Zweibrücken

For horse breed, see Zweibrücker.

Zweibrücken
Castle (front)
Zweibrücken
Coordinates	49°14′58″N 7°21′39″E / 49.24944°N 7.36083°E / 49.24944; 7.36083Coordinates: 49°14′58″N 7°21′39″E / 49.24944°N 7.36083°E / 49.24944; 7.36083
Administration
Country	Germany
State	Rhineland-Palatinate
District	Urban district
Mayor	Helmut Reichling (CDU)
Basic statistics
Area	70.64 km2 (27.27 sq mi)
Elevation	300 m  (984 ft)
Population	33,944 (31 December 2010)[1]
- Density	481 /km2 (1,245 /sq mi)
Other information
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Licence plate	ZW
Postal code	66482
Area code	06332
Website	www.zweibruecken.de

Zweibrücken is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, on the Schwarzbach river.

Name

Zweibrücken appears in Latin texts as Geminus Pons and Bipontum, in French texts as Deux-Ponts. The name derives from Middle High German Zweinbrücken (literally twin-bridge, double-bridge, two bridges). In modern German the name means two-bridges.

History

The town was the capital of the former Palatinate-Zweibrücken. The ducal castle is now occupied by the chief court of the Palatinate (Oberlandesgericht). There is a fine Gothic Protestant church, the Alexander-Kirche, founded in 1493.

Since the end of the 12th century, Zweibrücken was the seat of the County of Zweibrücken, the counts being descended from Henry I (Heinrich I.), youngest son of Simon I, count of Saarbrücken (d. 1182). The line became extinct on the death of Count Eberhard II (1394), who in 1385 had sold half his territory to the count palatine of the Rhine, and held the other half as his feudal domaine. Louis (d. 1489), son of Stephen, founded the line of the counts palatine of Zweibrücken (Pfalz-Zweibrücken). In 1533, the Counts palatine converted Pfalz-Zweibrücken to the new Protestant faith. In 1559, a member of the line, Duke Wolfgang, founded the earliest grammar school of the town (Herzog-Wolfgang-Gymnasium), which existed until 1987.

After Charles X Gustav, the son of John Casimir, count palatine of Pfalz-Zweibrücken, succeeded his cousin Queen Christina of Sweden on the Swedish throne, Pfalz-Zweibrücken was in personal union with Sweden until 1718.

In 1731, Pfalz-Zweibrücken passed to the Palatinate-Birkenfeld-Zweibrücken branch of the counts palatine, from where it came under the sway of Bavaria in 1799. At the Peace of Lunéville in 1801 Zweibrücken was ceded to France; on its reunion with Germany in 1814 the greater part of the territory was given to Bavaria, the remainder to Oldenburg and Kingdom of Prussia. The city of Zweibrücken became part of the Palatine region of the Kingdom of Bavaria.

At the ducal printing office at Zweibrücken the fine series of the classical editions known as the Bipontine Editions was published (1779 sqq.).

The last prominent social event before the First World War was the inauguration of the Rosengarten (rose garden) by Princess Hildegard of Bavaria in June 1914. As a consequence of the First World War, Zweibrücken was occupied by French troops between 1918 and 1930. In the course of the Kristallnacht in 1938, the Zweibrücken synagogue was destroyed. With the outbreak of the Second World War the city was evacuated in 1939-1940, as it lay in the ‘Red Zone’ on the fortified Westwall (Siegfried Line). Shortly before the end of the war, on 14 March 1945 the city was nearly completely destroyed from bombing by the Royal Canadian Air Force, with the loss of more than 200 lives. On 20 March American ground troops reached Zweibrücken. The city became part of the new state of Rhineland-Palatinate after the war.

In 1990 the city underwent a major change. With the departure of the Americans, the military area became free, which corresponded altogether to a third of the entire city surface area. Unemployment increased to approximately 21%, leading to a decrease in demand in the retail trade of approximately 25%. These events led to rapid, creative decisions on the part of the city, with the resultant changes becoming the model for other communities. Within the core of the city, a small pedestrian precinct was completed, which includes some restored historic buildings.

Economy

Weaving, brewing and the manufacture of machinery, chicory, cigars, malt, boots, furniture and soap were the chief industries before World War II. Nowadays Terex cranes and bulldozers and John Deere tractors are the chief industries.

Panorama of modern Zweibrücken

Zweibrücken Air Base

On the outskirts of the city, Zweibrücken Air Base was for many years home to U.S. Airmen and their families. Prior to being a home for the USAFE, the base was operated by the Royal Canadian Air Force. It was known as #3 Fighter Wing which was part of #1 Canadian Air Division which had its headquarters in Metz, France. During the years 1953 to 1968, it was the home to 413, 427 and 434 Fighter Squadrons which flew F-86 Sabre jets, and 440 Squadron which flew CF-100 Canuck, then the CF-104 Starfighter. The RF-4C was stationed there from the 1970s to 1991 under the 26th TRS. The RF-4C aircraft were photo-reconnaissance aircraft with missions all over Europe. They were also used in Desert Storm. The C-23 "Sherpa", a small prop driven transport plane, also flew out of the Air Base in the 1980s. Today Zweibrücken Air Base has been transformed into the modern Zweibrücken Airport [1], an international airport with flights to Palma de Mallorca, Antalya, Gran Canaria, Teneriffe, Rhodos, Heraklion and Fuerteventura (TUIfly), Berlin-Tegel (Air Berlin), Istanbul (Pegasus Airlines)

On the other side of the city was Kreuzberg Kasern, home to various units of the United States Army; however, only one combat unit, Alpha battery 2nd Battalion, 60th Air Defense Artillery, was headquartered on the Ramstein Air Base. Major tenants were USAISEC-Eur (Information Systems Engineering Command - Europe) and the USA MATCOMEUR (Material Command, Europe) later renamed the US Army Material Management Agency, Europe.

Twinnings

• Barrie, Ontario, Canada since 1996
• Boulogne-sur-Mer, France since 1959
• Nyakizu (formerly Runyinya), Rwanda since 1982
• Yorktown, Virginia, United States since 1978

Further reading

• Ammerich, Hans, "Zweibrücken. Die alte Herzogsstadt in Geschichte und Gegenwart", Zweibrücken 1983
• Bartz, Günther, "Zweibrücken. Frühe Kunde – Herzogliche Zeiten – heute", Speyer 1960
• Lehmann, Johann Georg, "Vollständige Geschichte des Herzogthums Zweibrücken und seiner Fürsten, der Stamm- und Voreltern des k. bayer. Hauses", Munich, 1867
• Molitor, Ludwig, "Vollständige Geschichte der ehemals pfalz-bayerischen Residenzstadt Zweibrücken von ihren ältesten Zeiten bis zur Vereinigung des Herzogtums Zweibrücken mit der Bayerischen Krone", Zweibrücken 1884

External links

• (German) Official website
• (German) Page with Photos and Information
• (English) Page about Outlets Zweibrücken

See also

• List of counts palatine of Zweibrücken

References

1. ^ "Bevölkerung der Gemeinden am 31.12.2010" (in German). Statistisches Landesamt Rheinland-Pfalz. 31 December 2010. http://www.statistik.rlp.de/fileadmin/dokumente/berichte/A1033_201022_hj_G.pdf. 

•  This article incorporates text from a publication now in the public domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.