Mosbach


Mosbach is the capital of the Neckar-Odenwald district in the north of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, about 58 km east of Heidelberg. Its geographical position is 49.21'N 9.9'E.
It has a population of approximately 25,000 people distributed in six boroughs: Mosbach Town, Lohrbach, Neckarelz, Diedesheim, Sattelbach and Reichenbuch.

Geography

Mosbach is situated south of the Odenwald mountains at a height of 134-354m at the confluence of the Neckar and the Elz. The town is part of the conservation area Naturpark Neckartal-Odenwald and the UNESCO Geopark Bergstraße-Odenwald.

History

The settlement of Mosbach developed around the Benedictine monastery of Mosbach Abbey, the first written record of which dates from the 9th century. In 1241 rights and privileges had been granted to Mosbach as an Imperial free city. These rights were lost in 1362 when Mosbach became part of the Electorate of the Palatinate. With the division of the lands of King Rupert in 1410, Mosbach became the capital of a small principality known as Palatinate-Mosbach as the inheritance for his son Otto I. With the death of his brother John, Count Palatine of Neumarkt 1443, the territory of Palatinate-Neumarkt was added in a personal union to Palatinate-Mosbach creating the territory of Palatinate-Mosbach-Neumarkt. This principality was dissolved with the death of Count Palatine Otto II in 1499. The city and adjoining territory reverted to the Electorate of the Palatinate, and Mosbach became the capital of the administrative district of "Oberamt Mosbach". In 1806 the city was made part of the Grand Duchy of Baden. In World War II, the Mosbach area was the location of a Daimler-Benz underground airplane engine factory, codenamed "Goldfisch". It was occupied by the 289th Combat Engineer Battalion in the immediate postwar period.

International relations

Mosbach is twinned with:
Historic sites include:
Mosbach lies on two heritage routes: