Heilbronn

Heilbronn was a town on the Neckar in northern Swabia, with a river harbour and salt springs. The Hohenstaufen fortified it in 1225, and the Teutonic Knights began building their Deutschhof residence in 1268.

In 1371 Emperor Charles IV granted Heilbronn a charter as a Free Imperial City. It adopted the Reformation in 1528 and joined the Schmalkaldic League in 1538. Württemberg troops occupied the city in 1802, and Heilbronn formally passed to Württemberg in 1803.