'Ingolstadt' (
Austro-Bavarian: 'Inglstådt') is a city in the Free State of
Bavaria,
Germany. It is located along the banks of the
Danube River in the center of Bavaria. As of
December 31,
2005 it had 121,801 residents, making it the sixth largest city in Bavaria.
Ingolstadt is mentioned in the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. It is the birth place of the monster as 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 MediaMarkt and Saturn.
Ingolstadt station has been connected to
Nuremberg by a high-speed rail link since May 2006.
History and Culture
Ingolstadt was first mentioned in a document of
Charlemagne on
6 February 806 as "Ingoldes stat", the place of Ingold.
About
1250 Ingolstadt was granted city status.
Ingolstadt was the capital of the duchy
Bavaria-Ingolstadt between
1392 and
1447. Then Ingolstadt was united with Bavaria-Landshut.
Louis VII, Duke of Bavaria ordered to build the New Castle, which is strongly influenced by French Gothic.
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.

Old city hall

Basilica
On the 30 April 1632 the German
fieldmarshall Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly died in Ingolstadt, during the Swedish siege. The fieldmarshall had been badly hurt 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.
Another piece of history is that Gustavus Adoplhus horse can be seen in the Museum of the Bavarian Army in the city. The horse was shot from under the king, by one of the cannons inside the fortress. The cannon was at that time known as "The Fig". When the Swedes withdrew the remains of the horse were taken cared of, and it was eventually put on display, and has remained so for almost 400 years.
Originally a fortress city, Ingolstadt is enclosed in a medieval defensive wall. The Bavarian fortress (
1537-
1930) nowadays holds the
museum of the Bavarian army. During
World War I, future
France president
Charles de Gaulle was detained there as a
prisoner of war. A
sapper's 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, the famous writer
Marieluise Fleißer wrote ''
Pioniere in Ingolstadt'' in
1928.
Ingolstadt was the city where
William IV, Duke of Bavaria wrote and signed the Bavarian
Reinheitsgebot in
1516, the eldest food law still in use. Adolf Scherzer composed the Bayerischen Defiliermarsch,
Mary Shelley's
Frankenstein is related to the Ingolstädter alte Anatomie, now
museum for medical history. In 1748,
Adam Weishaupt was born in Ingolstadt.
Schools
Ingolstadt School of Management
Ingolstadt is home of one of
Germany's} foremost business schools. The "Ingolstadt School of Management". This is a facility of business administration and economics in the school "Catholic University of Eichstaett-Ingolstadt".
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