DEUTSCHLAND	GERMANY
Bundesland: Baden-Württemberg
Regierungsbezirk: Karlsruhe
Landkreis: Karlsruhe

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Bretten is located in northwestern Baden-Württemberg between the cities of Karlsruhe, Pforzheim, Stuttgart and Heilbronn. The earliest mention of the name "villa breteheim" is found in the Lorsch Codex of 767. In 1148 it received the right to mint coins, and in 1492 it obtained the privilege for four annual markets. A siege by the troops of Württemberg was successfully fended off in 1504, which is still celebrated by the Peter-and-Paul-Fest, the oldest popular fair in southwest Germany. In 1803 Bretten, which until then belonged to the Palatinate, became part of the Margraviate (1806 Grand Duchy) of Baden (see Baden-Baden). The modern municipality of Bretten was formed between 1972 and 1975 by the incorporation of Büchig, Diedelsheim, Dürrenbüchig, Gölshausen, Neibsheim, Rinklingen, Ruit, and Sprantal.

The most famous son of Bretten is the reformer Philipp Melanchthon (1497–1560). The small inset in the picture on glass no. 1709 shows the Neo-Gothic Melanchthonhaus which was built in 1897–1903 on the occasion of Melanchthon's 400th anniversary in place of the original birth house.

The tall tower depicted in the panorama picture is that of the Stiftskirche Sankt Stephan und Sankt Laurentius ('monastery church'), the Protestant parish church of Bretten. It is the oldest parish church of the town and dates back to the Romanesque and Gothic periods. The oldest parts of the tower had originally been the keep of the oldest stronghold in Bretten. The original see-through jube was considerably damaged by the alterations that were made in 1709 when it was used to separate the nave, which was used by the Protestant community, and the choir, which at that time belonged to the Catholics. The church was one of the few buildings in Bretten that survived the big fire of 1689 almost undamaged; only the tower had to be rebuilt. In 1936 the Catholic community built an own church. The Stiftskirche was thoroughly renovated and since then is a purely Protestant church.