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).
Panorama of 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 Mainzer Berg [de] ("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 Westerberg [de] 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.[3]
Municipal area’s extent
The municipal area's north-south extent is 7.9 km, while the east-west extent is 5 km.
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.
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.
Burgkirche – "Castle Church" – the town's landmark
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.
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.
Population development
Before 1939
Year
Nieder-Ingelheim
Ober-Ingelheim
Frei-Weinheim
total
1815
1,360
1,738
192
3,290
1871
5,760
1885
2,729
3,160
701
6,590
1900
3,435
3,402
838
7,675
1905
8,098
1910
3,852
3,479
882
8,213
1933
5,157
4,116
1,183
10,456
1939
5,526
4,309
1,200
11,035
Groß-Winternheim in March 2009Schloss Westerhaus on the Westerberg, since 1900 owned by the Family Opel
Beginning in 1939
Year
Population
1939
11,035
1945
11,348
1946
11,875¹
1949
12,500
1955
15,078
1/1/1957
15,428
1961
15,792
early 1966
~19,000
1970
18,719
1971
21,501
1972
22,534
1974
23,323
Year
Population
1975
19,224
1980
20,855
1985
21,712
1990
22,111
1995
24,747
1997
25,683
2000
25,840
2001
25,764
2002
25,954
2003
26,153
2004
26,289
2019
35,193
¹: Census
Imposts in the church's apseIngelheim Nord (Frei-Weinheim)
Politics
Town council
The municipal election held in 2004 yielded the following results:
On 24 October 1975, the three-way partnership between Ingelheim, Autun and Stevenage was officially sealed.
Culture and sightseeing
kING culture centre
kING from the street
Ingelheim has a multi-purpose culture centre, named kING, located close to the station.
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.[7]
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:
Carneval-Verein "Wäschbächer" 1885
Carnevalverein Frei-Weinheim
Ingelheimer Carnevalverein
Narrenclub Ingelheim 1987 ("Fools’ Club")
Music
Further Education Centre Symphony Orchestra
Ingelheimer Konfettis (performing and singing group)
Ingelheim church choir
Bläserchöre Ingelheim (wind choirs)
Carolus Magnus-Ingelheimer Kaiserpfalzbläser (wind ensemble)
Telemann-Chor Ingelheim (choir)
Singing clubs
GV Liederkranz 1857
GV Einigkeit 1885
GV Germania 1862
MGV 1866
Schubert-Quartett 1924 e.V.
Boehringer Jazz & Pop Chor 2009
Buildings
The town has at its disposal a range of historical buildings worth seeing:
Burgkirche
Ober-Ingelheim Old Town Hall
Evangelical Church, built in 997 as Saint Peter's Chapel of the Imperial Palace.
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).
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.
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.
Regular events
Since 1972 there has been a yearly folk music event, the Eurofolkfestival Ingelheim, on the Burgkirche Fairgrounds. It is said to be one of the successor festivals to the famous Waldeck-Festivals. A great number of the visitors are people from the hippie culture and youths from the local area and from throughout Germany. The number of visitors varies from 2,000 to 3,000. It is usually held between mid-June and mid-July and always lasts from Friday to Sunday. Out of the Eurofolkfestival grew the OpenOhr Festival (a youth cultural festival) in Mainz in 1974 and 1975.
Hafenfest auf der Jungau ("Harbour Festival on the Jungau"), each year in early August.
Ingelheimer Rotweinfest ("Ingelheim Red Wine Festival") on the Burgkirche Fairgrounds, is held each year from the last weekend in September to the first weekend in October.
Kerb in Groß-Winternheim ("kermis, or church consecration festival"), second weekend in September
Internationale Tage ("International Days"), each year since 1959. Organized for Boehringer Ingelheim by François Lachenal till 1997.till 2000 curated by Patricia Rochat and since then by Ulrich Luckhardt.
Umsonst-und-drinnen, international music festival for new blood groups.
Kinderfest der DPSG Ingelheim ("Ingelheim DPSG Children’s Festival"), each year on Ascension Day since 1969 on the Jungau in Frei-Weinheim.
Entekerb ("Harvest Kermis"), in October in Frei-Weinheim.
Altstadtfest ("Old Town Festival"), second weekend in August, staged by NCI
Fest der Generationen, second Saturday in September around the old Gymnasium, staged by the MütZe
The AutobahnA 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.
Envision Entertainment GmbH, formerly EA Phenomic, a video game developer
Goldener Engel, brewery
Karl Gemünden, building company
Rheinhessische Energie- und Wasserversorgungs-GmbH, energy and water supply
Vereinigte Obst- und Gemüsemärkte (VOG), Europe's biggest transshipment centre for sour cherries
WetterKontor, supplier of weather information
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."[3]
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.[8]
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:
three primary schools (Präsident-Mohr-Grundschule, Theodor-Heuss-Grundschule, Brüder-Grimm-Grundschule)
a combination primary school and Hauptschule (Pestalozzi-Grund- u. Hauptschule)
a professional college, die BBS Ingelheim
a school for those with learning difficulties (Albert-Schweitzer-Sonderschule)
Hans-Georg Meyer; Gerd Mentgen: Sie sind mitten unter uns: zur Geschichte der Juden in Ingelheim. Ingelheim 1998 ISBN3-924124-29-9
Friedrich, Reinhard [Hrsg.]: Karl der Große in Ingelheim: Bauherr der Pfalz und europäischer Staatsmann; Katalog zur Ausstellung im Alten Rathaus Nieder-Ingelheim, 29. August bis 27. September 1998. Ingelheim 1998. ISBN3-00-003290-8
Landesamt für Vermessung und Geobasisinformation Rheinland-Pfalz: Ingelheim am Rhein. Topographische Karte 6014 (1:25.000). ISBN3-89637-076-6
Documents
picture of Oberingelheim from J.F. Dielmann, A. Fay, J. Becker (draughtsman): F.C. Vogels Panorama des Rheins, Bilder des rechten und linken Rheinufers, Lithographische Anstalt F.C. Vogel, Frankfurt 1833
