Pfeddersheim

Pfeddersheim
Stadtteil of Worms
Church and vineyards in Pfeddersheim
Coat of arms
Pfeddersheim
Coordinates: 49°39′0″N 8°17′0″E / 49.65000°N 8.28333°E / 49.65000; 8.28333Coordinates: 49°39′0″N 8°17′0″E / 49.65000°N 8.28333°E / 49.65000; 8.28333
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
Admin. region	urban area
District	Worms
Town	Worms
Government
• Local representative	Alfred Haag (SPD)
• Governing parties	SPD
Population (2004)
• Total	7,414
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	67551
Dialling codes	06247
Vehicle registration	WO
Website	http://www.pfeddersheim.de

The former free imperial city Pfeddersheim (German pronun­cia­tion: [ˈpfɛdɐs.haɪm]; locally [ˈpedɛʒm]) is a borough of Worms since 1969. It became a borough after 2,000 years of independent history.

Pfeddersheim is located in the Pfrimm valley in Rhenish Hesse and surrounded by Riesling vineyards. The well-preserved defensive towers and wall are tourist attractions, as are the synagogue and the Lutheran-Catholic Simultankirche (a church which contains a Lutheran and a Catholic church in one building). The village also has a school museum.

Pfeddersheim was first mentioned in 754, the area was however occupied from Roman times, as archaeological evidence suggests. Its modern name is derived from the Latin Paternus. Pfeddersheim was owned by the Frankish kings from the 5th century onwards. They developed the village and it was given town privileges at around 1300 by King Albert I of Habsburg. The town became so rich and important that it became a member of the Rhenish City-League in 1381, like the cities of Frankfurt, Mainz, Strasburg and Worms. This freedom lasted only for a short while and Pfeddersheim came under the control of the Electoral Palatinate in 1465.

Several fierce battles were fought in the vicinity of Pfeddersheim. The German Peasants' War was crushed here on 23/24 June 1525, after the citizens of Pfeddersheim showed solidarity with the peasants. Thousands of peasants and citizens were killed in the Battle of Pfeddersheim. Pfeddersheim surrendered, together with Worms, to Louis V, Count Palatine of the Rhine and became Protestant, as did many regions in today's Rhineland-Palatinate. Pfeddersheim never recovered from the destructions in the Thirty Years' War and especially the War of the Palatine Succession and remained a small town after 1689.