Welzheim is a town in the

Rems-Murr Rems-Murr is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the middle of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from north clockwise) Heilbronn, Schwäbisch Hall, Ostalbkreis, Göppingen, Esslingen, the district-free city Stuttgart and the distr ...

district, 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 ...

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 ...

. It is located 35 km east of

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 ...

, and 15 km northwest of

Schwäbisch Gmünd Schwäbisch Gmünd (, until 1934: Gmünd; Swabian: ''Gmẽẽd'' or ''Gmend'') is a city in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. With a population of around 60,000, the city is the second largest in the Ostalb district a ...

. Welzheim has 11,239 (2005) inhabitants and is located in the 'Welzheimer Wald', a forest in the north-east of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

. The district of Welzheim and its surrounding villages are mainly rural and agricultural. Because of the big forest areas, the timber industry remains a big part of local business. There are many beautiful natural areas near Welzheim, including the lake 'Ebnisee' and a hiking trail 'Mühlenwanderweg' (mill hiking trail), which follows many mills located in the 'Welzheimer Wald'. In the town itself, there are sights such as the St. Gallus Church and the town hall.

History

The history of Welzheim reaches back to the time of the Roman Empire. Around the year 160 AD the Romans founded a colony and two forts there; linguists reconstructed their Latin name as ''(Castra) Valentia'' on the base of the town's medieval name ''Wallenzin''Werner Besch (et al.): ''Sprachgeschichte - Ein Handbuch zur Geschichte der deutschen Sprache und ihrer Erforschung'', 2nd edition, 4th volume, de Gruyter, Berlin 2004, p. 3466 first mentioned in 1181. In 1980, for the 800th anniversary of the founding of the city, the eastern part of the ruins was reconstructed, and in 1993 an archeological park was founded on the site. The western part of the fort was built over through the years. The history of the settlement after the fall of the Roman Empire is in darkness, until the year 1266 when Welzheim was granted city's-rights. In 1499 the church of Saint Gallus was consecrated, presumably as a new parish. On 5 September 1726, a fire destroyed the entire city. The church was burned down to its foundations, though it was soon rebuilt. The city hall was rebuilt in 1731. The district of Welzheim became part of the county of Waiblingen in 1938, and has been a deanery of the

Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg The Evangelical-Lutheran Church in Württemberg (german: Evangelische Landeskirche in Württemberg) is a Lutheran member church of the Evangelical Church in Germany in the German former state of Württemberg, now part of the state of Baden-Württem ...

since 1977. During World War II there was a small concentration camp near the city, today identified euphemistically to as simply "The Prison." The camp held 10,000-15,000 prisoners. The most famous prisoner during this time was the Communist labor unionist

Friedrich Schlotterbeck Albert Friedrich Schlotterbeck (January 9, 1909 – April 7, 1979) was a German author who wrote prose fiction, plays, and radio plays, and was a local leader of the German Resistance during World War II. Biography Born in Reutlingen in the K ...

, of the Luginsland resistance group. A previous inhabitant of Welzheim, aged ten in 1945, testified how he would witness how the camp would regularly hang several inhabitants on Tuesday to make room for incoming camp internees. In the churchyard, where 35 of the concentration camp's victims are buried, there is a memorial to these events. The author

Justinus Kerner Justinus Andreas Christian Kerner (18 September 1786, in Ludwigsburg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany – 21 February 1862, in Weinsberg, Baden-Württemberg) was a German poet, practicing physician, and medical writer. He gave the first detailed des ...

lived in Welzheim from 1812 to 1816.

Churches and religious organizations

Besides the Protestant Saint Gallus church, and the Catholic Church of Christ the King, there is also a CVJM, the South German Alliance, and several other free-church unions such as the Baptists, Evangelical Free Church Union, Evangelical-Methodist Church, New Apostolic Church, the Evangelical Brethren, and even a mosque.

References

Private Interview Calgary, Canada, 2004. {{Authority control Towns in Baden-Württemberg Rems-Murr-Kreis Franconian Circle