Chronological table Chronology Early history The oldest traces of settlement and archaeological finds indicate that
Celts used to live in the area of the present town. They have left behind
ringworks, clay pots, coins and weapons that date to the time around 150 B.C.
The Romans probably took possession of the land around 20 A.D. Around 400 it was taken by the
Alemanni who were superseded in turn around 500 A.D. by the
Germanic Franks. There are no precise details for the centuries after the end of Roman rule, but it is known that villages already existed before the actual town of
Neustadt was founded:
Winzingen, today a town quarter, was already mentioned in 774. The subdistricts of
Mußbach,
Lachen-Speyerdorf,
Geinsheim,
Duttweiler and
Hambach are also considerably older than the main town. In general it is fair to say that the history of Neustadt is closely linked to that of the
Palatinate region.
Middle Ages Just a few decades after its foundation in the early 13th century, Neustadt was granted
town rights on 6 April 1275 based on those given to
Speyer.
Town quarters In the
Late Middle Ages Neustadt was divided into four town quarters, whose names indicate the status and occupations of their inhabitants or give important local information: In the
Lauerviertel (from
Loheviertel = "
Tanbark Quarter") next to the Speyerbach worked the
tanners. The
Kesselringviertel was named after an influential family of the 14th century. In the
Frauenviertel ("Women's Quarter") were ecclesiastical possessions under the
patronage of
Saint Mary's. The
Jewish community lived in the
Judenviertel ("Jewish Quarter"). Towards the end of the 15th century, other quarters were established outside the town fortifications: the
Stadtgasserviertel, the
Kirschgartenviertel and the
Ägyptenvorstadt.
Reformation In the
Peasants' Uprising, rebellious peasant bands entered the town unopposed on 6 May 1525. During
the Reformation,
Louis the Pacific ruled the Palatinate until 1544 and strove for reconciliation. His 1538 religion edict allowed
Lutherans to preach and take
communion. Equally even-handed was his brother and successor,
Frederick the Wise. Not until his successor were there strict Protestant rulers. When
Frederick III died in 1576, he left a clause in his will that his Lutheran son,
Louis VI should not inherit the
Ämter of
Kaiserslautern and Neustadt, but that they should go instead to his Calvinist brother,
John Casimir. In 1578, Count Palatine John Casimir founded the Neustadt College that was named after him, the
Casimirianum, because his Lutheran brother, Louis V, had cleared the university in
Heidelberg of Calvinists; John Casimir was active as an advocate of the reformed faith and offered the exiled professors and students asylum. When he moved to Heidelberg in 1583 in order to take over the regency for his still under-age son there after the death of the brother's reign, Neustadt's short time as a university seat ended.
17th century Denominational disputes over the following century were no longer pursued purely by argument, but with weapons, and the Palatinate was invaded by one campaign after another. Neustadt was conquered six times during the
Thirty Years' War; in 1622 by the
Spaniards, in 1631 by
Sweden, in 1635 by Imperial troops, in 1638 by troops of Duke
Bernard of Saxe-Weimar, in 1639 by the French under Field Marshal
Henri II d'Orléans,
Duke of Longueville and 1644 again by the French. After each occasion, the occupying forces attempted to enforce their confession. Unlike other Palatine towns, Neustadt survived the
War of the Palatine Succession (1689–1697) almost unscathed.
18th and 19th centuries In 1744 of the town population of 2,496; 1,676 were reformed, 620 were Roman Catholics and 200 were Lutherans. Jews were not included in these statistics. In the 18th century, the town lost its medieval appearance, because its militarily obsolete and superfluous town walls were demolished. When, in 1722, the state road to
Mannheim, the new residence of the
Elector had been built (today the
B 38), in 1723 the northern town wall was pierced. Following the seizure of the
Left Bank of the Rhine during the
French Revolution in 1797–98, Neustadt became just an insignificant administrative centre, the canton capital of the
département of
Donnersberg.
Napoleon passed through the town on his retreat from Erfurt to Paris and its official celebrated his visit. When, five years later, parts of the emperor's army, defeated near Leipzig, marched through the town the sentiment was, however, quite the opposite. In 1815, Neustadt became part of the
Kingdom of Bavaria until 1945, along with the rest of the Palatinate which was one of 8 Bavarian districts (Rhine District). As of 1837, the district was renamed as
Pfalz. As a result of this resubordination, in 1818 the town became the seat of a
Landkommissariat (called a
Bezirksamt from 1862 and a
Landkreis from 1939). In 1832, the
Hambach Festival took place near the town. In 1847, Neustadt was connected to the railway network by the
Palatine Ludwig Railway.
20th century A
Workers and Soldiers Council was established during the
German Revolution of 1918. Three delegates were sent to see
Kurt Eisner, the premier of newly founded
People's State of Bavaria. These delegates consisted of a member of the
Majority Social Democratic Party of Germany, a member of the emergent
German People's Party and a third linked to the interests of the local wine trade. However, Eisner failed to take notice of their concerns and despite his subsequent assertion that the Pfalz was an integral part of Bavaria, this indifference helped fuel separatist sentiment in the area. Neustadt's role during the
Nazi era began in 1927 when it became the seat of the
Gauleiter for the
Nazi Party. It retained this function
de facto until 1945, although in 1939
Kaiserslautern was nominated as the
Gauhauptstadt ("Capital of the Gau") and the state authorities, who were formed in 1940 from the Palatine and Saarland administrations in
Speyer and
Saarbrücken and were led by the
Gauleiter in personal union, were also not based in Neustadt. The town was given the function of a normal Palatine seat of administration on 8 September 1945, In 1946, it became the seat of the Rhineland-Palatinate province (
Regierungsbezirk) of the Palatinate. On 7 June 1969, the hitherto independent municipalities of Geinsheim, Gimmeldingen, Haardt an der Weinstraße, Hambach an der Weinstraße, Königsbach an der Weinstraße, Lachen-Speyerdorf, Mussbach an der Weinstraße and Diedesfeld were incorporated into the town's borough. On 16 March 1974 they were followed by Duttweiler.
Etymology Officially abbreviated as
Neustadt a. d. Weinstr., the name can be shortened as
Neustadt/Weinstrasse (as on train departure and arrival boards) or
Neustadt (Weinstrasse). The name literally means "new town on the
wine route", as it lies on the
German wine route (Deutsche Weinstrasse), in
Rhineland-Palatinate, in Germany. It is one of several dozen German and Austrian places called
Neustadt. These
new towns are typically differentiated by the rivers upon which they lie (e.g.,
Neustadt (Aisch)), the regions they are located in (e.g.,
Neustadt/Hessen) or, in this case, a peculiar distinctive feature – namely
Weinstraße – "Wine Route." == Culture, nature and sights ==