Ilvesheim

Ilvesheim is a town of about 8700 residents (2012) in the district of Rhein-Neckar in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. It is one of the first towns located along the famous Bertha Benz Memorial Route.

History

Ilvesheim was first mentioned in a deed of the Lorsch Abbey from March 14, 744 AD, as a village called "Ulvinisheim". The ending "heim" means it was founded during the Frankish conquests. It is not clear whether the current name is from a then-resident called "Ulvinius" or after a small tributary creek that empties into the Neckar River, called "Ilbe."

Emperor Barbarossa transferred the Lorsch possession to his half brother, the Palatinate Count Conrad in 1155. Since the end of the 13th century, Ilvesheim indisputably belonged to the Kurpfalz and was a part of the Seckenheimer concentrum. The area started as a fiefdom under the Lords of Strahlenberg. In the middle of the 14th century, it fell to the squires from Erligheim; from 1550-1654 the county of Steinach, and then to the barons of Hundheim in 1700.