Eppingen was first mentioned in a document in 985 and received its town charter in 1191 to ‘92.
A wall was subsequently built around the town, and the Pfeifferturm – or Piper’s Tower -- was erected. The Late Gothic Roman Catholic church was also built during this period. The magnificent wall paintings in the choir tower date to the period of German Mysticism from around 1340 and are well worth viewing.
As a small farming town with fine timber-frame houses, Eppingen came into its heyday in 1462, when it was transferred from the Margraviate of Baden to the Electoral Palatinate. The main reason it flourished was because the town had been granted the right to hold a market.
Eppingen suffered hardship and deprivation during the Thirty Years’ War, the Nine Years’ War and when plague swept the land. But the town always had the good fortune to escape complete destruction. It also survived a range of major fires – which is why it’s still easy to identify the medieval town centre. You only have to compare its present appearance with the engraving by Matthäus Merian from 1645 to spot the similarities.
All depictions: © Stadt- und Fachwerkmuseum Eppingen
