Editing Ludwigshafen (section)

==History==

===Early history===
In [[ancient history|antiquity]], [[Celt]]ic and [[Germanic peoples|Germanic]] tribes settled in the Rhine Neckar area. During the 1st century B.C. the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] conquered the region, and a Roman [[Auxiliaries (Roman military)|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, [[Ludwigshafen-Oppau|Oppau]], and Mundenheim. Most of the area, however, remained swampland, with its development hindered by seasonal flooding of the Rhine.

===The Rheinschanze===
[[File:RheinschanzeMannheim.jpg|thumb|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 [[War of the Sixth Coalition|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===
[[File:Joseph Karl Stieler - King Ludwig I in his Coronation Robes - WGA21796.jpg|thumb|''[[Portrait of Ludwig I of Bavaria]]'' by [[Joseph Karl Stieler]]. The [[nineteenth century]] King of Bavaria named the settlement after himself.]]

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 [[Kingdom of Bavaria|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 [[Kingdom of Prussia|Prussian]] troops quickly expelled the revolutionaries. On December 27, 1852, [[Maximilian II of Bavaria|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===
{{historical populations
|1840|90
|1848|600
|1852|1400
|1858|2800
|1871|7900
|1885|21000
|1895|40000
|1900|62000
|1914|94000
|1925|102000
|1939|144000
|1945|61000
|1950|124000
|1956|147000
|1970|180000
|1985|161000
|1995|171000
|2000|165000
|2004|166000
|2006|163000
|2018|171000
|footnote=Population size may be affected by changes in administrative divisions.}}

[[File:BASF Werk Ludwigshafen 1866.JPG|thumb|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 (river)|Saar]] coalfields was completed in 1849.<ref>Oliver Zimmer, ''Remaking the Rhythms of Life: German Communities in the Age of the Nation-State'' (Oxford University Press; 2013) compares the city to Augsburg and Ulm.</ref>

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 [[Reckitt Benckiser#Benckiser|Benckiser]] company (founded by Johann Benckiser), Giulini Brothers, Grünzweig&Hartmann AG, and {{ill|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 (World War I)|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 [[Oppau explosion|industrial explosion]]s 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 "[[town privileges|City]]" status. It prospered until 1929 and the onset of the [[Great Depression]], 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<ref>''[[Where Once We Walked]]'', first edition, p. 194</ref> was deported in 1940.

During the [[Oil Campaign of World War II]], the Allies conducted [[Bombing of Ludwigshafen and Oppau in World War II|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.<ref>United States Strategic Bombing Survey, Physical Damage Division, "IG Farbenindustrie Ludwigshafen, Germany", vol. I, 2nd ed. (April 1947)</ref>

The Allied ground advance into Germany reached Ludwigshafen in March 1945. The US [[12th Armored Division (United States)|12th Armored Division]] and [[94th Infantry Division (United States)|94th Infantry Division]] captured Ludwigshafen against determined German resistance in house-to-house and block-to-block urban combat during 21–24 March 1945.<ref>Stanton, Shelby, ''World War II Order of Battle: An Encyclopedic Reference to U.S. Army Ground Forces from Battalion through Division, 1939–1946'', Stackpole Books (Revised Edition 2006), pp. 65, 170</ref>

===Post-war rebuilding===
[[Post-war]], Ludwigshafen was part of the French occupation zone, becoming part of the newly founded [[States of Germany|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|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===
[[File:Blick auf die BASF.jpg|thumb|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.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,533293,00.html |title=Turkish Immigrants Killed in Blaze : German Police Probing Arson Claim |newspaper=Der Spiegel |date=5 February 2008 |access-date=2010-01-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090603015133/http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,533293,00.html |archive-date=2009-06-03 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref>{{Cite news |url=http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,538341,00.html |title=Ludwigshafen Blaze: Deadly Fire Not Arson, Say Investigators |newspaper=Der Spiegel |date=28 February 2008 |access-date=2010-01-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100824031135/http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,538341,00.html |archive-date=2010-08-24 |url-status=live }}</ref>

In response to concerns about limited retail options, the city developed new shopping facilities, including the [[Walzmühle]] shopping mall near [[Berliner Platz]], which is adjacent to the [[Ludwigshafen-Mitte]] railway station. Additionally, the [[Rhein-Galerie]] shopping mall, featuring approximately 130 stores over 30,000 square meters, opened on 29 September 2010 on the former Zollhofhafen harbor site, aiming to revitalize the waterfront area.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-10-02 |title=Rhein-Galerie Ludwigshafen - Malls.com |url=https://www.malls.com/malls/rhein-galerie-ludwigshafen/?utm_source=chatgpt.com |access-date=2025-05-04 |website=www.malls.com |language=en-US}}</ref>

Ludwigshafen has enormous importance as an industrial city.

{| class="wikitable floatright"
|+Largest groups of foreign residents<ref>{{cite web |title=Statistischer Jahresbericht 2016 |url=http://www.ludwigshafen.de/fileadmin/Websites/Stadt_Ludwigshafen/Nachhaltig/Stadtentwicklung/Veroeffentlichungen/PDF/Jahresbericht_2016.pdf |access-date=18 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180618175442/http://www.ludwigshafen.de/fileadmin/Websites/Stadt_Ludwigshafen/Nachhaltig/Stadtentwicklung/Veroeffentlichungen/PDF/Jahresbericht_2016.pdf |archive-date=18 June 2018 |url-status=live }}</ref>
|-
! Nationality || Population 
|-
|{{flag|Turkey}} || 9,010
|-
|{{flag|Italy}} || 6,309
|-
|{{flag|Bulgaria}} || 3,656
|-
|{{flag|Poland}} || 2,581
|-
|{{flag|Romania }} || 2,574
|-
|{{flag|Greece}} || 2,086
|-
|{{flag|Croatia}} || 1,821
|-
|{{flag|Syria}} || 1,730
|-
|{{flag|Ukraine}} || 1,647
|-
|{{flag|Hungary}} || 1,525
|-
|{{flag|Serbia}} || 1,437
|}