Heilbronn
[key], city, Baden-Württemberg, S Germany, a port on the Neckar
River. A commercial and industrial center, its manufactures include metal
products, machinery, and wine. Heilbronn was the site (early 9th cent.) of a
Carolingian palace and in the 14th cent. became a free imperial city.
Although it suffered in the wars of the 16th cent., particularly in the
Peasants' War, the city rose to great commercial prosperity in the late 16th
and early 17th cent. In 1802, Heilbronn passed to Württemberg, and
later in the 19th cent. it acquired industrial importance. In World War II
(especially 1944) much of the city was destroyed, but many of its historic
buildings have been reconstructed. Points of interest include the church of
St. Kilian (13th–15th cent.) and the Götzenturm, a tower built
in 1392, which is mentioned in Goethe's drama Götz von
Berlichingen (1772).
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