Ingelheim am Rhein
Ingelheim (), officially Ingelheim am Rhein (), is a town in the Mainz-Bingen district in the Rhineland-Palatinate state of Germany. The town sprawls along the Rhine's west bank. It has been Mainz-Bingen's district seat since 1996. From the later half of the 8th century, the Ingelheim Imperial Palace, which served emperors and kings as a lodging and a ruling seat until the 11th century, was to be found here. Etymology. The typically Rhenish-Hessian placename ending "—heim" might well go back to Frankish times, that is to say, likely as far back as the  5th or 6th century. Settlements or estates then took their lords’ names and were given this suffix, which means "home" in German. The name is recorded in later documents as "Ingilinhaim", "Ingilinheim" (782), "Ingilenhaim", "Engelheim", "Hengilonheim", "Engilonheim" (822), "Engilinheim" (826), "Hingilinheim" (855), "Ingilunheim" (874), "Ingulinheim" (889), "Ingelesheim" (891), "Ingelenheim" (940), "Anglia sedes" (1051), "Ingilheim" and "Ingelnheim" (1286), among other forms. Since 1269, a distinction has been made between "Nieder-Ingelheim" and "Ober-Ingelheim" (Lower and Upper Ingelheim) Geography. Location. Ingelheim am Rhein lies in the north of Rhein Hessen on the so-called Rhein Knee, west of the state capital , Mainz. The Rhein forms the town's northern limit. Southwards, the town stretches into the valley of the river Selz, which empties into the Rhein in the constituent community of Frei-Weinheim or Ingelheim-Nord ("North"). The constituent communities of Ingelheim-Mitte and Ingelheim-Süd ("Middle" and "South") are nestled against the corner of the so-called ("Mainz Mountain"). The municipal area's lowest point is the harbour on the Rhein at 80.8 m above sea level. The two highest points are the Mainzer Berg at 247.8 m above sea level and the at 247.5 m above sea level. An  obelisk on the south side of the village in direction Wackernheim, marks the road begun by Charlemagne, and completed by Napoleon. From this point a fine prospect of the entire Rheingau could be obtained. Municipal area’s extent. The municipal area's north-south extent is 7.9 km, while the east-west extent is 5 km. Neighbouring municipalities. Clockwise from the north, these are Geisenheim, Oestrich-Winkel on the Rhine's right bank, and on the left bank Budenheim, Finthen, the "Verbandsgemeinde" of Nieder-Olm, Schwabenheim, Gau-Algesheim (both belonging to the "Verbandsgemeinde" of Gau-Algesheim) and Bingen am Rhein . Since 1 July 2019 Wackernheim and Heidesheim are incorporated into the city of Ingelheim. Constituent communities. Ingelheim is currently divided into six "Stadtteile": Ingelheim-Mitte, Ingelheim-Nord, Ingelheim-Süd, Sporkenheim, Groß-Winternheim and Ingelheim-West. Before Ingelheim became a town in 1939, the first three centres bore the names Nieder-Ingelheim, Frei-Weinheim and Ober-Ingelheim. Official changes notwithstanding, the old names are still quite often used. Climate. The town lies in the temperate zone. The average yearly temperature in Ingelheim is 9.8 °C. The warmest months are July and August with average temperatures of 18.0 and 18.5 ° C respectively, and the coldest month is January at 1.0 °C on average. The most precipitation falls in June and August with an average of 64 mm, and the least in March with an average of 31 mm. Like all Rhenish Hesse, Ingelheim, too, is sheltered from the weather by the Hunsrück, the Taunus, the Odenwald and the Donnersberg, thereby limiting the yearly precipitation to only 560 mm. History. The Ingelheim area was already settled in prehistoric times. The place first earned itself particular importance, though, only under Charlemagne and his successors. Charlemagne had built the Ingelheim Imperial Palace  ("Ingelheimer Kaiserpfalz") here, where synods and Imperial diets were held in the time that followed. His son and successor, Emperor Louis the Pious, died on 20 June 840 in Ingelheim. In the High and Late Middle Ages, the Palatinate's, and thereby also Ingelheim's, importance shrank. For German justice history, the "Ingelheimer Oberhof" ("Ingelheim Upper Court") is of particular importance, as a unique collection of judgments from the 15th and 16th centuries that it handed down has been preserved. Late 19th century Ingelheim was the residence of the Dutch writer Multatuli (Eduard Douwes Dekker). In 1939, the formerly self -administering municipalities of Nieder-Ingelheim, Ober-Ingelheim and Frei-Weinheim were merged into the Town of Ingelheim am Rhein. From the Second World War, Ingelheim emerged as the only unscathed town between Mainz and Koblenz. Today, Ingelheim is a middle centre in Rhineland-Palatinate, a Great District-Bound Town ("Große kreisangehörige Stadt" – a status deriving from the Rhineland-Palatinate Municipal Order) and the seat of district administration for Mainz-Bingen. Furthermore, Ingelheim harbours the business Boehringer Ingelheim which is active worldwide. Population data. Religion. In 2004, 36% of Ingelheim's inhabitants belonged to the Lutheran faith, and 34% were Catholic , while 24% were without any religious faith; from 2% of the population, no data were forthcoming. The six Catholic parishes belong, within the Roman Catholic Diocese of Mainz to the Deanery of Bingen. The five Protestant parishes of the EKHN belong to the Provostship ("Propstei") of Mainz, and within this to the Deanery of Ingelheim. Besides these, the Baptists, Religious humanists and Muslims each have small communities in Ingelheim, as do the Jehovah's Witnesses and Buddhists. Until 1942 there was a Jewish community, whose beginnings went back to the 16th century. About 1850, roughly 200 Jewish inhabitants lived in  Ober-Ingelheim, and by 1933 there were still 134 all together in Oberingelheim and Niederingelheim. In 1840 and 1841, a synagogue that was important to architectural history was built. It was dedicated on 27 August 1841 and destroyed on 9 November 1938 – Kristallnacht. Many Jewish inhabitants lost their lives after being deported to the death camps during the time of the Third Reich. Amalgamations. On 22 April 1972 the municipality of Groß-Winternheim was amalgamated. The former municipalities Heidesheim am Rhein and Wackernheim were merged into Ingelheim am Rhein on 1 July 2019. Politics. Town council. The municipal election held  in 2004 yielded the following results: Mayor. In the last mayoral elections, held on 26 May 2019, Ralf Claus, mayor of Ingelheim since 2012, was reelected as mayor: Section::::(Chief) Mayors since 1939. Mayors ("Bürgermeister") from 1946, Chief Mayors ("Oberbürgermeister") from 1972: Coat of arms. The town's arms might be described thus: Argent an eagle displayed sable armed and langued gules. The eagle is the Imperial Eagle. The arms have their roots in the Imperial Freedom enjoyed by the "Ingelheimer Grund" (Ingelheim area). Twin towns – sister cities. Ingelheim am Rhein is twinned with: On 24 October 1975, the three-way  partnership between Ingelheim, Autun and Stevenage was officially sealed. Culture and sightseeing. Section::::"Ingelheimer Fassenacht". There is in Ingelheim a well-developed carnival culture, which admittedly is very much under the Mainz carnival’s influence. All together, the town counts four Carnival clubs: Museums. The "Museum bei der Kaiserpfalz" ("Museum at the Imperial Palace") has an exhibit dedicated to the Imperial Palace built in Ingelheim after 785 by Charlemagne. On show are small archaeological finds, objects from architectural sculpture and a demonstrative model of the once imposing building. Remnants of the Imperial Palace can be seen right near the museum. Of  Europe-wide importance is the golden "solidus" found in 1996, which is hitherto still the only gold coin ever found struck with Charlemagne's effigy. Buildings. The town has at its disposal a range of historical buildings worth seeing: In the cadastral areas of Nieder-Ingelheim and Frei-Weinheim, mainly north of the Autobahn along Konrad-Adenauer-Straße, but also south of the Autobahn – even within the Boehringer Ingelheim industrial lands – are found drifting chalk sands. Likewise a deposit is to be found in the area of the "Griesmühle" (mill). Natural monuments. These formations are under conservational protection under the  Rhineland-Palatinate State Care Law. Damaging them or removing them, among other acts, is considered an incompensable encroachment on nature and the landscape. Municipal building uses in drifting chalk sand areas are therefore routinely excluded or only approved in very special cases. Two such exceptions were the building of Konrad-Adenauer-Straße (from the Autobahn bridge to Rheinstraße) and the building of the daycare centre on Sporkenheimer Straße. The "MütZe" ("Mothers’ and Families’ Centre", with the abbreviation resembling the word "Mütze" – "cap") is to be found at the old Gymnasium. The "MütZe" takes upon itself a generation-spanning exchange for  all Ingelheim residents. A babysitter exchange, handicraft classes, breakfast and lunch, housework and holiday support are regularly offered, as well as courses and events covering every family theme from babies to health to creativity. Common welfare. In Ingelheim there are also a House of Youth ("Haus der Jugend", although this is soon to become a shopping centre and will be replaced with another House of Youth) and a "Mehrgenerationshaus". Culinary specialities. Regional Rhenish-Hessian specialities are asparagus and morello cherries (a cultivar of sour cherries). Economy and infrastructure. Transport. The Autobahn A 60 runs through the municipal area and has  two interchanges there. "Bundesstraße" 41 ends in Ingelheim. The Autobahnen A 61 and A 63 lie right nearby. Frankfurt Airport can be reached by Autobahn in roughly 30 minutes. Frankfurt-Hahn Airport can be reached in roughly 50 minutes by Autobahnen A 60 and A 61 or "Bundesstraße" 50. A Bus to Hahn can be caught in Mainz Ingelheim lies on the Mainz-Bingen-Cologne (West Rhine Railway) and Saarbrücken-Mainz-Frankfurt railway lines. Between Ingelheim-Nord and Oestrich-Winkel runs a Rhine ferry. The constituent communities and the surrounding municipalities are served by city and regional bus routes of  Omnibusverkehr Rhein-Nahe GmbH. The local rail transport is served by the "Rhein-Nahe-Nahverkehrsverbund". Agricultural produce. Of the 4,987-hectare municipal area, 641 ha is used for winegrowing and 1 373 ha is used for crops. The main agricultural produce is sour cherries, white asparagus and Wine. Although the town lies in a region dominated by white wine, 54.9% of the vineyard area in Ingelheim am Rhein is used for growing red wine varieties. With 641 ha in vineyards, the town is moreover one of Rhenish Hesse’s biggest winegrowing centres after Worms, (1,490 ha), Nierstein (783 ha), Alzey  (769 ha), Westhofen (764 ha), Alsheim (704 ha) and Bechtheim (654 ha), and one of the biggest in the whole state of Rhineland-Palatinate. "The red wines of Ingelheim and Heidesheim (…) opposite to Eltville (…) enjoy a high reputation." The Geisenheim Grape Breeding Institute’s vegetable farming department runs an experimental asparagus field in Ingelheim. The research results can be viewed on the Internet. Media. Local daily newspaper: "Allgemeine Zeitung Ingelheim" within the "Rhein Main Presse", published by the "Verlagsgruppe Rhein Main", Mainz. Municipal television: "Blickpunkt Ingelheim", which is broadcast every Monday and Thursday on regional channel K3. Public institutions. Since  1996, Ingelheim has been the seat of district administration for Mainz-Bingen. Education. Ingelheim is home to: Under the umbrella of the Ingelheim Further Education Centre "Weiterbildungszentrum Ingelheim" the following institutions work: See also. Universal Synod of Ingelheim