St. Wendel
Description
St. Wendel is a town in northeastern Saarland. It is situated on the river Blies 36 km northeast of Saarbrücken, the capital of Saarland, and is named after Saint Wendelin of Trier. Regarding to a survey by the German Association for Housing, Town Planning and Land Use Regulation, St. Wendel is known to be one of the wealthiest regions in Germany, behind Starnberg.GeographySt. Wendel is situated on the river Blies west of the Bosenberg hill at an elevation of 938 feet (286 m). Its highest elevation is the Bosenberg hill at 1591 feet (485 m); the lowest is where the river Blies exits St. Wendel heading for Ottweiler at 853 feet (260 m).Demographics(each year at December 31) 1979 - 28,431 1983 - 28,211 1998 - 27,324 1999 - 27,174 2000 - 27,303 2001 - 27,296 2002 - 27,246 2003 - 27,068 2004 - 27,106 2005 - 27,085 2006 - 26,967HistoryThe center of St. Wendel supposedly was the farm of a feudal lord from the Merovingian period (late 6th century) named Baso, so the city was originally named Basonevillare ("farm of Baso"). Baso's farm was situated on Bosenberg's western side between the river Todtbach and the river Bosenbach. This term would probably have developed into "Bosenweiler" were it not for the local admiration of Wendelin. (Compare the names Bosenweiler, Bosenberg and Bosenbach, in which Baso's name has survived.)