Limburgerhof

Limburgerhof
Coat of arms
Limburgerhof
Location of Limburgerhof within Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis district
Coordinates: 49°25′N 8°24′E / 49.417°N 8.400°E / 49.417; 8.400Coordinates: 49°25′N 8°24′E / 49.417°N 8.400°E / 49.417; 8.400
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
District	Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis
Government
• Mayor	Peter Kern
Area
• Total	9 km2 (3 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)
• Total	11,452
• Density	1,300/km2 (3,300/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	67117
Dialling codes	06236
Vehicle registration	RP
Website	www.limburgerhof.de

Limburgerhof is a municipality in the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, 7 km southwest of Ludwigshafen.

It is known in the region because of an Agrochemical Center of the world's largest chemical company BASF, which has its headquarters in Ludwigshafen. The village with a population of about 10 000 was founded in 1930.

Limburgerhof is located between Ludwigshafen and Speyer.

In 1035 the King of the Saliers Konrad II gave the land around Schifferstadt to the Limburg Abbey, near Bad Dürkheim. The land nowadays belonging to Limburgerhof was part of it. The oldest part of Limburgerhof that still exists is Rehhütte which was first mentioned in 1590. The mill on the Rehbach stream had already been mentioned in 1241.

In 1664 Elector Karl Ludwig settled two Mennonite families from Switzerland in Kohlhof, which is still part of Limburgerhof. From their land six farms developed. The Mennonite community still exists.

In 1826 Graf Waldner von Freundstein bought the estate on the crossroads between Mannheimer Weg and the Mainz to Speyer road that Francois Biechy established in 1807. Two of these buildings that he constructed are still here: the small castle in classicist style and the three-storey tower in the park.

Biechy and von Freundstein developed the land, that in the 17th and 18th centuries had often been a place of war, into fertile agricultural land. In 1851 the tradesman Carl Gottlob Reihlen built the Friedensau sugar factory and began the production of sugar beet on the Limburgerhof land.

BASF took over the estate in 1898. In 1902 they built the “Old Colony” of 63 semi-detached houses as a housing estate for workers. Following this unique settlement came the agricultural research centre in 1914. In 1917 BASF took over the estate and two farms in Rehhütte, which today have been turned into a modern conference centre and estate management centre.

At this time the BASF Agricultural Centre, which has made Limburgerhof’s name known throughout the world, has 1400 employees in the areas of plant protection, plant biotechnology, fine chemistry and fertilisers.