Bruchsal

Bruchsal lies at the western edge of the Kraichgau, near the plain of the Upper Rhine. The town belonged to the prince-bishopric of Speyer, whose bishops exercised both spiritual and secular authority here. A house of the Knights Hospitaller was established before 1272. The Reformation gained little lasting ground in the town, where episcopal authority maintained a predominantly Catholic community.

In 1716 Bishop Heinrich von Rollingen moved his residence to Bruchsal, making it the seat of the prince-bishopric. His successor Damian Hugo von Schönborn began a new Baroque palace in 1720, giving the town a residence suited to the ambitions of its rulers. The ecclesiastical principality was secularized in 1803, and its lands passed to Baden. The palace and the bishop's court had already made a lasting mark on Bruchsal's appearance.