takes place, when the German Wine Road is closed to motorised traffic – even in Neustadt – and is only open to cyclists and pedestrians. Patronage Neustadt was the patron of the U-Boat U 26 in the German Bundesmarine. Since 1978 it has sponsored a Lufthansa Airbus and, since 2000, ICE train of the Deutsche Bahn. In March 2007 it took on the sponsorship of a train on the Rhine-Neckar S-Bahn. Economy The largest local employer is BASF, located in Ludwigshafen am Rhein – one of the largest chemical companies in the world. Symbols The symbols of Neustadt are Elwedritsche, mythical animals of local folklore. Depictions of them are carved on a well in the town centre. Transport Neustadt is less than an hour away from larger cities such as Mannheim, Ludwigshafen, Heidelberg and Frankfurt. Twin towns – sister cities Neustadt an der Weinstraße is twinned with: Echt-Susteren, Netherlands Lincoln, England, United Kingdom Mâcon, France Manchester, United States Quanzhou, China Wernigerode, Germany Yenişehir, Turkey Notable people Frederick II, Elector Palatine (1482–1556), Elector of the Palatinate from 1544 to 1556 Johannes von Geissel (1796–1864), Cardinal, Archbishop of Cologne, Bishop of Speyer August Rothpletz (1853–1918), geologist, paleontologist Georg Balthazar von Neumayer, German polar explorer and scientist, died here in 1909 Ludwig Wolff (1857–1919), chemist Franz Xaver Kugler (1862–1929), astronomer, chemist, mathematician, theologian Albert Fraenkel (1864–1938), physician, tuberculosis and heart researcher Karl Helfferich (1872–1924), banker, politician (DNVP) in the Weimar Republic Hans Geiger (1882–1945), physicist, inventor of the Geiger counter Hermann Künneth (1892–1975), mathematician Franz Pfeiffer (1900–1979), lawyer (1903–1966), jurist, SS official Walter Bruch (1908–1990), electrical engineering technician, inventor of the PAL color television system Willi Geiger (1909–1994), lawyer Fritz Wiedemann (1920–1987), painter, sculptor Herbert Culmann (1921–1998), lawyer, CEO of Deutsche Lufthansa AG Karlheinz Rudolph (1923–1994), television journalist Günther Osche (1926–2009), evolutionary biologist, ecologist, parasitologist Alfred Mechtersheimer (1939–2018), political scientist, politician, Member of Bundestag Jörg Zimmermann (born 1944), diplomat Heiner Goebbels (born 1952), musician, composer, radio play director, director Gregor Braun (born 1955), track cyclist, road bicycle racer Malu Dreyer (born 1961), jurist, politician (SPD), Rhineland-Palatinate Minister President since 2013 Andrea Mohr (born 1963), author, former drug smuggler Uwe Wolf (born 1967), footballer Mario Basler (born 1968), football player, coach Bernhard Hoëcker (born 1970), comedian Sin With Sebastian (born 1971), pop singer Gustav Policella (born 1975), football player, coach Danko Bošković (born 1982), footballer Moritz Oeler (born 1985), water polo player Joseph Moog