very badly several times before. The execution was an unprecedented move and shocked and outraged the German nobility and clergy. They had the town destroyed several weeks later, on May 21, even though the townspeople had had nothing to do with the execution. From 1819 until his death in 1862, the poet and physician Justinus Kerner lived in Weinsberg. His circle of friends, all of them poets, often met at his house, giving Weinsberg the reputation of being a "Swabian Weimar". World War II During the Second World War, Weinsberg was the site of a prison camp (Oflag Va) for Allied officers (French and British Commonwealth). One famous prisoner was Charles Hazlitt Upham. On April 12, 1945, the town was largely destroyed by aerial bombings, gunfire and fires. Politics Twin Towns Weinsberg has official partnerships with the French town of Carignan (département Ardennes) and the Italian town of Costigliole d'Asti (Province of Asti). There are informal relations with Cossebaude (now a part of Dresden) in Germany, Keyworth (Nottinghamshire) in the UK and Lake Crystal, Minnesota in the US. The latter two came about because of student exchange programs between schools in Weinsberg and schools there. The American town of Winesburg, Ohio was originally named after Weinsberg in the early 19th century and had the spelling changed only in 1833. Mayors Before 1930 the title was Schultheiß/Stadtschultheiß 1820-1845 Heinrich Pfaff 1845-1853: Franz Fraas 1853-1862: Johann Jakob Haug, 1862-1875: Johann Franz Käpplinger, 1875-1914: Carl Seufferheld 1914-1924: Adolf Strehles 1924-1945: Karl Weinbrenner 1945 Ludwig Mayer 1945 Rudolf Ilg 1946-1948: Gustav Zimmermann 1948-1972 Erwin Heim 1972-1996: Jürgen Klatte 1996-2004: Walter Kuhn since 2004: Stefan Thoma Economy and infrastructure Wine growing In earlier times viticulture has been the basis of Weinsberg's economy and plays still an important role. In 1271 viticulture in Weinsberg was mentioned for the first time, there are proven 28 wine presses in the town from 1636. With a cultivated area of 430 ha (conditions: 2005, with districts), two thirds of it are red wine sorts, standing the town in fifth place of the viticulture municipalities in Württemberg. In 1868 the winemaking cooperative Weinsberg was created, getting combined with Erlenbach's and Heilbronn's cooperatives to the Genossenschaftskellerei Heilbronn-Erlenbach-Weinsberg e. G., still attaching the most wine-growers of Weinsberg. In addition there are some estates removing and marketing their wine by themselves. Besides there's the Staatliche Lehr- und Versuchsanstalt für Wein- und Obstbau Weinsberg (LVWO