Östringen

Östringen is a little town of nearly 13.000 people (2006) in the hilly region of Kraichgau near Karlsruhe in the federal state of Baden-Württemberg. Until 1973 Östringen belonged to the rural district of Bruchsal. Due to its importance it was granted city rights by the federal state government in 1981.
Today the town consists of four parishes: Östringen, Eichelberg (since 1972), Odenheim (since 1974) and Tiefenbach (belonged to Odenheim).

 

Odenheim and the Siegfriedbrunnen

The parish Odenheim, that today is a part of the town of Östringen, is mentioned in the songs of the Nibelungs as the place where the hero Siegfried was murdered.
Odenheim was first officially mentioned in the records in 769 AD. Since the 12th century the history is closely connected with the nearby Benedictine abbey Wigoldsberg, that was later renamed in Abbey Odenheim.

People from Odenheim have initiated a local history club, the Heimatkundlicher Arbeitskreis Odenheim in 1978 and gather information about the local history. You can read more about the history of Odenheim on their homepage: www.odna.de

 

Google Maps

What to see

Parish Curch Saint Cecilia

The Church of Saint Cecilia was built in 1895 by Adolf Williard (1832-1923) in a neo-romanesque style and is used today by the Catholic parish.
Due to its size locals call it sometimes the "Cathedral of Kraichgau".

The interior

Address: Am Kirchberg 6, 76684 Östringen
Phone: +40 (0)7253 21431

 

Old Town Hall with Museum of Local History

The old building is from 1786 and it has been used as the town hall until 1900. In 1899 the new town hall has been built.
The old town hall was renovated in 2000 and now houses the local history museum called Heimatmuseum.

Opening hours:

  • Wed 2 - 6pm,
  • every second Sun per month 2 - 5pm.

Address: Hauptstrasse 100, 76684 Östringen
Phone: +49 (0)7253 278440
Website: http://www.oestringen.de/module/bb/index.cfm?T=31,34&Eintrag_ID=15

 

New Town Hall

The new town hall was built in 1899 in front of the parish church.

Town Hall Extension

Right next to the new town hall of 1899 the architect Lothar Götz designed an extension which was built in 1978-1982.

Address: Am Kirchberg 19, 76684 Östringen
Phone: +49 (0)7253 2070
Website: http://www.oestringen.de

 

Fountain with Coat of Arms

The fountain at the Town Hall symbolises the four parishes of Östringen with a coat of arms on each of the four sides: for Östringen itself, Eichelberg, Odenheim and Tiefenbach.

  • The arms of Östringen shows as the main symbol a kettle hook with a star in its centre.
  • The arms of Eichelberg depicts an acorn, Eichel in German.
  • The arms of Odenheim depicts the dragon slayer Siegfried, taken from the legend of the Nibelungs.
  • The arms of Tiefenbach shows on the left side the arms of the former Odenheim Abbey, where it belonged to, in the colours of the State of Speyer. On the right side the connection of the region with wine growing and the cultivation of grapes is illustrated.

Address: Am Kirchberg, 76684 Östringen

 

Art Nouveau Town Hall

The town hall was built in 1904 in the Art Nouveau style and depicts the legend of the dragon slayer Siegfried and the Nibelungs on the corner as a stone carved sculpture.

Address: Nibelungenstrasse 2, 76684 Östringen - Odenheim

 

Stonemason fountain

The fountain was put up in 1996 by the town administration to commemorate the long tradition of the local stonemason's handcraft.
The statue was designed by Heinrich Zibuschka and executed in bronze by Rolf Scheuring. It has the features of Franz Schäfer, a former stonemason from Odenheim.

Address: Eppinger Strasse, 76684 Östringen-Odenheim

 

Siegfriedbrunnen (Siegfried fountain)

This fountain is the most famous (but rather overrated) sight in Odenheim, where due to legend the hero Siegfried from the Nibelungs was supposedly murdered.

Note: The page was originally created on Apr 20, 2008 for Virtualtourist.com. It contributed 4 tips and 14 photos to the Östringen Travel guide, was Top Rated and ranked No.1 of the Top 5 Östringen Writers. The site was closed down on Feb 27, 2017.

Note: The page was originally created on Apr 20, 2008 for Virtualtourist.com. It contributed 3 tips and 9 photos to the Odenheim Travel guide, was Top Rated  and ranked No.1 of the Top 5 Odenheim Writers. The site was closed down on Feb 27, 2017.