Bönnigheim  Bönnigheim is a town in the German administrative district (Kreis) of Ludwigsburg which lies at the edge of the areas known as "Stromberg" and "Zabergäu". The nearest large towns are Ludwigsburg and Heilbronn. Districts of the town  The town includes the previously separate parishes of Hofen and Hohenstein. The boundaries established on 31 December 1971, saw the inclusion of the property known as the Burgermühle and the lost village of Birlingen. The former parish of Hofen now comes under the village of Hofen. In the same way, the former parish of Hohenstein now comes under the village of that name. Development of the town  The first documentary reference to Bönnigheim occurs in the Lorsch codex. In a document dated 16 February 793, the nun Hiltburg bequeathed the parishes of Bönnigheim, Erligheim and Alt-Cleebronn to the abbey of Lorsch, and it was due to this bequest that Bönnigheim fell to the bishopric of Mainz. The monastery of Hirsau later bought the village as a fief and sold it in 1284 to the monastery of Bebenhausen. In the same year, Bönnigheim was granted the status of a so-called "Ganerbentum" (community of joint owners), and in 1288 the fief was passed to Rudolf von Habsburg, who in turn granted it to his son, Albrecht von Löwenstein-Schenkenberg, in 1291. The estate that had emerged from the so-called "Ganerbentum", which lasted until 1750, became partitioned through inheritance, marriage and purchase. During this time the ownership of the town, which still came under the rule of the bishopric of Mainz, was subdivided between four noble families - the Lords of Sachsenheim, Liebenstein, Gemmingen and Neipperg. Each of the heirs became entitled to a quarter of the town. The same hereditary circumstances prevailed in nearby Erligheim. It is impossible for a town to be divided into four parts without this also impinging on the life of the community. Furthermore, it is hardly surprising that such a situation should also give rise to quarrels between the heirs themselves. Accordingly, a local truce was agreed in 1388, thus giving Bönnigheim its first bylaws.