Ansbach
Encyclopedia
Ansbach, originally Onolzbach, is a town in Bavaria
, Germany. It is the capital of the administrative region
of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is situated 25 miles (40.2 km) southwest of Nuremberg
and 90 miles (144.8 km) north of Munich
, on the Fränkische Rezat
, a tributary of the Main river. As of 2004, its population was 40,723.
Ansbach is location of the Ansbach University of Applied Sciences
. The city is connected by the autobahn A6
and the highways B13 and B14. Ansbach station
is on the Nürnberg–Crailsheim and Treuchtlingen–Würzburg railways and is the terminus of line S4 of the Nuremberg S-Bahn.
noble, Gumbertus, who was later canonized. In the following centuries the monastery and the adjoining village (Onoldsbach) grew to become the town of Ansbach (called a town in 1221 for the first time).
The counts of Oettingen ruled over Ansbach until the Hohenzollern burgraves of Nuremberg took over in 1331. The Hohenzollerns made Ansbach the seat of their dynasty until their acquisition of the Margraviate of Brandenburg
in 1415. However, after the 1440 death of Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg
, the Franconian cadet branch of the family was not politically united with the main Brandenburg line, remaining independent as "Brandenburg-Ansbach".
Margrave George the Pious
introduced the Protestant Reformation
to Ansbach in 1528, leading to the secularization of St. Gumbertus Abbey in 1563.
In 1792 Ansbach was annexed by the Hohenzollerns of Prussia
. In 1796 the Duke of Zweibrücken, Maximilian Joseph, the future Bavarian king Max I. Joseph, was exiled to Ansbach after Zweibrücken had been taken by the French. In Ansbach Maximilian von Montgelas
wrote an elaborate concept for the future political organisation of Bavaria, which is known as the "Ansbacher Mémoire". In 1806 Prussia
ceded Ansbach and the Principality of Ansbach to Bavaria in exchange for the Bavarian duchy of Berg.
At the end of the 17th century, the margraves' palace at Ansbach was rebuilt in Baroque
style.
Jewish families were resident in Ansbach from at least the end of the 18th century. They set up a Jewish Cemetery in the Ruglaender Strasse, which was vandalised and razed under the Nazi tyranny. It was repaired in 1946, but it was damaged several times more. A plaque on the wall of the cemetery commemorates these events. The Jewish Congregation built its synagogue at No 3 Rosenbadstrasse, but it too was damaged by the SA, though it was not burnt down for fear of damaging the neighbouring buildings. It serves today as a "Symbolic House of God". A plaque in the entrance serves as a memorial to the synagogue and to Jewish residents who were murdered during the Holocaust.
In 1940, at least 500 patients were deported from the Heil- und Pflegeanstalt Ansbach [Ansbach Medical and Nursing Clinic] to the extermination facilities Sonnenstein and Hartheim which were disguised as psychiatric institutions, as part of the T4 euthanasia action. They were gassed there. At the clinic in Ansbach itself, around 50 intellectually disabled children were injected with the drug Luminal and killed that way. A plaque was erected in their memory in 1988 in the local hospital at No. 38 Feuchtwangerstrasse.
During World War II
, a subcamp of Flossenburg concentration camp
was located here. Also during the Second World War the Luftwaffe and Wehrmacht had bases here. The nearby airbase was the home station for the Stab & I/KG53 (Staff & 1st Group of Kampfgeschwader 53) operating 38 Heinkel He 111
bombers. On 1 September 1939 this unit was one of the many that participated in the attack on Poland
that started the war. During the Western Allied invasion of Germany in April 1945, the airfield was seized by the United States Third Army, and used by the USAAF 354th Fighter Group
which flew P-47 Thunderbolts from the aerodrome (designated ALG R-82
) from late April until the German capitulation on 7 May 1945.
At the end of the war, 19-year old student Robert Limpert tried to get the town to surrender to the US Forces without a fight. He was betrayed by Hilter Youth and was hung from the portal of the City Hall by the city's Military Commander Oberst Meyer. Several memorials to his heroic deed have been erected over the years, against great opposition from the citizenry: in the Ludwigskirche, in the Gymnasium Carolinum and at No 6 Kronenstrasse.
After the Second World War, Ansbach belonged to the American Zone. The American Military authorities established a displaced persons (DP) camp in what used to be a sanatorium in what is today the Strüth quarter.
Since 1970, Ansbach has enlarged its municipal area by incorporating adjacent communities.
Ansbach was a small town largely by-passed by the Industrial Revolution
, an administrative and cultural center. Although all bridges were destroyed, the historical center of Ansbach was spared during World War II
and it has kept its baroque character.
Ansbach hosts several units of the U.S. armed forces, associated with German units under NATO. There are five separate U.S. installations: Shipton Kaserne, home to 412th Aviation Support Battalion, Katterbach Kaserne, formally the home of the 1st Infantry Division's 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, which has been replaced by the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade
as of 2006, as part of the 1st Infantry Division's return to Fort Riley
, Kansas; Bismarck Kaserne, which functions as a satellite post to Katterbach, hosting their Post Exchange, Theater, Barracks, Franconia Inn, Military Police, and other support agencies, Barton Barracks, home to the USAG Ansbach and Bleidorn Barracks, which has a library and housing.
Ansbach was also home to the headquarters of the 1st Armored Division (United States)
from 1972 to the early1990s.
, France Bay City
, Michigan
Fermo
, Italy Jing Jiang, China
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, Germany. It is the capital of the administrative region
Regierungsbezirk
In Germany, a Government District, in German: Regierungsbezirk – is a subdivision of certain federal states .They are above the Kreise, Landkreise, and kreisfreie Städte...
of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is situated 25 miles (40.2 km) southwest of Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
and 90 miles (144.8 km) north of Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
, on the Fränkische Rezat
Fränkische Rezat
The Fränkische Rezat is a 64 km long river in southern Germany. It is the western, left source river of the Rednitz. It rises in the Frankenhöhe hills, near Oberdachstetten. It flows generally east through the towns Lehrberg, Ansbach, Windsbach and Spalt. It flows into the Rednitz in Georgensgmünd....
, a tributary of the Main river. As of 2004, its population was 40,723.
Ansbach is location of the Ansbach University of Applied Sciences
Ansbach University of Applied Sciences
The Ansbach University of Applied Sciences was founded in 1996 and counts approximately 1,800 students . It belongs to the newest Universities of Applied Sciences of the Free State of Bavaria. The percentage of foreign students is about 6 percent. As of 2010 there are 2,300 students.Beginning with...
. The city is connected by the autobahn A6
Bundesautobahn 6
, also known as Via Carolina is a 477 km long German autobahn. It starts at the French border near Saarbrücken in the west and end at the Czech border near Waidhaus in the east....
and the highways B13 and B14. Ansbach station
Ansbach station
Ansbach station is the central transportation hub in the town of Ansbach in southern Germany. It is here that two main lines cross: the Nürnberg–Crailsheim and Treuchtlingen–Würzburg railways.- History :...
is on the Nürnberg–Crailsheim and Treuchtlingen–Würzburg railways and is the terminus of line S4 of the Nuremberg S-Bahn.
History
A Benedictine monastery at the place was founded around 748 by a FrankishFranks
The Franks were a confederation of Germanic tribes first attested in the third century AD as living north and east of the Lower Rhine River. From the third to fifth centuries some Franks raided Roman territory while other Franks joined the Roman troops in Gaul. Only the Salian Franks formed a...
noble, Gumbertus, who was later canonized. In the following centuries the monastery and the adjoining village (Onoldsbach) grew to become the town of Ansbach (called a town in 1221 for the first time).
The counts of Oettingen ruled over Ansbach until the Hohenzollern burgraves of Nuremberg took over in 1331. The Hohenzollerns made Ansbach the seat of their dynasty until their acquisition of the Margraviate of Brandenburg
Margraviate of Brandenburg
The Margraviate of Brandenburg was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806. Also known as the March of Brandenburg , it played a pivotal role in the history of Germany and Central Europe....
in 1415. However, after the 1440 death of Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg
Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg
Frederick was Burgrave of Nuremberg as Frederick VI and Elector of Brandenburg as Frederick I. He was a son of Burgrave Frederick V of Nuremberg and Elisabeth of Meissen, and was the first member of the House of Hohenzollern to rule the Margraviate of Brandenburg.- Biography :Frederick entered...
, the Franconian cadet branch of the family was not politically united with the main Brandenburg line, remaining independent as "Brandenburg-Ansbach".
Margrave George the Pious
George, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach
George of Brandenburg-Ansbach was a Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach from the House of Hohenzollern.- Early life :...
introduced the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...
to Ansbach in 1528, leading to the secularization of St. Gumbertus Abbey in 1563.
In 1792 Ansbach was annexed by the Hohenzollerns of Prussia
Kingdom of Prussia
The Kingdom of Prussia was a German kingdom from 1701 to 1918. Until the defeat of Germany in World War I, it comprised almost two-thirds of the area of the German Empire...
. In 1796 the Duke of Zweibrücken, Maximilian Joseph, the future Bavarian king Max I. Joseph, was exiled to Ansbach after Zweibrücken had been taken by the French. In Ansbach Maximilian von Montgelas
Maximilian von Montgelas
Maximilian Josef Garnerin, Count von Montgelas was a Bavarian statesman, from a noble family in Savoy. His father John Sigmund Garnerin, Baron Montgelas, entered the military service of Maximilian III, Elector of Bavaria, and married the Countess Ursula von Trauner...
wrote an elaborate concept for the future political organisation of Bavaria, which is known as the "Ansbacher Mémoire". In 1806 Prussia
Prussia
Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...
ceded Ansbach and the Principality of Ansbach to Bavaria in exchange for the Bavarian duchy of Berg.
At the end of the 17th century, the margraves' palace at Ansbach was rebuilt in Baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
style.
Jewish families were resident in Ansbach from at least the end of the 18th century. They set up a Jewish Cemetery in the Ruglaender Strasse, which was vandalised and razed under the Nazi tyranny. It was repaired in 1946, but it was damaged several times more. A plaque on the wall of the cemetery commemorates these events. The Jewish Congregation built its synagogue at No 3 Rosenbadstrasse, but it too was damaged by the SA, though it was not burnt down for fear of damaging the neighbouring buildings. It serves today as a "Symbolic House of God". A plaque in the entrance serves as a memorial to the synagogue and to Jewish residents who were murdered during the Holocaust.
In 1940, at least 500 patients were deported from the Heil- und Pflegeanstalt Ansbach [Ansbach Medical and Nursing Clinic] to the extermination facilities Sonnenstein and Hartheim which were disguised as psychiatric institutions, as part of the T4 euthanasia action. They were gassed there. At the clinic in Ansbach itself, around 50 intellectually disabled children were injected with the drug Luminal and killed that way. A plaque was erected in their memory in 1988 in the local hospital at No. 38 Feuchtwangerstrasse.
During World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, a subcamp of Flossenburg concentration camp
Flossenbürg concentration camp
Konzentrationslager Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the Schutzstaffel Economic-Administrative Main Office at Flossenbürg, in the Oberpfalz region of Bavaria, Germany, near the border with Czechoslovakia. Until its liberation in April 1945, more than 96,000 prisoners...
was located here. Also during the Second World War the Luftwaffe and Wehrmacht had bases here. The nearby airbase was the home station for the Stab & I/KG53 (Staff & 1st Group of Kampfgeschwader 53) operating 38 Heinkel He 111
Heinkel He 111
The Heinkel He 111 was a German aircraft designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter in the early 1930s in violation of the Treaty of Versailles. Often described as a "Wolf in sheep's clothing", it masqueraded as a transport aircraft, but its purpose was to provide the Luftwaffe with a fast medium...
bombers. On 1 September 1939 this unit was one of the many that participated in the attack on Poland
Invasion of Poland (1939)
The Invasion of Poland, also known as the September Campaign or 1939 Defensive War in Poland and the Poland Campaign in Germany, was an invasion of Poland by Germany, the Soviet Union, and a small Slovak contingent that marked the start of World War II in Europe...
that started the war. During the Western Allied invasion of Germany in April 1945, the airfield was seized by the United States Third Army, and used by the USAAF 354th Fighter Group
354th Fighter Wing
The 354th Fighter Wing is a United States Air Force wing that is part of Pacific Air Forces . It is the host wing at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, and is assigned to the Eleventh Air Force .-Overview:...
which flew P-47 Thunderbolts from the aerodrome (designated ALG R-82
Advanced Landing Ground
Advanced Landing Ground was the term given to the temporary advance airfields constructed by the Allies during World War II in support of the invasion of Europe...
) from late April until the German capitulation on 7 May 1945.
At the end of the war, 19-year old student Robert Limpert tried to get the town to surrender to the US Forces without a fight. He was betrayed by Hilter Youth and was hung from the portal of the City Hall by the city's Military Commander Oberst Meyer. Several memorials to his heroic deed have been erected over the years, against great opposition from the citizenry: in the Ludwigskirche, in the Gymnasium Carolinum and at No 6 Kronenstrasse.
After the Second World War, Ansbach belonged to the American Zone. The American Military authorities established a displaced persons (DP) camp in what used to be a sanatorium in what is today the Strüth quarter.
Since 1970, Ansbach has enlarged its municipal area by incorporating adjacent communities.
Ansbach was a small town largely by-passed by the Industrial Revolution
Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution was a period from the 18th to the 19th century where major changes in agriculture, manufacturing, mining, transportation, and technology had a profound effect on the social, economic and cultural conditions of the times...
, an administrative and cultural center. Although all bridges were destroyed, the historical center of Ansbach was spared during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and it has kept its baroque character.
Ansbach hosts several units of the U.S. armed forces, associated with German units under NATO. There are five separate U.S. installations: Shipton Kaserne, home to 412th Aviation Support Battalion, Katterbach Kaserne, formally the home of the 1st Infantry Division's 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, which has been replaced by the 12th Combat Aviation Brigade
12th Combat Aviation Brigade (United States)
The 12th Combat Aviation Brigade is a Combat Aviation Brigade of the United States Army. It was first organized as the 12th Aviation Group at Fort Benning, Georgia, on 18 June 1965.-Vietnam:...
as of 2006, as part of the 1st Infantry Division's return to Fort Riley
Fort Riley
Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in Northeast Kansas, on the Kansas River, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 100,656 acres in Geary and Riley counties and includes two census-designated places: Fort Riley North and Fort...
, Kansas; Bismarck Kaserne, which functions as a satellite post to Katterbach, hosting their Post Exchange, Theater, Barracks, Franconia Inn, Military Police, and other support agencies, Barton Barracks, home to the USAG Ansbach and Bleidorn Barracks, which has a library and housing.
Ansbach was also home to the headquarters of the 1st Armored Division (United States)
1st Armored Division (United States)
The 1st Armored Division—nicknamed "Old Ironsides"—is a standing armored division of the United States Army with base of operations in Fort Bliss, Texas. It was the first armored division of the U.S...
from 1972 to the early1990s.
Boroughs
- Eyb, part of Ansbach since October 1, 1970
- Bernhardswinden, part of Ansbach since July 1, 1972
- Brodswinden, part of Ansbach since July 1, 1972
- Claffheim, part of Ansbach since July 1, 1972
- Elpersdorf bei Ansbach, part of Ansbach since July 1, 1972
- HennenbachHennenbachHennenbach is a district of the town of Ansbach in Bavaria, Germany. It forms a small part of the north-east of Ansbach....
, part of Ansbach since July 1, 1972 - Neuses bei Ansbach, part of Ansbach since July 1, 1972
- Strüth
- Wasserzell
- Schalkhausen, part of Ansbach since July 1, 1972
- Geisengrund
- Dornberg
- Neudorf
- Steinersdorf
International relations
Ansbach is twinned with: AngletAnglet
Anglet is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department in Aquitaine in south-western France. The town's name is pronounced [ãglet]; i.e...
, France Bay City
Bay City
-Places:Australia* Westfield Bay City, a shopping centre in Geelong, VictoriaPhilippines* Bay City , the reclamation area of Metro Manila in the PhilippinesUnited States* Bay City, Pope County, Illinois* Bay City, Michigan...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
Fermo
Fermo
Fermo is a town and comune of the Marche, Italy, in the Province of Fermo.Fermo is located on a hill, the Sabulo with a fine view, on a branch from Porto San Giorgio on the Adriatic coast railway....
, Italy Jing Jiang, China
Notable people
- Albert of Prussia, Grand Master of the Teutonic Order and the first duke of Prussia.
- In the late 16th century, the physician to margrave Georg Friedrich was the famous botanist, Leonhart FuchsLeonhart FuchsLeonhart Fuchs , sometimes spelled Leonhard Fuchs, was a German physician and one of the three founding fathers of botany, along with Otto Brunfels and Hieronymus Bock .-Biography:...
. - Ansbach was home of the astronomer Simon MariusSimon MariusSimon Marius was a German astronomer. He was born in Gunzenhausen, near Nuremberg, but he spent most of his life in the city of Ansbach....
, who observed JupiterJupiterJupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the largest planet within the Solar System. It is a gas giant with mass one-thousandth that of the Sun but is two and a half times the mass of all the other planets in our Solar System combined. Jupiter is classified as a gas giant along with Saturn,...
's moons from the castle's tower. Later he claimed to be the discoverer of the moons, which led to a dispute with the true discoverer, Galileo GalileiGalileo GalileiGalileo Galilei , was an Italian physicist, mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who played a major role in the Scientific Revolution. His achievements include improvements to the telescope and consequent astronomical observations and support for Copernicanism...
. - Ansbach was the birthplace of the early chemist, Georg Ernst StahlGeorg Ernst StahlGeorg Ernst Stahl was a German chemist and physician.He was born at Ansbach. Having graduated in medicine at the University of Jena in 1683, he became court physician to Duke Johann Ernst of Sachsen Weimar in 1687...
. - Queen CarolineCaroline of AnsbachCaroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach was the queen consort of King George II of Great Britain.Her father, John Frederick, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach, was the ruler of a small German state...
, consort of King George IIGeorge II of Great BritainGeorge II was King of Great Britain and Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg and Archtreasurer and Prince-elector of the Holy Roman Empire from 11 June 1727 until his death.George was the last British monarch born outside Great Britain. He was born and brought up in Northern Germany...
of Great Britain was born in Ansbach in 1683. - Two poets, Johann Peter Uz (1720–1796) and August von Platen-Hallermünde (1790–1835), were also born there.
- Ansbach was the birthplace of the pre-Linnean botanist, Georg Christian OederGeorg Christian OederGeorg Christian Edler von Oldenburg Oeder was a German-Danish botanist, medical doctor, economist and social reformer. His name is particularly associated with the initiation of the plate work Flora Danica.-Life and work:Oeder was the son of a Bavarian parish minister, Georg Ludwig Oeder...
. - John James Maximilian OertelJohn James Maximilian OertelJohn James Maximilian Oertel was a German-American journalist.-Life:...
, (1811–1882), born in Ansbach, was a Lutheran clergyman who later converted to Roman Catholicism, became a professor of German at Fordham UniversityFordham UniversityFordham University is a private, nonprofit, coeducational research university in the United States, with three campuses in and around New York City. It was founded by the Roman Catholic Diocese of New York in 1841 as St...
in the United States, and later edited and founded several newspapers in the United States, including one that would become the leading German-language newspaper in the county, BaltimoreBaltimoreBaltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...
's Kirchenzeitung. - Also the Bavarian Major General and War Minister Moritz Ritter von SpiesMoritz von SpiesMoritz Ritter von Spies was a Bavarian Major General and War Minister for two times under Maximilian II of Bavaria.- Biography :Von Spies was born in Ansbach...
(1805–1862) was born in Ansbach. - Kaspar HauserKaspar HauserKaspar Hauser was a German youth who claimed to have grown up in the total isolation of a darkened cell. Hauser's claims, and his subsequent death by stabbing, sparked much debate and controversy....
lived in Ansbach from 1830 to 1833. He was murdered in the palace gardens. - Theodor EscherichTheodor EscherichTheodor Escherich was a German-Austrian pediatrician and a professor at universities in Graz, and Vienna...
, bacteriologist and paediatrician, born in Ansbach in 1857. Bacterial genus Escherichia (for example, Escherichia coli) was named after him in 1919, eight years after his death. - Hermann FegeleinHermann FegeleinSS-Obergruppenführer Hans Georg Otto Hermann Fegelein was a General of the Waffen-SS in Nazi Germany, a member of Adolf Hitler's entourage, brother-in-law to Eva Braun through his marriage to her sister, Gretl, and husband of the sister-in-law to Adolf Hitler through Hitler's marriage to Eva...
SS Reichsfuhrer Heinrich Himmler's Adjutant and Adolf Hitler's brother in law was a great admirer of his birthplace, Ansbach. - George H. BricknerGeorge H. BricknerGeorge H. Brickner was a German-born American Democratic politician.He was born in Ansbach, Bavaria, in what is now Germany. He immigrated to the United States in 1840 with his parents, settling in Seneca County, Ohio. He attended the public schools. He moved to Cascade, Wisconsin in 1855. ...
, U.S. Representative from WisconsinWisconsinWisconsin is a U.S. state located in the north-central United States and is part of the Midwest. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michigan to the northeast, and Lake Superior to the north. Wisconsin's capital is...
. - Herb Schraml, artist, born in Ansbach, in 1936. He is responsible for many of the murals seen in and around Leavenworth, a Bavarian-themed tourist destination in Central Washington state.
Sights
- Castle of the Margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach
- Margrave museum
- Kaspar Hauser Monument
- St. Gumbertus and St. Johannis churches, both 15th century