Straubing (;

Central Bavarian Central or Middle Bavarian form a subgroup of Bavarian dialects in large parts of Austria and the German state of Bavaria along the Danube river, on the northern side of the Eastern Alps. They are spoken in the ' Old Bavarian' regions of Upper ...

: ''Strauwing'') is an independent city in Lower Bavaria, southern Germany. It is seat of the

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

Straubing-Bogen Straubing-Bogen is a Districts of Germany, ''Landkreis'' (district) in the eastern part of Bavaria, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) Cham (district), Cham, Regen (district), Regen, Deggendorf (district), Deggendorf, Din ...

. Annually in August the

Gäubodenvolksfest The Gäubodenvolksfest in Straubing is one of the largest Volksfests (beer festival and travelling funfair) in the Germany, German state of Bavaria. It is an annual event, spanning eleven days mid-August. History The Gäubodenvolksfest ...

, the second largest

fair A fair (archaic: faire or fayre) is a gathering of people for a variety of entertainment or commercial activities. Fairs are typically temporary with scheduled times lasting from an afternoon to several weeks. Fairs showcase a wide range of go ...

in Bavaria, is held. The city is located on the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

forming the centre of the Gäuboden.

History

The area of Straubing has been continuously settled since the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

. The conquest by the Romans in 16–14 BC had a dramatic impact on the whole region. Even today many traces of the 400-year Roman occupation can be found: for example, the famous 'Römerschatz' (Roman treasure) which was excavated in 1950 and which is shown in the Gäubodenmuseum. ''Sorviodurum'', as the Romans called it, was an important military support base. After the fall of the Roman Empire Straubing became a centre of settlement of the

Bavarii The Baiuvarii or Bavarii, sometimes simply called Bavarians (; ) were a Germanic people who lived in and near present-day southern Bavaria, which is named after them. They began to appear in records by the 6th century AD, and their culture, lang ...

, mostly around St. Peter's Church (built in the 9th century) between Allachbach and Danube. According to the customs of the Bavarii the settlement was named after their leader ''Strupinga'', which later evolved into the name Straubing. In 1218 a new part of the city (called 'new town') was founded by Duke Ludwig I Wittelsbach of

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

. Straubing became the capital of the Duchy of Bavaria-Straubing under Duke Wilhelm I when Bavaria was divided among the sons of

Louis IV, Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV (; 1 April 1282 – 11 October 1347), called the Bavarian (, ), was King of the Romans from 1314, King of Italy from 1327, and Holy Roman Emperor from 1328 until his death in 1347. 20 October 1314 imperial election, Louis' election a ...

in 1349. In 1429 Straubing passed to Ernest, Duke of Bavaria-

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

, who ordered the murder of Agnes Bernauer in Straubing. The grave of Agnes Bernauer cannot be found. But in the graveyard of St. Peter's Church is a chapel built by Duke Ernest. In 1633, during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

, the Swedish army successfully besieged the city. Nowadays, this new town is the centre of Straubing with many shops, offices, restaurants and a pedestrian area. Most buildings there still have medieval style. The nightlife of Straubing, with many pubs and discothèques, is concentrated in this area. The most important buildings are the Gothic cathedral-like Basilica of St. Jacob, the Romanesque St. Peter's Church, the

Carmelite The Order of the Brothers of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mount Carmel (; abbreviated OCarm), known as the Carmelites or sometimes by synecdoche known simply as Carmel, is a mendicant order in the Catholic Church for both men and women. Histo ...

monastery with its Baroque church and library, St. Vitus's, where you can find a life-size personification of "state and church" joined in holy matrimony. Between 1933 and 1945 most of the members of the then small Jewish community of Straubing were murdered or forced to emigrate. In 2006, Straubing had a lively Jewish community with around 950 members. During a rally in June 1940, when Straubing and Bogen held its Kriegskreistag, some 20,000 people gathered at the ''Großdeutschlandplatz''. Among the speakers were

Gauleiter A ''Gauleiter'' () was a regional leader of the Nazi Party (NSDAP) who served as the head of a ''Administrative divisions of Nazi Germany, Gau'' or ''Reichsgau''. ''Gauleiter'' was the third-highest Ranks and insignia of the Nazi Party, rank in ...

Wächtler and ''Gauamtsleiter'' Erbersdobler. In July 1940, the ''Donau-Zeitung'' reported that the Straubing ''Kreisleiter'', Anton Putz, had flown toward France and not returned. In 1944 and 1945, Straubing suffered from several American air raids. The local military hospital was destroyed to the extent of 80 percent with a loss of 45 patients. In November 2016 a fire destroyed a greater part of the medieval city hall. Straubing has many industrial areas and a port at the river Danube with access to the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal, a connection from the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

to the

Black Sea The Black Sea is a marginal sea, marginal Mediterranean sea (oceanography), mediterranean sea lying between Europe and Asia, east of the Balkans, south of the East European Plain, west of the Caucasus, and north of Anatolia. It is bound ...

. It is the centre of the Bavarian high tech offensive in

biotechnology Biotechnology is a multidisciplinary field that involves the integration of natural sciences and Engineering Science, engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms and parts thereof for products and services. Specialists ...

Main sights

As one of five ducal residences of medieval Bavaria (besides

Landshut Landshut (; ) is a town in Bavaria, Germany, on the banks of the Isar, River Isar. Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free state (government), Free State of Bavaria, and the seat of the surrou ...

, Munich,

Ingolstadt Ingolstadt (; Austro-Bavarian language, Austro-Bavarian: ) is an Independent city#Germany, independent city on the Danube, in Upper Bavaria, with 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan ...

and Burghausen) the old town of Straubing especially features many Gothic buildings. * The Romanesque Church of St. Peter (12th century) * The Gothic City Tower (begun in 1316) * The Gothic city hall (large parts have been destroyed by a fire on November 25, 2016) * The medieval ducal castle or ''Herzogsschloss''. Duke Albert I began the construction in 1356. * The Gothic Basilica of St. Jacob (present-day church begun in 1393), a Gothic hall church and the largest main church of Straubing. The church was built according to plans of the architect Hans von Burghausen. * The Church of St. Vitus – home of the oldest still existing confraternity in Germany, the St. Salvator-Confraternity * The

monastery and Church of the Holy Spirit (since 1368, by Hans von Burghausen; the only monastery which survived the dissolution of 1802). * Church of St. Ursula by the Asam brothers * The Baroque Trinity Column at the Theresien Square * The Water Tower * Sossau pilgrimage church * Straubing Zoo (the only zoo in East Bavaria)

Climate

Festivals and cultural events

*Straubinger Frühlingsfest, a spring festival (annual) *

and Ostbayernschau *Museum containing

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

artifacts *Agnes-Bernauer-Festspiele, a historical play to remind of the murdered Agnes Bernauer * Straubing Zoo *A

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

festival – ''bluetone'' (former name Jazz an der Donau) – one of the greatest jazz-festivals in Europe *Bürgerfest (burgher festival) is held every two years in the historical centre of Straubing

Sports

Ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

Straubing Tigers The Straubing Tigers are a professional men's ice hockey team, based in Straubing, Germany, that competes in the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. Straubing plays its home games at the Eisstadion am Pulverturm, which has a capacity of 5,635 spectators. P ...

–

DEL Del, or nabla, is an operator used in mathematics (particularly in vector calculus) as a vector differential operator, usually represented by the nabla symbol ∇. When applied to a function defined on a one-dimensional domain, it denotes ...

(Highest German League) *

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

: Straubing Spiders – founded in 1985 *

Harness racing Harness racing is a form of horse racing in which the horses race at a specific gait (a trot or a pace). They usually pull a two-wheeled cart called a sulky, spider, or chariot occupied by a driver. In Europe, and less frequently in Australia ...

: Trabrennbahn Straubing (Highest German Level) *

Volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

: German Women's Volleyball League (Highest German League)

Education

The

Technical University of Munich The Technical University of Munich (TUM or TU Munich; ) is a public research university in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. It specializes in engineering, technology, medicine, and applied and natural sciences. Established in 1868 by King Ludwig II ...

has one of its campuses in Straubing. It is specialised on renewables. A

Fraunhofer Institute The Fraunhofer Society () is a German publicly-owned research organization with 76institutes spread throughout Germany, each focusing on different fields of applied science (as opposed to the Max Planck Society, which works primarily on basic sc ...

for boundary and biodiversity engineering is also located in Straubing. Straubing has four gymnasiums (grammar schools): * Anton-Bruckner-Gymnasium * Gymnasium der Ursulinen * Johannes-Turmair-Gymnasium * Ludwigsgymnasium

Twin towns – sister cities

Straubing is twinned with: *

Romans-sur-Isère Romans-sur-Isère (; ; Old Occitan: ''Romans'') is a Communes of France, commune in the Drôme Departments of France, department in southeastern France. Geography Romans-sur-Isère is located on the Isère (river), Isère, northeast of Valence, ...

, France *

Tuam Tuam (; , meaning 'mound' or 'burial-place') is a town in Ireland and the second-largest settlement in County Galway. It is west of the midland Region, Ireland, midlands of Ireland, about north of Galway city. The town is in a civil parishe ...

, Ireland *

Wels Wels (; Central Bavarian: ''Wös'') is a city in Upper Austria, on the Traun River near Linz. It is the county seat of Wels-Land, and with a population of approximately 60,000, the List of cities and towns in Austria, eighth largest city in Aus ...

, Austria

Notable people

* Agnes Bernauer ( – 1435), mistress of Albert III, Duke of Bavaria *

Thomas Naogeorgus Thomas Naogeorgus (''Thomas Kirchmeyer, Kirchmair, Neubauer''; 21 December 1508 – 29 December 1563) was a Latin dramatist, humanist, Protestant theologian, Protestant reformer, preacher and pamphleteer of the German Renaissance. Naogeorgus ...

(1508–1563), dramatist and humanist * Ulrich Schmidl (1510–1579), mercenary, explorer, chronicler and councilor *

Jakob Sandtner Jakob Sandtner (born in Straubing, Germany) was a master turner and lived in the 16th century. For his time, he made amazingly precise city models of some Bavarian cities. The models are important cultural-historical documents and are among the o ...

(16th century), master turner * Emanuel Schikaneder (1751–1812), impresario, dramatist, actor and composer *

Joseph von Fraunhofer Joseph Ritter von Fraunhofer (; ; 6 March 1787 – 7 June 1826) was a German physicist and optical lens manufacturer. He made optical glass, an achromatic telescope, and objective lenses. He developed diffraction grating and also invented the ...

(1787–1826), optician and physicist * Carl Spitzweg (1808–1885), romanticist painter, worked here * Arthur Achleitner (1858–1927), writer * Otto Ritter von Dandl (1868–1942), politician * Hans Adlhoch (1883–1945), member of the Reichstag * Rex Gildo (1936–1999), pop singer *

Michael Karoli Michael Karoli (29 April 1948 – 17 November 2001) was a German guitarist, violinist, and sound-mixer. He was a founding member of the krautrock band Can. Biography Early life Michael Karoli was born 29 April 1948 in Straubing, Bavaria, t ...

(1948–2001), guitarist * Margot Mahler (1945–1997), actress * Claus Richter (born 1948), journalist * Gerda Hasselfeldt (born 1950), politician (CSU), Vice-

President of the Bundestag The president of the Bundestag ( or ; Grammatical gender in German#Professions, when the office is held by a man) presides over the sessions of the Bundestag, the federal parliament of Germany, with functions similar to that of a speaker (poli ...

, former federal minister * Ewa Klamt (born 1950), CDU politician * Siegfried Mauser (born 1954), pianist and musicologist * Alois Rainer (born 1965), politician (CSU) *

Thomas Stellmach Thomas Stellmach (born 1965 in Straubing, West Germany) is a German animated film producer and director. Stellmach has received many awards including the Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film for his 1996 film ''Quest (1996 film), Quest''. ...

(born 1965), director and Oscar winner * Gerold Huber (born 1969), pianist * Christian Gerhaher (born 1969), baritone * Michael Stumpf (born 1970), systems biologist * Markus Weinzierl (born 1974), football player and coach * Elli Erl (born 1979), singer-songwriter

References

External links

{{Authority control Populated places on the Danube Holocaust locations in Germany Urban districts of Bavaria Lower Bavaria