Along the old riverbed, a round hill was formed – its slopes now partially covered by the Kaywald forest and with other areas given over to the cultivation of vines.

Yet another district, the so-called Lauffen-Dörfle (Lauffen little village), grew up around a convent and is situated on the western bank to the north of Lauffen-Dorf and the Zaber.

[6][7] Neighbouring towns and villages of Lauffen are (clockwise from the west): Brackenheim, Nordheim, Heilbronn, Talheim, Isfeld, Neckarwestheim and Kirchheim am Neckar (District of Ludwigsburg).

The settlement's high level of frequentation can be attributed to the shallow water between the present old Neckar bridge and the cliffs by the castle and Regiswindis Church.

The foundations of a Roman estate (Villa Rustica) dating from between the 2nd and 3rd centuries, along with coins and pottery, were discovered some two kilometres (1.2 miles) to the southeast of the present town centre.

A document from 823 refers to this “church in the tribal district of Neckar which is dedicated to Saint Martin in the Villa Hlauppa.”[4] The name "Hlauppa" (which has become "Lauffen") is characteristic of places with rapids or waterfalls.

[10] After this incident, the margrave Ernst returned to his home in the Upper Palatinate and the village was transferred back to the emperor with effect from 861, before the expiration of the lease and the death of the Graf.

Due to the proximity of the Free Imperial City of Heilbronn, the rulers of Württemberg demanded a commitment of loyalty from the inhabitants of Lauffen.

In April 1622, a large force belonging to Wilhelm, Duke of Saxe-Weimar and George Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach assembled at the bridge to engage the imperial troops.

In the autumn of 1637, it was overrun by two different regiments – a state of affairs which caused a shortage of food during the winter and resulted in the deaths of 200 people.

The so-called "Weimar occupation" lasted until May 1643, when victory was achieved after three days of fighting by the Bavarian army under the command of Graf Fugger.

With the failure of the armistice, a French garrison arrived and set about constructing more defences, which nevertheless became redundant with the conclusion of peace in 1648.

Since the political situation in the second half of the 17th century was far from stable, Eberhard III strengthened the fortifications around Lauffen with drawbridges and parapets as a defence against potential attacks by the French.

In 1744, Lauffen was besieged by the imperial Bavarian army under Feldmarschall von Seckendorff and 1754 witnessed repeated returns of the French.

[5] The new town council marked the occasion by planting a lime tree in the terraced garden in front of the Pfalzgrafenburg castle.

This was removed in 1949 to make way for a widening of the canal, and to enable the plaque bearing the names of the fallen to be set into the wall of the old cemetery alongside another dedicated to the even greater number of victims of the Second World War.

Nearby, the Oskar von Miller Strasse (the westerly access road to the cement works) is a reminder of the power station's previous location.

Parallel with the construction of the canal came the laying of a narrow gauge railway for the transportation of stone along the right bank of the river between the Lauffen cement works and the quarry at Neckarwestheim.

During the Second World War the town suffered 37 air raids, this number being partly influenced by its proximity to the decoy target known as ‘Brasilien’, which was laid out to look like the main railway station at Stuttgart.

[17] On 13 April 1944, an allied bomber formation was returning to base having failed to bomb its primary and secondary targets (Nuremberg and Stuttgart) when it was attacked by a German fighter and forced to jettison its load over Lauffen.

Most fell in fields or the river although some dropped on the Sonnenstrasse, the Brückenstrasse, the old cemetery and in the vicinity of the cement works and St Martin's Church.

[4] On 20 June 1959, there was a serious accident at Lauffen when a public service bus operated by the Deutsche Bundesbahn crashed into an express train on the Tübingen-Würzburg (via Stuttgart) route.

[20][21] Drawings of the arms in the natural colours survive from the year 1575, although the background of the shield sometimes appears tinged in gold rather than silver.

In all there are over 70 such bodies: a complete list, together with links, is published on the town's website at [2] Lauffen am Neckar was the birthplace of alternating current transmission.

For the International Electro-Technical Exhibition - 1891 in Frankfurt am Main, Dolivo-Dobrowolsky and Oskar von Miller constructed a three-phase high-voltage transmission line which came into operation on 24 August 1891.

For this, a three-phase alternator made by Maschinenfabrik Oerlikon was installed in the cement works at Lauffen, with an overhead cable to carry the current under 15 kV to Frankfurt – a distance of 175 km (109 mi).

The entrance to the exhibition was lit with 1000 light bulbs and the middle section surmounted by an arch bearing the inscription "Power Transmission Lauffen – Frankfurt 175 km".

At the close of the exhibition, transmission of current from the Lauffen three-phase alternator was maintained to Heilbronn, which thus became the first town in the world to receive a regular supply of electricity from a remote location.

To this day, the name of the local electricity utility, ZEAG (Zementwerk Lauffen – Elektrizitätswerk Heilbronn AG), is a reminder of this achievement.

In addition to its fire-fighting duties, it also provides emergency rescue services and renders assistance in the event of flooding.