BRUCHSAL, a town of Germany, in the Land of Baden, 14m. N.E. of Karlsruhe, and an important junction where the Stuttgart line diverges from the main Frankfurt-Basle railway. Pop. (1930) 16,903. Bruchsal (mentioned in 937 as Bruxolegum) was originally a royal villa belonging to the emperors and Ger man kings. Given to Otto, duke of Franconia, in 1002 it was in herited by the cadet line of Speyer, the head of which, the emperor Henry III., gave it to the see of Speyer in 1095. St. Peter's church was the burial-place of the bishops, whose summer resi dence (now used as a prison) lies in the vicinity. In 1190 the bishops bought the Vogtei (advocateship) from the counts of Calw, and the place rapidly developed into a town. By the treaty of Luneville (1802) it was ceded, with other lands of the bishop ric on the right bank of the Rhine, to Baden. The Peasants' War during the Reformation period first broke out in Bruchsal. In 1676 and 1698 it was burnt by the French. Bruchsal manu factures machinery, paper, soap, beer, wines and spirits.