Worms, Germany

Worms [vɔʁms, in dialect vɔms] (lat. Wormatia, Borbetomagus or Civitas Vangionum) is an independent city in the southeastern Rhineland-Palatinate and lies directly on the left bank of the Rhine. The medium-sized centre with the partial function of a regional centre is located on the edge of the Rhine-Neckar and Rhine-Main metropolitan regions. Due to this location, it is simultaneously assigned to the planning region Rheinhessen-Nahe and the metropolitan region Rhein-Neckar (in which the planning region Rheinpfalz has been merged).

The current inhabitants of the city founded by the Celts are vying with Augsburg, Trier and Kempten for the title of Germany's oldest city. Worms is the German representative in the Most Ancient European Towns Network.

Worms is known as the city of the Nibelungs and Luther and for its cathedral, which is one of the three Romanesque imperial cathedrals along with the cathedrals of Mainz and Speyer. Worms (Yiddish ווירמייזא Wermajze), one of the three SchUM cities, was also a center of Ashkenazi Jewish culture in Germany.

Geography

Geographical position

Worms is located in the eastern part of Rhineland-Palatinate in the Upper Rhine Plain. It is located in the southeastern part of the Rheinhessen region between Mainz (about 40 kilometres north) and Ludwigshafen (about 20 kilometres south) on the left, western bank of the Rhine. In the northern part of the city, the Pfrimm flows into the Rhine, while the Eisbach (also called Altbach here), which also flows into this stream, flows through the southern parts of the city. In the extreme southeast of the city runs the lower reaches of the Eckbach, which also flows into the Rhine.

To the southwest, 15 km away, lie the foothills of the Palatinate Forest, to the west the hilly landscape of the Wonnegau, and on the other side of the Rhine, the Hessian part of the Odenwald adjoins the plain.

The lowest point of Worms is at 86.5 m above sea level near the northern district of Ibersheim on the former river island of Ibersheimer Wörth, the highest point is at 167 m on the western city boundary between the district of Pfeddersheim and the adjoining Nieder-Flörsheim to the west, directly on Nieder-Flörsheimer Straße (state road 443).

Catchment area

As a medium-sized centre, Worms is directly assigned to the Wonnegau region with the municipalities of Eich, Monsheim and Wonnegau. The city's catchment area also includes parts of the Hessisches Ried and the northern Vorderpfalz.

Worms is located in the north of the Rhine-Neckar metropolitan region and in the south-west of the Rhine-Main region and is also considered a link between these conurbations due to its location. Therefore, in terms of spatial planning, the city belongs to both the Rhine-Hesse-Nahe planning region and the Rhine-Palatinate planning region, which is supervised by the Rhine-Neckar Regional Planning Association.

City breakdown

Worms is divided into eight boroughs with 19 districts. The 13 incorporated districts (subdivisions of the city districts 4 to 7), which at the same time form districts in addition to the central district of Worms, each have a local council, local head and local administration as local districts. With great self-confidence, they attach great importance to the preservation of their typical character. District-related wine festivals take place, for example, in the Herrnsheim castle courtyard of the former barons of Dalberg or at the medieval town walls of Pfeddersheim.

Districts of Worms, according to city districts
District	Area ha	Inhabitants	Location to the city centre	incorporated	District key	Postal code	Telephone area code
City district 0 City centre
01 City centre	0086	08.735		- –	073911	67547	06241
City district 1 City area south
11 City centre south	0261	05.283	bordering to the south	- –	073911	67547	06241
12 Karl Marx housing estate	0643	01.117	south of the centre (3 km)	- –	073911	67547	06241
City district 2 City area north
21 City Centre North	0723	09.725	adjoining to the north	- –	073911	67547	06241
City district 3 Southwest
31 City Centre West	0155	10.001	bordering to the west	- –	073911	67549	06241
32 Downtown Southwest	0176	02.057	bordering to the southwest	- –	073911	67549	06241
Municipality 4 Western Suburbs
41 Pfiffligheim	0393	03.386	west of the centre	October 1, 1898	073913	67549	06241
42 Hochheim	0242	03.538	northwest of the center	October 1, 1898	073909	67549	06241
43 Neuhausen	0185	10.508	north of the center	April 1, 1898	073910	67549	06241
44 Herrnsheim	1217	06.270	in the north of the city (5 km)	April 1, 1942	073903	67550	06241
45 Leiselheim	0259	02.104	outside in the west (4 km)	April 1, 1942	073914	67549	06241
Municipality 5 Suburbs Southwest
51 Horchheim	0575	04.795	southwest of the centre (4.5 km)	April 1, 1942	073908	67551	06241
52 Weinsheim	0417	02.780	in the southwest of the city (4 km)	April 1, 1942	073912	67551	06241
53 Wiesoppenheim	0354	01.733	outside in the southwest (5,5 km)	June 7, 1969	073907	67551	06241
54 Heppenheim	1126	02.207	outside in the southwest (9 km)	June 7, 1969	073906	67551	06241
Municipality 6 Western outskirts
61 Pfeddersheim	1187	07.025	outside in the west (7 km)	June 7, 1969	073905	67551	06247
62 Abenheim	1090	02.512	outside in the northwest (10 km)	June 7, 1969	073904	67550	06242
Municipality 7 Northern Suburbs
71 Rheindürkheim	0812	02.923	outside in the north (8 km)	June 7, 1969	073902	67550	06242
72 Ibersheim	0972	00.714	outside in the north (13 km)	June 7, 1969	073901	67550	06246

see also: List of places in the independent city of Worms

Climate

Worms belongs to the climatic zone of the middle latitudes. The climate is continental. Due to its location in the Upper Rhine Plain between the Palatinate Forest and the Donnersberg in the west and the Bergstrasse and the Odenwald in the east, Worms is one of the warmest and driest places in Germany.

Air temperature

The long-term average of air temperature for the period 1951 to 1980 is 10.3 °C. In recent years, an increase in the annual mean air temperature has been observed. In 2008, for example, the averaged air temperature at Hagenstraße was 12.2 °C, while an averaged air temperature of 11.3 °C was measured five kilometres further west in Worms-Leiselheim during the same period. The air temperature for 2007 (averaged) was 12.7 °C at Hagenstrasse and 11.7 °C at Leiselheim. The higher average value of +1K of the annual mean temperature at Hagenstraße compared to the weather station Worms-Leiselheim is mainly based on the mostly warmer inner-city temperature values. In Worms the warmest month is currently July with 24 degrees Celsius daytime temperature. In contrast, the coldest month is January with an average of 3 degrees Celsius. The average daily high temperature in Worms is 14 degrees Celsius. At night, the average is 4 degrees Celsius.

Precipitation

The average precipitation for the period from 1961 to 1990 is 608 mm. Precipitation falls mainly in the months of May, June and July. In 2008, the annual precipitation at Hagenstraße was 492.2 mm, while an annual precipitation of 529.4 mm was measured five kilometres further west in Worms-Leiselheim during the same period.

The precipitation amounts for the year 2007 (averaged) - Hagenstraße 545.8 mm - Leiselheim 622.6 mm. The precipitation levels are low. They are in the lower quarter of the values recorded in Germany. Lower values are recorded at 23 % of the measuring stations of the German Weather Service. The driest month is February, the most precipitation falls in July. In July there is 2 times more precipitation than in February. Precipitation varies relatively strongly. Lower seasonal variations are recorded at 69 % of the measuring stations in Germany.

Sunshine duration

The long-term average (1951-1980) is 1709.7 hours. In the past years an increase of the annual average of sunshine hours was observed in Leiselheim. In 2007 there were 2007 hours of sunshine, a deviation from the long-term average of + 297.3 hours or + 17.4 %, in 2008 1886 hours were determined. This is a deviation from the long-term average of + 176.3 hours or + 10.3 %. In 2009 and 2010 the deviations were even more striking, + 343.3 hours or + 20.1 % (2009) and + 357.3 hours or + 20.9 % in 2010. Currently the sunshine duration is about 4 hours per day.

Precipitation mean values of Worms for the period from 1961 to 1990


The 19 districts of Worms


Worms with Nibelungen Bridge, Cathedral, Rhine and Rhine Promenade


Worms within the Rhine-Neckar Metropolitan Region


River kilometer 444 of the Rhine in Worms

Population

Population development

In its heyday around 1500, Worms had about 6,000 inhabitants. Due to the destruction during the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648) and a plague epidemic in 1666/67, the number of inhabitants dropped to only 3,000. With the industrialization in the 19th century, the population growth accelerated. While in 1800 only 5,000 people lived in the town, in 1900 it was already over 40,000. The incorporation of several towns in 1969 brought an increase of 15,000 people to 78,000 inhabitants.

As of 31 December 2020, the official population for Worms was 83,459, according to figures from the Rhineland-Palatinate Statistical Office, making Worms the sixth largest city in Rhineland-Palatinate and the fourth largest in the Rhine-Neckar Triangle. Worms has a proportion of foreigners of 16.3%. The proportion of pupils with a migration background in general education schools in Worms was 22 % (school year 2012/13). This tops the list in a comparison of cities in Rhineland-Palatinate, after Ludwigshafen and Mainz. In day care facilities, over 49 % of children had a migration background at the beginning of 2015. In 2005, Worms was in second place among the independent cities behind Mainz (41.2 years) with an average age of 41.5 years. This means that Worms has a relatively young population, even in a nationwide comparison. In Rhineland-Palatinate the average age is 41.6 years and in Germany 41.8 years.

The following overview shows the population figures according to the respective territorial status. Up to 1820, these are mostly estimates, thereafter census results (¹) or official updates of the State Statistical Office. From 1871 onwards, the figures refer to the "local population", from 1925 onwards to the resident population and since 1987 to the "population at the place of principal residence". Before 1871, the number of inhabitants was determined according to non-uniform survey procedures.

Year Inhabitants 1500 06.000 1667 03.000 1689 05.000 1798 04.984 1805 05.461 1816 06.259 1820 07.085 1 December 1831¹ 08.230 1 December 1840¹ 08.358 December 3, 1852¹ 09.102 December 3, 1855¹ 09.720 December 3, 1858¹ 10.178 December 3, 1861¹ 11.587 December 3, 1864¹ 11.988 December 3, 1867¹ 13.381 1 December 1871¹ 14.484 1 December 1875¹ 16.594 1 December 1880¹ 19.024 1 December 1885¹ 21.927 1 December 1890¹ 25.444

Year Inhabitants 2 December 1895¹ 28.611 1898: Territorial changes 1 December 1900¹ 40.705 1 December 1905¹ 43.841 1 December 1910¹ 46.819 1 December 1916¹ 39.688 5 December 1917¹ 40.036 October 8, 1919¹ 44.285 16 June 1925¹ 47.015 16 June 1933¹ 51.346 17 May 1939¹ 50.661 1942: Territorial changes 31 December 1943 57.876 1945: Destruction of the city, evacuation April 1, 1945 36.403 31 December 1945 47.994 29 October 1946¹ 47.074 13 September 1950¹ 52.239 25 September 1956¹ 56.740 6 June 1961¹ 62.392

Year Inhabitants 31 December 1965 63.578 1969: Territorial changes 27 May 1970¹ 76.697 31 December 1975 75.732 31 December 1980 73.603 31 December 1985 71.829 May 25, 1987¹ 73.635 31 December 1990 76.503 31 December 1995 80.014 31 December 2000 80.361 31 October 2005 81.457 31 December 2007 82.290 31 December 2010 81.736 31 December 2011¹ 79.526 31 December 2013 80.296 31 December 2015 82.102 31 December 2016 82.595 31 December 2017 83.081 31 December 2018 83.330 31 December 2019 83.542

¹ Census result

Confession statistics

According to the 2011 Census, 37.3% of residents in 2011 were Protestant, 27.9% were Roman Catholic, and 34.8% were non-denominational, belonged to another religious community, or did not specify. The number of Protestants and Catholics has since declined. Currently (as of May 31, 2021), of the residents, 28.2% are Protestant, 23.3% are Catholic, and 48.5% are non-denominational, belong to another religious community, or did not specify.