Wachenheim an der Weinstraße (formerly called Wachenheim im Speyergau) is a small town in the Bad Dürkheim district in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, roughly 1 km south of Bad Dürkheim and 20 km west of Ludwigshafen. It is known above all else for its various businesses in the field of winegrowing, and in particular for Sekt. Geography Location Wachenheim lies in the Middle Haardt at the eastern edge of the Palatinate Forest and is also the seat of the eponymous Verbandsgemeinde, to which also belong the neighbouring places of Friedelsheim, Gönnheim and Ellerstadt, themselves also characterized by winegrowing and also partly by fruitgrowing. History Antiquity The first traces of settlement in the Wachenheim area come from the early Iron Age (550 BC to 1). At this time, Celts were settling in the Upper Rhine Plain area. About 60 BC, Germanic tribes, presumably the Nemetes, pushed into the region and drove the Celts out. The Romans intervened in the disputes between the Germanic peoples and the Celts, and after their victory over Ariovistus (57 BC) subdued the Nemetes and ruled the region for the next 400 years. Under Roman influence, crop farming was improved and also fruitgrowing and winegrowing began. Supposedly running through what is now Wachenheim's municipal area was a Roman road: from Mußbach along the Haardt and through Rhenish Hesse to Bingen. After a brief invasion by the Huns about AD 450, the Alamanni advanced into the area, although by the late 5th century, they were being driven out of the region by the Franks. Middle Ages Wachenheim's first documentary mention – as Wackenheim – dates from Carolingian times and is found in the Lorsch codex. There, on 30 March 766, the donation of a Wachenheim vineyard is noted. In the 11th century, Wachenheim's lords were the Salians. The town passed on Emperor Heinrich V's death to the House of Hohenstaufen. From this time comes the castle complex, which nowadays is only ruins, but which at one time belonged to a system of castles planned and built by the Hohenstaufens. On 24 June 1341, Wachenheim was granted town rights by Emperor Louis the Bavarian. In 1436, Emperor Ruprecht III's (1398–1410) son, Duke Stephen built a mint, which was in operation until 1471. In that year, Wachenheim, after hitherto having been under Duke Louis the Black's ownership, was taken over by Frederick I, Elector Palatine. At the time of this conquest, Wachenheim