Graben-Neudorf is a municipality in Northern Karlsruhe 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 betwee ...

. It was created when the two communities of Graben and Neudorf were united on January 1, 1972. With this union Neudorf was transferred from the district of Bruchsal to the district of Karlsruhe.

History

The village of Graben was probably created between the 5th and 7th century, though this isn't entirely certain. An ancient Roman road (partly visible to this day) connecting

Kehl Kehl (; gsw, label= Low Alemannic, Kaal) is a town in southwestern Germany in the Ortenaukreis, Baden-Württemberg. It is on the river Rhine, directly opposite the French city of Strasbourg, with which it shares some municipal servicesfor exa ...

Mühlburg Mühlburg, formerly a town on its own right, is a borough located in the west of Karlsruhe, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The name ''Mühlburg'' could be translated as 'Mill Castle' and refers to a water mill and a water castle located at the sit ...

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 ...

, and Neuenheim runs north/south through the Graben area. The discovery of Roman coins in the area suggest a Roman camp was located around the current site of the city. The first documentary evidence of Graben only dates back to 1306. By the 14th and 15th century was Graben already a regional hub for trade as well as the church. Graben came under the jurisdiction of the

Margraviate of Baden The Margraviate of Baden (german: Markgrafschaft Baden) was a historical territory of the Holy Roman Empire. Spread along the east side of the Upper Rhine River in southwestern Germany, it was named a margraviate in 1112 and existed until 1535, ...

in 1312. When the Margraviate of Baden was divided between brothers Bernhard III. and Ernst in 1535, Graben came under the Margraviate of

Baden-Durlach The Margraviate of Baden-Durlach was an early modern territory of the Holy Roman Empire, in the upper Rhine valley, which existed from 1535 to 1771. It was formed when the Margraviate of Baden was split between the sons of Margrave Christoph ...

. In 1771 when the Margraviate of Baden was reestablished Graben came under its jurisdiction. In 1556, Margrave Charles II of Baden-Durlach introduced Lutheranism in the Margraviate of Baden-Durlach. He also moved his residence from Pforzheim to

Durlach Durlach is a borough of the German city of Karlsruhe with a population of roughly 30,000. History Durlach was bestowed by emperor Frederick II on the margrave Hermann V of Zähringen as an allodial possession. It was chosen by the margrave Ch ...

giving the Margraviate its name. The wars of the 17th century brought great misery to Graben. The

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

from 1618 to 1648 took a heavy toll. In 1622, Graben had 145 citizens, by 1648 there were only 42 citizens.Friedrich Kemm
und Dorf Graben einst und jetzt: Ein Beitrag zur Heimatgeschichte in Wort und Bild''
(Bruchsal, Germany: Oskar Katz, 1920), p. 31. In the

War of the Grand Alliance 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 Kingdom of France, France and a European coalition which mainly included the Holy Roman Empire (led by t ...

(1688-1697), the French destroyed Graben, so that only the church, city hall and some buildings remained. The inhabitants of the village were forced into the forests and in the surrounding area. Peace, order and prosperity did not return until the middle of the 18th century. The village of Neudorf ("new village") resulted from merging two settlements, first noted in 1497 as "Nuwdorff".

References

Karlsruhe (district) {{Karlsruhedistrict-geo-stub