Sondernheim
| Germersheim | |||
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 Germersheim
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Location of Germersheim within Germersheim district
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| Coordinates: 49°13′00″N 8°22′00″E / 49.21667°N 8.36667°ECoordinates: 49°13′00″N 8°22′00″E / 49.21667°N 8.36667°E | |||
| Country | Germany | ||
| State | Rhineland-Palatinate | ||
| District | Germersheim | ||
| Government | |||
| • Mayor | Marcus Schaile (CDU) | ||
| Area | |||
| • Total | 21.40 km2 (8.26 sq mi) | ||
| Elevation | 105 m (344 ft) | ||
| Population (2015-12-31) | |||
| • Total | 20,587 | ||
| • Density | 960/km2 (2,500/sq mi) | ||
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) | ||
| Postal codes | 76726 | ||
| Dialling codes | 07274 | ||
| Vehicle registration | GER | ||
| Website | www.germersheim.de | ||
Germersheim is a town in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, of around 20,000 inhabitants. It is also the seat of the Germersheim district. The neighboring towns and cities are Speyer, Landau, Philippsburg, Karlsruhe and Wörth.
The coat of arms features a golden crowned eagle on a blue background. The eagle derives from the fact that, at one time the town was ruled directly by the emperor of Germany.
After his invasion of Gallia, Gaius Iulius Caesar made the Rhine river the border between the Roman Empire and Germania. Some small areas east of it were later invaded and added to the Roman province of Agri Decumates. As it was attacked more and more it was given up in the second half of the third century and a military camp was founded, named "Vicus Iulii" ("Village of Julius/Julius' Village). It was supported up to the fourth century.
The first record of the name "Germersheim" is from 1090, when it was named in the Sinsheimer Chronik (Chronicle of Sinsheim). The German King Rudolph von Habsburg (Rudolf of Habsburg) gave Germersheim city rights in 1276 (18 August). There is a legend which says that he, as a sick man, rode from Germersheim to Speyer to die there and not in Germersheim.
In 1325 the town was given to the Electorate of the Palatinate by King Ludwig IV. It got a higher status in the following centuries. A Catholic Order founded a monastery in 1298 which it used up to 1527. Having been nearly destroyed in the times of the plague and the Thirty Years' War Germersheim was burned down by French troops in 1674. Only the crypt and the foundations of the Catholic Church survived.
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Wikipedia