Bensheim () is a town in the Bergstraße district in southern Hessen, Germany. Bensheim lies on the Bergstraße and at the edge of the Odenwald mountains while at the same time having an open view over the Rhine plain. With about 40,000 inhabitants (2016), it is the district's biggest town.
Geography
Location The town lies at the eastern edge of the Rhine rift on the slopes of the western Odenwald on the Bergstraße. The nearest major cities are Darmstadt (some to the north), Heidelberg (some to the south), Worms (some to the west) and Mannheim (some to the southwest). The district seat of Heppenheim lies roughly to the south.
The Lauter flows through Bensheim, coming from the Lauter valley from the east, which after it passes through Bensheim is known as the Winkelbach. In the south of town runs the Meerbach, also coming from the Odenwald (but from the Zell valley). Mostly channelled underground and only coming above ground at the western edge of town is the Neuer Graben, or “New Channel”, which branches off the Lauter.
Neighbouring communities Bensheim borders in the north on the town of Zwingenberg and the communities of Alsbach-Hähnlein und Seeheim-Jugenheim (both in Darmstadt-Dieburg), in the east on the community of Lautertal, in the south on the town of Heppenheim and in the west on the town of Lorsch and the community of Einhausen.
Constituent communities
Bensheim is roughly subdivided thus: The main town east of the railway line (old town and outskirts) with many modern town expansion developments (for example the neighbourhoods of Brunnenweg, Metzendorf, Griesel, Meerbach and Hemsberg); The Weststadt (“West Town”) west of the railway line (for example the neighbourhoods of Port Arthur, Marokko, Leibweh and Kappesgärten); The outlying centre of Auerbach to the north of the main town on the Bergstraße; The outlying centres of Hochstädten, Schönberg, Wilmshausen, Gronau and Zell in the nearer Odenwald valleys; The outlying centres of Langwaden, Fehlheim and Schwanheim in the Hessisches Ried (part of the Rhine rift in Hesse).
Climate
Bensheim is especially well known, like other places along the Bergstraße as well, for its particularly mild and sunny climate with roughly 2,000 hours of sunshine yearly and Germany's earliest onset of spring. Under the Odenwald's protection, kiwifruit, almonds, figs and peaches thrive here, giving the Bergstraße the nickname “Germany’s Riviera”.
The town of Bensheim fosters almond tree cultivation, to name one example, in people's front gardens. Each year in Bensheim, there is even a Blütenkönigin (“Blossom Queen”). She is put forth every year by the Bensheim Automobile Club and for decades has been Bensheim's hallmark both within the country and abroad.
History Bensheim has grown out of a village that had its first documentary mention in the 8th century. In the 14th century, Bensheim was granted town rights. On 26 March 1945, shortly before American forces entered, much of the Old Town was destroyed by incendiary bombs.
Settlement history The South Hesse area was settled quite early on. The many finds from archaeological digs stretch back to the time of the Linear Pottery and Corded Ware cultures (roughly 2500 to 1500 BC), peoples who raised crops and livestock.
Middle Ages
In 765, Basinsheim had its first documentary mention in the Lorsch Abbey’s Codex Laureshamensis. Its founding may go back to a knight named Basinus, who received the rights to found a settlement.
The name changed from Basinsheim to Basinusheim and then to Besensheim, finally becoming Bensheim. Noteworthy is that town rights were granted early on by Emperor Otto I on 5 March 956. It can be inferred from the document text that Otto I, on the occasion of his stay in Frankfurt am Main, with his wife Adelheid’s intervention, awarded the Lorsch Abbey’s oldest market privilege. The concept, called publicae mercationes in the original, indicates the community, where public buying and selling was allowed. It still cannot be assumed that this led to a regular yearly or weekly market. Great parts of the town were destroyed in the siege of 1301 by King Albrecht I.
When Friedrich II enfeoffed the territory of the now derelict Lorsch Imperial Abbey to Archbishop Siegfried III of Eppstein, Bensheim became part of the Electorate of Mainz's domains and likely received town rights only a few decades later, which is, however, only proved by a certificate issued in 1320.
Early modern times
In today’s outlying centres of Auerbach and Schönberg, Bensheim borders on what were the Upper County – “Upper” here refers to geography, not rank – of the Counts of Katzenelnbogen and domains of the Schenken of Erbach. When the Katzenelnbogens died out in 1479, the Landgraviate of Hesse became a neighbour to the north. In 1532, the Erbachs were raised to counts and the County of Erbach became a neighbour to the east.
In the time of the pledging to the counts palatine of the Rhine from 1461 to 1650, Bensheim experienced a boom, but as a Palatinate town, however, it was embroiled in the Bavarian-Palatine war of succession in 1504, and for eleven days was unsuccessfully besieged by the Landgrave of Hesse, who was charged with the execution of the ban of the Empire, and his confederates, the Dukes Henry of Brunswick and Henry of Mecklenburg. From this year, two yearly markets and one weekly can be established; a third yearly market came in 1619.
With the introduction of the Reformation in the Landgraviate of Hesse in 1526 and in the County of Erbach in 1544, Bensheim got not only a territorial border with these neighbours, but also a denominational one.
The Thirty Years' War put an end to all the positive developments mentioned above. On 20 November 1644, Bensheim was occupied by French and Swedish troops, who were driven out again on 2 December by Bavarian units. Later, the legend of the Fraa vun Bensem arose (the “woman from Bensheim” is said to have led the Bavarians into town through a secret route). In 1650, after just under 200 years of being pledged to the Electorate of the Palatinate, Bensheim was once again redeemed by the Archbishopric of Mainz.
Modern times
By the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss in 1803, Bensheim passed to the Landgrave of Hesse-Darmstadt, who joined the Confederation of the Rhine in 1806 and was raised to Grand Duke. In 1822, there was a great fire in which 16 buildings were destroyed and 15 others were heavily damaged.
Bensheim became the seat of the Landratsbezirk (an administrative region) of Bensheim in the province of Starkenburg, which in 1832 was merged with the Landratsbezirk of Heppenheim to form the district of Bensheim (Kreis Bensheim) with Bensheim as its seat.
In 1918, the Grand Duke was removed and out of the Grand Duchy of Hesse the People's State of Hesse was formed. On 1 November 1938, the districts of Bensheim and Heppenheim were merged into one district, Kreis Bergstraße with Heppenheim as its seat. To offset Bensheim's loss of the status of district seat, the town got the district leadership of the Nazi Party.
During Kristallnacht on 9 November 1938, the synagogue was destroyed, while the one in Auerbach survived. In 1939, Auerbach, Schönberg and Zell were amalgamated, raising the population to just under 16,500. In Auerbach, a subcamp of Natzweiler-Struthof Concentration Camp was built.
On 24 March 1945, twelve people were taken to the Kirchberg (mountain) where they were murdered by the Gestapo. Two days later, on 26 March 1945, Saint George's Parish Church, the Town Hall and parts of the Old Town were destroyed by incendiary bombs. On 27 March, the town was occupied by United States troops. As the U.S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps agent, Henry Kissinger was the most important representative of the occupying power, after the official town commander.
In 1945, Bensheim passed to the newly formed state of Hesse.
After the Second World War ended in 1945, a displaced persons camp was established in Bensheim, first for Polish former forced labourers, later for Jewish displaced persons. The camp was dissolved in 1949.
In 1971, the population rose to some 34,000 with the amalgamation of Langwaden, Schwanheim, Fehlheim, Hochstädten, Gronau and Wilmshausen.
From 1859 to 1987 on the Nibelungenstraße towards Schönberg stood the Guntrum Bräu Bensheim brewery. In 1979, the brewery was taken over by Binding Bier Mainz, and then closed and torn down in 1987. Today, the former premises are home to a number of houses.
Politics
Town council
The municipal election held on 24 March 2021 yielded the following results: Parties and voter communities %2021Seats 2021 %2016Seats 2016 %2011 Seats2011 %2006 Seats2006 %2001 Seats2001CDUChristian Democratic Union of Germany31,871533,31536,41643,22043.120SPDSocial Democratic Party of Germany16,92717,5823,81129,51332.715 FDPFree Democratic Party8,9846,934,027,135.32 GLB Grüne Liste Bensheim --- ---14,1722,91013,6613.76GRÜNEBündnis 90/Die Grünen25,5211 --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ---FWGFreie Wählergemeinschaft Bensheim5,5633,015,736,635.22BFBBürger für Bensheim6,73311,857,23 --- --- --- ---AfDAlternative für Deutschland4,42213,36 --- --- --- --- --- ---Total1004510045100451004510045Voter turnout in %48,98 49,147.043.050.5 The Green List Bensheim (GLB) became a full member of the party Bündnis 90/Die Grünen and ran in the 2021 local elections as Bündnis 90/Die Grünen (Greens). The Magistrat (roughly “town executive”) is made up of nine councillors and the mayor Christine Klein. The full-time councillor is Nicole Rauber-Jung. The other seats are shared among the CDU (3), the SPD (1), Bündnis 90 Die Grünen (2) FDP (1) and the FWG (1).
Mayors When the Municipal Order of the Grand Duchy of Hesse came into force on 30 June 1821, Bensheim citizens were allowed to choose their mayor.
1822–1825: Philipp Meißel 1825–1837: Philipp Werle 1837–1840: Adam Fertig 1840–1857: Johannes Traupel 1857–1859: Joseph August Hainz 1860–1870: Franz Heinz 1871–1902: Aloys van Gries 1902–1912: Ignaz Frenay 1913–1922: Karl Löslein 1922–1933: Rudolf Angermeier 1933–1934: Heinrich Nachtigall 1934–1938: Georg Brückmann 1938–1945: Ernst Missler 1945–1945: Theodor Kräge 1945–1946: Willy Klapproth 1946–1954: Joseph Treffert, CDU 1954–1972: Wilhelm Kilian, CDU 1972–2002: Georg Stolle, CDU 2002–2014: Thorsten Herrmann, CDU 2014–2020: Rolf Richter, CDU 2020–incumbent: Christine Klein, SPD
Coat of arms The town's arms might be described thus: Gules a knight with kontos, held in both hands, and armour Or astride a steed salient argent, the whole sinister, below which a dragon statant reguardant sinister vert, the knight's kontos thrust through it.
The German blazon says that the kontos, or lance, is golden, and that the dragon is green, although the achievement shown here, whose source is the town administration itself, shows different tinctures for these two charges.
The red field refers to the Mainz coat of arms, as the town was owned by the Bishopric of Mainz until 1802. The knight slaying the dragon represents Saint George, who was said in earlier times to have been Bensheim's patron saint.
Town partnerships Beaune, Côte-d'Or, France, since 1960 Amersham, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom, since 1977 Mohács, Baranya County, Hungary, since 1987 Riva del Garda, Trentino, Italy, since 1989 Kłodzko, Lower Silesia, Poland, since 1996 Hostinné, Hradec Králové Region, Czech Republic, since 2002
Moreover, some outlying centres have their own separate partnerships.
Sponsorship On 29 April 1956, a Patenschaft (roughly, “sponsorship”) was set up for Sudeten Germans driven out of the town of Arnau (now Hostinné in the Czech Republic) on the Elbe in the Hohenelbe district.
Culture and sightseeing
Theatre