the prison building of the old Turenne Barracks by a friends' association founded in 2009. Eighty years earlier, on 10 March 1933, the Nazis had established a concentration camp in the barracks for several months under the title of ''Schutzhaft- und Arbeitslager'' ("Protective Detention and Labour Camp"). About 500 men from over 80 Palatine municipalities were detained here who, due to their political or religious activities, had fallen foul of the authorities.
Museums
The town is home to the following museums: the town museum, Villa Böhm, the Otto Dill Museum, the Palatine Bible Museum, the "Getreidekasten" Vineyard Museum in the
Herrenhof and the
Neustadt/Weinstraße Railway Museum.
Regular events
Since 1949, as part of the
German Wine Festival, the
German Wine Queen has been chosen and crowned in Neustadt. The high point of the festival, which traditionally takes place at the end of September/beginning of October, is the largest Vintners' Parade in Germany.
Other wine festivals take place regularly, usually at weekends from almond blossom time in March/April until October. Especially well known are the Gimmeldingen Almond Blossom Festival, the ''Eselshautfest'' in Mußbach and the ''Andergasser Fest'' in Hambach.
At the end of August the German Wine Road Adventure Day takes place, when the German Wine Road is closed to motorised traffic – even in Neustadt – and is only open to cyclists and pedestrians.
Patronage
Neustadt was the patron of the U-Boat
U 26 in the German
Bundesmarine
The German Navy (, ) is the navy of Germany and part of the unified ''Bundeswehr'' (Federal Defense), the German Armed Forces. The German Navy was originally known as the ''Bundesmarine'' (Federal Navy) from 1956 to 1995, when ''Deutsche Mari ...
. Since 1978 it has sponsored a
Lufthansa
Deutsche Lufthansa AG (), commonly shortened to Lufthansa, is the flag carrier of Germany. When combined with its subsidiaries, it is the second- largest airline in Europe in terms of passengers carried. Lufthansa is one of the five founding m ...
Airbus
Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European Multinational corporation, multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace manufacturer, aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft througho ...
and, since 2000, ICE train of the
Deutsche Bahn
The (; abbreviated as DB or DB AG) is the national railway company of Germany. Headquartered in the Bahntower in Berlin, it is a joint-stock company ( AG). The Federal Republic of Germany is its single shareholder.
describes itself as the se ...
. In March 2007 it took on the sponsorship of a train on the Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn.
Economy
The largest local employer is ''
BASF
BASF Societas Europaea, SE () is a German multinational corporation, multinational chemical company and the List of largest chemical producers, largest chemical producer in the world. Its headquarters is located in Ludwigshafen, Germany.
The ...
'', located in
Ludwigshafen am Rhein – one of the largest chemical companies in the world.
Symbols
The symbols of ''Neustadt'' are ''
Elwedritsche
The Elwetritsch (a.k.a. Elwedritsch, Ilwedritsch and so on), plural Elwetritsche or Elwetritschen, is a birdlike legendary creature which is reported to be found in southwest Germany, especially in the Palatinate. The Elwetritsch can be seen ...
'', mythical animals of local folklore. Depictions of them are carved on a well in the town centre.
Transport
Neustadt is less than an hour away from larger cities such as
Mannheim
Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universitätsstadt Mannheim), is the second-largest city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg after the state capital of Stuttgart, and Germany's 2 ...
, Ludwigshafen,
Heidelberg
Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...
and
Frankfurt
Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...
.
Twin towns – sister cities
Neustadt an der Weinstraße is
twinned with:
*
Echt-Susteren
Echt-Susteren (; li, Ech-Zöstere ) is a municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. Echt-Susteren was created in 2003 by merging the former municipalities of Echt and Susteren.
Echt-Susteren is situated in a Euregional area. In the west the mu ...
, Netherlands
*
Lincoln
Lincoln most commonly refers to:
* Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865), the sixteenth president of the United States
* Lincoln, England, cathedral city and county town of Lincolnshire, England
* Lincoln, Nebraska, the capital of Nebraska, U.S.
* Lincol ...
, England, United Kingdom
*
Mâcon
Mâcon (), historically anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the prefecture of the department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home to near 34,000 residents, who are referred to in French as M ...
, France
*
Manchester
Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The t ...
, United States
*
Quanzhou
Quanzhou, postal map romanization, alternatively known as Chinchew, is a prefecture-level city, prefecture-level port city on the north bank of the Jin River, beside the Taiwan Strait in southern Fujian, China. It is Fujian's largest metrop ...
, China
*
Wernigerode
Wernigerode () is a town in the district of Harz, Saxony-Anhalt, Germany. Until 2007, it was the capital of the district of Wernigerode. Its population was 35,041 in 2012.
Wernigerode is located southwest of Halberstadt, and is picturesquely s ...
, Germany
*
Yenişehir, Turkey
Notable people
![Franz-Xaver Kugler](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ae/Franz-Xaver_Kugler.jpg)
*
Frederick II, Elector Palatine (1482–1556), Elector of the Palatinate from 1544 to 1556
*
Johannes von Geissel
Johannes von Geissel (5 February 1796 – 8 September 1864) was a German Catholic Archbishop of Cologne and Cardinal from the Electorate of the Palatinate.
Life
Gessel was born in Gimmeldingen in the Electorate of the Palatinate.
After co ...
(1796–1864), Cardinal, Archbishop of Cologne, Bishop of Speyer
*
August Rothpletz
Friedrich August Rothpletz (28 April 1853, in Neustadt an der Haardt – 27 January 1918, in Oberstdorf) was a German geologist and paleontologist.
Biography
From 1875 to 1880 he conducted geological mapping in Saxony as part of the ''Sächsisch ...
(1853–1918), geologist, paleontologist
*
Ludwig Wolff
Ludwig Wolff (27 September 1857 – 24 February 1919), born in Neustadt in Palatinate (region), Palatinate, was a German chemist.
He studied chemistry at the University of Strasbourg, where he received his Ph.D. from Rudolph Fittig in 1882. ...
(1857–1919), chemist
*
Franz Xaver Kugler
Franz Xaver Kugler (27 November 1862 – 25 January 1929) was a German chemist, mathematician, Assyriologist, and Jesuit priest..
Kugler was born in Königsbach, Palatinate, then part of the Kingdom of Bavaria. He earned a Ph.D. in chemist ...
(1862–1929), astronomer, chemist, mathematician, theologian
*
Albert Fraenkel
Julius Albert Fraenkel (3 June 1864 – 22 December 1938) was a German physician who helped establish ''Streptococcus pneumoniae'' as a cause of bacterial pneumonia and championed intravenous ouabain for use in heart failure. The ''Albert-Fraenke ...
(1864–1938), physician, tuberculosis and heart researcher
*
Karl Helfferich
Karl Theodor Helfferich (22 July 1872 – 23 April 1924) was a German politician, economist, and financier from Neustadt an der Weinstraße in the Palatinate.
Biography
Helfferich studied law and political science at the universities of Munich, ...
(1872–1924), banker, politician (DNVP) in the Weimar Republic
*
Hans Geiger
Johannes Wilhelm "Hans" Geiger (; ; 30 September 1882 – 24 September 1945) was a German physicist. He is best known as the co-inventor of the detector component of the Geiger counter and for the Geiger–Marsden experiment which discover ...
(1882–1945), physicist, inventor of the Geiger counter
*
Hermann Künneth
Hermann Lorenz Künneth (July 6, 1892 Neustadt an der Haardt – May 7, 1975 Erlangen) was a German mathematician and renowned algebraic topologist, best known for his contribution to what is now known as the Künneth theorem.
In the winter seme ...
(1892–1975), mathematician
*
Franz Pfeiffer
Franz Pfeiffer (February 27, 1815 – May 29, 1868), was a Swiss literary scholar who worked in Germany and Austria. Biography
Franz Pfeiffer was born in Solothurn as a Bürger (citizen) of Bettlach. After studying at the University of Munich he ...
(1900–1979), lawyer
* (1903–1966), jurist, SS official
*
Walter Bruch
Walter Bruch (2 March 1908 – 5 May 1990) was a German electrical engineer and pioneer of German television. He was the inventor of Closed-circuit television. He invented the PAL colour television system at Telefunken in the early 1960s. In add ...
(1908–1990), electrical engineering technician, inventor of the PAL color television system
*
Willi Geiger (1909–1994), lawyer
*Fritz Wiedemann (1920–1987), painter, sculptor
*Herbert Culmann (1921–1998), lawyer, CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG
*Karlheinz Rudolph (1923–1994), television journalist
*
Günther Osche (1926–2009), evolutionary biologist, ecologist, parasitologist
*
Alfred Mechtersheimer (1939–2018), political scientist, politician, Member of Bundestag
*
Jörg Zimmermann (born 1944), diplomat
*
Heiner Goebbels
Heiner Goebbels (born 17 August 1952) is a German composer, conductor and professor at Justus-Liebig-University in Gießen and artistic director of the International Festival of the Arts Ruhrtriennale 2012–14. His composition ''Stifters Dinge ...
(born 1952), musician, composer, radio play director, director
*
Gregor Braun
Gregor Braun (; born 31 December 1955) is a retired track cyclist and road bicycle racer from Germany, who was a professional rider from 1977 to 1989 and who became a multiple Olympic Gold medaillist and track world champion. his profession was ...
(born 1955), track cyclist, road bicycle racer
*
Malu Dreyer
Marie-Luise "Malu" Dreyer (born 6 February 1961) is a German politician of the Social Democratic Party (SPD) who has served as the 8th and current Minister President of Rhineland-Palatinate since 13 January 2013. She is the first woman to hold th ...
(born 1961), jurist, politician (SPD), Rhineland-Palatinate Minister President since 2013
*
Andrea Mohr (born 1963), author, former drug smuggler
*
Uwe Wolf
Uwe Wolf (born 10 August 1967 in Neustadt an der Weinstraße) is a German football coach and former professional player.
Honours
Necaxa
* Primera División de México: 1995–96
References
External links
*
1967 births
Living p ...
(born 1967), footballer
*
Mario Basler
Mario Basler (born 18 December 1968) is a German football manager and former professional player who mainly played as a right midfielder. He is currently at TSG Eisenberg as a player and advisor.
A dead-ball specialist, Basler scored numerous g ...
(born 1968), football player, coach
*
Bernhard Hoëcker
Bernhard Hoëcker (; born Bernhard Hoecker-von Mühlenfels; 20 March 1970) is a German comedian, actor and television presenter. He is best known for the spoof show Switch, as well as being a permanent member of the previous Genial guessing team ...
(born 1970), comedian
*
Sin With Sebastian
Sebastian Roth (born 20 September 1971), known by his stage name as Sin With Sebastian, is a German musician/singer/songwriter. Sin With Sebastian came to prominence in 1995 with the Europe-wide hit, " Shut Up (and Sleep with Me)", which made it u ...
(born 1971), pop singer
*
Gustav Policella (born 1975), football player, coach
*
Danko Bošković (born 1982), footballer
*
Moritz Oeler
Moritz Benedikt Oeler (born 21 October 1985 in Neustadt an der Weinstraße) is a German male former water polo player. He was part of the Germany men's national water polo team in the 2008 Summer Olympics. He also competed at the 2011 World Aqu ...
(born 1985), water polo player
*
Joseph Moog (born 1987), classical pianist and composer
*
Dominique Heintz (born 1993), footballer
*
Kevin Akpoguma
Kevin John Ufuoma Akpoguma (born 19 April 1995) is a professional footballer who plays as a centre back for Bundesliga club 1899 Hoffenheim. Born in Germany, Akpoguma was a youth international for Germany but switched and represents the Nigeri ...
(born 1995), footballer
References
External links
*
Neustadt/Weinstrasse tourist information in EnglishNeustadt-Links – about 1200 links to enterprises and organizations in Neustadt (in German)
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neustadt An Der Weinstrasse
Towns in Rhineland-Palatinate
Palatinate Forest
Anterior Palatinate
Palatinate (region)