Welzheim

The title of this article is ambiguous. Further meanings are listed under Welzheim (disambiguation) .

coat of arms	Germany map
	Coordinates: 48 ° 52 '  N , 9 ° 38'  E
Basic data
State :	Baden-Württemberg
Administrative region :	Stuttgart
County :	Rems-Murr district
Height :	503 m above sea level NHN
Area :	37.99 km 2
Residents:	11,176 (Dec. 31, 2018)
Population density :	294 inhabitants per km 2
Postcodes :	73642, 73553, 73635, 73667
Primaries :	07182, 07183
License plate :	WN, BK
Community key :	08 1 19 084
City administration address :	Kirchplatz 3 73642 Welzheim
Website :	www.welzheim.de
Mayor :	Thomas Bernlöhr
Location of the city of Welzheim in the Rems-Murr district

The city of Welzheim is a climatic health resort in Baden-Württemberg, in the Welzheimer Forest , 40 km east of Stuttgart .

geography

Welzheim has a share in the natural areas Schurwald and Welzheimer Wald as well as Swabian-Franconian Forest Mountains .

City structure

The core town of Welzheim and 24 other separately located districts ( hamlets , courtyards and houses) are located in the district of Welzheim ; the hamlets of Aichstrut, Birckachhof (Birkachhof), Breitenfürst , Eberhardsweiler, Eckartsweiler, Eselshalden , Gausmannsweiler, Langenberg, Lettenstich, Obersteinenberg, Schafhof, Seiboldsweiler, Steinbruck, Taubenhof and Vorderhundsberg, the courtyards Bausche, Neuhof and Obermühle and the (single) houses Sägmühle, Ebnisee , Eierhof, Klingenmühle , Laufenmühle and Leinhalde.

These districts - with the exception of the districts Aichstruter Sägmühle and Obermühle - are listed as districts in the main statute of the city of Welzheim. The city districts are officially named in the form "Welzheim- ...". In Welzheim, the fake suburbs are selected according to the Baden-Württemberg municipal code , so the 23 districts are divided into four residential districts. The residential district I consists of Welzheim with Klingenmühle and Laufenmühle, residential district II consists of Breitenfürst with Birkachhof and Neuhof, residential district III consists of Bausche, Eselshalden, Langenberg, Lettenstich, Obersteinenberg, Steinbruck, Taubenhof and Vorderhundsberg and residential district IV consists of Aichstrut, Eberhardsweiler, Leinhalde , Schafhof, Eckartsweiler, Gausmannsweiler, Seiboldsweiler, Eierhof and Ebnisee.

In the urban area are the abandoned villages of Cunenweiler, Sägmühle near Seiboldsweiler, Glasern (not with certainty), Rumischweiler, Tierbad . and Burgstall near Gausmannsweiler.

Division of space

According to data from the State Statistical Office , as of 2014.

history

The west gate at Welzheim's east fort, which was reconstructed until 1983

Welzheim around 1900

The story of Welzheim dates back to the time of the Roman Empire : To 160 AD the Romans built here in the course of construction of border facilities.. Limes Germanicus a Kastellort . In the years that followed, a civilian settlement was built between the two forts and south of the western fort. This vicus was therefore a little south of the medieval and modern Welzheim. For the 800th anniversary of the city in 1980, the smaller east fort was reconstructed and in 1993 an archaeological park was added; the remains of the west fort were built over in the 20th century.

See also : forts of Welzheim

The oldest documented mention comes from the year 1181 as "Wallenzin", also "Wallinzin". Later forms of the name are then (1355) "Wallenzingen", 1446 "Walzen", 1473 "Walzan," then "Welnze" and "Welzen". The place name "Wallenzin" is derived from Latin (Casta) * Valentia , the presumed name of the Roman Welzheim.

After the Romans withdrew in AD 260 at the latest, the history of the settlement remains in the dark until it was first mentioned in 1181. The continuation of the ancient place name * Valentia in the high medieval name Wallenzin presupposes settlement continuity in the migration period and in the early Middle Ages. In 1266 Welzheim received city ​​rights . The place is later referred to as a village or market town . The granting of town charter was confirmed on May 13, 1840.

In 1499 the presumably newly built Sankt-Gallus- Church was consecrated.

On June 13, 1556, large parts of Welzheim and the castle burned down.

Welzheim was an imperial-free territory that belonged to the Limpurg taverns as a Württemberg Reichsafter fief from 1335, at the latest from 1379 , half of which they gave the Count of Württemberg to fief in 1379, the other half in 1418. The Protestant Duke Eberhard Ludwig had given Wilhelmine von Grävenitz in 1707, after her brother Friedrich Wilhelm von Grävenitz had brought her to Stuttgart, this of his new mistresses, together with her brother, a Viennese count's diploma as a personalist, since neither of them had direct imperial rule . With the Vienna diploma it was open to both of them to obtain the imperial status and the imperial count status. On November 13, 1718, Duke Wilhelmine, who became Countess Würben / Wrbna in a fictitious marriage in 1711, gave the direct imperial rule of Welzheim, which fell back to Württemberg in the male line in 1713 after the Limpurg family had died out. Since Wilhelmine wanted to keep the rule as a kunkellehen , her brother was enfeoffed with her in 1726. This succeeded in joining the Frankish Imperial Circle . In 1728, because of Welzheim, he was accepted into the Franconian Imperial Counts College and, as Imperial Count , had a seat and vote on the Reichstag. In the meantime the Grävenitz rule had lasted for a quarter of a century and caused great resistance in the territory of Württemberg. When Duke Eberhard Ludwig died in 1733, his successor, the Catholic Duke Karl Alexander , imprisoned the entire Grävenitz family at court. Friedrich Wilhelm von Grävenitz, the brother of Wilhelmine, who was immediately expelled, reached a settlement with the new duke: In return for compensation of 65,000 guilders, he ceded all of his goods to Württemberg and thus lost the status of the Reich.

According to files in the Stuttgart State Archives, Department of the Main State Archives Stuttgart, Findbuch A 441 L, the Welzheim reign was mediated by Württemberg immediately after Wilhelmine's fall in 1733 and was then a chamber clerk's office until 1807.

Town hall from 1731

On September 5, 1726, a second major fire disaster destroyed almost the entire city. The church also burned to the ground; it was subsequently rebuilt. The town hall was rebuilt in 1731.

The poet Justinus Kerner lived in Welzheim between 1812 and 1816.

One year after the founding of the Kingdom of Württemberg , Welzheim became the seat of the Oberamt of the same name in 1807 . This remained so until 1938, with an interruption from 1810 to 1819 when the administration of the Oberamt was in Lorch . Until 1977 Welzheim was also the seat of a parish of the Evangelical Church in Württemberg . In 1911, Welzheim was connected to the Württemberg railway network as the terminus of the Wieslauftalbahn .

During the district reform in Württemberg during the Nazi era , Welzheim came to the Waiblingen district in 1938 .

During the time of National Socialism there was the Welzheim protective custody camp in the city , often euphemistically referred to as the “police prison” to this day . The most prominent prisoner there was probably the communist and trade unionist Friedrich Schlotterbeck , who belonged to the Schlotterbeck resistance group from Luginsland . Around 10,000 to 15,000 prisoners passed through the camp. In the cemetery, where 35 concentration camp victims are buried, a memorial stone reminds of what happened. American soldiers captured the city towards the end of World War II . Welzheim became part of the American zone of occupation and thus belonged to the newly founded state of Württemberg-Baden in 1945 , which was merged into the current state of Baden-Württemberg in 1952. As a result of the district reform in Baden-Württemberg , Welzheim became part of the Rems-Murr district on January 1, 1973.

The city center has been renovated since 1986. In 1991, the number of inhabitants exceeded 10,000 for the first time and in the same year Welzheim regained the status of climatic health resort. In 2000 the construction of the bypass started.

In Breitenfürst on the evening of May 26th 2010, a tornado caused devastation. Fallen trees damaged a garden shed, among other things, and a bus shelter at a bus stop and a caravan were torn away.

Churches and religious communities

Saint Gallus Church

In addition to the Protestant St. Gall and the Catholic Christ the King Church, there is a YMCA , the South German Community, several free church congregations (Evangelical Free Church Congregation - Baptists , Evangelical Methodist Church , New Apostolic Church , Evangelical Brothers' Association ) and a mosque .

politics

Municipal council

In Welzheim the municipal council is elected according to the procedure of the false suburb choice. The number of local councils can change due to overhang mandates . After the last election, the municipality council in Welzheim has 22 members (previously 20). The local elections on May 26, 2019 led to the following final result. The municipal council consists of the elected voluntary councilors and the mayor as chairman. The mayor is entitled to vote in the municipal council.

Parties and constituencies		% 2019	Seats 2019	% 2014	Seats 2014	Local elections 2019  % 30th 20th 10 0 28.34% 26.17% 21.56% 15.85% 8.08% WBF FWV CDU SPD Pirates Gains and losses compared to 2014  % p  10    8th    6th    4th    2    0   -2   -4   -6 -2.89  % p +1.31  % p.p. -4.19  % p -2.32  % p + 8.08  % p WBF FWV CDU SPD Pirates
WBF	Welzheimer Citizens Forum	28.34	6th	31.23	6th
FWV	Free voter association Welzheim	26.17	6th	24.86	5
CDU	Christian Democratic Union of Germany	21.56	5	25.75	5
SPD	Social Democratic Party of Germany	15.85	3	18.17	4th
PIRATES	Pirate Party Germany	8.08	2	-	-
total		100.0	22nd	100.0	20th
voter turnout		58.15%		49.66%

mayor

Thomas Bernlöhr has been mayor since June 1, 2010, taking over from Hermann Holzner.

coat of arms

The description of the coat of arms reads: "In silver on a green hill a green fir tree".

Economy and Infrastructure

traffic

Welzheim had been the terminus of the Wieslauftalbahn from Schorndorf since 1911 . The Royal Württemberg State Railways built the station building as a type IIIb unit station . Today, the station is only served on Sundays and public holidays between May and October and during Advent by tourist trains of the Swabian Forest Railway according to a special timetable.

Local public transport is ensured by the VVS Verkehrs- und Tarifverbund Stuttgart . There is a good bus connection from Schorndorf station, the end of the S-Bahn line S2 from Stuttgart.

The next train stations are in Lorch and Waldhausen , both approx. 14 km away on the Remsbahn (Stuttgart – Aalen).

The state roads L 1080, L 1150 and L 1155 run through the municipality. The next motorway junction is the Mundelsheim junction of the federal motorway 81 , about 40 km away via Backnang .

Long-distance cycle routes

The German Limes Cycle Route runs through the village . It follows the Upper German-Raetian Limes over 818 km from Bad Hönningen on the Rhine to Regensburg on the Danube .

Long-distance hiking trails

Welzheim is located on the Limes hiking trail of the Swabian Alb Association , a section of the German Limes hiking trail .

Recreational facilities

Aichstrut reservoir

Observatory near Welzheim-Langenberg

The center of the city is the church square with the Protestant St. Gallus Church. Welzheim has many inns, sports facilities, a city park, a fitness trail with 2.6 km across the forest area bordering the city park as well as a self-managed youth center run by the Welzheimer Jugendinitiative e. V. is operated. The area is characterized by agriculture and forestry as well as smaller reservoirs . There is a glider airfield on the eastern outskirts . The Schwabenpark amusement park is located near Welzheim .

schools

In Welzheim there are two primary schools (Bürgfeld School and Hofgarten School), a special needs school ( Janusz Korczak School), a secondary school (Bürgfeld School), a Werkrealschule (Bürgfeld School), a Realschule (Kastell Realschule) and a grammar school ( Limes Gymnasium). As part of the introduction of all-day schools, a canteen was built in 2007 (Christian-Bauer-Mensa).

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the place

• Marie Kerner (1813–1886), writer and daughter of the poet and doctor Justinus Kerner
• Paul Schultz (1891–1964), major general in World War II
• Friedrich Fritz (1906–1979), politician (CDU)
• Fritz Hopf (1907–1999), engineer, entrepreneur and patron of Nördlingen's post-war cultural life
• Siegfried Weller (1928–2019), trauma surgeon
• Rüdiger Gamm (* 1971), arithmetic genius
• Anja Hitzler (* 1983), archer

People connected to the place

• Wilhelmine von Grävenitz (1685–1744), Countess and mistress of Duke Eberhard Ludwig, from 1718 to 1732 she owned Welzheim Castle
• Justinus Kerner (1786–1862), poet, doctor and medical writer, from 1812 to 1815 general practitioner in Welzheim
• Gustav Christian Friedrich Scholl (1798-1837), lawyer and politician, 1832-1837 Bailiff of Oberamts Welzheim
• Helmut Thumm (1895–1977), officer and general of the infantry, from c. 1938 to 1977 in Welzheim
• Franz Baum (1926–2010), archer, coach of the German national team, board member of the Welzheim shooting guild
• Niko Kappel (* 1995), athlete (gold medal in the shot put at the 2016 Paralympic Games in Rio)

Honorary citizen

The honorary citizenship of the city of Welzheim has been awarded eleven times since 1886.

List of honorary citizens with the year and occasion of the award:

• Carl Wilhelm von Heinz (1816–1887), in 1886 for his services as senior bailiff in Welzheim for many years
• Wilhelm Krauss (1859–1938), 1921 for his long-term commitment to tourism
• Johannes von Hieber (1862–1951), received honorary citizenship in 1912 for his services to the construction of the Wieslauftalbahn , this was revoked in 1933 and re-awarded in 1947
• Gottlob Bauknecht (1892–1976), 1952 for his services as an industrial pioneer in the Welzheimer Forest
• Reinhold Maier (1889–1971), 1955 for his close personal and political ties with Welzheim
• Friedrich Bauer (1888–1970), 1958 for his economic pioneering work and his ties to Welzheim
• Otto Aichele (1914–2014), 1978, mayor from 1948 to 1978, was chairman of several associations and of the Menzlesmühle water supply association
• Helmut Glock (1919–2000), 1997 for his commitment as a local researcher
• Eberhard Braun (* 1944), 2007, was a pastor in Welzheim for 33 years
• Hermann Holzner (* 1947), 2010, 1978–2010 Mayor of Welzheim
• Helmut Hutt (* 1920), 2010, entrepreneur at Christian Bauer

literature

• Carol van Driel-Murray, Hans-Heinz Hartmann: The east fort of Welzheim, Rems-Murr-Kreis . Theiss, Stuttgart 1999. ISBN 3-8062-1077-2 (Research and reports on prehistory and early history in Baden-Württemberg, Volume 42).
• Sönke Lorenz (Ed.): Welzheim - from Roman camp to modern city , Markstein-Verlag, Filderstadt 2002 (Community in Transition, Volume 11), ISBN 3-935129-05-X .
• Rudolph Friedrich von Moser: Description of the Oberamt Welzheim . Cotta, Stuttgart 1845 (reprint 1972) (description of the Kingdom of Württemberg). - ( digitized version ).

Web links

Commons : Welzheim  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Wikivoyage: Welzheim  - Travel Guide

Wikisource: Welzheim in the description of the Oberamt Welzheim from 1845  - sources and full texts

• Homepage of the city of Welzheim
• Welzheim, Archaeological Park and Limes East Fort

Individual evidence

1. ↑ State Statistical Office Baden-Württemberg - Population by nationality and gender on December 31, 2018 (CSV file) ( help on this ).
2. ↑ Natural areas of Baden-Württemberg . State Institute for the Environment, Measurements and Nature Conservation Baden-Württemberg, Stuttgart 2009
3. ^ The state of Baden-Württemberg. Official description by district and municipality. Volume III: Stuttgart District, Middle Neckar Regional Association. Kohlhammer, Stuttgart 1978, ISBN 3-17-004758-2 , pp. 567-569.
4. ↑ Main statute of the city of Welzheim from April 24, 2001 (PDF; 50 kB)
5. ↑ State Statistical Office, area since 1988 according to actual use for Welzheim.
6. ↑ Dieter Planck: Restoration and Reconstruction of Roman Buildings in Baden-Württemberg in: Günter Ulbert , Gerhard Weber (Ed.): Conserved History? Ancient buildings and their preservation . Konrad Theiss Verlag, Stuttgart 1985, ISBN 3-8062-0450-0 , p. 149.
7. ↑ Werner Besch (et al.): Sprachgeschichte - A handbook on the history of the German language and its research, 2nd edition, 4th volume, de Gruyter, Berlin 2004, p. 3466
8. ↑ ^{a b} Timetable , City of Welzheim, accessed on March 17, 2008
9. ↑ Memorial sites for the victims of National Socialism. A documentation, volume 1. Federal Agency for Civic Education, Bonn 1995, ISBN 3-89331-208-0 , p. 103f.
10. ↑ https://www.welzheim.de/Welzheim.aspx?H=305 Chronicle of Welzheim
11. ↑ Tornado causes severe devastation in the Rems-Murr district . In: Schwarzwälder Bote from May 27, 2010
12. ^ Richard Klotz: The Protestant St. Gallus Church in Welzheim . Ed .: Ev. Parish of Welzheim. 1989.
13. ↑ Election information for the municipal data center
14. ^ Rainer Stein: The Württemberg standard station on branch lines . In: Eisenbahn-Journal Württemberg-Report . tape 1 , no. V / 96 . Merker, Fürstenfeldbruck 1996, ISBN 3-922404-96-0 , p. 80-83 .
15. ↑ THE SWABIAN FOREST RAILWAY → Dates ( Memento from June 29, 2010 in the Internet Archive )
16. ↑ Bote vom Welzheimer Wald from December 25, 1886