Eppingen

is a town in the district of Heilbronn in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany. The town has the second-largest population in the district.Eppingen lies in the Kraichgau, a hilly region in southwestern Germany, close to the confluence of the Elsenz and Hilsbach Rivers.HistoryEppingen was first mentioned in 985 when Otto III gave the settlement to the diocese of Worms. The ending "-ingen" was common for towns colonised by the Alamanni clan in the 3rd and 4th centuries.Eppingen was owned by Salier in the 11th century, and by the Staufer in the 12th century. In 1188, it became a fortified village and, in 1192, a town, elevated by Heinrich VI. The town was distrained several times in the 14th century, but never lost the status of a town. After the win of the Electorate of the Palatinate over margraviate Baden in 1435, it finally became a part of the Electorate of the Palatinate but was once more distrained to the knights of Gemmingen, from 1469 to approximately 1520. In the 15th and 16th centuries, Eppingen underwent an economic boom during which its Latin school was first mentioned (1421). In a time of the plague a part of the Heidelberg University moved to the Latin school in 1496.