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Rüsselsheim am Main (, ) is the largest city in the Groß-Gerau district in the Rhein-Main region of
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 ...
. It is one of seven special status cities (implementing several functions that counties normally provide) in
Hessen Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major historic cities are Da ...
and is located on the Main, between Frankfurt and Mainz, only a few kilometres from its mouth in
Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
. The suburbs of Bauschheim and Königstädten are included in Rüsselsheim. Rüsselsheim has attained international recognition through the presence of the German car company
Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Gr ...
.


History

Rüsselsheim's foundation goes back to a Frankish colony in the first half of the 5th century. The first written mention of "Rucilesheim", or "the house of Rucile", is in an inventory of royal hunting rights around the year 840. Rüsselsheim emerged from a settlement of the Count of Katzenelnbogen. Over time, the name of the city evolved from Rucilesheim to the current Rüsselsheim: *764/5 Rucile(n)sheim *before 1130 Ruozcelenesheim *1336 Ruzelnsheim *1275 Ruozelsheim *1640 Ruselsem *1840 Rüsselsheim In the year 1435 the high noble Count John IV of Katzenelnbogen was the first to cultivate
Riesling Riesling ( , ) is a white grape variety that originated in the Rhine region. Riesling is an aromatic grape variety displaying flowery, almost perfumed, aromas as well as high acidity. It is used to make dry, semi-sweet, sweet, and sparkling ...
in Rüsselsheim. Annual reports record that his administrator bought new vines for 22 Schilling. In the following years riesling grapes were planted down the river
Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...
and up the river Mosel. In the 18th and 19th centuries, Rüsselsheim made a new contribution to the history of wine when famous wine-growing estates in the
Rheingau The Rheingau (; ) is a region on the northern side of the Rhine between the German towns of Wiesbaden and Lorch, Hesse, Lorch near Frankfurt, reaching from the Western Taunus to the Rhine. It is situated in the German state of Hesse and is part ...
recultivated their vineyards with vines from the Rüsselsheim and Flörsheim Area (Allendorf, Rheingauer Weinbauverband EV 1980). After the First World War viticulture disappeared in Rüsselsheim. In 1980 the mayor of Rüsselsheim Dr. Karl-Heinz Storsberg set up a museum-vineyard near the castle which celebrates ''550 Years of Riesling''. The town's population reached 1,422 by 1829, then doubled between 1875 and 1914 from 3,500 to 8,000. At the beginning of the Second World War, 16,000 people lived in Rüsselsheim; only 9,500 remained at the conflict's end. The population reached a new record of 63,000 inhabitants in 1978, with rapid post-war reconstruction fed first by refugees from the former German territories in Eastern Europe (''Heimatvertriebene''), then by immigrants attracted by the Opel factories. The proportion of people born overseas was 23% on 31 June 2014.


Politics


Coat of arms

The city's coat of arms features a silver "Doppelhaken" (double hook) and two silver stars on a blue background. The "Doppelhaken" is also called a "
Wolfsangel (, translation "wolf's hook") or () is a heraldic charge from mainly Germany and eastern France, which was inspired by medieval European wolf traps that consisted of a Z-shaped metal hook (called the ''Wolfsangel'', or the ''crampon'' in F ...
" (wolf hook), once possibly used to kill wolves, or as a grappling hook. It is now forbidden in Germany to use this symbol on the grounds that it has been used in the past as a symbol of some right-wing extremist groups, now banned. Civic coats of arms which traditionally used the ''Wolfsangel'' are exempt from the ban. The two stars indicate that Rüsselsheim used to belong to Katzenelnbogen County, which also bore these stars on its coat of arms.


World War II

During World War II, Rüsselsheim was bombed several times by the British RAF. The RAF followed a policy of " area bombing" of cities. The day after one such bombing, August 26, 1944, an American B-24 Liberator was shot down after bombing
Hanover Hanover ( ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the States of Germany, German state of Lower Saxony. Its population of 535,932 (2021) makes it the List of cities in Germany by population, 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-l ...
(American policy did not allow for area bombing as did the British; the American crew had been bombing an airport). The nine member American crew was captured and under guard was placed on a train to a POW camp routed thorough Rüsselsheim. Due to damage done to the railyards, the captured crew and their guards were forced to alight and walk to another location to catch another train. During this walk, residents of Rüsselsheim saw the crew and vented their anger on the crew, shouting insults and spitting. Assuming the crew were "Canadians" and that they had taken part in the bombing of their city the night before, this group grew larger. One woman shouted out, "There are the terror flyers. Tear them to pieces! Beat them to death! They have destroyed our houses!" She threw a brick at the crew and that precipitated a riot during which the residents attacked the crew with rocks, hammers, lumber and shovels. Six of the crew were killed. A local Nazi official administered a final shot to four of the men. The bodies of the dead crew were hidden at the rear of the city cemetery. After the War (1946) when Rüsselsheim was under occupation by the American Army, the killings came to light and the bodies located. In the first war trials of Germans prior to the Nuremberg trials, five of the residents were tried as war criminals, found guilty and hanged. Three others received sentences to hard labour and were released in the 1950s. A later trial was held for two more citizens, one of whom was hanged. In all, eleven citizens were tried for war crimes and murder stemming from this incident, six of whom were executed. (see Wolfsangel: A German City on Trial 1945–48, by August Nigro (Brassey's Inc, London, August 2000; 186pp) ())


Lord mayors

*1954–1965 Dr Walter Köbel, SPD *1966–1981 Karl-Heinz Storsberg, SPD *1981–1994 Norbert Winterstein, SPD *1994–1999 Ottilia Geschka, CDU *1999–2011 Stefan Gieltowski, SPD *2011–2016 Patrick Burghardt, CDU *2016–2024 Udo Bausch, (independent politician) *2024–present Patrick Burghardt, CDU


Economy

The car manufacturer
Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Gr ...
and the ideal transportation location with many motorway connections and direct train connections from Rüsselsheim station to
Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...
,
Frankfurt am Main Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...
,
Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...
and
Darmstadt Darmstadt () is a city in the States of Germany, state of Hesse in Germany, located in the southern part of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Area, Rhine-Main-Area (Frankfurt Metropolitan Region). Darmstadt has around 160,000 inhabitants, making it the ...
have resulted in the establishment of many businesses and the attraction of many commuters in Rüsselsheim.


Local companies

;Opel: Above all, Rüsselsheim is known for its car manufacturer
Opel Opel Automobile GmbH (), usually shortened to Opel, is a German automobile manufacturer which has been a subsidiary of Stellantis since 16 January 2021. It was owned by the American automaker General Motors from 1929 until 2017 and the PSA Gr ...
. The founder, Adam Opel, began as a trainee mechanic and founded a sewing machine factory. The first cars were built in 1899, after Opel's death, when the company was owned and operated by Opel's widow and their five sons. ;Hyundai (and Hyundai-Kia European Technical Center): The European Centre of the
Korea Korea is a peninsular region in East Asia consisting of the Korean Peninsula, Jeju Island, and smaller islands. Since the end of World War II in 1945, it has been politically Division of Korea, divided at or near the 38th parallel north, 3 ...
n car manufacturer Hyundai was inaugurated in 2003. ;Electronic Data Systems: The German centre of the
outsourcing Outsourcing is a business practice in which companies use external providers to carry out business processes that would otherwise be handled internally. Outsourcing sometimes involves transferring employees and assets from one firm to another ...
division of
Hewlett-Packard The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company. It was founded by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in 1939 in a one-car garage in Palo Alto, California ...
(formerly EDS) was located in Rüsselsheim. ;Velodyne Lidar: San Jose, CA, USA-based lidar technology company Velodyne Lidar has its European office in Rüsselsheim.


Public institutions


Culture

The Rüsselsheim Theatre provides 865 seats in stalls and tiers. The theatre's programming consists of
play Play most commonly refers to: * Play (activity), an activity done for enjoyment * Play (theatre), a work of drama Play may refer also to: Computers and technology * Google Play, a digital content service * Play Framework, a Java framework * P ...
s,
concert A concert, often known informally as a gig or show, is a live performance of music in front of an audience. The performance may be carried by a single musician, in which case it is sometimes called a recital, or by a musical ensemble such as an ...
s,
opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
s,
operetta Operetta is a form of theatre and a genre of light opera. It includes spoken dialogue, songs and including dances. It is lighter than opera in terms of its music, orchestral size, and length of the work. Apart from its shorter length, the oper ...
s,
musicals Musical theatre is a form of theatrical performance that combines songs, spoken dialogue, acting and dance. The story and emotional content of a musical â€“ humor, pathos, love, anger â€“ are communicated through words, music, movement ...
,
ballet Ballet () is a type of performance dance that originated during the Italian Renaissance in the fifteenth century and later developed into a concert dance form in France and Russia. It has since become a widespread and highly technical form of ...
, and
dancing Dance is an art form, consisting of sequences of body movements with aesthetic and often symbolic value, either improvised or purposefully selected. Dance can be categorized and described by its choreography, by its repertoire of movements or ...
. The Rüsselsheim Museum, which was designated in 1980 with the
Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...
's museum award as a "Model Museum", focuses in particular on the development of labor procedures and labor conditions from
prehistory Prehistory, also called pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the first known use of stone tools by hominins   million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use ...
to the present.


Educational institutions


Hochschule RheinMain (RheinMain University of Applied Sciences)

The Hochschule RheinMain is an advanced technical college which has a branch in the city of Rüsselsheim. The technical departments are primarily located here. These include: * Electrical engineering, information technology and television engineering * Automotive, industrial, energy, and design engineering * Environmental technology * Physical technology, nanotechnology, computational engineering and medical technology * Air traffic systems, marketing, and control * Media technology, information technology, and electrical engineering


Recreational and sports facilities

Event spaces: ''Großsporthalle'' (formerly known as ''Walter-Köbel-Halle'') (2,500 spectators)
Swimming pools: ''Freizeitbad an der Lache'', ''Waldschwimmbad'', ''Opelbad'' (no longer in use)
Stadiums: ''Stadion am Sommerdamm'', with a field including bleachers and an artificial field for hockey
Boathouses: ''Bootshaus des Rudervereins Rüsselsheim am Main''


Clubs

Rüsselsheim features a large number of clubs. Some of them are members of national and international leagues. * tg 1862 Rüsselsheim is the biggest of Rüsselsheim's clubs with approx. 4,000 members. 30 sports are offered in 12 divisions. The volleyball and dancing teams are members of their respective national leagues. * JC Rüsselsheim offers judo and other martial arts. A few German champions, as well as world champions, originate from this club. * Rüsselsheimer Ruder-Klub 08 is best known for hockey. The women's and men's teams have won German championships and were the winners of the European Cup. * Flug-Sport-Club Rüsselsheim flies from its airfield on the Hoherodskopf. * DPSG Stamm Partner Erde is the Scout Group in Rüsselsheim. It is a member of the Deutsche Pfadfinderschaft Sankt Georg, the German
Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...
Scout Association and as such a member of the
World Organization of the Scout Movement The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM ) is the largest and, after the Order of World Scouts (formed in 1911), is the second-oldest international organization in the Scout Movement, having been established in 1922. It has 176 members. ...
. It has around 80 members and its headquarters at Georg-Jung-Str. 64. In 2004, the Volunteer Fire Brigade of the city of Rüsselsheim was 125 years old.


Development of the city


Additions

* 1951 Haßloch * 1956 Königstädten * 1970 Bauschheim


Twin towns – sister cities

Rüsselsheim am Main is twinned with: *
Évreux Évreux () is a commune in and the capital of the department of Eure, in the French region of Normandy. History Antiquity In late Antiquity, the town, attested in the fourth century AD, was named '' Mediolanum Aulercorum'', "the central town ...
, France (1961) * Rugby, England, United Kingdom (1977) *
Varkaus Varkaus, before 1929 known as Warkaus, is a Middle- Savonian industrial town and municipality of Finland. It is located in the province of Eastern Finland and is part of the Northern Savonia region, between the city of Kuopio and the town of ...
, Finland (1979) *
Kecskemét Kecskemét ( ) is a city with county rights in central Hungary. It is the List of cities and towns of Hungary, eighth-largest city in the country, and the county seat of Bács-Kiskun County, Bács-Kiskun. Kecskemét lies halfway between the ca ...
, Hungary (1991)


Notable people

* Adam Opel (1837–1895), founder of Opel Automobile GmbH * Carl von Opel (1869–1927), bank specialist and industrialist * Fritz von Opel (1899–1971), physicist * Wilhelm Hammann (1897–1955), educator and communist politician, lived and died here * Max Tschornicki (1903–1945), anti-Nazi resistance fighter * Norbert Blüm (1935–2020), politician ( CDU) and retired Federal Minister *
Klaus Fuchs Klaus Emil Julius Fuchs (29 December 1911 â€“ 28 January 1988) was a German theoretical physicist and atomic spy who supplied information from the American, British, and Canadian Manhattan Project to the Soviet Union during and shortly a ...
(1911–1988), physicist, convicted of espionage * Andrea Ypsilanti (born 1957), politician (SPD) *
Oliver Hartmann Oliver Hartmann (born 28 June 1970 in Rüsselsheim, West Germany) is a German heavy metal vocalist, guitarist, songwriter, and producer who performed in various acts, either as guitarist, solo or choir singer. He is best known for his role as ...
(born 1970), musician * Britta Becker (born 1973), field hockey player


Honorary citizens

* Ludwig Dörfler, former mayor of Rüsselsheim * Roland Plaisance, former mayor of Rüsselsheim's twin town
Évreux Évreux () is a commune in and the capital of the department of Eure, in the French region of Normandy. History Antiquity In late Antiquity, the town, attested in the fourth century AD, was named '' Mediolanum Aulercorum'', "the central town ...


References

*This article is based on a translation of the corresponding German Wikipedia article retrieved on May 10, 2005, and the French Wikipedia article retrieved 28 April 2018.


External links

* of the city of Rüsselsheim {{DEFAULTSORT:Russelsheim Am Main Opel Groß-Gerau (district) Populated places on the Main basin Populated riverside places in Germany