Marbach am Neckar was founded by the Franks in the 8th century AD between the Duchies of Swabia and Franconia and the Prince-Bishoprics of Speyer and Constance. Marbach received its town rights in 1009 from Walter Marktrecht, Bishop of Speyer. Around the mid-13th century, those rights were reaffirmed by the Dukes of Teck. In 1302, the Dukes of Teck sold Marbach to the County of Württemberg, who made the city the seat of its own administrative district later in the 14th century and then an Oberamt,, in 1758. That Oberamt was dramatically enlarged on 18 March 1806, but then dissolved entirely in 1938. Marbach was subsequently assigned to a new district, Landkreis Ludwigsburg. On 1 July 1972, Marbach incorporated the town of Rielingshausen.
Geography
The city of Marbach am Neckar covers of the district of Ludwigsburg in a total of four separate exclaves. Marbach is, according to government urban planning, part of the Stuttgart Metropolitan Region. Marbach's municipal areas are physically located in the Neckar, with the exception of its easternmost exclave, which lies in the Swabian-Franconian Forest. The lowest elevation above sea level in the municipal area, Normalnull, is found where the Neckar flows out of Marbach and into Benningen am Neckar. The highest elevation,, is found in the east, at the top of the Bülzberg.
Politics
Marbach has two boroughs – Marbach am Neckar and Rielingshausen – and three villages: Hinterbirkenhof, Hörnle, Siegelhausen. Also in Marbach's municipal area are the minor administrative units of Dampfkraftwerk, Eichgraben, and Häldenmühle, and the abandoned villages of Hegnachsiedel, Kaisersberg, and Sigebotesbuch.
Marbach am Neckar's coat of arms displays its field, gold in color, as divided party per pale into halves. The left half has three black, taken from the arms of Württemberg. The right half has a crenelated, white tower wrapped with green vines growing two clusters of blue grapes. The placement of Württemberg's arms is derived from town seals in since Württemberg's purchase of the city in 1302, when their arms replaced those of the Dukes of Teck. The tower first appeared around 1547 as a reference to local viticulture. The current coat of arms was devised in 1938 from a 1593 town seal. Marbach has had a municipal flag since 1871.
