Worms (/vɔːrmz/; German pronunciation: [vɔʁms] ⓘ) is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about 60 km (40 mi) south-southwest of Frankfurt am Main.

It was the capital of the Kingdom of the Burgundians in the early fifth century, hence is the scene of the medieval legends referring to this period, notably the first part of the Nibelungenlied.

Worms is also one of the historical ShUM-cities as a cultural center of Jewish life in Europe during the Middle Ages.

[6][7] According to a legend printed in the 17th century in the book Ma'aseh Nisim by Juspa Schammes, the origin of the city's name is attributed to the mythical creature lint-wurm.

Every day, the people held a lottery to determine which of them would be sacrificed to the lint-wurm in order to spare the city from destruction.

One of the city's heroes refused to allow her to sacrifice herself and offered to replace her on the condition that if he survived, she would marry him.

Worms was in ancient times a Celtic city named Borbetomagus, perhaps meaning "water meadow".

In 14 BC, Romans under the command of Drusus captured and fortified the city, and from that time onwards, a small troop of infantry and cavalry was garrisoned there.

Fragments of amphorae contain traces of olive oil from Hispania Baetica, doubtless transported by sea and then up the Rhine by ship.

During the disorders of 411–413 AD, Roman usurper Jovinus established himself in Borbetomagus as a puppet-emperor with the help of King Gunther of the Burgundians, who had settled in the area between the Rhine and Moselle some years before.

In 1743, the Treaty of Worms was signed, forming a political alliance between Great Britain, Austria, and the Kingdom of Sardinia.

After the Battle of the Bulge in early 1945, Allied armies advanced into the Rhineland in preparation for a massive assault into the heart of the Reich.

Worms was a German strongpoint on the west bank of the Rhine, and the forces there resisted the Allied advance tenaciously.

Carried out by 334 bombers, the attack in a few minutes rained 1,100 tons of bombs on the inner city, and Worms Cathedral was among the buildings set on fire.

[12] Postwar Worms became part of the new state of Rhineland-Palatinate; the borough Rosengarten, on the east bank of the Rhine, was lost to Hesse.

A multimedia Nibelungenmuseum was opened in 2001, and a yearly festival in front of the Dom, the Worms Cathedral, attempts to recapture the atmosphere of the pre-Christian period.

[14] In 1096, 800 to 1000 Jews were murdered by crusaders and the local mob, what later became known as Rhineland massacres or Gzerot Tatnó (Hebrew: גזרות תתנ"ו, "Edicts of 4856").

[17] Prominent students, rabbis, and scholars of Worms include Shlomo Yitzhaki (Rashi) who studied with R. Yizhak Halevi, Meir of Rothenburg (Maharam), Elazar Rokeach, Yaakov ben Moshe Levi Moelin (Maharil), and Yair Bacharach.

It was among the oldest Jewish communities that maintained continuity over time, and a beautiful example of this is the 900th anniversary celebrations of the synagogue held in 1934.