Wiesloch

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Wiesloch
Coat of arms Location
Coat of arms of Wiesloch
Wiesloch (Germany)
Wiesloch
Administration
Country Flag of Germany Germany
State Baden-Württemberg
Admin. region Karlsruhe
District Rhein-Neckar-Kreis
Town subdivisions Kernstadt, 4 Stadtteile
Lord Mayor Franz Schaidhammer (Ind.)
Basic statistics
Area 30.262 km² (11.7 sq mi)
Elevation 130 m  (427 ft)
Population 25,938  (31/03/2007)
 - Density 857 /km² (2,220 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate HD
Postal code 69168
Area code 06222
Website www.wiesloch.de

Coordinates: 49°17′39″N 08°41′54″E / 49.29417, 8.69833

Wiesloch is a city in Germany, in northern Baden-Württemberg. It is situated 13 kilometres south of Heidelberg. After Weinheim, Sinsheim and Leimen it is the fourth largest city of the Rhein-Neckar and is in the north-central area near Heidelberg with its neighbouring town Walldorf. Also in the vicinity of Wiesloch are the cities and towns of Dielheim, Malsch (bei Wiesloch), Mühlhausen, Rauenberg and Sankt Leon-Rot.

The Battle of Wiesloch took place nearby on April 27, 1622, during the Thirty Years' War.

During the reformation of the area in the 1970s Wiesloch's inhabitants exceeded 20,000. Wiesloch became a "Große Kreisstadt" on January 1, 1973, when Altwiesloch, Baiertal, Frauenweiler and Schatthausen were joined with the town of Wiesloch to form the present municipality.

Wiesloch is a sister city to Sturgis, St. Joseph County, Michigan, USA. Wiesloch is also sister to the Portuguese City of Amarante.

The city pharmacy in Wiesloch was the first petrol station of the world, because Bertha Benz stopped here on August 5, 1888, on her maiden voyage to refill the tank of the first automobile her husband, Karl Benz, invented.

Contents

[edit] Geography

Wiesloch is partly situated on the southern foothills of the Odenwald, partly in the Rhine Valley and partly in the Kraichgau. Five brooks flow through Wiesloch: the Leimbach, the Gauangelbach, the Waldangelbach, the Ochsenbach, and the Maisbach.

[edit] Economy

Wiesloch includes the global headquarter of the MLP AG. It also has the world’s biggest printing press manufacturing site, operated by Heidelberger Druckmaschinen.[1]

[edit] Fossil Site

The fossil remains of the oldest hummingbird found to date, Eurotrochilus inexpectatus, are from a clay pit at Frauenweiler. This bird lived during the Early Oligocene (30 mya), when the area had a humid, subtropical climate similar to the northern Caribbean today.

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ Heidelberger Druckmaschinen annual report 2006/2007, p. F-5[1]