The municipality lies roughly 12 km south of downtown Mainz on the edge of the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region. The municipality is strongly characterized by winegrowing. The many wineries and Straußwirtschaften invite visitors to come and enjoy the wine. Since 1972, Bodenheim has been the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Bodenheim, a kind of collective municipality.
History
In 754, Bodenheim had its first documentary mention, and it marked its 1,250-year jubilee in 2004. On 29 June 1988, two USF-16C combat aircraft collided near the municipality and fell over an uninhabited area. One of the pilots managed to save himself with his ejection seat, while the other, Captain Mike Crandall, was killed.
The municipal election held on 13 June 2004 yielded the following results:
Eligible voters: 5,381
Ballots cast: 3,685
Valid votes: 3,641
SPD: 1,310
CDU: 1,670
FWG: 661
Current political issues facing the Municipality of Bodenheim are the building of a road on the outskirts to relieve the historic community core of through traffic, the rising cost of building a community centre, the creation of a new sport facility outside the built-up core and the strained budget situation.
Mayor
Since 2009, the mayor has been Thomas Becker-Theilig.
The municipality's arms might be described thus: Azure on a base sable an ass repassant argent, his head over a manger Or, to sinister thereof a vase with double handles of the same issuant from which a palm frond embowed to dexter vert. According to legend, the Provost of Saint Alban's Abbey in Mainz, to which Bodenheim then belonged, demanded of the Emperor minting rights. The Emperor, though, mocked him, saying “He wants to mint coins, does he? An old ass shall he mint!”. With great irony, however, the ass was later chosen as a charge for the coat of arms.
The gymnastic club was founded in 1848, and with more than 1,700 members is Bodenheim's biggest club, and one of Rhenish Hesse’s biggest. Gymnastics, team handball, athletics, volleyball and much more belong to the Bodenheim gymnastic club’s sport offerings
VfB 1909 Bodenheim
Clubs
Gesangverein Concordia 1872 Bodenheim e.V.
Regular events
St. Albansfest, named after Saint Alban of Mainz, takes place on the first weekend in June.
Kirchweihfest on the third weekend in September
Wine tasting on the Wine Lore Path – on the Sunday after the Kerb
Nikolausmarkt in the old community core - on the first weekend in Advent
Economy and infrastructure
In Bodenheim the following businesses are or were resident:
Herdt-Verlag für Bildungsmedien GmbH, publishing house for educational media
Winegrowing
In Bodenheim, there is winegrowing on 426 ha shared among vineyards owned by Kapelle, Kreuzberg, Silberberg, Hoch, Leidhecke, Westrum, Heitersbrünnchen, Ebersberg, Burgweg, Mönchspfad and Reichsritterstift. All together, there are currently 79 active winegrowing operations with a working area greater than3 000 m². The winegrowing lands are divided into 315 ha of white wine varieties and 112 ha of red wine varieties. Of white wine varieties, 72 ha are taken up by Silvaner vines and 71 ha by Müller-Thurgau. Dornfelder, at 47 ha is currently the most strongly represented red wine variety.
VDP members
The Weingut Oberstleutnant Liebrecht'sche Gutsverwaltung goes back to the estate built by the nuns from Altmünster Abbey in 1754 between the parish estate and the municipality of Weed. The career officer Friedrich Wilhelm Liebrecht realigned the vineyards’ boundaries and is counted among the founders of the Verband Deutscher Naturwein Versteigerer, the forerunner of the Verband Deutscher Prädikats- und Qualitätsweingüter. The winery was led until 2010 by a fourth-generation descendant, Mr. Fritz Nacke. The Weingut Kühling Gillot was taken over in 2002 by the Geisenheim winegrowing engineer Carolin Gillot. Carolin, now Spanier-Gillot, managed to build on her father's years-long quality work and support. She is cofounder of the young winegrowers’ association “message in a bottle” and busies herself in the Rhenish Hesse regional association of the women's wine network “Vinissima”.
Public institutions
The municipality of Bodenheim is also the seat of the Verbandsgemeinde of Bodenheim