Place:Schweigern, Baden, Germany

Schwaigern is a town in the district of Heilbronn, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

It is situated 12km west of Heilbronn.

Geography

Neighbouring municipalities

The neighbouring towns and municipalities of Schwaigern (clockwise) are: Leingarten, Nordheim, Baden-Württemberg|Nordheim (Württemberg), Brackenheim,Eppingen, Gemmingen and Massenbachhausen (all in the district of Heilbronn).

Town structure

Schwaigern consists of Schwaigern itself and its districts Massenbach, Stetten am Heuchelberg and Niederhofen. Schwaigern has approximately 11,000 inhabitants.

History

Finds of the Neolithic era and during the Ancient Rome period show an early settlement of this area. The town was first mentioned in writing in the Lorsch codex of 766. Bertilo, Lord of Schwaigern, is first mentioned in 1120. The construction of a church is proved in the 13th century. Bertilo's descendants took on the name "Lords of Neipperg" in 1241, after their castle of Neipperg near Brackenheim. In 1407 they also acquired the Lordship of Klingenberg near Heilbronn. In 1702, Schweigern became the residence of the Lords of Neipperg, who were elevated to the rank of counts in 1726. In 1766, the County of Neipperg became an Imperial State of the Holy Roman Empire, mediatised to the Kingdom of Württemberg in 1806. The last ruling count, Adam Albert von Neipperg, married Napoleon's widow Marie Louise, Duchess of Parm.

The village received the right to hold a market in 1486. After 1630 the Black Death killed a large proportion of the inhabitants. In 1690, during the War of the Grand Alliance, the then Schwaigern Castle was burned down. In 1806, the town came to Württemberg by mediatization and Reichsdeputationshauptschluss. The castle was rebuilt until 1839 and is still today owned by the comital family of Neipperg. Several fires destroyed large areas of the medieval town centre in the 19th and 20th centuries. In 1971/1972 Massenbach, Stetten am Heuchelberg and Niederhofen were incorporated.

Religions

The Lords of Neipperg became protestants around 1530. Therefore each of Schwaigern, Stetten am Heuchelberg and Niederhofen is a Protestant parish. Massenbach and Massenbachhausen have a common Protestant parish. In 1717, Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg, the first count and an Imperial field marshal in the Habsburg service, returned to the Catholic Church. The Catholic parish St. Martinus Schwaigern is responsible for Schwaigern, Stetten, Niederhofen and Neipperg (part of Brackenheim). The Catholic parish St. Kilian Massenbachhausen is responsible for Massenbachhausen and Massenbach. Also the New Apostolic Church has a parish in Schwaigern.

The Young People's Society of Christian Endeavour has local groups in Schwaigern, Stetten and Niederhofen. In Massenbach there is a local group of the YMCA.

Districts

• Massenbach:

Massenbach was first mentioned in writing in 773. In the Thirty Years' War the castle was destroyed and rebuilt in 1760.

• Stetten am Heuchelberg:

Stetten was mentioned in 1140 and came to Württemberg in 1571.

• Niederhofen:

Niederhofen is the youngest district, since it was first mentioned in 1332. But it already came to Württemberg in 1360.

Politics

District council

The district council of Schwaigern has 23 seats by the municipal election of June 13, 2004. The result is as follows:

One further member of the district council, and its chairman, is the mayor.

Arms

Blazon: In red three (2:1) silver rings. Above the sign growing John the Baptist with halo and put on fur, raising the rights, holding a lamb and a cross rod with a flag on his left hand. These arms are provable since 1512. The town colours are red-white.

Town twinnings

Twin municipalities of Schwaigern are:

• since 1988: The Austrian municipality Pöndorf in[Upper Austria (with a district called Schwaigern).
• since 2004: The France|French municipality La Teste-de-Buch]]n the Departments of France Gironde.

Culture and sights

Museum

The Karl-Wagenplast-Museum in the old graveyard chapel shows archaeological exhibitions from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages of the Leintal. It is named after the honorary citizen and archaeologist Karl Wagenplast.

Buildings

The town church consecrated to John the Baptist goes back to a building of the 13th century and was enlarged by Bernhard Sporer in the early 16th century. Inside there is the Barbara Altar of Jerg Ratgeb. The witch tower on the south-east border of the medieval town was built in 1461. The previous wine-press is a timber framing of 1659. The rococo castle next to the town church was built in 1702, but was rebuilt and enlarged during the 19th century. The town hall was built in 1905/1906 by Ludwig Knortz. Stetten impresses by its parish church of the 15th century as well as its baroque vicarage of 1775. Besides it contains a town hall of the 16th century.

Sport and leisure

The TSV Schwaigern was founded in 1898 as a gymnastics club. Apart from the traditional gymnastics there are the disciplines of badminton, basketball, chess and the rare discipline wheel gymnastics. In 1992 and 1993, the departments of tennis (TC Schwaigern) and football (FSV Schwaigern) became independent.

In addition, Schwaigern has a heated swimming pool.

In Stetten there are also some clubs. The TSV Stetten founded in 1909 runs football, table tennis, badminton, women gymnastics and child gymnastics. The tennis club of Stetten founded in 1981 as a department of the TSV became independent in 1999. The marksman club Heuchelberg is located next to the Mühlwald, and there is also a golf course in Stetten. With the Leintalzoo Schwaigern has the biggest connected chimpanzee group in Germany.

Economy and infrastructure

The biggest company in Schwaigern is the Walter Söhner GmbH & Co. KG which produces synthetics and has more than 500 employees. Also in Schwaigern and its districts there are some other smaller companies. However, in Stetten and Massenbach the provision of public utility has a downward tendency. For several years up to 2000, Massenbach had no stores.

Traffic

Schwaigern is situated at the Kraichgaubahn running from Heilbronn to Karlsruhe. Besides the B293 (Heilbronn-Karlsruhe) passes the town. The Bundesautobahn 6|A6 runs 10 kilometres north of Schwaigern.

Education

Schwaigern, Massenbach and Stetten each have an elementary school. Also in Schwaigern there is a modern school and a junior high school. The next grammar school is located in Heilbronn.

Wine-growing

Wine-growing in Schwaigern was first mentioned in 799. The primary sorts of wine are Trollinger, Riesling, Blaufränkisch and Pinot Meunier. The fourth biggest winepress of Baden-Württemberg is located there. The positions of Schwaigern's wine-growing is part of the wine-growing area Württemberg.

Personalities

Honorary citizens

• Karl Wagenplast, native scientist
• Horst Haug, mayor of Schwaigern from 1962 until 1999.

Sons of the town

• Wilhelm Reinhard von Neipperg (1684-1774), Austrian general
• Eberhard von Neipperg (died 1717) List of Field Marshals of the Holy Roman Empire
• 1765, November 27, Günther Heinrich Baron von Berg, + September 9, 1843 in Oldenburg, German jurist and politician
• 1813, April 6, Erwin von Neipperg + March 2, 1897, Austrian general

References

External links

• The official website of the town (in German)

source: Family History Library Catalog