“ GERMERSHEIM, a fortified town of Rhenish Bavaria, at the confluence of the Queich and the Rhine, 7 m. S. W. of Spire; pop. in 1871, 6,223. It has several churches and schools, and an active trade in grain, hemp, flax, and fruits. Ship building and fisheries are carried on, and gold is washed from the sands of the Rhine. Originally a Roman stronghold, the present town was founded by the emperor Rudolph of Hapsburg, who died here in 1291. It formed part of the electoral Palatinate from 1330 to 1622, when it was conquered by Austria. ”