page_title: Zuffenhausen
section_title: Alemanni and Merovingian Zuffenhausen
hierarchical_section_title: Zuffenhausen / History / Prehistory and Early History / Alemanni and Merovingian Zuffenhausen
caption_attribution_description: Siedlung der Alamannen
context_page_description: Zuffenhausen is one of three northernmost urban districts of the city of Stuttgart, capital of the German state of Baden-Württemberg. The district is primarily an incorporation of the formerly independent townships Zuffenhausen, Zazenhausen, Neuwirtshaus, and Rot, the latter is a historic town that gained importance in 1945 as a refugee camp for German refugees. As of 2009 around 35,000 people lived in Zuffenhausen's area of 1,200 ha, making it the third largest of Stuttgart's outer urban districts. Zuffenhausen is also one of the oldest continuously inhabited places in Stuttgart with evidence of permanent settlements that can be traced back 7,500 years.
  The etymological roots of "Zuffenhausen" are assumed to be found in the name of a seventh century Alemanni settler "Uffo" or "Offo". The oldest known official denotation as a property of Bebenhausen Abbey by Pope Innocent III dates to May 18, 1204. Zuffenhausen was proclaimed a city in 1907, yet soon financially badly affected by the Great Depression, Zuffenhausen and later Zazenhausen, agreed to the incorporation into Stuttgart city on 1 April 1931.
context_section_description: With the Romans left written documents become sparse and knowledge of Zuffenhausen's history during the Migration Period is obtained by archaeological excavations.
  In the so-called "Expansion Phase" of the 7th century the Alemanni experienced the introduction of Christianity and a small explosion of population under strong Franconian-Merovingian influence. Places using the suffixes -hausen and -hofen  developed in the region, especially in the north, such as Zuffenhausen, Zazenhausen, Mühlhausen, Viesenhausen and Hofen. Without a doubt, the Alemanni period in Zuffenhusen's history was the most influential for the layout of the town and its municipalities.
  Zuffenhausen's beginnings: The plot of land that made up Zuffenhausen at the time had a size of about 10 km² (3.9 sq mi) and was determined by landmarks like the Burgholzhof (now part of Bad Cannstatt), the Lemberg, Roman roads and old burial mounds. Initially, it is assumed that in 600 CE the settlement consisted of two estates - the first by the old Roman road  near a large cemetery and the other on the site of a previous Pre-Roman settlement (likely built to protect an east-west river crossing) as marked by the existence of large Alemanni burial mounds which yielded rich caches of artifacts. By the mid-7th century, these two settlements were joined, thus creating early Zuffenhausen.
caption: Model of an Alemannic hamlet with individual farms, Pit and Post houses
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