Hechtsheim

Can you imagine a town named after a fish? Here in Hechtsheim, the name literally translates to “Pike’s Home.” Hechtsheim, now a bustling suburb of Mainz, boasts a rich history dating back over 1200 years. Its first documented mention was in 808 as “Hehhidesheim.” Hechtsheim wasn’t always part of Mainz. It began as a Frankish settlement, evidenced by Merovingian burial grounds from the 7th century. These have been unearthed at the western entrance and the Grossberg. Hechtsheim’s story intertwines with the powerful Archbishops of Mainz. They were the primary landowners. In 1108, they granted the tithe to Disibodenberg Monastery, who later sold it to Mainz’s Liebfrauenstift in 1253. The prominent Meingote family, Mainz’s city chamberlains, held Hechtsheim as a fiefdom from the beginning of the 12th century. Through inheritance, Hechtsheim and Weisenau passed to the Lords of Bolanden in 1215, and then to the Falkenstein line in 1253. By 1486, the Counts of Isenburg-Büdingen held complete control, which lasted until 1706. Hechtsheim’s fate shifted again, returning to the Archbishopric of Mainz. Hechtsheim became part of the (Lower) Olm office in 1782, separate from Weisenau. The French Revolution swept through, ending feudalism in Hechtsheim in 1792. Hechtsheim became French territory in 1797, within the “Département du Mont-Tonnerre.” The Congress of Vienna redrew the map. Hechtsheim became part of the Grand Duchy of Hesse-Darmstadt in 1816, within the newly formed province of Rhenish Hesse. This followed two years of Austrian and Bavarian administration. Hechtsheim thrived as a municipality in the Mainz district from 1835 onwards, remaining so even after becoming part of the new state of Rhineland-Palatinate in 1946. Finally, in 1969, Hechtsheim merged with six other Rhenish Hessian villages into the city of Mainz, concluding its independent journey. Today, Hechtsheim balances its rich history with a modern, thriving economy, demonstrated by its expansive industrial area, the largest in Mainz.