Eppingen () is a town in the district of

Heilbronn Heilbronn () is a city in northern Baden-Württemberg, Germany, surrounded by Heilbronn District. With over 126,000 residents, it is the sixth-largest city in the state. From the late Middle Ages, it developed into an important trading centre. A ...

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 ...

in southern

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 betwee ...

. The town has the second-largest population in the district. Eppingen lies in 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 ...

, a hilly region in southwestern Germany, close to the

confluence In geography, a confluence (also: ''conflux'') occurs where two or more flowing bodies of water join to form a single channel. A confluence can occur in several configurations: at the point where a tributary joins a larger river (main stem); o ...

of the Elsenz and Hilsbach Rivers.

History

Eppingen was first mentioned in 985 when

Otto III Otto III (June/July 980 – 23 January 1002) was Holy Roman Emperor from 996 until his death in 1002. A member of the Ottonian dynasty, Otto III was the only son of the Emperor Otto II and his wife Theophanu. Otto III was crowned as King of ...

gave the settlement to the diocese of

Worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany Worms () is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about south-southwest of Frankfurt am Main. It had ...

. The ending "-ingen" was common for towns colonised by the

Alamanni 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 pre ...

clan in the 3rd and 4th centuries. Eppingen was owned by Salier in the 11th century, and by the

Staufer The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynasty ...

in the 12th century. In 1188, it became a fortified village and, in 1192, a town, elevated by

Heinrich VI Henry VI ( German: ''Heinrich VI.''; November 1165 – 28 September 1197), a member of the Hohenstaufen dynasty, was King of Germany (King of the Romans) from 1169 and Holy Roman Emperor from 1191 until his death. From 1194 he was also King of Si ...

. The town was distrained several times in the 14th century, but never lost the status of a town. After the win of 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 o ...

over margraviate

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Baden originated from the House of Zähringen. Baden i ...

in 1435, it finally became a part of the

but was once more distrained to the knights of

Gemmingen Gemmingen (; South Franconian: ''Gemminge'') is a town in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second m ...

, from 1469 to approximately 1520. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Eppingen underwent an economic boom during which its Latin school was first mentioned (1421). In a time of the

plague Plague or The Plague may refer to: Agriculture, fauna, and medicine *Plague (disease), a disease caused by ''Yersinia pestis'' * An epidemic of infectious disease (medical or agricultural) * A pandemic caused by such a disease * A swarm of pes ...

a part of the Heidelberg University moved to the Latin school in 1496. During the Palatinate wars of succession, Eppingen functioned as the main storage facility for the German army. From 1695 to 1697, the

Eppingen Lines The Eppingen lines (german: Eppinger Linien) were a fortified defensive line, which stretched from Weißenstein near Pforzheim via Mühlacker, Sternenfels, Eppingen to Neckargemünd in southern Germany. It had a total length of 86 kilome ...

(''Eppinger Linien''), a string of earthwork fortifications and watchtowers, were built. They served as large defending walls against French raids at that time. One watchtower, called the

Chartaque A chartaque ( ota, چارطاق, from fa, چهارتاق '' chahartaq'', literally "having four arches"; in german: Tschartake, in tr, Çardak) is a watchtower and important element of the fortification systems in the time of the Ottoman Empire ...

, was built by local students to show the architecture of those ancient buildings. Eppingen was affiliated to Baden in 1803. It maintained the second oldest school of agriculture in Baden. At the end of the 19th century, Eppingen was connected to the railway network; the Kraichgau Railway was opened to

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( , , ; South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the third-largest city of the German state (''Land'') of Baden-Württemberg after its capital of Stuttgart and Mannheim, and the 22nd-largest city in the nation, with 308,436 inhabitants. ...

in 1879 and to

in 1880 and the

Steinsfurt–Eppingen railway The Steinsfurt–Eppingen railway, which opened in 1900, is a 12.9 km long, single-track and electrified branch line along the Elsenz river in the Kraichgau region of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, between the Sinsheim district of S ...

, which connected to

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German: ') is a city in the 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 which roughly a quarter consisted of students ...

, was opened in 1899. During 1971 and 1972, Eppingen annexed the six surrounding communities of Adelshofen, Elsenz, Richen,

Rohrbach am Gießhübel Rohrbach am Gießhübel is a village in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Since 1 December 1971 it has been incorporated into Eppingen Eppingen () is a town in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in souther ...

, Kleingartach and Mühlbach. In 2000, Eppingen's population exceeded 20,000; and it attained the status of a district town in 2002.

Population Change

Mayors

*1808-1813: Heinrich Jakob Raußmüller *1813-1816: Carl Morano *1816-1831: Ludwig Lother *1831-1844: Friedrich Hochstetter *1844-1847: Johann Ludwig Raußmüller *1847-1859: Wilhelm Lother *1859-1866: Gustav Hochstetter *1866-1870: Ludwig Lother *1870-1878: Heinrich Raußmüller *1878-1890: Paul Bentel *1890-1894: Heinrich Schmelcher *1894-1903: Philipp Vielhauer *1903-1933: Albert Wirth *1933-1937: Karl Doll *1937-1945: Karl Zutavern *1945-1948: Jakob Dörr *1948-1966: Karl Thomä *1966-1980: Rüdiger Peuckert *1980-2004: Erich Pretz *2004–Present: Klaus Holaschke

Coat of arms

The arms of Eppingen are: Or, a bend gules, impaling sable, an eagle displayed or, wings elevated, armed gules. The city flag is red-yellow.

Economy and Infrastructure

see: Dieffenbacher

Transport

Eppingen can be reached by A 6 (Mannheim-Heilbronn). Also, the B 293 (Karlsruhe–Heilbronn) goes through to town zone, however it acts as a bypass around the main town area.

Eppingen station Eppingen station is the station of Eppingen in the German state of Baden-Württemberg. It is a junction station, where the so-called ''Kraichgau-Stromberg-Bahn'' ("Kraichgau-Stromberg railway", referring to two nearby regions), the Steinsfurt–E ...

is on the Kraichgau Railway, and is served by line S4 of the

Karlsruhe Stadtbahn The Karlsruhe Stadtbahn is a German tram-train system combining tram lines in the city of Karlsruhe with railway lines in the surrounding countryside, serving the entire region of the middle upper Rhine valley and creating connections to neighbo ...

running to

and

. It is also connected by the Steinsfurt–Eppingen line to

, which is served by line S5 of the Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn.

Landmarks

The Pfeifferturm, a tower built in the 13th century, serves as the town's landmark. The "Old University" (German: Alte Universität) was built in 1494 and 1495 in the style of a late medieval store. Its name is a reminder of the year 1564, when a part of

Heidelberg University } Heidelberg University, officially the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg, (german: Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg; la, Universitas Ruperto Carola Heidelbergensis) is a public research university in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, ...

was moved to Eppingen because of the plague. The Baumann House (German: Baumannsche Haus) is one of the prettiest and most famous timbered houses in the entire area of northern Baden. There are many beautiful timbered houses in downtown Eppingen, and because of this the city is a part of the German 'Fachwerkstraße' (German route of the most beautiful timbered houses).

Town partnerships

Eppingen has official partnerships with: *

Wassy Wassy () is a commune in the Haute-Marne department in north-eastern France. Its population, as of 2019, is 2,819. Wassy has been twinned with the German town of Eppingen in north-west Baden-Württemberg since 1967. History On 1 March 1562, ...

(

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

) (département

Haute-Marne Haute-Marne (; English: Upper Marne) is a department in the Grand Est region of Northeastern France. Named after the river Marne, its prefecture is Chaumont. In 2019, it had a population of 172,512.Epping (

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...

) (

Essex Essex () is a Ceremonial counties of England, county in the East of England. One of the home counties, it borders Suffolk and Cambridgeshire to the north, the North Sea to the east, Hertfordshire to the west, Kent across the estuary of the Riv ...

) since 1981 * Szigetvár (

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Cr ...

) ( Baranya) since 1992

Sports

The VfB Eppingen is a local

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 ...

club Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a '' Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

Notable people

Alfred Beck Alfred Beck (12 April 1925 – September 1994) was a German footballer who played as a forward. Club career Beck began his career at Bremer SV. He went on to play for FC St. Pauli and Wuppertaler SV before finishing his career with FC Zür ...

(1889–1957), born in Richen, veterinary physician *

Johan Maurits Mohr thumbnail, Mohr observatory in Batavia ( Dutch East Indies). Johan Maurits Mohr (ca. 18 August 1716, Eppingen – 25 October 1775, Batavia) was a Dutch- German pastor who studied at Groningen University from 1733 and settled in Batavia (Dutch E ...

(1716–1775), German-Dutch clergyman and astronomer * Rosemarie Wenner (born 1955), Bishop of the Evangelical-Methodist Church for Germany

Notes

External links

Stadt Eppingen website
(in German)
Eppingen Local Portal
(in German) {{Authority control Heilbronn (district) Württemberg