Viernheim
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Viernheim | |
| Coat of arms | Location |
 |
  |
| Administration | |
| Country |  Germany |
|---|---|
| State | Hesse |
| Admin. region | Darmstadt |
| District | Bergstraße |
| Mayor | Matthias Baaß (SPD) |
| Basic statistics | |
| Area | 48.41 km² (18.7 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 98 m (322 ft) |
| Population | 32,593 (31/12/2006) |
| - Density | 673 /km² (1,744 /sq mi) |
| Other information | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
| Licence plate | HP |
| Postal codes | 68501–68519 |
| Area code | 06204 |
| Website | www.viernheim.de |
Viernheim is a town in the Kreis Bergstraße, in the very south-west of Hesse, Germany. It is situated approx. 10 km north-east of Mannheim.
[edit] Geography
Viernheim is situated in the rhine rift. About 10 km west of the Rhine River and 10 km east of the Bergstrasse and the Odenwald.
[edit] History
The town developed from a Carolingian estate house. It was first referred to in the Lorsch Codex in AD 777. It was donated to the Imperial Abbey of Lorsch in 1165. The Abbey came into the possession of Siegfried III, Archbishop of Mainz in 1232 and Viernheim became possession of the Electorate of Mainz in 1308. In 1439 it was bonded to the Schönau Abbey that sold the town to the Electoral Palatinate in 1533. After the Thirty Year War Viernheim returned to Mainz. During German Mediatisation it became part of the Grand Duchy of Hesse in 1803. The Grand Duchy became the Volksstaat Hessen (People's State Hesse) after WWI, as Germany became a Republic.
Until the end of the 19th Century Viernheim remained a rural village. 458 inhabitants left Viernheim for North America in 1852 because of a poor harvest and resulting famine. During the 19th Century the tobacco industry gained some importance, since several small tobacco manufactures were founded. Rolling cigars provided an additional income for farmers or peasants and their families during the Winter.
With the industrialization at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century Viernheim turned into a bedroom city for labourers working in the industrial centres Mannheim and Ludwigshafen. Since 1887 a narrow gauge railway (Upper Rhine Railroad Company) links the town to Mannheim and Heidelberg. In 1905 a standard gauge railroad line connected Viernheim to the Hessian-Prussian railroad system. But still many factory workers remained part time farmers. In the 1920's there was a workman's settlement build, known as the Siedlung (settlement) with originally uniform small two story houses and large gardens with a shack. So workers could grow their own vegetables for fresh food and have some chickens or even shoats.
During WWII Viernheim did not suffer severe destruction, since the town had no strategical or industrial importance. So the Viernheim railway station served a while as Mannheim station, after the Mannheim Central Station was destroyed in an air raid in 1942. In 1946 the Federal State Hesse was formed from the the territory that was called Greater Hesse by the US Military administration.
Some industrial operations were established within Viernheim before the Second World War. But the industrialization intensified in the post-war period. Today some forwarding companies operate hubs in Viernheim, for it is situated on the conjunction of two major European Motorways.
[edit] Twin towns
 |
This Hesse location article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
|
|||||||
