Bad Mergentheim

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Bad Mergentheim


Country	Germany
State	Baden-Württemberg
Administrative region	Stuttgart
District	Main-Tauber
Population	22,475 (2004)
Area	129.97 km²
Population density	173 /km²
Elevation	207 m
Coordinates	49°30′ N 9°46′ E
Postal code	97961-97980
Area code	07931
Licence plate code	TBB
Mayor	Dr. Lothar Barth
Website	bad-mergentheim.de

Bad Mergentheim (Mergentheim until 1926) is a town in the Main-Tauber district in the German state of Baden-Württemberg.

1 History
2 Villages
3 Sights
4 Modern facilities
5 Twin Towns
6 Notable residents and natives
7 Notes

[edit] History

Mergentheim (Mariae domus) is mentioned in chronicles as early as 1058, as the residence of the family of the counts of Hohenlohe, who early in the 13th century assigned the greater part of their estates in and around Mergentheim to the Teutonic order. In 1340 Mergentheim got Town privileges. It rapidly increased in fame, and became the most important of the eleven commanderies of that society. On the secularization of the Teutonic Order in Prussia in 1525, Mergentheim became the residence of the grand master, and remained so until the final dissolution of the order in 1809 by Napoleon.

Bad Mergentheim's fortunes were reversed in 1826, when a shepherd discovered rich mineral springs in the surrounding area, during the time when spas were expanding in Germany at a rapid pace. The water turned out to be the strongest sodium-sulfate water in all of Europe, especially good for the treatment of digestive disorders.

In the 1970s several neighbouring villages were incorporated during the "Gemeindereform".

[edit] Villages

(inhabitants)
Althausen (600), Apfelbach (350), Dainbach (370), Edelfingen (1.400), Hachtel (360), Herbsthausen (200), Löffelstelzen (1.000), Markelsheim (2.000), Neunkirchen (1000), Rengershausen (480), Rot (260), Stuppach (680), Wachbach (1.300)

[edit] Sights

Deutschordenschloss

The most interesting sight in Bad Mergentheim is the Deutschordenschloss, the medieval castle where the Teutonic Knights once had their home base. It is a complex of buildings built over a period of eight hundred years. The first buildings of the castle were probably already erected in the 12th century. The castle was expanded in the late 16th century under Grand Master Walter von Cronberg. Over the course of time a representative Renaissance complex was built by connecting the individual buildings in the inner palace courtyard to a closed ring of buildings. In 1574, the main architect, Blasius Berwart, also constructed the spiral staircase between the west and north wing still famous today. Today the castle houses the Deutschordensmuseum (Museum of the Teutonic Order).

The castle complex is dominated by the Schlosskirche (Castle Church), built in 1730 in Baroque style. Its Rococo interior features elaborate ceiling frescos by the court painter Nikolaus Gottfried Stuber, depicting "The Defense of Faith", the "Glorification of the Cross in Heaven and on Earth" and the "Emperor Constantine's Vision of the Cross". Almost 200 years ago the Schlosskirche became Evangelische Kirche or Protestant church.

[edit] Modern facilities

Löffelstelzen Transmitter

[edit] Twin Towns

[edit] Notable residents and natives

1854 Ottmar Mergenthaler, (1854-1899), born in Bad Mergentheim-Hachtel, died in Baltimore (Maryland, USA), inventor of the linotype^[1]
1944 Barbara Stamm, German politician and vice-chairwoman of the CSU
1955 Fritz Kuhn, German politician and former co-chairman of the German Green Party
Eduard Mörike, German poet, lived in Bad Mergentheim from 1844-1851.