Neckargemünd (; ) is a town in Germany, in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, state of Baden-Württemberg. It lies on the Neckar, 10 km upriver from Heidelberg at the confluence with the river Elsenz. This confluence of the two rivers is the origin of the name, as Neckargemünd means confluence of the Neckar. As of 2006, there were 14,122 inhabitants.
History The region has been occupied by people for a half a million years as shown by the find of Homo heidelbergensis in nearby Mauer in 1907. Stone shards and stone axes have been found from the Early Stone Age. During Roman times the area was settled by Celts and Suebi. Grave stones from the 2nd and 3rd century in Kleingemünd show Celtic names. From the end of the 5th century the Franks held sway over the region. An iron spear tip and two iron arrow heads were left behind in Neckargemünd.
Neckargemünd was founded in the 10th century, most likely as a fishing village. Neckargemünd was first mentioned by name in documents in 988. Otto III, Holy Roman Emperor enfeoffed Hildebald, Bishop of Worms, with the royal forests around Wimpfen and Neckarbischofsheim. Neckargemünd was named as the northwest corner of this area: a loco Gemundi ubi Elisinzia fluvius influit Neccaro fluvio. The counts of Lauffen also played a role in the region after making Dilsberg the seat of their domain. Neckargemünd became a free town in 1286. In 1395 it passed to the elector palatine and, together with the surrounding district, became part of Baden in 1814.
Population development Neckargemünd with Kleingemünd Year 1439 1577 1688 1727 1818 1852 1905 1939 1965 PopulationKreisbeschreibung Bd. 2 S. 741: Neckargemünd mit Kleingemünd, ohne Dilsberg, Mückenloch und Waldhilsbach. 295 855 550 877 1956 2702 2637 3862 8107
Neckargemünd with current boroughs Year 1961 1970 1991 1995 2005 2010 2015 Population 10.120 11.763 14.562 14.559 14.280 13.905 13.369
Boroughs Neckargemünd includes a number of boroughs (Ortsteile) not part of the core settlement Neckargemünd. Kleingemünd (1 January 1907) – independent from 1860 until 1906 Dilsberg (1 January 1973) - a small historic village with a medieval castle ruin, the village includes Neuhof, Dilsbergerhof and Rainbach Waldhilsbach (1 January 1974) Mückenloch (1 January 1975)
Mayors 1855–1861: Georg Reibold 1862–1867: Julius Friedrich Menzer 1867–1873: Carl Heckmann 1873–1899: Carl Thilo 1899–1902: Carl Wittmann 1903–1909: Franz Heeg 1909–1910: Wilhelm Steinbrunn 1910–1917: Georg Schneider 1917–1919: Carl Kirchmayer 1919–1928: Dr. Emil Leist 1928–1939: Georg Müßig 1939–1942: Wilhelm Cloos 1942–1945: Gottfried Kramer (first vice mayor, then mayor) 1945–1948: Georg Lampertsdörfer 1948–1966: Heinrich Held (1948–1951 temporary) 1966–1984: Kurt Schieck 1984–2000: Oskar Schuster 2000-2016: Horst Althoff (CDU) 2016–2024: Frank Volk 2024-2032: Jan Peter Seidel
Twin towns – sister cities
Neckargemünd is twinned with: Evian-les-Bains, France (1970) Missoula, United States (1993) Jindřichův Hradec, Czech Republic (1996) Romeno, Italy (1996)
Neckargemünd also has friendly relations with Valeč in the Czech Republic.
Notable people Rainer Ohlhauser (born 1941), footballer
References
External links Official Website