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This article is about the German district Rhein-Neckar-Kreis. See also the greater Rhine Neckar area in Germany.

Rhein-Neckar-Kreis
Map of Baden-Württemberg highlighting the district of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis
State	Baden-Württemberg
Adm. region	Karlsruhe
Region	Rhein-Neckar-Odenwald
District seat	Heidelberg
Area	1061.71 km²
Population	528,962 (2002)
Pop. density	394 /km²
Licence plate code	HD
Web page	http://www.rhein-neckar-kreis.de

Rhein-Neckar-Kreis is a district (Kreis) in the north-west of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Bergstraße, Odenwaldkreis, Neckar-Odenwald, Heilbronn, Karlsruhe, district-free Speyer, the Rhein-Pfalz-Kreis, and district-free Mannheim and Heidelberg.

Contents 1 History 2 Geography 3 Government 3.1 Coat of arms 4 Cities and towns 5 External links

The district was created in 1973 by merging the previous districts Heidelberg, Mannheim and a big part of Sinsheim.

It's named after the two main rivers which flow through the district, Rhine and Neckar. The highest elevation is the Stiefelhöhe near Heiligkreuzsteinach with 583 m in the Odenwald mountains, the lowest elevation with 92 m is near Ilvesheim in the Neckar valley.

The district is governed by a district assembly (Kreistag) and a district executive (Landrat). The eligible voters of the district elect the Kreistag every 5 years. This body then in turn elects the Landrat every 8 years. The Landrat is the legal representative of the district as well as the speaker of the Kreistag and its committees. The Landrat manages the office of the Landrat (Landratsamt) and is the chief official of the district. The duties of the Landrat include the preparation of the district assembly meetings and its committees. The Landrat calls the meetings, acts as speaker, and carries out the decisions made. In the Kreistag, the Landrat has no vote. The Landrat has a second, called the first district official (Erste Landesbeamte).

Landrat of the district Heidelberg 1945-1972:

• 1945 - 1946: Hermann Specht (provisional)
• 1946 - 1947: Erich Reimann
• 1947 - 1954: Herbert Klotz
• 1954 - 1972: Georg Steinbrenner

Landrat of the district Mannheim 1945-1972:

• 1945: Richard Freudenberg (appointed)
• 1945 - 1946: Karl Geppert (appointed)
• 1946: Dr. Valentin Gaa (appointed)
• 1946 - 1948: Ernst Becherer
• 1948 - 1970: Dr. Valentin Gaa
• 1970 - 1972: Albert Neckenauer

Landrat of the district Sinsheim 1945-1972:

• 1945 - 1946: Roman Großmann (appointed)
• 1946: Gottlob Barth und Dr. Kurt von Kirchenheim (both appointed)
• 1946: Wolfgang Rutschke (appointed to oversee businesses)
• 1946 - 1947: Hermann Lindner (appointed)
• 1947 - 1948: Dr. Johann Gutermann
• 1948: Dr. Ludwig Bernheim
• 1948 - 1949: Georg Steinbrenner (appointed to oversee businesses)
• 1949 - 1950: Dr. Walther Reidel (appointed)
• 1950 - 1972: Dr. Paul Herrmann

Landrat of Rhein-Neckar-Kreis since 1973:

• 1973 Georg Steinbrenner, Amtsverweser
• 1973 - 1986: Albert Neckenauer
• 1986 to present: Dr. Jürgen Schütz

The wavy line in the left of the coat of arms represent the two rivers Rhine and Neckar. The lion in the right side is the symbol of Palatinate, as the area belonged to that area historically.

Cities	Towns
Eberbach (Baden) Eppelheim Hemsbach Hockenheim Ladenburg Leimen (Baden) Neckarbischofsheim Neckargemünd Rauenberg Schönau (Odenwald) Schriesheim Schwetzingen Sinsheim Waibstadt Walldorf Weinheim Wiesloch	Altlußheim Angelbachtal Bammental Brühl (Baden) Dielheim Dossenheim Edingen-Neckarhausen Epfenbach Eschelbronn Gaiberg Heddesbach Heddesheim Heiligkreuzsteinach Helmstadt-Bargen Hirschberg an der Bergstraße Ilvesheim Ketsch Laudenbach (Rhein-Neckar) Lobbach	Malsch Mauer (Baden) Meckesheim Mühlhausen (Kraichgau) Neidenstein Neulußheim Nußloch Oftersheim Plankstadt Reichartshausen Reilingen Sandhausen St. Leon-Rot Schönbrunn (Baden) Spechbach Wiesenbach (Rhein-Neckar) Wilhelmsfeld Zuzenhausen

• Official website (German)

v • d • e Urban and rural districts in the state of Baden-Württemberg in Germany
Urban districts	Baden-Baden · Freiburg · Heidelberg · Heilbronn · Karlsruhe · Mannheim · Pforzheim · Stuttgart · Ulm
Rural districts	Alb-Donau · Biberach · Bodensee · Böblingen · Breisgau-Hochschwarzwald · Calw · Konstanz (Constance) · Emmendingen · Enz · Esslingen · Freudenstadt · Göppingen · Heidenheim · Heilbronn · Hohenlohe · Karlsruhe · Lörrach · Ludwigsburg · Main-Tauber · Neckar-Odenwald · Ortenau · Ostalbkreis · Rastatt · Ravensburg · Rems-Murr · Reutlingen · Rhein-Neckar · Rottweil · Schwarzwald-Baar · Schwäbisch Hall · Sigmaringen · Tuttlingen · Tübingen · Waldshut · Zollernalb

Coordinates: 49°22′N, 8°44′E