Waghäusel
Waghäusel is located in the north of the District of Karlsruhe, surrounded by forests in the Rhine Valley, and ideally-situated between the large cities of Karlsruhe and Mannheim.
The Eremitage, an outstanding architectural monument, is a jewel in the crown of the major district town.
The major district city of Waghäusel
The city of Waghäusel was created when three formerly independent municipalities were merged in 1975, as part of the Municipal Territory Reform. The oldest quarter is Kirrlach, which was first documented in 1234. Its catholic parish church houses a gem from the late Gothic era, the Flemish carved altar. The Wiesental quarter, established in 1297, was the site of a fort by the River Wagbach as early as in Roman times. Waghäusel, the smallest quarter, was founded in the 15th century as a pilgrimage town for Our Lady. There has been an abbey with a pilgrimage church here since the 17th century.
Right next to this, the prince bishops of Speyer built the Eremitage, a baroque hunting palace complex, in the 18th century. From 1837 to 1995, the palace was hidden behind the factory walls of local sugar company Südzucker AG.
Since the city of Waghäusel purchased the abandoned company site in 1997, the Eremitage has been accessible again. Outside the entrance, the liberty monument dedicated to the "Pioneers of Democracy”reminds us that the freedom fighters of Baden were defeated here by the superior forces of Prussia in the decisive battle of the Baden Revolution on June 21, 1849.
The city is currently developing a business park on the roughly 40 hectares of the former sugar factory site to attract more promising jobs to the location. Waghäusel is already home to many top service and manufacturing companies of different sizes. They range from family-run companies to major corporations, from agricultural production to software development, and from local start-up to global players. The mix of industries also indicates that Waghäusel offers companies ideal conditions for commercial development with its excellent infrastructure, among other things. Waghäusel is currently has to 7,000 social security-paying jobs.
The city also has a great social infrastructure. There are multiple elementary schools, a comprehensive school and a junior high school. A wide range of childcare services for children and young people help parents to find a work-life balance. Spare time can be spent in the school of music and singing, the municipal library, the indoor and outdoor swimming pool or one of Waghäusel's over one hundred associations. Sports, culture and simple sociability are important values in Waghäusel, and are driven by a strong sense of civic responsibility by the locals.
Even though there are an impressive number of companies and jobs in the city itself, most of the working population is employed in the nearby cities. The city of Waghäusel is a typical residential community, which offers its citizens a high quality of living. The three quarters have largely succeeded in preserving their original character, in a positive way. Even though the population of Waghäusel is growing constantly, there is little urban anonymity here. This growth has been driven in particular by the designation of several new residential zones in recent years.
| City | Waghäusel |
| Federal state | Baden-Wuerttemberg |
| Coordinates | 49° 15‘ N, 8° 30‘ E |
| Population | 20.965 (Stand: 31.10.2014) |
| Website | www.waghaeusel.de |