Weinheim is a town in the north west of the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany with 43,000 inhabitants, approximately 15 km (9 mi) north of Heidelberg and 10 km (6 mi) northeast of Mannheim. Together with these cities, it makes up the Rhine-Neckar triangle. It has the nickname "Zwei-Burgen-Stadt", or Two-Castle city ('Burg' means 'fortress'), named after the two fortresses on the hill overlooking the town in the east on the edge of the Odenwald, the Windeck and the Wachenburg. The city of Weinheim with said Wachenburg castle, built by German Student Corps fraternities in the early 1900s, is the location of the annual convention of the Weinheimer Senioren-Convent. Weinheim is situated on the Bergstraße theme route on the western rim of the Odenwald. The old town lies in the valley, with the new part of town further to the west. The Market Square is filled with numerous cafes, as well as the old Rathaus (guildhall). Further to the south is the Schlossgarten (Palace Garden) and the Exotenwald (Exotic Forest), which contains species of trees imported from around the world, but mostly from North America and Japan. Weinheim celebrated its 1250th anniversary in 2005. The earliest record of Weinheim dates back to 755 AD, when the name "Winenheim" was recorded in the Lorsch codex, the record book of Lorsch Abbey. In 1000 AD, Emperor Otto III bestowed Weinheim the right to hold markets, and in 1065 the right to mint and issue coins. A new town developed next to the old town from 1250. In 1308, the old town was transferred to the Electorate of the Palatinate. From 1368 onwards the whole town belonged to the Electorate of the Palatinate and the Heidelberg Oberamt district since the end of the 14th century. With the transfer to Baden in 1803, Weinheim became the seat of its own Amt, which was unified with Landkreis Mannheim in 1936. From 1938 onwards Weinheim belonged to Landkreis Mannheim until January 1, 1973, when the Rhein-Neckar-Kreis was formed. Windeck Castle, originally built around 1100 to protect the Lorsch monastery, it was badly damaged in the Thirty Years' War and by Louis XIV of France. Wachenburg Castle, built between 1907 and 1928 by student fraternities. The Market Square The Schloss, home of the town council Gerberbach Quarter, old haunt of the leather makers Schlosspark Waidsee Lido (Strandbad Waidsee), swimming beach on the Waidsee artificial lake Miramar (Weinheim) thermal spa and sauna complex, next to the Waidsee lake Strandbad Waidsee Exotenwald Weinheim, a forest arboretum Schau- und Sichtungsgarten Hermannshof, a botanical garden Weinheim's synagogue, which was destroyed during the Kristallnacht. Weinheim's town museum occupies what used to be the headquarters of the Teutonic Order in the town and holds exhibits about Weinheim and its surroundings: archaeology from the prehistoric through to the Merovingian dynasty, the highlight of which is the so-called "Nächstenbacher Bronze-find" of 76 objects from the late Bronze Age; displays documenting the Medieval and modern social history of the town and works from contemporary artists. February: High-jump Gala, with world class high-jumpers March: the Sommertagszug, a festival celebrating the coming of summer. May/June (near Ascension Day): day of the Weinheimer Senioren-Convents June–August: Weinheim's summer of culture June: Scheuerfest (barn party) in Ritschweier July: the Weinheim road race May–September: Kerwes in Rippenweier, Sulzbach, Lützelsachsen, Oberflockenbach und Hohensachsen August (second weekend thereof): Weinheim's Kerwe (Friday to Monday) September (first Friday-Sunday): Weinheimer UKW-Tagung, a three-day international amateur radio meeting held annually since 1956 October: Bergsträßer Winzerfest (lit. "mountain-road vintner festival") in Lützelsachsen Beltz Verlag Freudenberg Group Schlegel und Partner GmbH Kukident GmbH, Reckitt Benckiser AG Naturin OAGIS T-Systems ITS GmbH Wiley-VCH publishers 3 Glocken Weinheimer Nachrichten Druckhaus Diesbach SAP SE Domaniecki Carpetence DLCON Weinheim has two main train stations on the Main-Neckar Railway, these being Weinheim (Bergstraße) station (served by Regional and long-distance IC trains) and Lützelsachsen (served by Regional trains). These provide connections to Frankfurt, Hamburg and other destinations within Germany. Deutsche Bahn Rhein-Neckar Verkehr [1]Weinheim is also served by the OEG tramway, which is used daily by people who use this to commute to the cities of Mannheim and Heidelberg. The closest airports to Weinheim are: Frankfurt Airport Baden Airpark Weinheim is twinned with: Ramat Gan, Israel These are the population figures for particular years. There are drawn from guesses, 'Volkszählungsergebnisse (semi-official figures, demarcated by a ¹) and official statistics based on place of residence (Hauptwohnsitz). ¹ These are taken from a Volkszählungsergebnes. The town of Weinheim has made the following people honorary citizens (Ehrenbürger): 1894: Carl Johann Freudenberg, Geheimer Kommerzienrat (royal economist) 1904: Erhard Bissinger, Consul general 1913: Aute Bode, chief engineer and the architect behind the Wachenburg 1918: Hermann Ernst Freudenberg, Geheimer Kommerzienrat (royal economist) 1922: Georg Friedrich Vogler, vice-mayor 1923: Adam Karrillon, doctor and author 1928: Emil Hartmann, construction engineer 1928: Prof. Arthur Wienkoop, Architect 1933: Paul von Hindenburg, German President 1940: Georg Peter Nickel, agriculturist 1949: Richard Freudenberg, factory owner 1953: Hans Freudenberg, factory owner 1954: Sepp Herberger, sports trainer, trainer of the German World Cup winning side of 1954 1962: Wilhelm Brück, Lord Mayor 1986: Theo Gießelmann, Lord Mayor 2004: Dieter Freudenberg, factory owner 2004: Wolfgang Daffinger, mayor, representative in the Landtag 2005: Uwe Kleefoot, Lord Mayor Friedrich Rauch (1786-1829), colonel who fought and died in Argentina Heinrich Hübsch (1795–1863), head of public works Karl Seidenadel (1829–1894), translator of Greek works Philipp Bickel (1829–1914), baptist theologian and publisher Friedrich August Bender (1847–1926), chemist and entrepreneur Wilhelm Platz (1866–1929), factory owner and author Richard Freudenberg (1892–1975), DDP MP, MdB, for a long time one of the town's aldermen and benefactors Erwin Linder (1903–1968), actor and voice actor Heidi Mohr (born 1967), national football player Ralf Sonn (born 1967), high jumper Markus Kuhn (born 1986), currently plays for the NY Giants in the NFL Ingrid Noll (born 1935), writer (e.g. "Die Apothekerin"), lived in Weinheim. Karl Friedrich Bender (1806–1869), theologian, teacher, principal of the Erziehungsanstalt für Knaben (boys' school)