Mühlburg is a district of

Karlsruhe Karlsruhe ( ; ; ; South Franconian German, South Franconian: ''Kallsruh'') is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, third-largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, after its capital Stuttgart a ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. The district is further divided into ''Alt-Mühlburg'', ''Weingärtensiedlung'', ''Rheinhafen'' and ''Mühlburger Feld''.

History

Mühlburg was first mentioned in 1248, when it was referred to as ''Mulenberc''. In 1258 there was the first mention of a castle owned by Rudolf I, Margrave of Baden. The name could be translated as "mill castle" and refers to a

water mill A watermill or water mill is a mill that uses hydropower. It is a structure that uses a water wheel or water turbine to drive a mechanical process such as milling (grinding), rolling, or hammering. Such processes are needed in the production ...

and a water castle located at the site where a

Roman road Roman roads ( ; singular: ; meaning "Roman way") were physical infrastructure vital to the maintenance and development of the Roman state, built from about 300 BC through the expansion and consolidation of the Roman Republic and the Roman Em ...

once crossed the small river Alb. In 1274 Mühlburg was, like many neighbouring settlements, occupied by Rudolph of Habsburg. In 1670 Mühlburg received town privileges and, just a few years before Karlsruhe, it was issued a "letter of freedom", which relaxed the requirements for craftsmen and new citizens to settle in the town. It is believed that the Margraves of

Baden Baden (; ) is a historical territory in southern Germany. In earlier times it was considered to be on both sides of the Upper Rhine, but since the Napoleonic Wars, it has been considered only East of the Rhine. History The margraves of Ba ...

planned to expand Mühlburg. Any such plans came to a halt in 1689, when Mühlburg and its castle were destroyed by French troops during the

Nine Years' War The Nine Years' War was a European great power conflict from 1688 to 1697 between Kingdom of France, France and the Grand Alliance (League of Augsburg), Grand Alliance. Although largely concentrated in Europe, fighting spread to colonial poss ...

following the orders of

Louis XIV of France LouisXIV (Louis-Dieudonné; 5 September 16381 September 1715), also known as Louis the Great () or the Sun King (), was King of France from 1643 until his death in 1715. His verified reign of 72 years and 110 days is the List of longest-reign ...

to destroy the margravate of Baden (''"Ruinez les pays de Bade"''). The castle was never rebuilt thereafter and the ruins of the castle were used as building material for a newly founded palace nearby, out of which the future city of Karlsruhe would develop. Mühlburg finally became a borough of Karlsruhe in 1886.

Notable people

Mühlburg is the birthplace of

Karl Benz Carl (or Karl) Friedrich Benz (; born Karl Friedrich Michael Vaillant; 25 November 1844 – 4 April 1929) was a German engine designer and automotive engineer. His Benz Patent-Motorwagen from 1885 is considered the first practical modern automo ...

(1844–1929), inventor of the

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

and founder of Benz & Cie.

References

Books

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Muhlburg