Schwabach () is a German

city A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...

of about 40,000 inhabitants near

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 ...

in the centre of the region of

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three administrative regions of Lower, Middle and Upper ...

in the north of

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 ...

. The city is an autonomous administrative district (''kreisfreie Stadt''). Schwabach is also the name of the river which runs through the city prior to joining the Rednitz. Schwabach is famous for its crafts made of

gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile ...

, particularly gold foil. In 2004, Schwabach celebrated this tradition with an anniversary festival, marking "500 years gold foil in Schwabach". Around 1500, a local typesetter developed the " Schwabacher" font. This font was used for printing the first Bible in German, which had been worked out by

Martin Luther Martin Luther (; ; 10 November 1483 – 18 February 1546) was a German priest, theologian, author, hymnwriter, and professor, and Augustinian friar. He is the seminal figure of the Protestant Reformation and the namesake of Lutherani ...

Etymology

The name derives from the old

n name ''Suapaha'' (later ''Suabaha'', then ''Villa Suabach'') which translates as "Schwaben-Bach" in modern

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

, which means "

Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

stream A stream is a continuous body of surface water flowing within the bed and banks of a channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a stream may be referred to by a variety of local or regional names. Long large streams ...

", the first part of the name was given by the Franconians who came to the area about a millennium after the

Hallstatt culture The Hallstatt culture was the predominant Western and Central European culture of Late Bronze Age (Hallstatt A, Hallstatt B) from the 12th to 8th centuries BC and Early Iron Age Europe (Hallstatt C, Hallstatt D) from the 8th to 6th centuries ...

to the people living on the banks of that stream, which were perceived as "

ns" by them, while the second part of the name is a reference to the stream which flows through the city.

Timeline

*750 BC–AD 500: Archaeological evidence of settlement. *600–700: Name Schwabach first used to refer to the settlement and the river. *1346: City wall built. *1371: Municipal law established. *1469: Town church built (still in use). *1500: (ca.) Schwabacher font invented. *1528: City hall built (still in use). *1633: First needle factory established in Schwabach. *1723: Schwabach river flooded to highest point ever. Markings of the flood are still visible. *1768: The landmark ''Old Linden Tree'' planted (still there). *1792: Schwabach became part of

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an e ...

. *1797:

Goethe Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (28 August 1749 – 22 March 1832) was a German poet, playwright, novelist, scientist, statesman, theatre director, and critic. His works include plays, poetry, literature, and aesthetic criticism, as well as tr ...

stayed overnight in Schwabach. *1806: Schwabach became part of Bavaria. *1849: Railway station built. *1941: Schwabach bombed in

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 ...

*1945: American military base established in Schwabach. *1953: City coat-of-arms introduced. *1972: Schwabach became an autonomous administrative district. *1980: Schwabach receives the European Union prize for cultural heritage. *1992: US Army to be withdrawn from Schwabach and surrounding areas. *2004: 500-year anniversary celebration of the gold foil industry.

Companies

Apollo-Optik Apollo-Optik is a German optics company focusing on retail eyewear. It was founded 1972 in Schwabach and is operating in 40 countries. It is the biggest optics company in Europe. References External links * https://www.apollo.de/ {{Ey ...

, optics company

Twin towns – sister cities

Schwabach is twinned with: *

Les Sables-d'Olonne Les Sables-d'Olonne (; French meaning: "The Sands of Olonne"; Poitevin: ''Lés Sablles d'Oloune'') is a seaside town in Western France, on the Atlantic Ocean. A subprefecture of the department of Vendée, Pays de la Loire, it has the adminis ...

, France (1975) *

Kemer Kemer is a seaside resort and district of Antalya Province on the Mediterranean coast of Turkey, west of the city of Antalya, on the Turkish Riviera. Kemer is on the Gulf of Antalya, of sea coast with the skirts of the western Taurus Mounta ...

, Turkey (1998) * Kalabaka, Greece (2002)

Notable people

Johann Gottfried Zinn Johann Gottfried Zinn () (December 6, 1727 – April 6, 1759) was a German anatomist and botanist and was a member of the Berlin Academy. Biography Johann Gottfried Zinn was born in Schwabach. Considering his short life span, Zinn made a gre ...

(1727–1759), anatomist and botanist *

Adolf von Henselt Georg Martin Adolf von Henselt (9 or 12 May 181410 October 1889) was a German composer and virtuoso pianist. Life Henselt was born at Schwabach, in Bavaria. At the age of three he began to learn the violin, and at five the piano under Josephe v ...

(1814–1889), composer and pianist *

Hans Schuberth Hans Schuberth (April 5, 1897 in Schwabach – September 2, 1976 in Munich) was a German politician who from 1949 to 1953 was the first Federal Minister for Post and Telecommunications in Konrad Adenauer's first cabinet. Biography After g ...

(1897–1976), politician (CSU), Federal Minister for affairs of telecommunication *

Matthias Volz Matthias Volz (4 May 1910 in Schwabach – 26 August 2004 in Spalt) was a German gymnast who competed in the 1936 Summer Olympics The 1936 Summer Olympics (German language, German: ''Olympische Sommerspiele 1936''), officially kno ...

(1910–2004), artistic gymnast, Olympic champion *

Manfred Ritschel Manfred Ritschel (born 7 June 1946 in Schwabach) is a retired German football player. He spent eight seasons in the Bundesliga with Borussia Dortmund, Kickers Offenbach, 1. FC Kaiserslautern and FC Schalke 04. He represented Germany three t ...

(born 1946), football player *

Walter Zimmermann Walter Zimmermann (born 15 April 1949) is a German composer associated with the Cologne School. Born in Schwabach, Germany, Zimmermann studied composition in Germany with Werner Heider and Mauricio Kagel, the theory of musical intelligence at ...

(born 1949), composer *

Karl Emir Karl may refer to: People * Karl (given name), including a list of people and characters with the name * Karl der Große, commonly known in English as Charlemagne * Karl Marx, German philosopher and political writer * Karl of Austria, last Austrian ...

(born 1956), politician (CSU) *

Ralf Baumeister Ralf Baumeister (born September 1, 1961 in Schwabach) is a German professor (Bioinformatics and Molecular Genetics). He is currently co-director of the School of Life Sciences at Freiburg University's Institute of Advanced Studies. He uses the ...

(born 1961), professor of bioinformatics and molecular genetics *

Bernhard Grill Bernhard Grill (born January 5, 1961) is one of the developers of the MP3 technology. Grill was born in Schwabach and studied Electrical Engineering at the Friedrich-Alexander-University, Erlangen-Nuremberg. From 1988 to 1995 he engaged in the de ...

(born 1961), electrical engineer,

MP3 MP3 (formally MPEG-1 Audio Layer III or MPEG-2 Audio Layer III) is a coding format for digital audio developed largely by the Fraunhofer Society in Germany, with support from other digital scientists in the United States and elsewhere. Origin ...

format developer

References

External links

* {{Authority control Historic Jewish communities