A brief local history
A number of archaelogical finds from the early Stone Age, the Hallstatt Age and the La-Téne Age prove that our district was intermittently colonised as early as 5000 years ago. The first documentary reference to Ingelfingen was made in the year 1080 AD in a document archived in the Comburg Monastery near Schwäbisch Hall.
The next mention of the town was made in the year 1248, when Pope Innocent IV took the Comburg Monastery under his protection including the estates in Stein and Künzelsau, the monastery garden and the vineyards in Ingelfingen. In 1250 Lord Kraft von Boxberg built Castle Lichteneck (Burg Lichteneck), which today is preserved only as a ruin. The castle was presumably destroyed by lightning in the mid-15th century.
In 1302 Ingelfingen was mentioned as an oppidum, or fortified burgh, from which probably derives its formal rights as a town. In 1323 Ingelfingen was granted market rights by Emperor Ludwig.
During the Thirty Years War, the town fell victim to pestilence and marauding troops. Despite the support of Count von Hohenlohe, it failed to really flourish. Then, in 1701, Count Christian Kraft von Hohenlohe moved to Ingelfingen and built the New Castle (Neue Schloss). Ingelfingen became a royal seat and underwent a transformation.
In 1764 Count Heinrich August von Ingelfingen was made an Imperial Prince. His son, Friedrich Ludwig, the last prince to reside here, developed the outlying “Mariannenvorstadt” as an early artisan settlement during the period 1782 to 1806. As a Prussian field marshal, he was defeated by Napoleon at the Battle of Jena-Auerstedt on 14th October 1806.