city, Rhineland-Palatinate Land (state), west-central Germany. It lies along the Nahe River, a tributary of the Rhine, about 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Mainz. The site of a Roman fortress and later (819) of a Carolingian palace (Cruciniacum), it fell to the bishops of Speyer in 1065 and to the counts of Sponheim in 1241 and was chartered in 1290. The city became part of the Palatinate in 1565, suffered heavily in the Thirty Years' War, and was destroyed by the French in 1689. It was ceded to Prussia in 1815 and became a popular spa with warm saline springs, the chief of which is on the island of Badewörth.

The city's historic landmarks include the ruined Sponheim Castle and the 13th-century Church of Sankt Nikolaus. Quaint 15th-century houses—one reputed to have been the home of Dr. Faust—have survived as well. A centre of the wine trade, the city also is supported by tourists and patients visiting the spa. Pop. (2005) 43,764.