In 1801, he and some of his accomplices committed a home invasion in Merxheim. The victims were the village's only Jewish inhabitants, the Family Bär. Their house was pillaged and the household head Jacob Bär was badly injured. Merxheim's population development since Napoleonic times is shown in the table below. The figures for the years from 1871 to 1987 are drawn from census data: As at 30 November 2013, there are 1,459 full-time residents in Merxheim, and of those, 843 are Evangelical (57.779%), 374 are Catholic (25.634%), 7 are Lutheran (0.48%), 1 is United Methodist (0.069%), 15 (1.028%) belong to other religious groups and 219 (15.01%) either have no religion or will not reveal their religious affiliation. The council is made up of 16 council members, who were elected by proportional representation at the municipal election held on 7 June 2009, and the honorary mayor as chairman. The municipal election held on 7 June 2009 yielded the following results: Merxheim's mayor is Egon Eckhardt (SPD), and his deputies are Elke Schmidt (SPD), Thomas Bendlage (CDU) and Fethi Bayer (SPD). The German blazon reads: "Über goldenem Schildfuß, darin ein roter Balken über drei roten Schindeln, von Rot und Silber gespalten. Vorne ein silberner Schrägbalken belegt mit drei roten Rosen, hinten ein roter Burgturm mit Krüppelwalmdach." The municipality's arms might in English heraldic language be described thus: Per pale gules a bend argent with three roses of the field and argent a castle tower with half-hip roof of the first, the base Or with fess above three billets of the first. Appearing as a witness as early as 1075 in a document from Archbishop Udo of Trier was a man named Albert von Merkedesheim. In 1437, Rorich of Merxheim bore arms gules a bend argent with three roses of the field, the composition now seen on the dexter (armsbearer's right, viewer's left) side in Merxheim's arms. Earlier, in 1128, Rorich and Gerlach of Merxheim were witnesses in a document from Archbishop Adalbert of Mainz.