It is known above all else for its various businesses in the field of winegrowing , and in particular for Sekt. At this time, Celts were settling in the Upper Rhine Plain area. About 60 BC, Germanic tribes , presumably the Nemetes , pushed into the region and drove the Celts out. The Romans intervened in the disputes between the Germanic peoples and the Celts, and after their victory over Ariovistus 57 BC subdued the Nemetes and ruled the region for the next years.
Under Roman influence, crop farming was improved and also fruitgrowing and winegrowing began. After a brief invasion by the Huns about AD , the Alamanni advanced into the area, although by the late 5th century, they were being driven out of the region by the Franks. Wachenheim's first documentary mention — as Wackenheim — dates from Carolingian times and is found in the Lorsch codex.
There, on 30 March , the donation of a Wachenheim vineyard is noted. In the 11th century, Wachenheim's lords were the Salians. From this time comes the castle complex, which nowadays is only ruins, but which at one time belonged to a system of castles planned and built by the Hohenstaufens.
At the time of this conquest, Wachenheim Castle was burnt down and mostly destroyed, with only partial reconstruction taking place later. The castle and town weathered the War of the Bavarian-Palatine Succession, emerging relatively unscathed.
During the German Peasants' War , the castle was used by marauding peasants as a base for their raids. Even after the Thirty Years' War, the region was time and again beset with war. In the 18th century, Wachenheim was newly built and was developing favourably when along came the turmoil of the French Revolution with its attendant hardships and destruction. In , French troops invaded the village and plundered it.
