In the context of a communal reform in the 1970s, Leimen was newly created from the villages Leimen, Gauangelloch and Sankt Ilgen. In 1981, the state government of Baden-Württemberg granted Leimen the privilege to be called "town." When Leimen's population exceeded 20,000 in 1990, the city council applied for elevation to a Große Kreisstadt which was granted by the state government on 1 April 1992.
History
The first documentary record of Leimen is from 791, when both the Lorsch Abbey and the Diocese of Worms owned land there. First records of the districts are from 1270 for Gauangelloch (a document supposedly from 1016 was found out to be a fake), 1312 for Lingental, around 1300 for Ochsenbach and 1100 for Sankt Ilgen, then called bruch, an Old High German word for bog.
In 1262, the lords of Bruchsal gave Leimen to the Electorate of the Palatinate as a fiefdom and from 1464 on Leimen was part of the Palatinate. In 1579, Leimen was granted the right to celebrate an annual fair and became a marketplace in 1595. In 1674, Leimen was partially destroyed.
Despite its industrial roots, Leimen's downtown has maintained a certain quaintness. It is an active town, with a regular cycle of festivals and activities.
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