Sinsheim (,

South Franconian South Franconian (german: Südfränkisch) or South Rhine Franconian (german: Südrheinfränkisch) is an Upper German dialect which is spoken in the northernmost part of Baden-Württemberg in Germany, around Karlsruhe, Mosbach and Heilbronn. Lik ...

: ''Sinse'') is a town in south-western

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, in the

Rhine Neckar Area 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 ...

of the state

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 ...

about south-east of

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 about north-west of

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a List of cities and towns in Germany, city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn (district), Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. From the late Mid ...

in the district Rhein-Neckar.

Geography

Overview

Sinsheim consists of a town centre and 12 suburbs with a total population of 35,373 (as of December 2011). Its area encompasses . The

Elsenz Elsenz is a river of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It passes through Sinsheim and flows into the Neckar in Neckargemünd. See also *List of rivers of Baden-Württemberg A list of rivers of Baden-Württemberg, Germany: A * Aal * Aalbach *Aalen ...

, an unnavigable left-bank tributary of the Neckar, flows through the town, reaching the Neckar at Neckargemünd.

Subdivisions

The list below shows the 12 suburban villages (''Stadtteile''). Population data was as of 31 December 2020 and the one of Sinsheim (the town proper) was of 12,914.

History

The region around Sinsheim has been settled since 700,000 BC, as shown by the finding of the fossil ''

Homo heidelbergensis ''Homo heidelbergensis'' (also ''H. sapiens heidelbergensis''), sometimes called Heidelbergs, is an extinct species or subspecies of archaic human which existed during the Middle Pleistocene. It was subsumed as a subspecies of ''H. erectus'' in ...

'' in the village of Mauer, about 12 km (7 miles) north of Sinsheim. The

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy * Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

ruled the area from 90 AD to 260 AD. The city was possibly founded in about 550 AD by the

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages * Francia, a post-Roman state in France and Germany * East Francia, the successor state to Francia in Germany ...

nobleman Sunno. It was first historically mentioned in 770 AD in the Codex of the cloister Lorsch. Since 1192, the town had city rights, a privilege first granted by

Henry IV, Holy Roman Emperor Henry IV (german: Heinrich IV; 11 November 1050 – 7 August 1106) was Holy Roman Emperor from 1084 to 1105, King of Germany from 1054 to 1105, King of Italy and Burgundy from 1056 to 1105, and Duke of Bavaria from 1052 to 1054. He was the son ...

. Sinsheim was affected by wars and poverty from the 1500s to the 1700s. Sinsheim-born revolutionary

Franz Sigel Franz Sigel (November 18, 1824 – August 21, 1902) was a German American military officer, revolutionary and immigrant to the United States who was a teacher, newspaperman, politician, and served as a Union major general in the American Civil W ...

became a famous Union general in the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states th ...

. The

Elsenz Valley Railway The Elsenz Valley Railway (''Elsenztalbahn'') or Neckargemünd–Bad Friedrichshall railway is an electrified, partly double-tracked main line in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, running from Heidelberg via Sinsheim to Bad Friedrichshall, t ...

and Sinsheim station were opened in 1868 and the nearby Steinsfurt–Eppingen line was opened in 1900; electricity and public water pipes were introduced into the city from 1910 on. The

World War A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...

s and the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

kept Sinsheim from growing until the A6

Autobahn The (; German plural ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. ...

was built in 1968. It connected Sinsheim to national and international roads, with

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 ...

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; Swabian: ; ) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is located on the Neckar river in a fertile valley known as the ''Stuttgarter Kessel'' (Stuttgart Cauldron) and lies an hour from the ...

Frankfurt am Main 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 ...

Ludwigshafen Ludwigshafen, officially Ludwigshafen am Rhein (; meaning " Ludwig's Port upon Rhine"), is a city in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, on the river Rhine, opposite Mannheim. With Mannheim, Heidelberg, and the surrounding region, it form ...

all now within an hour by car. While traditionally being an agricultural town, the highway made it into a small industrial centre, but it has been hit by

recession In economics, a recession is a business cycle contraction when there is a general decline in economic activity. Recessions generally occur when there is a widespread drop in spending (an adverse demand shock). This may be triggered by various ...

and international

outsourcing Outsourcing is an agreement in which one company hires another company to be responsible for a planned or existing activity which otherwise is or could be carried out internally, i.e. in-house, and sometimes involves transferring employees and ...

in recent years.

Demographics

The numbers are estimates, census results(¹) or official data of the statistical offices (only primary residences). ¹ census results

Main sights

Sinsheim's main tourist attraction is the

Sinsheim Auto & Technik Museum The Technik Museum Sinsheim is a technology museum in Sinsheim, Germany. Opened in 1981, it is run by a registered association called "Auto & Technik Museum Sinsheim e. V." which also runs the nearby Technik Museum Speyer. Statistics , the museum ...

situated in the suburb Steinsfurt, displaying a collection of historic vehicles to over 1 million visitors per year. In 1989, a

trade fair A trade fair, also known as trade show, trade exhibition, or trade exposition, is an exhibition organized so that companies in a specific industry can showcase and demonstrate their latest products and services, meet with industry partners and c ...

area was established that features various industrial and popular events. Additionally, Sinsheim has a medieval city core; the ''Altes Rathaus'' (old Town Hall) is a museum for the town and its role in the

1848 revolution The Revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the Springtime of the Peoples or the Springtime of Nations, were a series of political upheavals throughout Europe starting in 1848. It remains the most widespread revolutionary wave in Europea ...

. An old fortress, ''Burg Steinsberg'' in the village of Weiler, overlooks Sinsheim. With its octagonal tower, dating back to the 13th century, the fortress has sometimes been called the "compass" of the

Kraichgau 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 c ...

region, and nowadays contains a restaurant.

Sport

Stadium

On September 19, 2006, the mayor of Sinsheim announced a stadium would be built not far from the

, for the town's most successful

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

club

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim Turn- und Sportgemeinschaft 1899 Hoffenheim e.V., or simply TSG 1899 Hoffenheim or just Hoffenheim () is a German professional football club based in Hoffenheim, a village of Sinsheim municipality, Baden-Württemberg. Originally founded in 1899 ...

. Construction of the

€ The euro sign () is the currency sign used for the euro, the official currency of the eurozone and unilaterally adopted by Kosovo and Montenegro. The design was presented to the public by the European Commission on 12 December 1996. It consists o ...

100 million stadium, which seats 30,164, was funded by

Dietmar Hopp Dietmar Hopp (; born 26 April 1940) is a German software engineer and billionaire businessman. He was one of the founders of SAP SE in 1972 with other former IBM employees Hans Werner Hector, Klaus Tschira, Claus Wellenreuther and Hasso Platt ...

, a co-founder and major share holder of software giant

SAP Sap is a fluid transported in xylem cells (vessel elements or tracheids) or phloem sieve tube elements of a plant. These cells transport water and nutrients throughout the plant. Sap is distinct from latex, resin, or cell sap; it is a separa ...

and a former player in the youth system of TSG 1899 Hoffenheim. The club christened their new stadium "Rhein Neckar-Arena" on 31 January 2009 with a 2–0 win over

Energie Cottbus FC Energie Cottbus ( Lower Sorbian: ''Energija Chóśebuz'') is a German football club based in Cottbus, Brandenburg. It was founded in 1963 as SC Cottbus in what was East Germany. After the reunification of Germany, Energie played six seasons i ...

Twin towns – sister cities

Sinsheim is twinned with: *

Barcs Barcs ( hr, Barč; german: Bartsch or ) is a border town in Somogy County, Hungary, and the seat of Barcs District. The Drava River marks the southern boundary of the settlement. Geography Located at the Croatian border and the River Drava, the ...

, Hungary *

Longué-Jumelles Longué-Jumelles () is a commune in the Maine-et-Loire department in western France. Longué-Jumelles is twinned with Calverton, Nottinghamshire in England. Population See also *Communes of the Maine-et-Loire department The following is a li ...

, France

Notable people

Hans Seyffer Hans Seyffer, also known as ''Hans Seyfer'' or ''Hans of Heilbronn'' (c.1460–1509), was a stone sculptor and wood carver of the late Gothic style. Biography Seyffer was born in Sinsheim. Little else is known about his life. He lived an ...

(c.1460–1509), stone sculptor and wood carver *

(1824–1902), U.S. Army General in the American Civil War *

Walter Horn Walter William Horn (18 January 1908 - 26 December 1995) was a German-American medieval studies, medievalist scholar noted for his work on the Timber framing, timber vernacular architecture, vernacular medieval architecture, architecture of the ...

(1908–1995), German-American medievalist scholar *

Volker Kauder Volker Kauder (born 3 September 1949) is a German lawyer and politician of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). He served as parliamentary group leader of the ruling CDU/CSU faction in the German ''Bundestag'' from 2005 to 2018, during which h ...

(born 1949), politician *

Christian Eichner Christian Eichner (born 24 November 1982) is a German former professional football defender who is the current manager of Karlsruher SC Karlsruher SC is a German association football club, based in Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg that current ...

(born 1982), football player and manager

References

External links

{{Authority control Towns in Baden-Württemberg Rhein-Neckar-Kreis Baden