Meckenheim, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany

🇩🇪 Meckenheim is an Ortsgemeinde – a municipality belonging to a Verbandsgemeinde, a kind of collective municipality – in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany.

Location The municipality lies at the edge of the Weinstraße region (as distinct from the Deutsche Weinstraße – or German Wine Route – itself) and is part of the Rhine-Neckar urban agglomeration. Meckenheim belongs to the Verbandsgemeinde of Deidesheim, whose seat is in the like-named town.

History The Frankish village of Meckenheim is believed to have arisen in the 5th century AD. In 768, a first donation from Meckenheim to Lorsch Abbey was documented; further donations to other monasteries followed. In 991, some Meckenheim holdings passed to Duke Otto of Weißenburg (now Wissembourg in nearby Alsace, France). In the 12th century, Saint Giles’s Church (Ägidiuskirche) was built.

In 1287, Meckenheim was bought by Count Palatine Louis II, and thus it thereafter belonged to the Electorate of the Palatinate. In 1459 or 1460, Meckenheim was burnt down by the Counts of Leiningen (Emich VII). With the introduction of the Reformation into the Electorate of the Palatinate, Meckenheim became Protestant. In 1585, Saint Giles’s Church was newly built.

After widespread destruction in the Thirty Years' War, Meckenheim’s inhabitants forsook it in 1641. The Meckenheim church passed to the Catholics in 1707; in 1747 and 1748, the Protestant church was built. During the French Revolutionary Wars in the late 18th century, Meckenheim sustained great damage. As a result of decisions made at the Congress of Vienna, Meckenheim passed in 1816, together with the rest of the Palatinate to the Kingdom of Bavaria.

In 1824, the schoolhouse-municipal house (Hauptstraße 98) was built, and in 1872 the building that now serves as town hall (Hauptstraße 58). In 1894, the agricultural coöperative society and the Raiffeisen credit coöperative, which were merged in 1938, were founded.

In 1911, the Lokalbahn – or local railway – between Ludwigshafen and Dannstadt, which had opened in 1890, was extended to Meckenheim. Service continued until 1955, when it was replaced by buslines. In 1913, Meckenheim was connected to a public electrical grid, and in 1928 to a public water supply system. In 1922, the Meckenheim Winemakers’ Association was founded. In 1936, the fruit market hall was built.

After the Second World War, Meckenheim passed in 1946 together with the rest of the Palatinate to the newly founded state of Rhineland-Palatinate. Between 1952 and 1955, the sporting ground with the clubhouse was laid out. In 1956, Meckenheim was connected to a public gas supply system. In 1961, a new folk high school opened and in 1964, it was connected to a public sewer system.

Winegrowing: Meckenheim’s vineyards belong to the Palatinate wine region and also more locally to the Mittelhaardt-Deutsche Weinstraße growing area. Belonging to Meckenheim are two local appellations, namely Neuberg and Spielberg, themselves both within the greater appellation of Hofstück.

In Meckenheim there are 51 wine-growing businesses with planted vineyard areas of 0.3 ha or more; the average area for each business is 4.8 ha. All together, vineyards cover 258 ha within Meckenheim’s municipal area. White wines produced by Meckenheim winegrowing businesses account for 57% of the production, while the other 43% is red wines (as at 2003).