Цвингенберг: старейший город на Бергштрассе в Гессене

the town in Hessen

Zwingenberg lies in the Bergstraße district in southern Hessen, Germany, south of Frankfurt and Darmstadt, and with the granting of town rights coming in 1274 it is the oldest town on the Hessen Bergstraße.

Zwingenberg lies on the western edge of the Odenwald at the foot of the Melibokus, at 517.4 m above sea level the Bergstraße's highest mountain. The municipal area's elevation varies between roughly 90 m above sea level in the outlying centre of Rodau and just under 300 m on the slope of the Melibokus. Zwingenberg's highest elevation is no one single mountain. Rather, it runs along the Melibokus's slope into the area of Auerbach, an outlying centre of Bensheim. The 100 metre marker at Zwingenberg railway station is taken to be the standard. In the west, Zwingenberg abuts the Hessisches Ried, and thereby the Rhine rift. In Zwingenberg's west, towards Rodau and in Rodau itself, cropraising and meadows prevail. Only a small patch of woodland belongs to the municipal area near the Niederwaldsee (lake). In Zwingenberg there still exist remnants of, and even new fruit farming (mainly apples). On the outlying hills of the Orbishöhe (heights) and towards Luciberg is found winegrowing. Moreover, almond trees grow in the region. A narrower line of woodland in the municipal area can still be found in the area of the Morgenruhe foundry and running by way of Blockhütte towards Comoder Weg. Remains of granite quarrying can also still be made out. Under the windbreak afforded by the Melibokus, a microclimate holds sway, which can in places near the slope lead to less precipitation than is found, for example, on the plain.

Zwingenberg lies between the community of Alsbach Hähnlein in Darmstadt Dieburg in the north and the town of Bensheim in Bergstraße district in the south. In the west Bensheim's outlying centres of Fehlheim and Langwaden border on the outlying centre of Rodau. In the east Zwingenberg borders on the Melibokus, whose peak lies in the area of Auerbach, an outlying centre of Bensheim.

Zwingenberg is made up of the two centres of Zwingenberg with an area of 346 hectares, and Rodau with an area of 215 hectares.

Although the economy was formerly largely based on agriculture and winegrowing, as well as gastronomy, since then, besides a great number of commercial enterprises, a series of smaller and midsize technology businesses has arisen.

Zwingenberg is linked to the A 5 (Frankfurt Basel) by interchange 29, and Zwingenberg is also signposted on the A 67 at the Gernsheim interchange (8). Frankfurt Airport is 45 km away, and the riverport at Gernsheim on the Rhine is 12 km away. Parallel to the Odenwald runs the Bergstraße (federal highway B 3), which in Zwingenberg splits into the “New” and “Old” Bergstraße, which come back together again near Darmstadt Eberstadt. The relief road originally planned for the B 3, called the Berliner Ring, is open in parts. The road, running parallel to the B 3, comes from Bensheim and leads back to the B 3 in Zwingenberg. Original plans to relieve the (very low – about 2.95 m) railway bridge by building another bridge farther north failed in the face of protests from residents and the neighbouring community through whose municipal area parts of the road would have run. One of Germany's most heavily travelled railways, the Main Neckar Railway (Frankfurt Darmstadt Heidelberg/Mannheim), runs through Zwingenberg. Zwingenberg station is served hourly by Regionalbahn trains. These are reinforced by other trains in rush hours. Modern bus links of busline 669 run by Darmstadt's HEAG mobilo link the town with Jugenheim and Heppenheim.

Zwingenberg has at its disposal a small sporting ground with grass and a complete athletics facility, a paved ground and a field. Moreover, there are several tennis courts and two sport halls. Rodau likewise has a grass playing field. For 2015, there are plans to build a modern sport park in which all locally played sports will be represented.

Zwingenberg lies on the edge of the Odenwald on the heights of the Melibokus on a relatively steep slope. The surrounding town wall is to a great extent still visible. The Obergasse (“Upper Lane”) is the old getwinc, the thoroughfare that led through the town's lower and upper gates. The street's alignment was only slightly changed after the fire of 1693 and still more or less shows the position of the old Bergstraße. The “New Pass” was until the 15th century still wetland. Today the B 3 runs here along the historic town wall through town. Between Schlößchen and Neugasse the remains of the town wall form the back walls of the houses and barns on Untergasse (“Lower Lane”)

Including the outlying centre of Rodau, Zwingenberg has 81 cultural monuments under monumental protection.

The town has a touristically attractive Old Town with timber frame houses that are interesting both as buildings and as the history that they represent, a mountain church (Bergkirche) and a former castle seat, enfeoffed by Johann von Katzenelnbogen to Hans von Wallbrunn the Elder in 1420. At Zwingenberg's highest spot stands today's youth hostel, a former tithe barn built on a bastion’s foundation. Of the round corner towers of the upper town wall, only the Aul has been preserved. It is the northeast tower, a two floor tower made of undressed quarrystones. The remains of the moated castle may well be Zwingenberg’s oldest building. Outwards from this about 1250, the town fortifications took shape. The “New Marketplace” arose at the beginning of the 17th century on the former moated castle's lands and the moat itself. The old Amtsgericht (“Amt court”) was built between 1561 and 1563 and restored in 1989. It originally served the Hessian landgraves as a hunting palace. The Schlößchen (“Little Palace”), built about 1520, has served the town since 1969 as the Town Hall. Next to it stands the former guesthouse Zum Löwen (“To the Lion”). It was built in 1595 and is the oldest building in existence outside the old town wall. Across the street from it lies the Scheuergasse (lane) formed by two rows of side gabled barns. These were built outside the old town wall owing to the danger from fire, and today are used mainly as dwellings, offices and guesthouses. The vaulted cellar under the Alte Apotheke (“Old Apothecary’s Shop”), which stands on the marketplace, seems to go back to the time when the town wall was built. Later, the Alte Apotheke was known as großherzogliche Apotheke von Katzenellenbogen (the first word meaning “Grand Ducal”), and was built in 1783.

Zwingenberg is part of the small winegrowing region of Hessische Bergstraße which is known for herb wines. On the slopes of the Melibokus lie, within the Auerbacher Rott growing region, the locations of Zwingenberger Steingeröll and Zwingenberger Alte Burg. Abutting them to the north is the location of Alsbacher Schöntal. White grape varieties grown here include Sylvaner, Riesling, Müller Thurgau and Morio Muscat. Asparagus and strawberry farming characterize the flatter areas towards Rodau. Typical for Zwingenberg, therefore, are a robust dry Riesling and mellow asparagus dishes.

In the vaulted cellar under the former Amtsgericht is found the Theater Mobile, which puts on its own and others’ productions mainly in the fields of music, reading, children's theatre, dance and cabaret.

The Heimatmuseum (local history) on historic Scheuergasse shows old handicrafts and historically decorated rooms. In June 2005, the information centre Blüten, Stein & Wein (“Blossoms, Stone and Wine”) of the UNESCO Geopark Bergstraße Odenwald opened at the community centre Bunter Löwe (“Colourful Lion”). The information centre, which is open at weekends and after notification, also houses the tourist information centre.

The town's first honorary citizen was the Reverend Adam Höfle (1900–1999).

Heinrich von Gagern (1799–1880) politician, in the preliminary convention (Vorparlament) of Frankfurt for the electoral district of Zwingenberg. Henry Kissinger, (born 1923), who acted as an agent in the U. S. Army Counter Intelligence Corps in Bensheim, lived for a few months at the Arthur Sauer Villa in Zwingenberg, which was requisitioned for him. Arthur Sauer (1887 1946), (chemist), joined the Deutsche Milchwerke pharmaceutical plant founded by Worms apothecary Rudolf Pizzala in 1897, and took the business over in 1898. Out of this grew the later Fissan Werke (1924). By 1934, the firm already had 160 workers and employees, as well as 50 others employed in sales. His vehicle is today on display at the Technikmuseum Speyer