Schwetzingen - Schlösser-Magazin

2. History of the Town of Schwetzingen
Prehistory and Early History up to the First
Written Reference
The Codex Laureshamensis, the 12th-century
collection of documents of the abbey of
Lorsch10 , contains the first written reference
to Schwetzingen, there called Suezzingen, in
the Gift of Adana dated 21st December 766. 11
The name is derived from a personal name,
Suezzo, and translates as “part of Suezzo’s
place”. However, archaeological finds prove
that the site was settled well before that time.
Situated on the southern alluvial fan of the
Neckar, on the bank of the Leimbach stream,
it was settled from Neolithic times (5000
BC) through the Celtic era (300 BC) to that
of the Neckar Suebes (100 AD), a Germanic
tribe from the lower Neckar. 12 Grave finds
from Merovingian times (500-700 AD) point
to two settlements, confirmed by entries
in the Lorsch Codex, dated 805 and 807. 13
The denomination of Suezzingen superiore
indicates that Schwetzingen, situated in
the Frankish district of Lobdengau, at the
time had an upper and a lower village.
These unconnected core settlements are still
visible within the layout of the town. To the
south is the Oberdorf or Upper Village, a
settlement made up of the houses lining what
today is the Karlsruher Straße. North is the
Unterdorf (Lower Village), an unmistakable
“Haufendorf” (i.e. a closely built-up village
clustering round a central square or pond)
with a town hall and church. The fort of
Schwetzingen between the two, was probably
not built until the 13th century.
10 World heritage site since 1991.
11 Karl Josef Minst, Lorscher Codex: deutsch, Urkundenbuch der
ehemaligen Fürstabtei Lorsch, Lorsch 1968, p. 278.
12 Karl Wörn, Schwetzingen zur Jahrtausendwende; Geschichte –
Kultur – Wissenschaft, Schwetzingen 2000, pp. 7-11.
13 Minst 1968, pp. 283 f.
VI. Schwetzingen – Historical Context
New Lords: the Counts Palatine
In the 11th and 12th centuries, not only
the abbey of Lorsch, but also the bishops
of Worms, lords of the Lobdengau, and the
convents of Aldenmünster and Schönau
at Schwetzingen were very wealthy. The
Counts Palatine, serving as bailiffs and thus
entrusted with the management of the Lorsch
properties up to the abbey’s decline in 1232,
first acquired property of their own “in villa
Swezingen” 14 in 1288. The settlement included
a church, the patronage of which Counts
Palatine Rudolf and Ludwig transferred to the
monastery of Neuburg in 1305, in exchange
for an estate at Seckenheim and the sum of
60 Pfund Heller. Its location in the Unterdorf
and the patronage of St. Pankratius, first
mentioned in 1435, have survived. The church
was destroyed during the Thirty Years’ War
and rebuilt in 1736-1765, from plans by
Sigismund Zeller, Franz Wilhelm Rabaliatti
and Nicolas de Pigage. 15 Full Palatine
overlordship is documented from 1350 by
the levying of taxes. A cellarer managed the
Palatine estates and taxes, including the mill,
the “Herrengut” estate and the sheep farm.
At this time, the castle was still owned by
the Erligheim family. By 1472, however, it
belonged to the Counts Palatine and was used
as a hunting lodge conveniently situated on
the game-rich slopes of the Schwetzinger
Hardt, rather than a military stronghold. 16
14 Regesten der Pfalzgrafen am Rhein: 1214-1508, ed. Badische
Historische Commission, ed. Adolf Koch and Jakob Wille, Vol.
1, Innsbruck 1894, p. 69.
15 Kurt Martin, Die Kunstdenkmäler des Amtsbezirks Mannheim
– Stadt Schwetzingen, Karlsruhe 1933, pp. 5, 8, 404-412.
16 Die Weistümer der Zehnt Kirchheim, ed. Karl Kollnig, Veröffentlichungen
der Kommission für geschichtliche Landeskunde
in Baden-Württemberg; Reihe A, Quellen; Vol. 29, Stuttgart
1979, pp. 206 f.
VI.
Fig. 1: Document from the
monastery of Lorsch. The first
written proof of the existence
of Schwetzingen, dates from
766. A woman named Agana
transferred her entire property
in Schwetzingen “quidquid
proprietatis in Suezzingen
habeo” to the monastery of
Lorsch (facsimile, Stadtarchiv
Schwetzingen).
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