Oppenheim

For other uses, see Oppenheim (disambiguation).

Town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

Oppenheim

Town

Aerial view 2007

Coat of arms

Location of Oppenheim within Mainz-Bingen district

Oppenheim

Show map of Germany

Oppenheim

Show map of Rhineland-Palatinate

Coordinates: 49°51′20″N 08°21′37″E﻿ / ﻿49.85556°N 8.36028°E﻿ / 49.85556; 8.36028
Country| Germany
State| Rhineland-Palatinate
District| Mainz-Bingen
Municipal assoc.| Rhein-Selz
Government

• Mayor (2019-24) | Walter Jertz[1]
Area

• Total

| 7.1 km2 (2.7 sq mi)
Elevation

| 100 m (300 ft)
Population

(2023-12-31)[2]

• Total

| 7,535
• Density| 1,100/km2 (2,700/sq mi)
Time zone| UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)| UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes|

55276

Dialling codes| 06133
Vehicle registration| MZ
Website| www.stadt-oppenheim.de
By Joannes Janssonius, c. 1682 Oppenheim about 1800

Oppenheim (German: [ˈɔpn̩haɪm] ⓘ or [ˈɔpm̩haɪm]) is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

## Geography

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### Location

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The town lies on the Upper Rhine in Rhenish Hesse between Mainz and Worms. It is the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde (special administrative district).

## History

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In 765, the first documented mention of the Frankish village was recorded in the Lorsch Codex, in connection with an endowment by Charlemagne to the Lorsch Abbey. Further portions of Oppenheim were added to the endowment in 774. In 1008, Oppenheim was granted market rights. In October 1076 Oppenheim gained special importance in the Investiture Controversy. At the princely session of Trebur and Oppenheim, the princes called on King Henry IV to undertake the "Walk to Canossa". After Oppenheim was returned to the Empire in 1147, it became a Free Imperial City in 1225, during the Staufer Emperor Frederick II's reign. At this time, the town was important for its imperial castle and the Burgmannen who lived there.

In the 14th century, the town was pledged to the Electorate of Mainz and beginning in 1398, it belonged to the territory of the Electoral Palatinate.

In 1621, the Oppenheim town chronicle reports a great fire in which the Oppenheim Town Hall was almost completely destroyed. The Electoral Oberamt archive, too, was lost in the fire, and so it was moved to Mainz.[clarification needed]

On 14 September 1620, Spanish troops overran the town in the Thirty Years' War. The Spaniards occupied Oppenheim until 1632. In 1688, French troops overran the town in the Nine Years' War (1688–1697). On 31 May 1689, Landskrone Castle and the town were utterly destroyed by the French under General Mélac. Until 1797, Oppenheim remained an Electoral Palatinate holding. After being in French hands, Oppenheim passed, in 1816, to the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt. It remained Hessian until 1945.

In March 1945, troops of the 3rd Army under General George S. Patton managed to build a crossing over the Rhine near Oppenheim and to occupy it.

## Twin cities

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* Givry, Saône-et-Loire, France
* Adnet, Salzburg, Austria
* Werder, Potsdam-Mittelmark, Brandenburg
* Calp, Alicante, Spain
* Sant'Ambrogio di Valpolicella, Province of Verona, Veneto, Italy

## Coat of arms

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The town's arms might be described thus: Or an eagle displayed sable.

All town seals up until 1925 showed a crowned king's head, but for one, from 1266, that showed the Emperor on his throne. Nevertheless, the town adopted arms with this composition while still using the king's head seal. The arms have not changed since their adoption.

The arms have been borne since 1609.[3]

## Culture

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Katharinenkirche

* Katharinenkirche is a Gothic church.

## Economy and infrastructure

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### Public institutions

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The administration of the Verbandsgemeinde of Nierstein-Oppenheim is based in Oppenheim.

## Notable people

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Kaspar Sturm [de] guided Martin Luther to the Diet of Worms

* Johann von Dalberg (1455–1503), bishop and politician.
* Kaspar Sturm [de] (1481–1523), herald who guided Martin Luther to the Diet of Worms and back.
* Paul Wallot (1841–1912), German architect, designer of the Reichstag building in Berlin.
* Johanna Senfter (1879–1961), 20th century composer

### People who have worked there

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Friedrich Koch, (1786–1865), apothecary, inventor of industrial quinine manufacture.

* Madern Gerthener (b. about 1360; d. 1430), City master builder, sculptor
* Johannes Pauli (b. 1450/54; d. after 1530), friar, writer.
* Jakob Köbel (1460–1535), publisher and quiet.
* Anton Praetorius (1560–1613), clergyman, fighter against witch trials and torture.
* Johann Theodor de Bry (1561–1623), publisher, Matthäus Merian's father-in-law.
* Matthäus Merian (1593–1650), copper engraver.

## References

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1. ^ Direktwahlen 2019, Landkreis Mainz-Bingen, Landeswahlleiter Rheinland-Pfalz, accessed 4 August 2021.
2. ^ Bevölkerungsstand 31. Dezember 2023, Landkreise, Gemeinden, Verbandsgemeinden; Fortschreibung des Zensus 2011 (in German), Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz, 2024
3. ^ "Description and explanation of Oppenheim's arms". Ngw.nl. Retrieved 20 June 2012.

## External links

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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oppenheim.

Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Oppenheim.

* Official website (in German)
* Vineyards in Oppenheim
* German Viticultural Museum
* Jewish Encyclopedia

* v
* t
* e

Towns and municipalities in Mainz-Bingen

* Appenheim
* Aspisheim
* Bacharach
* Badenheim
* Bingen am Rhein
* Bodenheim
* Breitscheid
* Bubenheim
* Budenheim
* Dalheim
* Dexheim
* Dienheim
* Dolgesheim
* Dorn-Dürkheim
* Eimsheim
* Engelstadt
* Essenheim
* Friesenheim
* Gau-Algesheim
* Gau-Bischofsheim
* Gensingen
* Grolsheim
* Guntersblum
* Hahnheim
* Harxheim
* Hillesheim
* Horrweiler
* Ingelheim am Rhein
* Jugenheim in Rheinhessen
* Klein-Winternheim
* Köngernheim
* Lörzweiler
* Ludwigshöhe
* Manubach
* Mommenheim
* Münster-Sarmsheim
* Nackenheim
* Nieder-Hilbersheim
* Nieder-Olm
* Niederheimbach
* Nierstein
* Ober-Hilbersheim
* Ober-Olm
* Oberdiebach
* Oberheimbach
* Ockenheim
* Oppenheim
* Sankt Johann
* Schwabenheim an der Selz
* Selzen
* Sörgenloch
* Sprendlingen
* Stadecken-Elsheim
* Trechtingshausen
* Uelversheim
* Undenheim
* Waldalgesheim
* Weiler bei Bingen
* Weinolsheim
* Welgesheim
* Wintersheim
* Wolfsheim
* Zornheim
* Zotzenheim

Coat of arms

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