Amberg () is a

town A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world. Origin and use The word "town" shares an o ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. It is located in the

Upper Palatinate The Upper Palatinate (german: Oberpfalz, , ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany, and is located in the east of Bavaria. Geography The Upper Palatinate is a landscape with low mountains and numerous ponds and lak ...

, roughly halfway between Regensburg and

Bayreuth Bayreuth (, ; bar, Bareid) is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Franconian Jura and the Fichtelgebirge Mountains. The town's roots date back to 1194. In the 21st century, it is the capital o ...

. In 2020, over 42,000 people lived in the town.

History

The town was first mentioned in 1034, at that time under the name Ammenberg. It became an important trading centre in the Middle Ages, exporting mainly

iron ore Iron ores are rocks and minerals from which metallic iron can be economically extracted. The ores are usually rich in iron oxides and vary in color from dark grey, bright yellow, or deep purple to rusty red. The iron is usually found in the ...

and iron products. In 1269, together with

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main. The town dates back to the 9th century, when its name was derived from the nearby ' castl ...

, the town became subordinate to the

Wittelsbach The House of Wittelsbach () is a German dynasty, with branches that have ruled over territories including Bavaria, the Palatinate, Holland and Zeeland, Sweden (with Finland), Denmark, Norway, Hungary (with Romania), Bohemia, the Electorate ...

dynasty that ruled Bavaria. In 1329 the town and the entire region fell to the Palatinate branch of the

family. The region adopted the name Upper Palatinate. It was no longer part of the duchy of Bavaria politically, though in geographic terms it was regarded as Bavarian and the region was part of the Bavarian circle in the organization of the Imperial Circles. In the 16th century, the rulers of Upper Palatinate turned to

Protestantism Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...

. The town turned to

Lutheranism Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Cathol ...

. Later attempts of the ruling family to introduce the more radical

Calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John C ...

failed due to the reluctance of its citizens. In 1628 Amberg and Upper Palatinate became part of the electorate of Bavaria. The inhabitants were given the choice to return to

Catholicism The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...

or emigrate. Many families left the town and moved to the Free Imperial Cities of Regensburg and

Nuremberg Nuremberg ( ; german: link=no, Nürnberg ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the second-largest city of the German state of Bavaria after its capital Munich, and its 518,370 (2019) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest ...

. On 24 August 1796, during the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars (french: Guerres de la Révolution française) were a series of sweeping military conflicts lasting from 1792 until 1802 and resulting from the French Revolution. They pitted France against Britain, Austria, Pruss ...

, the city and its environs were the locale of a major

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and for ...

at which 35,000 French, under the command of

Jean Baptiste Jourdan Jean-Baptiste Jourdan, 1st Count Jourdan (29 April 1762 – 23 November 1833), was a French military commander who served during the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was made a Marshal of the Empire by Emperor Napoleon I i ...

fought with 40,000 Austrians under the command of Archduke Charles; the French suffered significantly more losses in this Austrian victory. Amberg was the regional capital of Upper Palatinate until 1810 when power was transferred to the larger city of Regensburg. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, when Bavaria fell into the American Sector, Amberg was home to Pond Barracks, a

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

post. I.F.Stone writes about it in his book

Underground to Palestine ''Underground to Palestine'' is a 1946 book by American journalist I. F. Stone chronicling some of the hundreds of thousands of Holocaust survivors attempting to reach the Jewish homeland in Mandatory Palestine from post-WWII displaced persons ...

(pp. 31ff). The post was closed in 1992 and the facility turned over to the local community for housing, most of it for social housing. In late 2018, the town was the site of the Amberg attacks, resulting in

Rainer Wendt Rainer Wendt (born 29 November 1956 in Duisburg) is a German former policeman (Schutzpolizei) and national populist. Since 2007 he is the Federal Chairman of the German Police Union (DPolG). The DPolG is one of the two German police unions. Left ...

asking the Federal government to take a stand on the case. The city was said to be "in a state of emergency." Joachim Herrmann, Bavarian Minister of the Interior, visited Amberg for consultations. Horst Seehofer, Federal Minister of the Interior, said "the violent attacks are worrisome."

Jewish history

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

had settled in Amberg before 1294, when the first documentation can be found. Shortly after, in 1298, thirteen of the town Jews died during the

Rindfleisch massacres The Rintfleisch or Rindfleisch movement was a series of massacres against Jews in 1298. The event, in later terminology a pogrom, was the first large-scale persecution in Germany since the First Crusade. History It occurred in the Franconian regi ...

. Nevertheless, in 1347 six families received permission to settle in Amberg and twenty years after, in 1367, a Yeshivah was opened in it, though the Jewish community was expelled from Amberg in 1403. Upon the expulsion, the

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of wor ...

was annexed to the nearby church. Twelve Jews remained in town in 1942. The few survivors returned to the town after 1945, and a

displaced persons camp A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displaced peo ...

named Amberg - located nearby the town - housed mostly

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

refugees and survivors. As a result of immigration from the former

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nati ...

, the

population in town grew to about 275 in 2003. A synagogue exists in town nowadays.

Subdistricts

Amberg has 25 sub-districts, which include its surrounding villages: * Amberg * Atzlricht * Bergsteig * Bernricht * Eglsee * Fiederhof * Fuchsstein * Gailoh * Gewerbegebiet-Gailoh * Gewerbegebiet-West * Gärbershof * Karmensölden * Kemnathermühl * Kleinraigering * Krumbach * Lengenloh * Luitpoldhöhe * Neubernricht * Neumühle * Neuricht * Oberammersricht * Raigering * Schäflohe * Schweighof * Speckmannshof * Unterammersricht

Lord mayors

* 1866–1892: Vincent König * 1892–1907: Josef Heldmann * 1907–1913: Georg Schön * 1913–1933: Eduard Klug, BVP * 1933: Otto Saugel (temporary) * 1933–1945: Josef Filbig,

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party (german: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported t ...

* 1945–1946: Christian Endemann, SPD * 1946: Eduard Klug * 1946: Christian Endemann, SPD * 1946–1952: Michael Lotter,

CSU CSU may refer to: * Channel service unit, a Wide area network equivalent of a network interface card * Chari Aviation Services, Chad, by ICAO airline code * Christian Social Union (UK), an Anglican social gospel organisation * Christian Social ...

* 1952–1958: Josef Filbig, Deutsche Gemeinschaft (Deutschland) * 1958–1970: Wolf Steininger, CSU * 1970–1990: Franz Prechtl, CSU * 1990–2014: Wolfgang Dandorfer, CSU * since 2014: Michael Cerny, CSU

Population development

Sights

A defining feature of the town is the ''Stadtbrille'' (literally: town spectacles) – a bridge, originally a part of the town fortifications, whose arches reflected on the river waters resemble a pair of spectacles. Other tourist attractions in Amberg include: * Market Square, which contains the Gothic town hall (built in 1358) and the late-Gothic parish church of St. Martin * The New Palace, the former residence of the counts of the Rhenish Palatinate, built at the beginning of the 15th century and renovated in 1603 Amberg Wahrzeichen Stadtbrille

* A well-preserved section of the medieval walls and gates * The baroque

Franciscan , image = FrancescoCoA PioM.svg , image_size = 200px , caption = A cross, Christ's arm and Saint Francis's arm, a universal symbol of the Franciscans , abbreviation = OFM , predecessor = , ...

monastery on the Hill of Our Lady Help of Christians (Germ. ''Mariahilfberg'') above the town. This hill was given its name during the

bubonic plague Bubonic plague is one of three types of plague caused by the plague bacterium ('' Yersinia pestis''). One to seven days after exposure to the bacteria, flu-like symptoms develop. These symptoms include fever, headaches, and vomiting, as wel ...

in the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

in 1633/4 when the locals beseeched the Virgin Mary to rid them of the plague. * The ' Little Wedding House' (local German dialect ''Eh’häusl''), claimed by town authorities to be the world's smallest hotel. Built in 1728, the 2 metre wide hotel was 'sold' to young couples for one night to circumvent laws prohibiting marriages between poor people. * The town museum (Stadtmuseum Amberg) includes exhibits on life and industry in Amberg, the history of clothing and works of Michael Mathias Prechtl and houses travelling exhibitions. * Air Museum (Luftmuseum), opened in 2006.

Twin towns – sister cities

Amberg is twinned with: *

Bad Bergzabern Bad Bergzabern () is a municipality in the Südliche Weinstraße district, on the German Wine Route in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It is situated near the border with France, on the south-eastern edge of the Palatinate forest, approximately ...

, Germany *

Bystrzyca Kłodzka Bystrzyca Kłodzka ( cs, Kladská Bystřice, german: Habelschwerdt) is a historic town in Kłodzko County, in Lower Silesian Voivodeship in southwestern Poland. It is the administrative seat of Gmina Bystrzyca Kłodzka. As of December 2021, the ...

, Poland *

Desenzano del Garda Desenzano del Garda ( lmo, label=Brescian, Dezensà) is a town and '' comune'' in the province of Brescia, in Lombardy, Italy, on the southwestern shore of Lake Garda. It borders the communes of Castiglione delle Stiviere, Lonato, Padenghe sul Gar ...

, Italy *

Périgueux Périgueux (, ; oc, Peireguers or ) is a commune in the Dordogne department, in the administrative region of Nouvelle-Aquitaine, southwestern France. Périgueux is the prefecture of Dordogne, and the capital city of Périgord. It is also ...

, France * Trikala, Greece * Ústí nad Orlicí, Czech Republic

Notable people

* Karl Addicks (born 1950), politician (FDP), Member of Bundestag 2004-2009 * Hans Aumeier (1906–1948), Nazi

SS officer The ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS; also stylized as ''ᛋᛋ'' with Armanen runes; ; "Protection Squadron") was a major paramilitary organization under Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party in Nazi Germany, and later throughout German-occupied Europe duri ...

in a leading position in several concentration camps executed for war crimes * Hans Baumann (1914–1988), elementary school teacher, poet, song composer, Children's Book Author, Nazi official * Alexander Bugera (born 1978), football player * Sara Däbritz (born 1995), German football player (Bayern Munich, German national team) * Daniel Ernemann (born 1976), football player * Heiner Fleischmann (1914–1963), motorcycle racer (mainly on NSU) * Fritz Hilpert (born 1956), musician (Kraftwerk) * Theodor Kaes (1852–1913), German neurologist, was a native of Amberg *

Barbara Meier Barbara Meier (born 25 July 1986) is a German fashion model and actress. She is best known as the winner of the second season of ''Germany's Next Topmodel''. Early life Born in the small Bavarian town of Amberg, Meier did not originally asp ...

(born 1986), German fashion model * Franz Stigler (1915–2008), German

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

fighter ace, 45 aerial victories, member of

Jagdgeschwader 27 ''Jagdgeschwader'' 27 (JG 27) "''Afrika''" was a fighter wing of the Luftwaffe during World War II. The wing was given the name "Africa" for serving in the North African Campaign predominantly alone in the period from April 1941 to Sept ...

, and Jagdverband 44. Known best for

Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler incident The Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler incident occurred on 20 December 1943, when, after a successful bomb run on Bremen, 2nd Lt. Charles "Charlie" Brown's B-17F Flying Fortress ''Ye Olde Pub'' of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) was sev ...

. * Kathrine Switzer (born 1947), first woman to run the Boston Marathon, was born to American parents in Amberg