Ludwigshafen

Early history

In antiquity, Celtic and Germanic tribes settled in the Rhine Neckar area. During the 1st century B.C. the Romans conquered the region, and a Roman auxiliary fort was constructed near the present suburb of Rheingönheim.

The Middle Ages saw the foundation of some of Ludwigshafen's future suburbs, including Oggersheim, Maudach, Oppau, and Mundenheim. Most of the area, however, remained swampland, with its development hindered by seasonal flooding of the Rhine.

The Rheinschanze

Rheinschanze c. 1750

The Rhine Neckar region was part of the territory of the Prince-elector of the Kurpfalz, or Electorate of the Palatinate, one of the larger states within the Holy Roman Empire. The foundation of the new capital of the Kurpfalz, Mannheim, was a decisive influence on the development of the area as a whole. Parallel to the foundation of Mannheim in 1606, a fortress (die Rheinschanze) was built by Frederick IV, Elector Palatine on the other side of the Rhine to protect the City of Mannheim, thus forming the nucleus of the City of Ludwigshafen itself.

In the 17th century, the region was devastated and depopulated during the Thirty Years' War, and also in King Louis XIV of France’s wars of conquest in the later part of the century.

It was only in the 18th century, that the settlements around the Rheinschanze began to prosper, profiting from the proximity of the capital Mannheim. Oggersheim in particular gained some importance, after the construction of both a small palace serving as secondary residence for the Elector, and the famous pilgrimage church, Wallfahrtskirche. For some weeks in 1782, the great German writer and playwright Friedrich Schiller lived in Oggersheim, on flight from his native Württemberg.

War returned to the Ludwigshafen area with the armies of the French Revolution. The palace at Oggersheim was burned down, Mannheim besieged several times, and all the area west of the Rhine annexed by France from 1798 to 1813. The Electorate of the Palatinate was split up. The eastern bank of the Rhine with Mannheim and Heidelberg was given to Baden, while the western bank (including the Ludwigshafen area) was granted to the Kingdom of Bavaria, following the Wars of Liberation (1813—1815), in which the French were expelled. The Rhine had become a frontier and the Rheinschanze, cut off politically from Mannheim, lost its function as the neighbouring city's military bulwark.

Foundation

Ludwig I of Bavaria

In 1808, during the French occupation, Carl Hornig of Mannheim purchased the fortress from the French authorities and turned it into a way station for passing river traffic. Later, the Rheinschanze with its winter-proof harbour basin (created by a flood in 1824) was used as trading post. Hornig died in 1819, but Johann Heinrich Scharpff, a businessman from Speyer, continued Hornig's plans, which were then turned over to his son-in-law, Philipp Markus Lichtenberger, in 1830. Their activities marked the beginning of the civilian use of the Rheinschanze.

The year 1844 was the official birth of Ludwigshafen, when Lichtenberger sold this property to the state of Bavaria (Bayern), and the military title of the fortress was finally removed. The Bavarian king, Ludwig I, set forth plans to rename the settlement after himself and to start construction of an urban area as a Bavarian rival to Mannheim on the opposite bank.

During the failed German revolution of 1848 rebels captured Ludwigshafen, but they were bombarded from Mannheim (rumours said the Mannheimers didn't aim at the revolutionaries, but on the rival harbour's infrastructure), and Prussian troops quickly expelled the revolutionaries. On December 27, 1852, King Maximilian II granted Ludwigshafen am Rhein political freedom and as on November 8, 1859, the settlement gained city status.

Industry and growth of population

BASF, 1866

At its founding Ludwigshafen was still a very modest settlement with just 1,500 inhabitants. Real growth began with industrialization, and gained enormous momentum in Ludwigshafen due to its ideal transport facilities. In addition to its excellent position and harbor facilities on the Rhine, a railway connecting Ludwigshafen with the Saar coalfields was completed in 1849.^[7]

The year 1865 was an important date in the history of independent Ludwigshafen. After several discussions, BASF decided to move its factories from Mannheim to the Hemshof district, which belonged to Ludwigshafen. From then on, the city's rapid growth and wealth were linked to BASF's success and its expansion into becoming one of the world's most important chemical companies. Ludwigshafen also became home to several other rapidly growing chemical companies, including Friedrich Raschig GmbH, the Benckiser company (founded by Johann Benckiser), Giulini Brothers, Grünzweig&Hartmann AG, and Knoll AG [de].

With more jobs available, the population of Ludwigshafen increased rapidly. In 1899 the city was governing more than 62,000 residents (compared to 1,500 in 1852).

This population explosion looked quite “American” to contemporaries; it determined Ludwigshafen's character as a “worker's city”, and created problematic shortages of housing and real estate. The solution was the expansion of the municipal area and the incorporation of the two nearest villages, Friesenheim and Mundenheim, in the years 1892 and 1899. In the area between the city centre and those two suburbs new quarters (“North” and “South”) were built after (then) modern urban development plans. Because the ground was marshy and too low to be protected from Rhine floods, all the new houses were built on raised ground, sometimes as high as 5 metres above the original ground. Visitors can see the original ground level in many backyards of Ludwigshafen, which are sometimes two floors below street level.

World War I through World War II

During World War I (1914–1918), Ludwigshafen's industrial plants played a key role in Germany's war economy, producing chemical ingredients for munitions, as well as much of the poison gas used on the Western Front. This contributed to Ludwigshafen, on May 27, 1915, being the target of the world's first strategic aerial bombardment. French aircraft attacked the BASF plants, killing twelve people and setting the precedent for the age to come.

When the war was lost by Germany in 1918, the left bank of the Rhine was occupied by French troops, in accordance with the terms of the peace agreement. The French occupation lasted until 1930, and some of Ludwigshafen's most elegant houses were erected for the officers of the French garrison.

The economic recovery of the 1920s was marred by one of the worst industrial explosions in history when, on Sept. 21, 1921, a BASF storage silo in Oppau blew up, killing more than 500 people, injuring a further 2,000, and destroying countless buildings.

Despite this setback, Ludwigshafen reached a population of 100,000 in 1922, thus gaining "City" status. It prospered until the worldwide economic crisis of 1929, which brought unemployment, labor trouble, political strife, and the rise of the Nazis.

The Nazi party had few followers and votes in working-class-dominated Ludwigshafen, but succeeded in enforcing their policies. Many small houses with gardens were built, especially in the Gartenstadt. Further, similar to Nazi plans in other cities (e.g. Hamburg), they aimed at creating a "Greater Ludwigshafen" by agglomerating smaller towns and villages in the vicinity. Thus Oggersheim, Oppau, Edigheim, Rheingönheim, and Maudach became suburbs of Ludwigshafen, raising its population to 135,000. The Ludwigshafen synagogue was destroyed in 1938 and its Jewish population of 1,400^[8] was deported in 1940.

During the Oil Campaign of World War II, the Allies conducted bombing of Ludwigshafen and Oppau. Thirteen thousand Allied bombers hit the city in 121 separate raids during the war, of which 56 succeeded in hitting the IG Farben plant. Those 56 raids dropped 53,000 bombs each containing 250 to 4,000 pounds of high explosives, plus 2.5 million 4-pound magnesium incendiary bombs (the bombers also dropped millions of leaflets warning the civilians to evacuate the city, plus counterfeit ration coupons). Repairs took longer and longer as spare parts became more difficult to find. By December 1944, so much damage had been done to vital utilities that output dropped to nearly zero. Follow-up raids every week ended production permanently. By the end of the war most dwellings had been destroyed or damaged; 1,800 people had died, and 3,000 were injured.^[9]

The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Ludwigshafen in March 1945. The US 12th Armored Division and 94th Infantry Division captured Ludwigshafen against determined German resistance in house-to-house and block-to-block urban combat during 21–24 March 1945.^[10]

Post-war rebuilding

Post-war, Ludwigshafen was part of the French occupation zone, becoming part of the newly founded Bundesland (state) of Rheinland-Pfalz and thus part of the Federal Republic of Germany. Reconstruction of the devastated city and revival of the economy was supported by the Allies, especially by American aid. In 1948, the "Pasadena Shares Committee" sent packages of blankets, clothing, food, and medicines to help the residents of post-war Ludwigshafen. Many friendships started to form, so that in 1956, Ludwigshafen am Rhein and Pasadena, California became sister cities.

Large parts of the city were literally ruined, which were rebuilt in the architectural style of the 1950s and 1960s. The most important projects were the Hochstraßen (highways on stilts), the revolutionary new main station (then the most modern station in Europe), several tower blocks and a whole new suburb, the satellite quarter Pfingstweide north of Edigheim.

The city's economic wealth allowed social benefits and institutions to be introduced. The population number reached its all-time climax in 1970 with more than 180,000 inhabitants, thus surpassing even the capital of Rheinland-Pfalz, Mainz, for a while.

Financial crisis

In the early 1970s, a plan to reform the composition of the German Bundesländer, which would have created a new state around a united Mannheim-Ludwigshafen as capital with more than half a million inhabitants, failed.

Nevertheless, further ambitious projects were financed in Ludwigshafen, first of all the 15-floor city hall with its linked-up shopping centre (Rathaus Center). The last (up to now) new incorporated suburb was Ruchheim in 1974.

But then a process began that accelerated during the 1980s and 1990s and caused the financial near-collapse of Ludwigshafen. The enormous maintenance costs of the buildings and institutions introduced during the "fat time", new tax regulations that cut down the trade tax profits from the local industries, and thousands of dismissals in BASF were the main causes for the city's crisis. Loss of population due to the loss of working places and general economic trends, such as the oil crises, further worsened Ludwigshafen's financial situation at the end of the 20th century.

The negative aspects of industrial success became obvious when examinations revealed the bad state of air and the Rhine due to pollution. There had always been some stench or dirt all over the city, caused by BASF and other plants, and as long as the industry had prospered, people had accepted it. Besides that, the concrete constructions that had been so modern after the war and had a formative influence on today's cityscape were increasingly considered as obsolete.

Contemporary Ludwigshafen

View from west over Edigheim and Oppau to the BASF Ludwigshafen

In recent years, many efforts have been made to enhance Ludwigshafen's image in the media. The city administration has cut down its deficit by cutting down social payments and maintenance, pollution has been (not least by BASF) restricted, the formerly rotten Hemshof quarter has been restored.

In 2008, a fire broke out in a building where many ethnic Turks lived.^[11] 9 people died, all of them Turks and 5 of them children. It was believed to be an arsonist attack, however this was found to be not true.^[12]

One of the most annoying faults of Ludwigshafen – at least for many of the city's inhabitants - was its comparative lack of high-quality shopping possibilities. It has attempted to repair this deficiency by creating a second large shopping mall on the southern tip of the city centre (the Walzmühle near Berliner Platz) with affiliated railway station (Ludwigshafen-Mitte). In addition, another shopping mall on the banks of the Rhine, the Rhein-Galerie, was completed in September 2010.

Ludwigshafen has enormous importance as an industrial city.

Discover more about History related topics

Ancient history

Ancient history

Ancient history is a time period from the beginning of writing and recorded human history to as far as late antiquity. The span of recorded history is roughly 5,000 years, beginning with the Sumerian cuneiform script. Ancient history covers all continents inhabited by humans in the period 3000 BC – AD 500. The three-age system periodizes ancient history into the Stone Age, the Bronze Age, and the Iron Age, with recorded history generally considered to begin with the Bronze Age. The start and end of the three ages varies between world regions. In many regions the Bronze Age is generally considered to begin a few centuries prior to 3000 BC, while the end of the Iron Age varies from the early first millennium BC in some regions to the late first millennium AD in others.

Germanic peoples

Germanic peoples

The Germanic peoples were historical groups of people that once occupied Central Europe and Scandinavia during antiquity and into the early Middle Ages. Since the 19th century, they have traditionally been defined by the use of ancient and early medieval Germanic languages and are thus equated at least approximately with Germanic-speaking peoples, although different academic disciplines have their own definitions of what makes someone or something "Germanic". The Romans named the area belonging to North-Central Europe in which Germanic peoples lived Germania, stretching East to West between the Vistula and Rhine rivers and north to south from Southern Scandinavia to the upper Danube. In discussions of the Roman period, the Germanic peoples are sometimes referred to as Germani or ancient Germans, although many scholars consider the second term problematic since it suggests identity with present-day Germans. The very concept of "Germanic peoples" has become the subject of controversy among contemporary scholars. Some scholars call for its total abandonment as a modern construct since lumping "Germanic peoples" together implies a common group identity for which there is little evidence. Other scholars have defended the term's continued use and argue that a common Germanic language allows one to speak of "Germanic peoples", regardless of whether these ancient and medieval peoples saw themselves as having a common identity.

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome

In modern historiography, Ancient Rome refers to Roman civilisation from the founding of the Italian city of Rome in the 8th century BC to the collapse of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. It encompasses the Roman Kingdom, Roman Republic and Roman Empire until the fall of the western empire.

Middle Ages

Middle Ages

In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and transitioned into the Renaissance and the Age of Discovery. The Middle Ages is the middle period of the three traditional divisions of Western history: classical antiquity, the medieval period, and the modern period. The medieval period is itself subdivided into the Early, High, and Late Middle Ages.

Prince-elector

Prince-elector

The prince-electors, or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire.

Holy Roman Empire

Holy Roman Empire

The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars.

Frederick IV, Elector Palatine

Frederick IV, Elector Palatine

Frederick IV, Elector Palatine of the Rhine, only surviving son of Louis VI, Elector Palatine and Elisabeth of Hesse, called "Frederick the Righteous".

Thirty Years' War

Thirty Years' War

The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle, famine, and disease, while some areas of what is now modern Germany experienced population declines of over 50%. Related conflicts include the Eighty Years' War, the War of the Mantuan Succession, the Franco-Spanish War, and the Portuguese Restoration War.

Friedrich Schiller

Friedrich Schiller

Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendship with the already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. They frequently discussed issues concerning aesthetics, and Schiller encouraged Goethe to finish works that he had left as sketches. This relationship and these discussions led to a period now referred to as Weimar Classicism. They also worked together on Xenien, a collection of short satirical poems in which both Schiller and Goethe challenge opponents of their philosophical vision.

French Revolution

French Revolution

The French Revolution was a period of radical political and societal change in France that began with the Estates General of 1789 and ended with the formation of the French Consulate in November 1799. Many of its ideas are considered fundamental principles of liberal democracy, while the values and institutions it created remain central to French political discourse.

Heidelberg

Heidelberg

Heidelberg is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students.

Baden

Baden

Baden is a historical territory in South Germany, in earlier times on both sides of the Upper Rhine but since the Napoleonic Wars only East of the Rhine.

Centre

• 
• 

  Wilhelm Hack Museum of Art. "Miró-Wand" mural (1971) by Joan Miró, in collaboration with the Catalan ceramist Joan Gardy Artigas.

• 

  Pfalzbau concert hall and theater. In the foreground: "Pfalzsäule" (Palatinate Column, 1968), by the Munich artist Blasius Spreng and the local artist Ernst W. Kunz.

• 

  Berliner Platz. In the foreground: "Conversation II" (1999), kinetic sculpture by the American sculptor, George Rickey.

The city centre of Ludwigshafen is comparatively small and dominated by post-war buildings. Its northern and southern boundaries are the Hochstraßen (highways on stilts), the Rhine is in the East and the main station is located in the West of downtown Ludwigshafen, at a walking distance of about 15 minutes from the central pedestrian precinct Bismarckstraße that forms, together with the shopping mile Ludwigsstraße, the main North-South Axis, connecting the so-called “North Pole” with the Rathaus Center and the “South Pole” with Berliner Platz, the Walzmühle shopping centre and Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Mitte station. The main east–west connections are the Bahnhofsstraße and Kaiser-Wilhelm-Straße. The Pfalzbau, Staatsphilharmonie, Wilhelm-Hack-Museum and the half-destroyed monument Lutherkirche are main features of downtown Ludwigshafen.

South

• 

  Position

• 

  Pegeluhr

• 

  Harbour

• 

  Südwestplatz

The Südliche Innenstadt or “southern city centre” (ca. 29,000 inhabitants) includes the real city centre as described above and the Stadtteil Süd or “South” quarter. “South” has some of the most attractive residential areas, especially the Parkinsel area. Other sub-quarters of “South” are the Musikantenviertel or the Malerviertel. In a few years, there will be one more highly prized residential area (“Rheinufer Süd”) on the Rhine near the Walzmühle on former industrial estates.

North

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  Position

• 

  Europaplatz

• 

  Landratsamt

• 

  Municipal Clinic (Städtisches Klinikum), with the sculpture "Ring des Seyns" (The Ring of Being, 1998) by the Japanese conceptual artist, Kazuo Katase

The Nördliche Innenstadt (ca. 22,000 inhabitants) includes the Hemshof, “North” and “West” districts. Hemshof and “North” represent the “old town” of Ludwigshafen, they are known for their very high proportion of foreign inhabitants, making them culturally diverse. ”West” (also called Valentin-Bauer-Siedlung) is located between main station and main cemetery.

Friesenheim

• 

  Position

• 

  Detail of the Eberthalle, an exhibition and concert hall dating from 1965

• 

  The Friedrich-Ebert-Halle (Eberthalle for short), general view, built by the Viennese architect, Roland Rainer, in 1965

• 

  Ebertpark

Friesenheim (ca. 18,000 inhabitants) is located north of Hemshof and is one of the two (the other one being Mundenheim) “mother villages” of Ludwigshafen, because they were responsible for the administration of Ludwigshafen prior to its independence. Helmut Kohl was born in Friesenheim. Its western district, the Froschlache, boasts four impressive tower blocks.

Oppau

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  Position

• 

  Catholic church

• 

  BASF bicycles

• 

  1921 memorial

Oppau (ca. 10,000 inhabitants) in the North is dominated by the nearby BASF and had once been a town of its own prior to its incorporation into Ludwigshafen. In its history, it has been afflicted by several catastrophes like the explosion of 1921 and the flood of 1882.

Edigheim

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  Position

• 

  Church

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  Water tower

• 

  Street

Edigheim (ca. 9,000 inhabitants) had once been a part of Oppau in the South, today ist almost as large as Oppau.

The Pfingstweide (ca. 6,000 inhabitants) is Ludwigshafen's northernmost district; it is dominated by tower blocks and is located in close vicinity to Frankenthal.

Gartenstadt

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  Position

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  Hospital

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  Kindergarten

• 

  Church

The Gartenstadt (ca. 18,000 inhabitants), west of Mundenheim, is (as the name “garden city” suggests) a very green suburb, dominated by flat roofed houses and some tower blocks. Its sub-districts are Niederfeld, Hochfeld and Ernst-Reuter-Siedlung.

Mundenheim

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  Position

• 

  Triport

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  Cemetery chapel

• 

  Nursing home

Mundenheim (ca. 13,000 inhabitants) is a very old suburb, it boasts its own railway station, an extensive industrial area near the harbour. A sub-district is the Herderviertel in Mundenheim's North.

Oggersheim

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  Position

• 

  Wallfahrtskirche

• 

  The "Privatbrauerei Gebrüder Mayer" (Meyer Brother's Private Brewery), founded in 1846 and still going strong

• 

  Friedrich Schiller

Oggersheim (ca. 23,000 inhabitants) is one of the most important suburbs, being much like a town for itself (which it was in the Middle Ages). It is mentioned in the Wormser wall-building ordinance from around 900 as one of the places that shared responsibility for maintaining the city wall of Worms.^[14]

Helmut Kohl owned a bungalow in southern Oggersheim. The Wallfahrtskirche, a railway station, the important Unfallklinik (“accident hospital”), and several large residential blocks are to be found in Oggersheim. For the last few years, the northern subdistricts of Notwende and Melm have seen a large amount of building activities in their new housing estates.

Rheingönheim

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  Position

• 

  Wildpark

• 

  Wildpark

• 

  Catholic church

Rheingönheim (ca 7,000 inhabitants), as the southernmost suburb of Ludwigshafen, is known mainly for its industry (Woellner) and its game enclosure Wildpark.

Maudach

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  Location

• 

  The centre

• 

  Castle

• 

  Maudacher Bruch

Maudach (ca. 7,000 inhabitants), in Ludwigshafen's South-West, is a popular residential area, closely associated with the Maudacher Bruch park.

Ruchheim

• 

  Position

• 

  Paul Münch

• 

  Former townhall

Ruchheim (ca. 6,000 inhabitants), as the westernmost suburb, has long been a small agricultural village, but now it is growing rapidly due to new housing estates.

Discover more about Districts related topics

Joan Miró

Joan Miró

Joan Miró i Ferrà was a Spanish painter, sculptor and ceramicist born in Barcelona. He was known as Joan Miró in the art recognition. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona in 1975, and another, the Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró, was established in his adoptive city of Palma in 1981.

George Rickey

George Rickey

George Warren Rickey was an American kinetic sculptor.

Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Hauptbahnhof

Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Hauptbahnhof

Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Hauptbahnhof is a railway station at Ludwigshafen am Rhein in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. A combination of a wedge-shaped station and a two-level interchange, the station is at the junction on the lines from Mainz and Neustadt an der Weinstrasse to Mannheim. It is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 2 station. The Ludwigshafen station was built in 1847 as a terminal station in the centre of modern Ludwigshafen. The current station was built in 1969 to the west of the city centre, but has not proved to be a success due to its poor location.

Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Mitte station

Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Mitte station

The Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Mitte station is in the southern part of the centre of the city of Ludwigshafen am Rhein in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was established in 2003 and is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 4 station.

Lutherkirche, Wiesbaden

Lutherkirche, Wiesbaden

The Lutherkirche is one of four main Protestant churches in Wiesbaden, the capital of Hesse, Germany. It was built between 1908 and 1910 in Jugendstil and in accordance with the Wiesbadener Programm, to a design by Friedrich Pützer. With two organs and good acoustics, it is also a concert venue.

Oppau explosion

Oppau explosion

The Oppau explosion occurred on September 21, 1921, when approximately 4,500 metric tons of a mixture of ammonium sulfate and ammonium nitrate fertilizer stored in a tower silo exploded at a BASF plant in Oppau, now part of Ludwigshafen, Germany, killing 500–600 people and injuring about 2,000 more.

Friedrich Schiller

Friedrich Schiller

Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller was a German playwright, poet, and philosopher. During the last seventeen years of his life (1788–1805), Schiller developed a productive, if complicated, friendship with the already famous and influential Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. They frequently discussed issues concerning aesthetics, and Schiller encouraged Goethe to finish works that he had left as sketches. This relationship and these discussions led to a period now referred to as Weimar Classicism. They also worked together on Xenien, a collection of short satirical poems in which both Schiller and Goethe challenge opponents of their philosophical vision.

Descriptio Wormatiensis civitatis

Descriptio Wormatiensis civitatis

The Descriptio Wormatiensis civitatis, also known as the Wormser Mauerbauordnung, is an ordinance from about 900 concerning the maintenance of the city wall of Worms, Germany.

Worms, Germany

Worms, Germany

Worms is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about 60 km (40 mi) south-southwest of Frankfurt am Main. It had about 82,000 inhabitants as of 2015.

Helmut Kohl

Helmut Kohl

Helmut Josef Michael Kohl was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longest of any German chancellor since Otto von Bismarck, and oversaw the end of the Cold War, the German reunification and the creation of the European Union (EU). Furthermore, Kohl's 16 years and 30 day tenure is the longest for any democratically elected chancellor of Germany.

Tramway from the 1960s in regular service

Although Ludwigshafen has no airfield, it is well connected with several airports in the region. There are small airfields near Speyer, Bad Dürkheim and Worms, a medium-sized regional airport in Mannheim, and the Frankfurt International Airport in about an hour's driving distance.

Ludwigshafen is the most important German harbour west of the Rhine. The local industry depends on shipping their raw materials and products on the river. The harbour of Ludwigshafen consists of several basins in the South of the city near Mundenheim (Luitpoldhafen, Kaiserwörthhafen, Mundenheimer Altrheinhafen), the wharfs along the river parallel to the city centre and the BASF, and, finally, of the Landeshafen basin in the North that connects the BASF.

Ludwigshafen has excellent Autobahn (motorway/highway) connections to all directions. Most important are the A 650 in west–east direction, the A 61 in north–south direction. But there are also A 6, A 65 and B 9 to be mentioned. Bundesstraße 37 and 44 pass the city center on elevated expressways. Parts of them are closed because of structural deficiencies. They continue across the Rhine to Mannheim ond Konrad Adenauer Bridge and Kurt Schumacher Bridge.

Ludwigshafen Hauptbahnhof is a huge station, its impressive pylon bridge pier serving as the city's landmark. The extraordinary architecture of the station complex is caused by the need to connect three joining tracks (to Frankenthal/Worms/Mainz, to Neustadt/Speyer and to Mannheim) and to work in the underground Straßenbahn station and the massive road bridge above the concourse. Other railway stations are at Oggersheim, Mundenheim, Rheingönheim, and, the new more central Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Mitte, near Berliner Platz. Since 2003, the S-Bahn Rhein-Neckar suburban train system runs successfully in the region.

Ludwigshafen's public transport system is run by the VBL (Verkehrsbetriebe Ludwigshafen) and the holding companies Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr (RNV) and VRN. There is an integrated Mannheim/Ludwigshafen tramway network; four tram lines (4,6,7,8) cross the Rhine bridges between the two cities and one other line (10) runs through Ludwigshafen only. In late 2008 Line 4 was extended and replaced Line 14 (also known as "Rhein-Haardt-Bahn"). Line 4 now serves as a long-distance line, which runs from Bad Dürkheim to Ludwigshafen, Mannheim and Heddesheim. The bus network consists of about ten municipal lines and further regional lines.

A rather strange feature of Ludwigshafen's public transport system is the existence of four underground tram stations (Rathaus, Danziger Platz (closed since late 2008), Hauptbahnhof, Hemshofstraße). They go back to the 1970s, when a common underground network in Mannheim and Ludwigshafen was planned. The rash construction of these first stations in Ludwigshafen became superfluous when Mannheim cancelled the project due to its enormous costs.

Discover more about Transport related topics

Speyer

Speyer

Speyer is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer lies 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim, and 21 km south-west of Heidelberg. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities. Speyer Cathedral, a number of other churches, and the Altpörtel dominate the Speyer landscape. In the cathedral, beneath the high altar, are the tombs of eight Holy Roman Emperors and German kings.

Bad Dürkheim

Bad Dürkheim

Bad Dürkheim is a spa town in the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration, and is the seat of the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Airport

Airport

An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consist of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surface such as a runway for a plane to take off and to land or a helipad, and often includes adjacent utility buildings such as control towers, hangars and terminals, to maintain and monitor aircraft. Larger airports may have airport aprons, taxiway bridges, air traffic control centres, passenger facilities such as restaurants and lounges, and emergency services. In some countries, the US in particular, airports also typically have one or more fixed-base operators, serving general aviation.

Autobahn

Autobahn

The Autobahn is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official German term is Bundesautobahn, which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word Bundesautobahn is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'.

Konrad Adenauer Bridge

Konrad Adenauer Bridge

The Konrad Adenauer Bridge is one of two road bridges crossing the Rhine between the German cities of Mannheim and Ludwigshafen am Rhein. The other bridge is the Kurt Schumacher Bridge.

Frankenthal

Frankenthal

Frankenthal (Pfalz) (Palatine German: Frongedahl) is a town in southwestern Germany, in the state of Rhineland-Palatinate.

Neustadt an der Weinstraße

Neustadt an der Weinstraße

Neustadt an der Weinstraße is a town in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. With 53,300 inhabitants as of 2020, it is the largest town called Neustadt.

Trams in Germany

Trams in Germany

Germany has an extensive number of tramway networks. Some of these networks have been upgraded to light rail standards, called Stadtbahn in German. Straßenbahn and Stadtbahn schemes are usually operated on the legal foundation of the BOStrab, the Tramways Act of Germany.

Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Mitte station

Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Mitte station

The Ludwigshafen (Rhein) Mitte station is in the southern part of the centre of the city of Ludwigshafen am Rhein in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate. It was established in 2003 and is classified by Deutsche Bahn as a category 4 station.

Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr

Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr

Rhein-Neckar-Verkehr GmbH is a company operating public transport in the Rhine-Neckar region of Germany, including the cities of Heidelberg, Mannheim and Ludwigshafen am Rhein.

Trams in Mannheim/Ludwigshafen

Trams in Mannheim/Ludwigshafen

The Mannheim/Ludwigshafen tramway network is a metre-gauge transport network of tramways focused on the cities of Mannheim and Ludwigshafen am Rhein, and connected to Heidelberg and Weinheim via the Upper Rhine Railway Company (OEG), in the Rhine Neckar Area of Germany.

Heddesheim

Heddesheim

Heddesheim is a municipality in the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis, in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is situated 9 km east of Mannheim, and 7 km southwest of Weinheim.

The twin cities of Mannheim and Ludwigshafen closely cooperate in many areas; although they are separated by the Baden-Württemberg/Rhineland Palatinate boundary, this frontier is mainly an administrative one. Many Ludwigshafeners shop and go out in Mannheim's inner city, as it is within easy reach. In the reverse case, some Mannheimers work in Ludwigshafen and many University of Mannheim students choose Ludwigshafen as residence because of its cheaper rents.

The surroundings of Ludwigshafen on the left bank of the Rhine are called Pfalz and are the easternmost part of the Palatinate region. The administrative district around Ludwigshafen is called Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis. North of Ludwigshafen, there is the industrial town of Frankenthal. In the western vicinity of Ludwigshafen, there are several villages producing enormous amounts of vegetables, thus securing the Rheinpfalz the title of “Germany's vegetable garden”. The district south of Ludwigshafen is dominated by the Rhine and the Altrhein arms (lakes marking the earlier course of the river) and the ancient town of Speyer with its magnificent imperial cathedral, a noteworthy and remarkable city.

The regions with some more distance to Ludwigshafen include the beautiful German Wine Route region with Germany's biggest coherent winegrowing area and the Palatinate forest, the biggest coherent forest of Europe 50 kilometres (31 miles) in the West, the French region Alsace and the German Schwarzwald (Black Forest) hills in the South, Heidelberg and the Odenwald hills in the East and the Rhein-Main region with the city of Frankfurt about 100 kilometres (62 miles) in the North.

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Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg, commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants as of 2019 across a total area of nearly 35,752 km2 (13,804 sq mi), it is the third-largest German state by both area and population. As a federated state, Baden-Württemberg is a partly-sovereign parliamentary republic. The largest city in Baden-Württemberg is the state capital of Stuttgart, followed by Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Other major cities are Freiburg im Breisgau, Heidelberg, Heilbronn, Pforzheim, Reutlingen, Tübingen, and Ulm.

University of Mannheim

University of Mannheim

The University of Mannheim, abbreviated UMA, is a public research university in Mannheim, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Founded in 1967, the university has its origins in the Palatine Academy of Sciences, which was established by Elector Carl Theodor at Mannheim Palace in 1763, as well as the Handelshochschule, which was founded in 1907. The university is regularly ranked as Germany's best business school as well as a leading institution in economics and social sciences.

Palatinate (region)

Palatinate (region)

The Palatinate, or the Rhenish Palatinate (Rheinpfalz), is a historical region of Germany. Prior to World War 2, it was known as Rhenish Bavaria; as a state of the Holy Roman Empire, it was known as the Lower Palatinate (Unterpfalz), which designated only the western part of the Electorate of the Palatinate, as opposed to the Upper Palatinate (Oberpfalz). It occupies roughly the southernmost quarter of the German federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate (Rheinland-Pfalz), covering an area of 2,105 square miles (5,450 km2) with about 1.4 million inhabitants. Its residents are known as Palatines (Pfälzer).

Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis

Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis

The Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis is a district (Kreis) in the east of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Speyer

Speyer

Speyer is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate in Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located on the left bank of the river Rhine, Speyer lies 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim, and 21 km south-west of Heidelberg. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities. Speyer Cathedral, a number of other churches, and the Altpörtel dominate the Speyer landscape. In the cathedral, beneath the high altar, are the tombs of eight Holy Roman Emperors and German kings.

German Wine Route

German Wine Route

The German Wine Route or Wine Road is the oldest of Germany's tourist wine routes. Located in the Palatinate region of the federal state of Rhineland-Palatinate, the route was established in 1935.

Alsace

Alsace

Alsace is a cultural region and a territorial collectivity in eastern France, on the west bank of the upper Rhine next to Germany and Switzerland. In January 2023, it had a population of 1,921,014. Alsatian culture is characterized by a blend of Germanic and French influences.

Black Forest

Black Forest

The Black Forest is a large forested mountain range in the state of Baden-Württemberg in southwest Germany, bounded by the Rhine Valley to the west and south and close to the borders with France and Switzerland. It is the source of the Danube and Neckar rivers.

Heidelberg

Heidelberg

Heidelberg is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914, of which roughly a quarter consisted of students.

Odenwald

Odenwald

The Odenwald is a low mountain range in the German states of Hesse, Bavaria and Baden-Württemberg.

Miró mural, known as the Miró-Wand, on the Wilhelm-Hack-Museum

The Pfalzbau is a theatre and concert hall with regional importance. The Staatsphilharmonie Rheinland-Pfalz keeps its own symphonic orchestra, and there is a production company that stages operas 25 nights per year.^[15] In the Hemshof district, there are smaller theatres playing regional dialect plays.

The Wilhelm-Hack-Museum is the municipal art museum, with collections spanning from ancient to contemporary art. It is known for the emblematic Miró mural covering an entire façade, called the "Miró Wall" (Miró-Wand in German). The mural is a work of art by the Spanish artist Joan Miró, with the collaboration of his long-time colleague, the ceramist, Joan Gardy Artigas, and is made of 7,200 ceramic tiles. It has been subject to degradation due to air pollution since it was installed in 1979.

Several small museums in Ludwigshafen focus on the city's history, first of all the Stadtmuseum in the Rathaus Center, but also the Schillerhaus Oggersheim, K.O. Braun-Museum in Oppau or the Frankenthaler Kanal Museum in the North.

The Fachhochschule Ludwigshafen (technical college) specialises in economics and has an affiliated Ostasieninstitut (East Asia Institute). There is also the Evangelische Fachhochschule Ludwigshafen, specialising in social sciences.

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Pfalzbau

Pfalzbau

The Pfalzbau is a convention center located in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The building is used primarily for theatre, concerts, congresses and fairs. The auditorium has a seating capacity of 1,171.

Joan Miró

Joan Miró

Joan Miró i Ferrà was a Spanish painter, sculptor and ceramicist born in Barcelona. He was known as Joan Miró in the art recognition. A museum dedicated to his work, the Fundació Joan Miró, was established in his native city of Barcelona in 1975, and another, the Fundació Pilar i Joan Miró, was established in his adoptive city of Palma in 1981.

Miró Wall

Miró Wall

The Miró Wall is a ceramic tiled wall designed by Spanish artist Joan Miró for the Wilhelm Hack Museum in Ludwigshafen, Germany. The wall, which comprises 7,200 tiles, is 55 metres (180 ft) wide and 10 metres (33 ft) high.

Joan Gardy Artigas

Joan Gardy Artigas

Joan Gardy Artigas is a Catalan ceramist, artist and was a close collaborator with Joan Miró.

Although BASF is by far the most important industrial company in Ludwigshafen, there are many other firms. Trade and industry in Ludwigshafen have about 90,000 employees in total, with an annual total turnover of nearly 17 billion euros.

BASF is the world's leading chemical company, employing 110,000 people in total and about 35,000 (a few years ago, the employee total was about 55,000) of them in the Ludwigshafen plant, which is also the largest chemical plant in the world. The company's main products are fertilizers, dye, coolants and many other chemical substances. Among the other chemical companies with plants in Ludwigshafen rank BK Giulini, Abbvie, Raschig and Benckiser. Other important branches of industry are mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, IT and brewery (Mayerbräu Oggersheim).

Ludwigshafen production site

Südweststadion

Ludwigshafen is one of the German cities that has never had a professional football club. This is all the more surprising, because Ludwigshafen is a typical "workers' city" and has quite a large stadium, the Südweststadion, built from debris from World War II with a capacity of around 40,000. Several international matches and some Bundesliga matches when 1. FC Kaiserslautern or Waldhof Mannheim used it as alternative stadium during the past decades have been held there.

Huddersfield Town left-back Dominik Werling was born in Ludwigshafen.

Formerly the most successful Ludwigshafen football club was FSV Oggersheim, whose team experienced short-term success when gaining promotion to the Regionalliga (3rd Division) at the end of the 2006–07 season. However, the club found itself outclassed, and as the financial situation grew worse after two poor seasons, the club withdrew to 11th tier local level play in 2010–11.

As of 2015^[update], Arminia Ludwigshafen is the highest-classed football club from the city, competing in the Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar (V).

An athletics hall has been constructed near the Stadium a few years ago.

The TSG Friesenheim plays in the German 1st handball division since summer 2010.

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Südweststadion

Südweststadion

Südweststadion is a multi-purpose stadium in Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Germany and was built in 1950, at which time it could hold 41,383 people. After a renovation in 2007, the maximum capacity was limited to 6,100 people. It is currently used mostly for football matches and is occasionally used as the home ground by FSV Oggersheim. The stadium has hosted several important games, such as four international matches of West Germany, two West German Cup finals and the Bundesliga championship match.

Bundesliga

Bundesliga

The Bundesliga, sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga or 1. Bundesliga, is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary football competition. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams and operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the 2. Bundesliga. Seasons run from August to May. Games are played on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. All of the Bundesliga clubs take part in the DFB-Pokal cup competition. The winner of the Bundesliga qualifies for the DFL-Supercup.

1. FC Kaiserslautern

1. FC Kaiserslautern

1. Fußball-Club Kaiserslautern e. V., also known as 1. FCK, FCK, FC Kaiserslautern or colloquially Lautern, is a German sports club based in Kaiserslautern, Rhineland-Palatinate. In addition to football, the club also operates in several other sports.

Dominik Werling

Dominik Werling

Dominik Patrick Werling is a German former professional footballer who played as a left-back. His father is American and his mother is German.

FSV Oggersheim

FSV Oggersheim

FSV 1913 Ludwigshafen-Oggersheim is a German association football club based in the Oggersheim district of Ludwigshafen, Rhineland-Palatinate. The club advanced to the Regionalliga Süd (III) following an Oberliga (IV) title win in 2007, but found itself overmatched at that level of competition. After struggling through two poor seasons and in increasing financial difficulty, they withdrew to 11th tier local level play in 2010–11.

Regionalliga

Regionalliga

The Regionalliga is the fourth tier in the German football league system. Until 1974, it was the second tier in Germany. In 1994, it was introduced as the third tier. Upon the creation of the new nationwide 3. Liga in 2008, it became the fourth tier. While all of the clubs in the top three divisions of German football are professional, the Regionalliga has a mixture of professional and semi-professional clubs.

Arminia Ludwigshafen

Arminia Ludwigshafen

Arminia Ludwigshafen is a German association football club from the Rheingönheim of the city of Ludwigshafen am Rhein, Rhineland-Palatinate.

Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar

Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar

The Oberliga Rheinland-Pfalz/Saar, formerly the Oberliga Südwest, is the highest regional football league for the Rhineland-Palatinate and Saarland states of Germany, organized by the Southwestern Regional Football Association. It is the fifth tier of the German football league system. It is one of fourteen Oberligas in German football, the fifth tier of the German football league system. Until the introduction of the 3. Liga in 2008 it was the fourth tier of the league system, until the introduction of the Regionalligas in 1994 the third tier.

TSG Friesenheim

TSG Friesenheim

TSG Friesenheim is a handball club from Ludwigshafen, Germany that as of 2021/22 competes in the 2. Handball-Bundesliga.

Parkinsel

There are several municipal parks in Ludwigshafen: First of all the Ebertpark in the North quarter and Friesenheim. It was created for the South German Horticulture Exhibition in 1925 with the Friedrich-Ebert-Halle, a multi-purpose hall.

The official Stadtpark, or municipal park, is somewhat remote from the city centre (yet easy to reach by the #10 tram), because it is situated on the Parkinsel, or park island, on a bank of the Rhine.

The Friedenspark is closer to the city centre, being located just north of the main station and west of the city hall. It is the youngest of Ludwigshafen's parks, having been created on a former industrial area.

Further, there are numerous smaller parks that are just a bit larger than a towel in the suburbs, for example the Stadtpark Oggersheim, Riedsaumpark, Alwin-Mittasch-Platz and Friesenpark in Friesenheim, Stadtpark Oppau, Bürgerpark Pfingstweide or Zedtwitzpark Mundenheim.

The Maudacher Bruch in the West between Maudach, Gartenstadt and Oggersheim, is a very extensive, horse-shoe shaped area, including the Michaelsberg (126m), a mountain built of debris and wreckage after World War II. Due to excessive extraction of ground water from chemical companies the ground water level drops and the diversity of nature is no longer preserved. The Kief´scher Weiher in the South is connected with the Rhine and serves as yacht harbour, being surrounded by weekend camping areas.

19th century

Ernst Bloch Berlin 1954

• Ernst Bloch (1885–1977), philosopher and writer
• Ernst A. Lehmann (1886–1937), airship captain and Zeppelin builder
• William Dieterle (1893–1972), Hollywood film director, actor and Oscar-winner
• Edgar Julius Jung (1894–1934), lawyer, politician and journalist
• Gustav Ehrhart (1894–1971), chemist

20th century

Kurt Biedenkopf, Leipzig 2006

1901–1940

• Georg Gehring (1903–1943), wrestler, Olympic bronze medalist
• Ernst Gutting (1919–2013) auxiliary bishop of Speyer
• Klaus Gamber (1919–1989), Catholic priest and liturgical historian
• Max Clos (1925–2002), French journalist
• Rudolf Kortokraks (1928–2014), painter
• Waldemar Schreckenberger (1929–2017), lawyer, professor emeritus and secretary of state and head of the Bundeskanzleramt 1982–1984
• Helmut Kohl (1930–2017), German chancellor (1982–1998)
• Kurt Biedenkopf (1930–2021), politician (CDU), former Ministerpräsident of Saxony (1990–2002)
• Robert Franz Schmidt (1932–2017), physiologist and professor emeritus
• Fanny Morweiser (1940–2014), author
• Lambert Hamel (born 1940), actor

1951–1990

• Manfred Kaltz (born 1953), football player and manager
• Norbert Bolz (born 1953), media scientist
• Doris Barnett (born 1953), politician (SPD), Member of Bundestag since 1994
• Wolfgang Güllich (1960–1992), rock climber
• Barbara Eligmann (born 1963), television presenter
• Claudio Passarelli (born 1965), wrestler and champion
• Joachim Weickert (born 1965), mathematician
• Mario Kordić (born 1972), politician (HDZ BiH), mayor of Mostar
• Sanne Kurz (born 1974), camera woman
• Richard Möller (born 1977), football player and manager
• Jan-Peter Peckolt (born 1981), sailor (49er dinghy)
• André Schürrle (born 1990), footballer
• Christian Dissinger (born 1991), handball player
• Paul Ehmann (born 1993), footballer
• Nadiem Amiri (born 1996), footballer
• Apache 207 (born 1997), rapper

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Ernst Bloch

Ernst Bloch

Ernst Simon Bloch was a German Marxist philosopher. Bloch was influenced by Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel and Karl Marx, as well as by apocalyptic and religious thinkers such as Thomas Müntzer, Paracelsus, and Jacob Böhme. He established friendships with György Lukács, Bertolt Brecht, Kurt Weill, Walter Benjamin, and Theodor W. Adorno. Bloch's work focuses on an optimistic teleology of the history of mankind.

Ernst A. Lehmann

Ernst A. Lehmann

Captain Ernst August Lehmann was a German Zeppelin captain. He was one of the most famous and experienced figures in German airship travel. The Pittsburgh Press called Lehmann the best airship pilot in the world, although he was criticized by Hugo Eckener for often making dangerous maneuvers that compromised the airships. He was a victim of the Hindenburg disaster in 1937.

Academy Awards

Academy Awards

The Academy Awards, also known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the film industry. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), in recognition of excellence in cinematic achievements as assessed by the Academy's voting membership. The Academy Awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment industry in the United States and worldwide. The Oscar statuette depicts a knight rendered in the Art Deco style.

Gustav Ehrhart

Gustav Ehrhart

Gustav Ehrhart was a German chemist. He synthesized the first fully synthetic opioid analgesic, methadone, together with Max Bockmühl.

Georg Gehring

Georg Gehring

Georg Gehring was a German wrestler who competed in the 1928 Summer Olympics, in the 1932 Summer Olympics, and in the 1936 Summer Olympics. He was killed in action during World War II.

Ernst Gutting

Ernst Gutting

Ernst Gutting was a German prelate of the Roman Catholic Church. As of 2013 he was the oldest German Roman Catholic bishop.

Klaus Gamber

Klaus Gamber

Klaus Gamber (1919–1989) was a German Catholic liturgist. Author of Die Reform der römischen Liturgie, which was subsequently translated into English and published as The Reform of the Roman Liturgy: Its Problems and Background, he was one of the principal intellectual critics of the liturgical reforms brought under the papacy of Paul VI. His critical work was praised by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, and he is credited for being one of the academic inspirations behind the motu proprio Summorum Pontificum, allowing broader use of the 1962 Roman Missal.

Max Clos

Max Clos

Max Clos was a 20th-century French journalist and the former editor-in-chief of Le Figaro from 1975 to 1988.

Helmut Kohl

Helmut Kohl

Helmut Josef Michael Kohl was a German politician who served as Chancellor of Germany from 1982 to 1998 and Leader of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) from 1973 to 1998. Kohl's 16-year tenure is the longest of any German chancellor since Otto von Bismarck, and oversaw the end of the Cold War, the German reunification and the creation of the European Union (EU). Furthermore, Kohl's 16 years and 30 day tenure is the longest for any democratically elected chancellor of Germany.

Kurt Biedenkopf

Kurt Biedenkopf

Kurt Hans Biedenkopf was a German jurist, academic teacher and politician of the Christian-Democratic Union (CDU). He was rector of the Ruhr University Bochum.

Robert Franz Schmidt

Robert Franz Schmidt

Robert Franz Schmidt was a German physiologist and professor emeritus. From 1982 until 2000 he was the director of the Institute of Physiology at the University of Würzburg.

Fanny Morweiser

Fanny Morweiser

Fanny Morweiser was a German writer.

Ludwigshafen is twinned with:^[16]

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List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

This is a list of municipalities in Germany which have standing links to local communities in other countries, or in other parts of Germany, known as "town twinning" or "sister cities".

Sister city

Sister city

A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties.

Pasadena, California

Pasadena, California

Pasadena is a city in Los Angeles County, California, 11 miles (18 km) northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district.

France

France

France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. It also includes overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans, giving it one of the largest discontiguous exclusive economic zones in the world. Its metropolitan area extends from the Rhine to the Atlantic Ocean and from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea; overseas territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the North Atlantic, the French West Indies, and many islands in Oceania and the Indian Ocean. Its eighteen integral regions span a combined area of 643,801 km2 (248,573 sq mi) and had a total population of over 68 million as of January 2023. France is a unitary semi-presidential republic with its capital in Paris, the country's largest city and main cultural and commercial centre; other major urban areas include Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Lille, Bordeaux, and Nice.

Lorient

Lorient

Lorient is a town (commune) and seaport in the Morbihan department of Brittany in western France.

London Borough of Havering

London Borough of Havering

The London Borough of Havering in East London, England, forms part of Outer London. It has a population of 259,552 inhabitants; the principal town is Romford, while other communities are Hornchurch, Upminster, Collier Row and Rainham. The borough is mainly suburban, with large areas of protected open space. Romford is a major retail and night time entertainment centre, and to the south the borough extends into the London Riverside redevelopment area of the Thames Gateway. The name Havering is a reference to the Royal Liberty of Havering which occupied the area for several centuries. The local authority is Havering London Borough Council. It is the easternmost London borough.

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan, officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of the South Caucasus region and is bounded by the Caspian Sea to the east, Russia to the north, Georgia to the northwest, Armenia and Turkey to the west, and Iran to the south. Baku is the capital and largest city.

Germany

Germany

Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second-most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated between the Baltic and North seas to the north, and the Alps to the south; it covers an area of 357,022 square kilometres (137,847 sq mi), with a population of over 84 million within its 16 constituent states. Germany borders Denmark to the north, Poland and the Czech Republic to the east, Austria and Switzerland to the south, and France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands to the west. The nation's capital and most populous city is Berlin and its main financial centre is Frankfurt; the largest urban area is the Ruhr.

Dessau-Roßlau

Dessau-Roßlau

Dessau-Roßlau is a kreisfreie Stadt in the German state of Saxony-Anhalt. It is situated at the confluence of the rivers Elbe and Mulde. The town was formed by merger of the towns of Dessau and Roßlau as part of the 2007 regional bounadry reform of Saxony-Anhalt. The reform involved a reduction in the number of rural districts in Sachsen-Anhalt from 21 to 11, in anticipation of a continued population decline.

Belgium

Belgium

Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to the southwest, and the North Sea to the northwest. It covers an area of 30,528 km2 (11,787 sq mi) and has a population of more than 11.5 million, making it the 22nd most densely populated country in the world and the 6th most densely populated country in Europe, with a density of 376/km2 (970/sq mi). Belgium is part of an area known as the Low Countries, historically a somewhat larger region than the Benelux group of states, as it also included parts of northern France. The capital and largest city is Brussels; other major cities are Antwerp, Ghent, Charleroi, Liège, Bruges, Namur, and Leuven.

Antwerp

Antwerp

Antwerp is the largest city in Belgium by area at 204.51 km2 (78.96 sq mi) and the capital of Antwerp Province in the Flemish Region. With a population of 530,504, it is the most populous municipality in Belgium, and with a metropolitan population of around 1,200,000 people, it is the second-largest metropolitan region in Belgium, second only to Brussels.

Gaziantep

Gaziantep

Gaziantep, historically Aintab and still informally called Antep, is a major city in south-central Turkey. It is the capital of the Gaziantep Province, in the westernmost part of Turkey's Southeastern Anatolia Region and partially in the Mediterranean Region. It is located approximately 185 km (115 mi) east of Adana and 97 km (60 mi) north of Aleppo, Syria and situated on the Sajur River. The city is thought to be located on the site of ancient Antiochia ad Taurum and is near ancient Zeugma.