Bad Mergentheim

Bad Mergentheim

Coat of arms
Bad Mergentheim

Coordinates: 49°30′0″N 9°46′0″E / 49.50000°N 9.76667°E / 49.50000; 9.76667Coordinates: 49°30′0″N 9°46′0″E / 49.50000°N 9.76667°E / 49.50000; 9.76667
Country Germany
State Baden-Württemberg
Admin. region Stuttgart
District Main-Tauber-Kreis
Government
 • Lord Mayor Udo Glatthaar (CDU)
Area
 • Total 129.97 km2 (50.18 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)[1]
 • Total 22,470
 • Density 170/km2 (450/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 97980
Dialling codes 07931 (primarily), 07930, 07932, 07937, 07938 (boroughs)
Vehicle registration

TBB, MGH

MGH (registered again)
Website www.bad-mergentheim.de

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

History

Mergentheim 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.[2]

Bad Mergentheim's fortunes were reversed in 1826, when a shepherd by the name of Franz Gehring 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 effective for the treatment of digestive disorders.

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

Year Population
1660 1,064
1855 2,917
1900 4,372
1933 6,191
1945 9,300
1950 10,184
1961 11,608
1975 19,895
1990 21,567
2005 22,486
2013 22,470

Villages

(inhabitants)
Althausen (600), Apfelbach (350), Dainbach (370), Edelfingen (1.400), Hachtel (360), Herbsthausen (200), Löffelstelzen (1,000), Markelsheim (2,000), Neunkirchen (1,000), Rengershausen (480), Rot (260), Stuppach (680), Wachbach (1,300)

Main sights

Deutschordensschloss
Deutschordensschloss - Interior including Deutschordensmuseum and Schlosskirche Towers.

The most interesting sight in Bad Mergentheim is the Deutschordensschloss, 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 erected as early as 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 a Protestant church.

Modern facilities

Twin towns — sister cities

Bad Mergentheim is twinned with:

Notable residents and natives

Spiral staircase in the Deutschordensmuseum.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Gemeinden in Deutschland mit Bevölkerung am 31. Dezember 2013 (Einwohnerzahlen auf Grundlage des Zensus 2011)". Statistisches Bundesamt (in German). 2014.
  2. ↑ Public Domain One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Mergentheim". Encyclopædia Britannica 18 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 164.. Additional citations:
    • Höring, Das Karlsbad bei Mergentheim (Mergentheim 1887); and
    • Schmitt, Garnisongeschichte der Stadt Mergentheim (Stuttgart, 1895).
  3. ↑ "International Exchange". List of Affiliation Partners within Prefectures. Council of Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR). Retrieved 21 November 2015.
  4. ↑ Who Was Who in America, Historical Volume, 1607-1896. Chicago: Marquis Who's Who. 1963.

External links

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Bad Mergentheim.
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