Thursday, September 16, 2010

Ingolstadt

Ingolstadt is a city located along the banks of the Danube River. This is placed in the center of Bavaria and has more than 120 000 residents. It is part of the Munich Metropolitan Area which has a total population of more than 5 million people.
Ingolstadt was mentioned in the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley as the birthplace of the monster created by the scientist Victor Frankenstein. 
The headquarters of the German automobile manufacturer Audi are located in Ingolstadt, as well as the headquarters of the electronic stores Media Markt and Saturn. There are two railroad stations in Ingolstadt: Central Station which has been connected to Nuremberg by a high-speed rail link since May 2006 and Ingolstadt Nord.
Ingolstadt was first mentioned in a document of Charlemagne on 6th of February 806 as "Ingoldes stat", the place of Ingold. Around 1250, Ingolstadt was granted with city status. It was the capital of the duchy Bavaria-Ingolstadt between 1392 and 1447. After this Ingolstadt was united with Bavaria-Landshut. In 1472 Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria founded the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Ingolstadt, which was moved to Landshut in 1800 and finally to Munich.
On 30th of April 1632, the German field marshal Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly died at Ingolstadt during a Swedish siege of the city. The field marshal had been badly wounded in a previous engagement with the Swedes under King Gustavus Adolphus. Ingolstadt proved to be the first fortress in Germany that held out for the entire length of the Swedish siege, and the Swedes eventually withdrew. The horse of Gustavus Adolphus can be seen in the City Museum. It was shot from under the king by one of the cannons inside the fortress. The cannon was known as "The Fig". When the Swedes withdrew, the remains of the horse were preserved, and it was eventually put on display, and has remained so for almost 400 years.
Originally a fortress city, Ingolstadt is enclosed by a medieval defensive wall. The Bavarian fortress (1537–1930) nowadays holds the museum of the Bavarian army. During World War I, future French president Charles de Gaulle was detained there as a prisoner of war. A sappers' drill ground is still crossing the river, two military air bases are nearby, one used for testing airplanes. The long military tradition of the city is reflected in today's civil and cultural life. Former "off-limit" grounds are now well-used public parks.
Ingolstadt was the city where William IV, Duke of Bavaria wrote and signed the Bavarian Reinheitsgebot in 1516. Adolf Scherzer composed the "Bayerischen Defiliermarsch", and Mary Shelley's Frankenstein is related to the Ingolstädter Alte Anatomie (Old Anatomy Building), now a museum for medical history. In 1748, Adam Weishaupt, the founder of the Order of Illuminati, was born in Ingolstadt. The famous writer Marieluise Fleißer wrote Pioniere in Ingolstadt in 1928.
As one of five ducal residences of medieval Bavaria next to Landshut, Munich, Straubing and Burghausen, the city of Ingolstadt features many gothic buildings, such as the Herzogskasten (Old ducal castle; ca. 1255) and the New Castle, which was built from 1418 onwards. The largest church is the gothic hall Church of Our Lady which was begun in 1425. Also the churches of Saint Maurice (1235) and of the monasteries Gnadenthal and of the Franciscans date from the gothic era. The Kreuztor (1385) is one of the remaining gates of the old city wall. The gothic Old City Hall was also constructed in the 14th century, but later altered several times.

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