Viernheim is a midsize industrial town on

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 ...

's outskirts and is found in the

Rhine Neckar 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 ...

agglomeration and economic area. It is the second biggest town in Bergstraße district in

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a States of Germany, state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major histor ...

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 ...

. Since 1994 it has also borne the title '' Brundtlandstadt'', as it has been taking part in an

energy conservation Energy conservation is the effort to reduce wasteful energy consumption by using fewer energy services. This can be done by using energy more effectively (using less energy for continuous service) or changing one's behavior to use less service (f ...

pilot project. In 1968, the town hosted the eighth ''

Hessentag The Hessentag (; en, Hesse Day) is an annual event, both fair and festival, organized by the German state of Hesse to represent the different regions of Hesse. The events are shown for a week to the visitors, with an emphasis on cultural displ ...

'' state festival.

Geography

Location

Viernheim lies in the

Rhine rift 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 ...

, and although it also lies in Hesse, it is bounded on the west, south and east by Baden-Württemberg. North of the Viernheim woods, in Lampertheim, begins the ''Hessisches Ried''. East of Viernheim lies the town of Weinheim, which is where the district’s namesake Bergstraße begins, and which also marks the beginning of 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 section ...

. The town lies roughly northeast of

, east of the

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

and west of the Bergstrasse.

Neighbouring communities

Viernheim borders in the north on the town of

Lampertheim Lampertheim is a town in the Bergstraße district in Hesse, Germany. In 1984, the town hosted the 24th ''Hessentag'' state festival. Geography Location Lampertheim lies in the southwest corner of Hesse in the Rhine rift at the Biedensand Conser ...

(in

Hessen Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Darm ...

), in the northeast on the towns of

Hemsbach Hemsbach () is a town with approximately 12,000 inhabitants in the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It belongs to the European Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region (Lower Neckar region until 20 May 2003 and Rhine-Neckar-Odenwald reg ...

and

Weinheim Weinheim (; pfl, Woinem) is a town with about 43,000 inhabitants in northwest Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is in the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region, approximately north of Heidelberg and northeast of Mannheim. Weinheim is known as the "Zwei ...

, in the south on the community of

Heddesheim Heddesheim is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 9 km east of Mannheim Mannheim (; Palatine German: or ), officially the University City of Mannheim (german: Universit ...

(all three in the

Rhein-Neckar-Kreis The Rhein-Neckar-Kreis is a district in the northwest of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The administrative headquarters are based in the city Heidelberg, which is a district-free city. As of 2019, the district is the most populous in Baden-Württe ...

), and in the west on the district-free city of

(all 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 ...

Constituent communities

Viernheim is divided into several sections. It has been the local, everyday speech and town expansions, though, that have yielded most of the divisions. They therefore have no precisely defined bounds. The ''Stadtkern'', or town core, is made up of the ''Innenstadt'' ("Inner Town") and the ''Altstadt'' ("Old Town") lying around it. Among the other neighbourhoods are the ''Nordstadt'' ("North Town", north of Nibelungenstraße and Wormser Straße), the ''Nordweststadt'' ("Northwest Town", west of Kreuzstraße and Am Königsacker), the ''Tivoli'' (in the south at the ''Rhein-Neckar-Zentrum''), ''Hinter den Zäunen'' (“Behind the Fences”, south of the OEG tracks), ''Gewerbegebiet Eins'' ("Commercial Area One", in the northeast, north of Friedrich-Ebert-Straße and east of Lorscher Straße) and the new development that has sprung up over the last few years, Bannholzgraben, east of Janusz-Korczak-Allee (L 3111). Moreover, there are also the ''Sportgebiet West'' (“Sport Area West”, west of the A 6), the two outlying centres which are each made up of only one road, Neuzenlache and Ziegelhütte (south of the A 659 and the outlying farms northeast of town.

History

Viernheim grew out of a

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty (; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charlemagne, grandson of mayor Charles Martel and a descendant of the Arnulfing and Pippin ...

king's court. Viernheim had its first documentary mention in 777 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 Caroli ...

, the

Lorsch Abbey Lorsch Abbey, otherwise the Imperial Abbey of Lorsch (german: Reichsabtei Lorsch; la, Laureshamense Monasterium or ''Laurissa''), is a former Imperial abbey in Lorsch, Germany, about east of Worms. It was one of the most renowned monasteries o ...

's book of documents. Through donations, it ended up in the Abbey’s ownership. In 1232, the Abbey’s holdings were given to the

Archbishops of Mainz The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...

, but only in 1308 did Viernheim pass to Mainz. In 1439, however, the town was pledged to the Schönau Abbey, who in turn sold it to the

Electorate of the Palatinate The Electoral Palatinate (german: Kurpfalz) or the Palatinate (), officially the Electorate of the Palatinate (), was a state that was part of the Holy Roman Empire. The electorate had its origins under the rulership of the Counts Palatine of ...

. After 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 ...

, it passed back to Mainz, and thence under the ''

Reichsdeputationshauptschluss The ' (formally the ', or "Principal Conclusion of the Extraordinary Imperial Delegation"), sometimes referred to in English as the Final Recess or the Imperial Recess of 1803, was a resolution passed by the ' (Imperial Diet) of the Holy Roman Em ...

'' in 1803 to the

Grand Duchy of Hesse The Grand Duchy of Hesse and by Rhine (german: link=no, Großherzogtum Hessen und bei Rhein) was a grand duchy in western Germany that existed from 1806 to 1918. The Grand Duchy originally formed from the Landgraviate of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1806 ...

, out of which came the

People's State of Hesse The People's State of Hesse (german: Volksstaat Hessen) was one of the constituent states of Weimar Republic, Germany from 1918 to 1945, as the successor to the Grand Duchy of Hesse (german: Großherzogtum Hessen) after the defeat of the German ...

in 1918. Once in the People's State, the town was assigned first to the ''Amtsvogtei'' of

Lorsch Lorsch is a town in the Bergstraße district in Hessen, Germany, 60 km south of Frankfurt. Lorsch is well known for the Lorsch Abbey, which has been named a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. Geography Location Lorsch lies about 5 km wes ...

. When ''Landratsbezirke'' – another kind of administrative division – were created in 1821, Viernheim was assigned to

Heppenheim Heppenheim (Bergstraße) is the seat of Bergstraße district in Hesse, Germany, lying on the Bergstraße on the edge of the Odenwald. It is best known for being the birthplace of 4-time Formula One World Champion Sebastian Vettel. Geography ...

. From 1832 to 1839 came a spell under

Bensheim Bensheim () is a town in the Bergstraße district in southern Hessen, Germany. Bensheim lies on the Bergstraße and at the edge of the Odenwald mountains while at the same time having an open view over the Rhine plain. With about 40,000 inhabita ...

's jurisdiction. From 1848, the town then belonged to Heppenheim district, which in 1938 was merged with Bensheim district to form today’s Bergstraße district. In 1948, Viernheim was granted town rights by the newly founded ''Land'' of Hesse. During the 19th century the

tobacco industry The tobacco industry comprises those persons and companies who are engaged in the growth, preparation for sale, shipment, advertisement, and distribution of tobacco and tobacco-related products. It is a global industry; tobacco can grow in any ...

gained some importance, since several small

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

manufacturers were founded. Rolling

cigar A cigar is a rolled bundle of dried and fermented tobacco leaves made to be smoked. Cigars are produced in a variety of sizes and shapes. Since the 20th century, almost all cigars are made of three distinct components: the filler, the binder l ...

s provided additional income for

farmer A farmer is a person engaged in agriculture, raising living organisms for food or raw materials. The term usually applies to people who do some combination of raising field crops, orchards, vineyards, poultry, or other livestock. A farmer mig ...

s or

peasant A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...

s and their families during the winter. Until the end of the 19th century, Viernheim was a farming village. Bad harvests and widespread hunger in 1852 led to 458 inhabitants emigrating in this year to

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

. With

industrialization Industrialisation ( alternatively spelled industrialization) is the period of social and economic change that transforms a human group from an agrarian society into an industrial society. This involves an extensive re-organisation of an econo ...

and the opening of the ''

Oberrheinische Eisenbahn The Upper Rhine Railway Company (''Oberrheinische Eisenbahn-Gesellschaft Aktiengesellschaft Mannheim''; OEG, originally also OEG AG, later MVV OEG AG), was a railway infrastructure company and transport company based in Mannheim, Germany. It ope ...

'' (a regional

narrow-gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

still serving a roughly triangular route among

and

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 ...

) in 1887, the town began to become more of a workers’ residential community as many inhabitants found work in the factories in nearby Mannheim and Weinheim. Many workers, however, kept farming as a sideline. The location of industry in Viernheim itself began with the opening of the Weinheim-Worms railway (now mostly derelict) in 1905, and further strengthened after the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, bringing along with it a sharp rise in population. Given the town's favourable road links to three ''

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'. ...

en'', it grew into a midsize industrial town. In 1994 came its designation as a “Brundtland Town”, and its attendant participation in an energy conservation pilot project. During the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, Viernheim did not suffer severe damage, since the town had no strategic or industrial importance. So the Viernheim railway station served for a while as Mannheim station, after the Mannheim Central Station was destroyed in an air-raid in 1942. On 23 June 2016, a hostage incident occurred within a cinema in the town. No hostages were injured and the gunman was shot and killed by the

Spezialeinsatzkommando ''Spezialeinsatzkommando'' (SEK, "Special Task Force") are police tactical units of each of the 16 German State Police forces. Along with the ''Mobile Einsatzkommando'' (MEK), ''Personenschutzkommando'' (bodyguards), and the ''Verhandlungsgruppe'' ...

Population development

Religion

Kirche Sankt Aposteln Viernheim 100 2821

For a long time, Viernheim belonged to the

Archbishopric of Mainz The Electorate of Mainz (german: Kurfürstentum Mainz or ', la, Electoratus Moguntinus), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the ...

. Owing to changing lords in the 15th and 16th centuries, the townsfolk had to

convert Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

seven times because of the Peace of Augsburg. When the town passed back to the

Electorate of Mainz The Electorate of Mainz (german: Kurfürstentum Mainz or ', la, Electoratus Moguntinus), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the ...

, however,

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...

kept its place as the local denomination. In the early 20th century, the

Lutheran 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 th ...

townsfolk who had by now been drawn to the town got their own church in Viernheim.

Churches

Today in Viernheim, there are three Catholic parishes, ''St. Michael'', ''St. Hildegard'' merged in 2015, ''St. Marien'' and ''St. Aposteln'', which belong to the deanery of ''Bergstraße-West'' of the Bishopric of Mainz, and two Lutheran parishes, ''Auferstehungskirche'' ("Church of the Resurrection") and ''Christuskirche'', which both belong to the deanery of ''Bergstraße-Süd'' of the Lutheran Church in Hesse and Nassau. Besides the two big churches, the ''Bund Freier evangelischer Gemeinden in Deutschland'' ("League of Free Evangelical Parishes in Germany") has a parish, as do the ''Evangeliumschristen-Baptisten'' ("Gospel Christian Baptists"), the

New Apostolic Church The New Apostolic Church (NAC) is a Christian denomination, Christian church that split from the Catholic Apostolic Church during an 1863 schism in Hamburg, Germany. The church has existed since 1863 in Germany and since 1897 in the Ne ...

and the

Jehovah's Witnesses Jehovah's Witnesses is a millenarian restorationist Christian denomination with nontrinitarian beliefs distinct from mainstream Christianity. The group reports a worldwide membership of approximately 8.7 million adherents involved in ...

. There has been no

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 in town since

National Socialist Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

times. The

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

on Hügelstraße, consecrated on 31 August 1827, was destroyed by the SA along with some locals on 10 November 1938 during the

Kristallnacht () or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (german: Novemberpogrome, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) paramilitary and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from ...

pogrom A pogrom () is a violent riot incited with the aim of massacring or expelling an ethnic or religious group, particularly Jews. The term entered the English language from Russian to describe 19th- and 20th-century attacks on Jews in the Russia ...

Politics

Town council

The municipal election held on 27 March 2011 yielded the following results:

Mayors

Heading the town is the Mayor (''Bürgermeister'') who is directly elected by the people for a term of six years. Mayor Matthias Baaß (SPD) has been in office since 1997 and was re-elected on 7 June 2009 to his third term with 72.1% of the vote. The next mayoral election is planned for 2015. At his side is the First Town Councillor (''Erster Stadtrat''), along with 11 part-time councillors. They are all chosen by the town assembly (''Stadtverordnetenversammlung'') for terms of six and five years respectively and reflect the assembly's political makeup at the time of their appointments. The Mayor, the First Town Councillor and the 11 part-time councillors together form the town's executive (''Magistrat''). Following is a list of the town's mayors since 1822 (from 1649 to 1822, eight ''Schultheißen'' – roughly "sheriffs" – are known to history): * 1822–1824: Joh. Jakob Georgi * 1825–1842: Johann Beikert * 1842–1847: Georg Kühner * 1848–1853: Peter Minnig * 1853–1862: Johann Kempf * 1862–1873: Michael Keller * 1873–1875: Johann Winkler 5. * 1875–1895: Johann Bläß 1. * 1895–1904: Georg Pfützer 2. * 1904–1913: Gg. Friedrich Kühlwein * 1913–1933: Jean Lamberth ( Centre Party) * 1933–1945: Hanns Bechtel (

NSDAP 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 ...

) * 1945: Martin Alter * 1945–1946: Nikolaus Schlosser * 1946–1960: Lorenz Neff (SPD) * 1960–1975: Hans Mandel (SPD) * 1975–1981: Erwin Bugert (SPD) * 1981–1987: Josef Baumgärtner (CDU) * 1987–1997: Norbert Hofmann (SPD) * since 1997: Matthias Baaß (SPD)

Coat of arms

The town's

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

might be described thus: Party per fess, above azure the Lion of Hesse armed and crowned Or and langued gules, below party per pale gules a six-spoked wheel argent and Or a Gothic four sable. The arms were introduced in 1926. The

charge Charge or charged may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Charge, Zero Emissions/Maximum Speed'', a 2011 documentary Music * ''Charge'' (David Ford album) * ''Charge'' (Machel Montano album) * ''Charge!!'', an album by The Aqua ...

in the upper part of the escutcheon is the Lion of Hesse, which expresses the town's longstanding status as part of Hesse. Below the fess line on the dexter (armsbearer's right, viewer's left) side is the

Wheel of Mainz The Wheel of Mainz or ''Mainzer Rad'', in German, was the coat of arms of the Archbishopric of Mainz and thus also of the Electorate of Mainz (Kurmainz), in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It consists of a silver wheel with six spokes on a red bac ...

, which stands for the town's former allegiance to the

. On the sinister (armsbearer's left, viewer's right) side is a Gothic figure of four, which used to be the local logo, making the arms

canting ' (IPA: , VOS Spelling: ''tjanting'', jv, ꦕꦤ꧀ꦛꦶꦁ, Tjanting) is a pen-like tool used to apply liquid hot wax ( jv, ) in the batik-making process in Indonesia, more precisely '' batik tulis'' (lit. "written batik"). Traditional ''T ...

, that is to say, suggestive of the town's name, since the

German 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 ...

word for “four” is ''vier''. Although it sounds rather like the first syllable in the town's name, it seems likelier that this comes from the

Old High German Old High German (OHG; german: Althochdeutsch (Ahd.)) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally covering the period from around 750 to 1050. There is no standardised or supra-regional form of German at this period, and Old High ...

''firni'' (“old”, “from long ago”) or the Celtic ''vernos'' (“

alder Alders are trees comprising the genus ''Alnus'' in the birch family Betulaceae. The genus comprises about 35 species of monoecious trees and shrubs, a few reaching a large size, distributed throughout the north temperate zone with a few sp ...

”). The Viernheim town flag is blue-white-red.

Twin towns – sister cities

Viernheim is twinned with: * Franconville, France (1966) *

Potters Bar Potters Bar is a town in Hertfordshire, England,in the historic County of Middlesex Hertsmere Borough Council – Community Strategy First Review (PDF) north of central London. In 2011, it had a population of 21,882. In 2022 the population was ...

, United Kingdom (1972) *

Rovigo Rovigo (, ; egl, Ruig) is a city and ''comune'' in the Veneto region of Northeast Italy, the capital of the eponymous province. Geography Rovigo stands on the low ground known as Polesine, by rail southwest of Venice and south-southwest of P ...

, Italy (1991) * Silly, Burkina Faso (1994) *

Mława Mława (; yi, מלאווע ''Mlave'') is a town in north-east Poland with 30,403 inhabitants in 2020. It is the capital of Mława County. It is situated in the Masovian Voivodeship. During the invasion of Poland in 1939, the battle of Mława wa ...

, Poland (2019)

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Road transport

Viernheim lies on the A 659, which leads directly to

and

, and also affords a direct link to three further

en, the A 5, the A 6 and the A 67. Because of the two Autobahn junctions, the ''Viernheimer Kreuz'' and the ''Viernheimer Dreieck'', Viernheim is also well known to many drivers.

Local public transport

Viernheim is linked to the surrounding cities by a

and a busline. The electric narrow-gauge railway (''

'', OEG), nowadays designated line 5R, is usually regarded as an

interurban The Interurban (or radial railway in Europe and Canada) is a type of electric railway, with streetcar-like electric self-propelled rail cars which run within and between cities or towns. They were very prevalent in North America between 1900 a ...

. Since 1887 it has run to

and

, and is run by the Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr GmbH (RNV). A regional busline of Busverkehr Rhein-Neckar runs to Weinheim as well as

and

Worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany, a city **Worms (electoral district) *Worms, Nebraska, U.S. *Worms im Veltlintal, the German name for Bormio, Italy Arts and entertainme ...

. There are also two town buslines run by the RNV daughter company V-Bus. All public transport is integrated into the Rhine-Neckar Transport Association.

Rail transport

Viernheim is the endpoint of the Weinheim–Viernheim railway line built in 1905, which originally ran on by way of Lampertheim to Worms to afford a link with the ''Weschnitztalbahn'' there. Owing to low demand, however, passenger service was discontinued in 1960 on the whole line and replaced with a bus service, while the tracks between Viernheim and Lampertheim were torn up (the right-of-way can still be discerned in the woods today as a broad lane). Only goods service was continued between Weinheim and Viernheim by

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 ...

, until it, too, ceased. It was, however, revived in July 2004 by the MVV GmbH daughter company ConTrain. The old

railway station Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

today houses a municipal leisure and meeting place bearing the name ''Treff im Bahnhof'' (“Meeting in the Railway Station”).

Established businesses

Viernheim has four industrial area with many middle-class businesses. Many well known firms, such as Pfenning Logistics, have their warehouses in Viernheim and Buderus has its distribution centre there. Plisch GmbH and Hommel Hercules Werkzeuge also have their head offices in the town. The Rhein-Neckar-Zentrum shopping centre, opened in 1972, is nationally famous and probably the most well known.

Media

In Viernheim there are two regional daily

newspaper A newspaper is a periodical publication containing written information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as politics, business, sports a ...

s: * Viernheimer Tageblatt, founded in 1883, * Mannheimer Morgen as ''Südhessen Morgen'' with a ''Viernheim'' regional edition The following free advertising fliers are distributed weekly: * Viernheimer Volksblatt * Wochenblatt Mannheim * Bergsträßer Anzeigen-Zeitung (BAZ) The following regional media see Viernheim as part of their feeder and distribution area: *

Hessischer Rundfunk Hessischer Rundfunk (HR; "Hesse Broadcasting") is the German state of Hesse's public broadcasting, public broadcasting corporation. Headquartered in Frankfurt, it is a member of the national consortium of German public broadcasting corporations, ...

Südwestrundfunk Südwestrundfunk (SWR; ''Southwest Broadcasting'') is a regional public broadcasting corporation serving the southwest of Germany , specifically the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Rhineland-Palatinate. The corporation has main offices ...

(''Kurpfalz-Radio'' within the framework of SWR4 Baden-Württemberg) * Rhein-Neckar Fernsehen (television) * Radio Regenbogen, Hit Radio FFH, Radio RPR, sunshine live, bigFM, bermuda.funk * Bild Rhein-Neckar * Meier (magazine)

Education

Primary school A primary school (in Ireland, the United Kingdom, Australia, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, and South Africa), junior school (in Australia), elementary school or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary e ...

s: ** Schillerschule ** Goetheschule ** Nibelungenschule ** Friedrich-Fröbel-Schule * Primary school/

Hauptschule A ''Hauptschule'' (, "general school") is a secondary school in Germany, starting after four years of elementary schooling (''Grundschule''), which offers Lower Secondary Education (Level 2) according to the International Standard Classification ...

Realschule ''Realschule'' () is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), ...

: ** Friedrich-Fröbel-Schule *

comprehensive school A comprehensive school typically describes a secondary school for pupils aged approximately 11–18, that does not select its intake on the basis of academic achievement or aptitude, in contrast to a selective school system where admission is res ...

/ Gymnasium: ** Alexander-von-Humboldt-Schule * Gymnasium: ** Albertus-Magnus-Schule – Gymnasium sponsored by the Bishopric of Mainz * Special school: ** Albert-Schweizer-Schule Further schools with specific profiles are to be found in the neighbouring cities. The nearest colleges and universities are found in nearby

and

Culture and sightseeing

Museums and galleries

* ''Europäisches Fotozentrum für junge Fotografie'' * Heimatmuseum (local history) * Humboldt-Galerie * Kunsthaus Viernheim (art) * Kunstverein Viernheim (art club)

Churches

* Evangelische Auferstehungskirche, Berliner Ring (Church of the Resurrection) * Evangelische Christuskirche, Saarlandstaße * Kapelle St. Josef, Bürgermeister Neff-Straße 15 (

Tridentine Mass The Tridentine Mass, also known as the Traditional Latin Mass or Traditional Rite, is the liturgy of Mass in the Roman Rite of the Catholic Church that appears in typical editions of the Roman Missal published from 1570 to 1962. Celebrated almo ...

) * Neuapostolische Kirche, Maria-Mandel-Straße* St. Apostel Kirche * St. Hildegard * St. Marien Kirche * St. Michael

Parks

* Tivoli Park * Viernheimer Vogelpark

Bodies of water

* Bannholzgraben * Schwarzer brook * Waldsee (popularly "Anglersee"), a large artificial pond and recreation area.

Buildings

* Marienkirche * Various other churches of Germany's two predominant denominations: **

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide Interdenominationalism, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that affirms the centrality of being "bor ...

*** Auferstehungskirche *** Christuskirche *** Freie Evangelische Gemeinde **

Catholic The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

*** Kapelle St. Josef *** Kirche St. Aposteln *** Kirche St. Hildegard *** Kirche St. Marien *** Kirche St. Michael * Warriors' Memorial on Weinheimer Straße

Sport

* Badminton Club Viernheim * Balettschule Heide Heidt (ballet school) * ERC Viernheim (

artistic roller skating Artistic roller skating is a sport similar to figure skating but where competitors wear roller skates instead of ice skates. Within artistic roller skating, there are several disciplines: * Figures: the individual follows the figure circle lin ...

) * Golf Club Mannheim-Viernheim * Ski Club Viernheim * TSV Amicitia Viernheim * Turnverein von 1893 Viernheim (TV 1893, gymnastic club) * 1.Viernheimer Karate Dojo * Viernheimer Billiard Club 1967 * Viernheimer SV (swimming club)

Regular events

* February:

Carnival Carnival is a Catholic Christian festive season that occurs before the liturgical season of Lent. The main events typically occur during February or early March, during the period historically known as Shrovetide (or Pre-Lent). Carnival typi ...

parade or Street Carnival (alternating each year) * May: 1 May Labour Day:

German Confederation of Trade Unions The German Trade Union Confederation (german: Deutscher Gewerkschaftsbund; DGB) is an umbrella organisation (sometimes known as a national trade union center) for eight German trade unions, in total representing more than 6 million people ...

celebration * May: Tanz in den Mai; Traditionelles May Day at the fire station, Brundtlandfest * July: first weekend, traditional community festival of community association, Viernheim * July: CdG-Sommerfest in Bavarian style* August: MGV- Gartenfest (first weekend in August) * August: MGV- Gartenfest (first weekend in August) * August: Viernheimer Triathlon (1,5 / 46 / 10) * September: Innenstadtfest (downtown festival) * September: Südhessische Akkordeontage * November: Kerwe (church consecration festival) * December: Christmas Market * 24-hour walk, St. Michael's parish * Parish festivals * Seifenkistenrennen (soapbox race) of the Viernheim scouts

Notable people

* Jakob Keller (1873–1961), judge, politician, Member of Landtag (

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

) *

Joachim Jung Joachim Jungius (born Joachim Junge; 22 October 1587 – 23 September 1657) was a German mathematician, logician and philosopher of science. Life Jungius was a native of Lübeck. He studied metaphysics at the Universities of Rostock and Giess ...

(born 1954), actor and screenwriter *

Ulrich Tukur Ulrich Tukur (born Ulrich Gerhard Scheurlen; 29 July 1957) is a German actor and musician. Early life and education Tukur spent his youth near Hannover where he finished his final secondary school examinations in 1977. He also earned a high sch ...

(born 1957), actor and musician * Claudia Tonn (born 1981), heptathlete

Honorary citizens

* 1948: Prof. Dr. Ludwig Bergsträsser, chairman of the first postwar Hessian government (1883–1960) * 1948: Hans Mayr, rector (1864–1958), editor of the "Chronik der Stadt Viernheim" * 1949: Dr. Karl Alter, Archbishop of Cincinnati (1885–1977) * 1965: Dr. Nikolaus Hattemer, deacon (1900–1970) * 1973: Anton Darmstadt, clergyman (1900–1981) * 1975: Hans Mandel, mayor (1917–2010) * 1975: Michael Bugert, honorary town councillor (1905–1989)

Clubs

* Spvgg. Amicitia 09 – football * Club der Gemütlichen – Carnival club * Große Drei – Carnival club * Turnverein von 1893 e. V. Viernheim – gymnastics * KJG – St. Michael, St. Aposteln, St. Marien, St. Hildegard * TSV Viernheim – sport club * Herolde – music * TC Viernheim – tennis * Kunstverein Viernheim – art * Kerweverein Viernheim – church consecration festival club * Evangelischer Posaunenchor Viernheim – choir * ASV Viernheim 1968 e. V. – Angelsport-Verein – angling * SRC -Stemm- und Ringclub Viernheim e. V. * Stadtnetz und Internet Freunde Viernheim e. V. * Frauenchor 1947 Viernheim e. V. – women's choir * Männergesangverein 1846 Viernheim e. V. – men's choir * Sportschützenverein Viernheim 1953 e. V. – shooting * Siedlergemeinschaft Viernheim e. V. – community association

References

External links

Official webpage
*
More interesting views in the "Viernheim Foto-Galerie"
{{Authority control Towns in Hesse Bergstraße (district)

Geography

Location

Neighbouring communities

Constituent communities

History

Population development

Religion

Churches

Politics

Town council

Mayors

Coat of arms

Twin towns – sister cities

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Road transport

Local public transport

Rail transport

Established businesses

Media

Education

Culture and sightseeing

Museums and galleries

Churches

Parks

Bodies of water

Buildings

Sport

Regular events

Notable people

Honorary citizens

Clubs

Further reading

References

External links