Ansbach ( , ; ) is a city in the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

state 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 ...

. It is the capital of the

administrative region Administrative divisions (also administrative units, administrative regions, subnational entities, or constituent states, as well as many similar generic terms) are geographical areas into which a particular independent sovereign state is divi ...

Middle Franconia Middle Franconia (, ) is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia, Germany, in the west of Bavaria bordering the state of Baden-Württemberg. The administrative seat is Ansbach; the most populous and largest city is Nuremberg. Subdi ...

. Ansbach is southwest of

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

and north of

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 ...

, on the river

Fränkische Rezat The Franconian Rezat (, ) is a river in southern Germany. It is the western, left source river of the Rednitz. It rises in the Franconian Heights near Oberdachstetten. It flows generally east through the towns Lehrberg, Ansbach, Windsbach and Spa ...

, a tributary of the river

Main Main may refer to: Geography *Main River (disambiguation), multiple rivers with the same name *Ma'in, an ancient kingdom in modern-day Yemen * Main, Iran, a village in Fars Province *Spanish Main, the Caribbean coasts of mainland Spanish territ ...

. In 2020, its population was 41,681. Developed in the 8th century as a

Benedictine monastery The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, they ...

, it became the seat of the

Hohenzollern The House of Hohenzollern (, ; , ; ) is a formerly royal (and from 1871 to 1918, imperial) German dynasty whose members were variously princes, electors, kings and emperors of Hohenzollern, Brandenburg, Prussia, the German Empire, and Romania. ...

family in 1331. In 1460, the Margraves of

Brandenburg-Ansbach The Principality or Margraviate of (Brandenburg) Ansbach ( or ) was a principality in the Holy Roman Empire centered on the Franconian city of Ansbach. The ruling Hohenzollern princes of the land were known as margraves, as their ancestors were ...

lived here. The city has a castle known as Margrafen–Schloss, built between 1704 and 1738. It was not badly damaged during the

World Wars A world war is an international conflict that involves most or all of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World War I (19 ...

and hence retains its original historical baroque sheen. Ansbach is now home to a US military base and to the

Ansbach University of Applied Sciences Ansbach University (German: Hochschule Ansbach) is a university of applied sciences, involved in education and research. It is located in Ansbach in the southern German state of Bavaria. It is located 2km from the Ansbach Residence. Since 2008 i ...

. The city has connections via autobahn A6 and highways B13 and B14.

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 Ansbach was first connected to th ...

is on the Nürnberg–Crailsheim and Treuchtlingen–Würzburg railways and a Station of line S4 of the

Nuremberg S-Bahn The Nuremberg S-Bahn () is an S-Bahn network covering the region of Nuremberg, Fürth and Erlangen which started operations in 1987 and is now integrated into the Greater Nuremberg Transport Association (Verkehrsverbund Großraum Nürnberg). Th ...

Name origin

Ansbach was originally called Onoltesbach (about 790 AD), a term composed of three parts. The individual word elements are "Onold" (the city founder's name), the

Suffix In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns and adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can ca ...

"-es" (a possessive ending, like "-'s" in English) and the

Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...

expression "pah" or "bach" (for

brook Brook may refer to: Computing *Brook, a programming language for GPU programming based on C *Brook+, an explicit data-parallel C compiler *BrookGPU, a framework for GPGPU programming People * Brook (surname) *People with the given name Brook, ...

). The name of the city has slightly changed throughout the centuries into Onoltespah (837 AD), Onoldesbach (1141 AD), Onoldsbach (1230 AD), Onelspach (1338 AD), Onsbach (1508 AD) and finally Ansbach (1732 AD). It was also formerly known as Anspach.

History

According to folklore, towards the end of the 7th century a group of Franconian peasants and their families went up into the wilderness to found a new settlement. Their leader Onold led them to an area called the "Rezattal" (Rezat valley). This is where they founded the "Urhöfe" (meaning the first farms: Knollenhof, Voggenhof and Rabenhof). Gradually more settlers, such as the "Winden-Tribe" came, and the farms grew into a small village. Many villages around Ansbach were founded by the "Winden" during that period (even today, their settlements can easily identified by their names, like Meinhardswinden, Dautenwinden or Brodswinden). A

was established there around 748 by the

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

noble St Gumbertus. The adjoining village of Onoltesbach was first noticed as a proper town in 1221. The counts of Öttingen ruled over Ansbach until the

burgrave of

Nürnberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the largest city in Franconia, the second-largest city in the German state of Bavaria, and its 544,414 (2023) inhabitants make it the 14th-largest city in Germany. ...

took over in 1331. The Hohenzollerns made Ansbach the seat of their dynasty until their acquisition of the

Margraviate of Brandenburg The Margraviate of Brandenburg () was a major principality of the Holy Roman Empire from 1157 to 1806 that, having electoral status although being quite poor, grew rapidly in importance after inheriting the Duchy of Prussia in 1618 and then came ...

in 1415. After the 1440 death of Frederick I, a cadet branch of the family established itself as the margraves of Ansbach. George the Pious introduced the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

to Ansbach in 1528, leading to Gumbertus Abbey's secularization in 1563. The

Markgrafenschloß Ansbach Residence (Residenz Ansbach), also known as Margrave's Palace (Markgrafenschloss), is a palace in Ansbach, Germany. It was the government seat of the Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach. Today it is the administrative seat of the government o ...

was built between 1704 and 1738. Its gardens continued to be a notable attraction into the 1800s. In 1791, the last margrave sold his realm to the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

. In 1796, the Duke of Zweibrücken, Maximilian Joseph — the future Bavarian king— was exiled to Ansbach the French took Zweibrücken. In Ansbach,

Maximilian von Montgelas Maximilian Karl Joseph Franz de Paula Hieronymus de Garnerin de la Thuile, Count von Montgelas (; 12 September 1759 – 14 June 1838) was a Bavarian statesman, a member of a noble family from the Duchy of Savoy. His father John Sigmund Gar ...

wrote an elaborate concept for the future political organization of Bavaria, which is known as the Ansbacher Mémoire. Napoleon forced Prussia to cede Ansbach and its principality to

in the Franco-Prussian treaty of alliance signed at

Schönbrunn Palace Schönbrunn Palace (Austrian German, German: Schloss Schönbrunn ) was the main summer residence of the House of Habsburg, Habsburg rulers, located in Hietzing, the 13th district of Vienna. The name ''Schönbrunn'' (meaning "beautiful spring") ha ...

on 15 December 1805 at the end of the

Third Coalition The War of the Third Coalition () was a European conflict lasting from 1805 to 1806 and was the first conflict of the Napoleonic Wars. During the war, France and its client states under Napoleon I and its ally Spain opposed an alliance, the Th ...

. Ansbach became the capital of the ('Circle of the Rezat'). Bavarian ownership was confirmed by the 1815

Congress of Vienna The Congress of Vienna of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon, Napol ...

; Prussia was compensated with the Bavarian

Duchy of Berg Berg () was a state—originally a county, later a duchy—in the Rhineland of Germany. Its capital was Düsseldorf. It existed as a distinct political entity from the early 12th to the 19th centuries. It was a member state of the Holy Roman Emp ...

. In 1837 the became the circle of Middle Franconia. Following the

unification of Germany The unification of Germany (, ) was a process of building the first nation-state for Germans with federalism, federal features based on the concept of Lesser Germany (one without Habsburgs' multi-ethnic Austria or its German-speaking part). I ...

Ansbach had a population of 12,635. 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 regime in the

Kristallnacht ( ) or the Night of Broken Glass, also called the November pogrom(s) (, ), was a pogrom against Jews carried out by the Nazi Party's (SA) and (SS) paramilitary forces along with some participation from the Hitler Youth and German civilia ...

. 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

Action T4 (German, ) was a campaign of Homicide#By state actors, mass murder by involuntary euthanasia which targeted Disability, people with disabilities and the mentally ill in Nazi Germany. The term was first used in post-WWII, war trials against d ...

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 or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, a subcamp of

Flossenbürg concentration camp Flossenbürg was a Nazi concentration camp built in May 1938 by the SS Main Economic and Administrative Office. Unlike other concentration camps, it was located in a remote area, in the Fichtel Mountains of Bavaria, adjacent to the town of Flos ...

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 The Heinkel He 111 is a German airliner and medium bomber designed by Siegfried and Walter Günter at Heinkel Flugzeugwerke in 1934. Through development, it was described as a wolf in sheep's clothing. Due to restrictions placed on Germany a ...

bombers. On 1 September 1939 this unit was one of the many that participated in the attack on Poland that started the war. All of its bridges were destroyed during the course of the war. During the

Western Allied invasion of Germany The Western Allied invasion of Germany was coordinated by the Allies of World War II, Western Allies during the final months of hostilities in the European theatre of World War II, European theatre of World War II. In preparation for the Allied ...

in April 1945, the airfield was seized by the

United States Third Army The United States Army Central, formerly the Third United States Army, commonly referred to as the Third Army and as ARCENT, is a military formation of the United States Army that saw service in World War I and World War II, in the 1991 Gulf Wa ...

, and used by the

USAAF The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

354th Fighter Group The 354th Fighter Group was an element of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) Ninth Air Force during World War II. The unit was known as the Pioneer Mustang Group and was the first to fly the P-51B Mustang in combat. The group served as bom ...

which flew

P-47 Thunderbolts The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter, and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...

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 One of Limpert's anti-Nazi flyers One of Limpert's anti-Nazi flyers Robert Limpert (15 July 1925 – 18 April 1945) was a German resistance fighter against the Nazi government in World War II. He was executed in the final days of the war for cu ...

tried to get the town to surrender to the US Forces without a fight. He was betrayed by

Hitler Youth The Hitler Youth ( , often abbreviated as HJ, ) was the youth wing of the German Nazi Party. Its origins date back to 1922 and it received the name ("Hitler Youth, League of German Worker Youth") in July 1926. From 1936 until 1945, it was th ...

and was hanged from the portal of the City Hall by the city's military commander, Col. (''Oberst'') Ernst Meyer. Several memorials to his heroic deed have been erected over the years, despite opposition from some residents — 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.

Bachwoche Ansbach The Bachwoche Ansbach (Ansbach Bach Week) is a biennial music festival in Ansbach, Germany, dedicated to the life and works of Johann Sebastian Bach, held since 1947. The main venues are the Orangerie and the great hall of the palace Residenz Ansb ...

has been held in Ansbach since 1947. Since 1970, Ansbach has enlarged its municipal area by incorporating adjacent communities. Ansbach hosts several units of the U.S. armed forces, associated with German units under

NATO The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ; , OTAN), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental organization, intergovernmental Transnationalism, transnational military alliance of 32 Member states of NATO, member s ...

. There are five separate U.S. installations: Shipton Kaserne, home to 412th Aviation Support Battalion, Katterbach Kaserne, formerly the home of the 1st Infantry Division's

4th Combat Aviation Brigade The 4th Combat Aviation Brigade is a Combat Aviation Brigade of the United States Army based at Fort Carson Fort Carson is a United States Army post located directly south of Colorado Springs in El Paso County, Colorado, El Paso, Pueblo Co ...

, also home of 501st M.I. Bn and 501st Avn Bn. which has been replaced by the

12th Combat Aviation Brigade 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 Initially, "USARV formed an "Aviation Group (Provisi ...

as of 2006, as part of the 1st Infantry Division's return to

Fort Riley Fort Riley is a United States Army installation located in North Central Kansas, on the Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, between Junction City and Manhattan. The Fort Riley Military Reservation covers 101,733 acres (41,170 ha) in Ge ...

, Kansas; Bismarck Kaserne, which functions as a satellite post to Katterbach, hosting their Post Theater, barracks, Von Steuben Community Center, Military Police, and other support agencies, Barton Barracks, home to the USAG Ansbach and Bleidorn Barracks, which has a library and housing, and Urlas, which hosts the

Post Exchange An exchange is a type of retail store found on United States military installations worldwide. Once similar to trading posts, today they resemble modern department stores or strip malls. The terminology varies by armed service; some examples includ ...

as well as a housing area opened in 2010. Ansbach was also home to the headquarters of the

1st Armored Division (United States) The 1st Armored Division, nicknamed "Old Ironsides", is a Brigade combat team#Armored Battalion (×2), combined Combined arms, arms division (military), division of the United States Army. The division is part of III Armored Corps and operat ...

from 1972 to the early 1990s. On 24 July 2016 a bomb was detonated in a restaurant in the city, killing only the bomber himself and injuring few people. The perpetrator was reported to be a Syrian refugee whose asylum application had been rejected but who had been given exceptional leave to remain until the security situation in Syria returned to a safe condition. Witnesses reported he had tried to enter a nearby music festival but had been turned away, before detonating his device outside a nearby wine bar.

Boroughs

* Eyb bei Ansbach, part of Ansbach since 1 October 1970 * Bernhardswinden, part of Ansbach since 1 July 1972 * Brodswinden, part of Ansbach since 1 July 1972 * Claffheim, part of Ansbach since 1 July 1972 * Elpersdorf bei Ansbach, part of Ansbach since 1 July 1972 * Hennenbach, part of Ansbach since 1 July 1972 * Neuses bei Ansbach, part of Ansbach since 1 July 1972 ** Strüth ** Wasserzell * Schalkhausen, part of Ansbach since 1 July 1972 ** Geisengrund ** Dornberg ** Neudorf ** Steinersdorf

Lord mayors

* 1877–1905: Ludwig Keller (1839–1911) * 1905–1919: Ernst Rohmeder * 1919–1934: Wilhelm Borkholder (1886–1945) * 1934–1945: Richard Hänel (

NSDAP The Nazi Party, officially the National Socialist German Workers' Party ( or NSDAP), was a far-right political party in Germany active between 1920 and 1945 that created and supported the ideology of Nazism. Its precursor, the German Workers ...

) (1895-date of death unknown) * 1945: Hans Schregle (1890–1970), (

SPD The Social Democratic Party of Germany ( , SPD ) is a social democratic political party in Germany. It is one of the major parties of contemporary Germany. Saskia Esken has been the party's leader since the 2019 leadership election together wi ...

), introduced by the

Office of Military Government, United States The Office of Military Government, United States (OMGUS; ) was the United States military-established government created shortly after the end of hostilities in Allied-occupied Germany, occupied Germany in World War II. Under General Lucius D. Cla ...

* 1945–1950: Ernst Körner (SPD) * 1950–1952: Friedrich Böhner * 1952–1957: Karl Burkhardt (

CSU CSU may refer to: Universities and university systems United States * Columbia Southern University, in Orange Beach, Alabama * California State University system * Colorado State University, in Fort Collins, Colorado * Connecticut State Univers ...

) * 1957–1971: Ludwig Schönecker (CSU) * 1971–1990: Ernst-Günther Zumach (CSU) (1926–2012) * 1990–2008: Ralf Felber (SPD) * 2008-2020: Carda Seidel (

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

) * since May 2020: Thomas Deffner (CSU)

Sights

* Castle of the Margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach *

Museum Retti Palais A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private collections that are used by researchers ...

* Margrave museum * Kaspar Hauser Monument * St. Gumbertus and St. Johannis churches, both 15th century * Theater Ansbach * Ansbacher Kammerspiele * LOFT – projectspace for contemporary art

Climate

Ansbach has a transitional

temperate In geography, the temperate climates of Earth occur in the middle latitudes (approximately 23.5° to 66.5° N/S of the Equator), which span between the tropics and the polar regions of Earth. These zones generally have wider temperature ran ...

continental climate Continental climates often have a significant annual variation in temperature (warm to hot summers and cold winters). They tend to occur in central and eastern parts of the three northern-tier continents (North America, Europe, and Asia), typi ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

: ''

Cfb CFB may refer to: *College football, in the United States *Canadian Forces base, military installation of the Canadian forces * Caminho de Ferro de Benguela, railway in Angola *Carrollton-Farmers Branch Independent School District *Cipher feedback, ...

''/''

Dfb DFB may refer to: Music * Dem Franchize Boyz, an Atlanta hip hop group * Dysfunctional Family BBQ, a New York festival Sport * DFB-Pokal, a football cup competition in Germany Organisations * Furka Steam Railway (), Switzerland * German Footbal ...

''), with a small

diurnal air temperature variation In meteorology, diurnal temperature variation is the variation between a high air temperature and a low temperature that occurs during the same day. Temperature lag Temperature lag, also known as thermal inertia, is an important factor in diurna ...

between day and night during winter, and with a moderate annual precipitation.

Demography

Economy

Around the time of the

in 1871, the chief manufactures of Ansbach were

woollen Woolen (American English) or woollen (Commonwealth English) is a type of yarn made from carded wool. Woolen yarn is soft, light, stretchy, and full of air. It is thus a good insulator, and makes a good knitting yarn. Woolen yarn is in contrast t ...

cotton Cotton (), first recorded in ancient India, is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus '' Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure ...

, and half-

silk Silk is a natural fiber, natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be weaving, woven into textiles. The protein fiber of silk is composed mainly of fibroin and is most commonly produced by certain insect larvae to form cocoon (silk), c ...

goods;

earthenware Earthenware is glazed or unglazed Vitrification#Ceramics, nonvitreous pottery that has normally been fired below . Basic earthenware, often called terracotta, absorbs liquids such as water. However, earthenware can be made impervious to liquids ...

;

tobacco Tobacco is the common name of several plants in the genus '' Nicotiana'' of the family Solanaceae, and the general term for any product prepared from the cured leaves of these plants. More than 70 species of tobacco are known, but the ...

;

cutlery Cutlery (also referred to as silverware, flatware, or tableware) includes any hand implement used in preparing, serving, and especially eating food in Western culture. A person who makes or sells cutlery is called a cutler. While most cutlers ...

; and

playing cards A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a Pap ...

. A considerable trade in grain,

wool Wool is the textile fiber obtained from sheep and other mammals, especially goats, rabbits, and camelids. The term may also refer to inorganic materials, such as mineral wool and glass wool, that have some properties similar to animal w ...

, and

flax Flax, also known as common flax or linseed, is a flowering plant, ''Linum usitatissimum'', in the family Linaceae. It is cultivated as a food and fiber crop in regions of the world with temperate climates. In 2022, France produced 75% of t ...

was also supported. By the onset of the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, it also produced

machinery A machine is a physical system that uses power to apply forces and control movement to perform an action. The term is commonly applied to artificial devices, such as those employing engines or motors, but also to natural biological macromolec ...

toy A toy or plaything is an object that is used primarily to provide entertainment. Simple examples include toy blocks, board games, and dolls. Toys are often designed for use by children, although many are designed specifically for adults and p ...

s, and

embroidery Embroidery is the art of decorating Textile, fabric or other materials using a Sewing needle, needle to stitch Yarn, thread or yarn. It is one of the oldest forms of Textile arts, textile art, with origins dating back thousands of years across ...

. Today there is a large density of

plastics industry The plastics industry manufactures polymer materials—commonly called plastics—and offers services in plastics important to a range of industries, including packaging, building and construction, electronics, aerospace, manufacturing and transpo ...

in the city and rural districts around Ansbach. The city is known for making

Peperami Peperami is a pork jerky snack manufactured by Jack Link's. It is similar to BiFi and is manufactured in Ansbach, Germany, and sold in the United Kingdom, Mexico and Ireland, across multiples and independent retailers. The snack has multiple ...

pork sausages and jerky.

Transport

Ansbach lies on the Treuchtlingen-Würzburg railway.

Notable people

Style of Michael Dahl - Queen Caroline - Warwick Shire Hall

Public service

* Elisabeth von Brandenburg-Ansbach (1451–1524), Princess of Brandenburg, by marriage Duchess of Württemberg *

Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg-Ansbach Frederick I of Ansbach and Bayreuth (also known as Frederick V; or ; 8 May 1460 – 4 April 1536) was born at Ansbach as the eldest son of Albert III, Margrave of Brandenburg by his second wife Anna of Saxony (d. 1512), Anna, daughter of Freder ...

(1460–1536),

Margrave of Ansbach The Principality or Margraviate of (Brandenburg) Ansbach ( or ) was a principality in the Holy Roman Empire centered on the Franconian city of Ansbach. The ruling House of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern princes of the land were known as margraves, a ...

& Margrave of Kulmbach *

Albert, Duke of Prussia Albert of Prussia (; 17 May 149020 March 1568) was a German prince who was the 37th grand master of the Teutonic Knights and, after converting to Lutheranism, became the first ruler of the Duchy of Prussia, the secularized state that emerged fr ...

(1490–1568), Grand Master of the

Teutonic Order The Teutonic Order is a religious order (Catholic), Catholic religious institution founded as a military order (religious society), military society in Acre, Israel, Acre, Kingdom of Jerusalem. The Order of Brothers of the German House of Sa ...

and the first duke of

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

. *

Margravine Eleonore Juliane of Brandenburg-Ansbach Princess Eleonore Juliane of Brandenburg-Ansbach (23 October 1663 – 4 March 1724) was a princess of Brandenburg-Ansbach and through her marriage duchess of Württemberg-Winnental. Life Eleonore Juliane was a daughter of Albert II, Margra ...

(1663–1724), Princess of Brandenburg-Ansbach, by marriage Duchess of Württemberg-Winnental *

Caroline of Ansbach Caroline of Brandenburg-Ansbach (Wilhelmina Charlotte Caroline; 1 March 1683 – 20 November 1737) was List of British royal consorts, Queen of Great Britain and Ireland and List of Hanoverian royal consorts, Electress of Hanover from 11 J ...

(1683–1737), Queen of Great Britain and Ireland, wife of

George II of Great Britain George II (George Augustus; ; 30 October / 9 November 1683 – 25 October 1760) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg (Electorate of Hanover, Hanover) and a prince-elector of the Holy Roman Em ...

. * Christian Friedrich Carl Alexander (1736–1806), the last

* Karl Heinrich Ritter von Lang (1764–1835), a historian and statesman, lived mainly in Ansbach. * Moritz Ritter von Spies (1805–1862), Bavarian Major General and War Minister * John James Maximilian Oertel (1811–1882), a

Lutheran Lutheranism is a major branch of Protestantism that emerged under the work of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German friar and Protestant Reformers, reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practices of the Catholic Church launched ...

clergyman Clergy are formal leaders within established religions. Their roles and functions vary in different religious traditions, but usually involve presiding over specific rituals and teaching their religion's doctrines and practices. Some of the ter ...

, converted to

Roman Catholicism The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

and moved to the United States *

Maximilian Wolfgang Duncker Maximilian Wolfgang Duncker (15 October 1811 – 21 July 1886) was a German historian and politician. Life Duncker was born in Berlin, Province of Brandenburg, as the eldest son of the publisher Karl Duncker. He studied at the universities of ...

(1811–1886), a historian and politician, died in Ansbach. *

Kaspar Hauser Kaspar Hauser (30 April 1812 – 17 December 1833) was a German youth who claimed to have grown up in the total isolation of a darkened cell. His claims, and his subsequent death from a stab wound, sparked much debate and controversy both in Nur ...

(1812–1833), lived in Ansbach from 1830 to 1833, stabbed in the palace gardens * Henry Hochheimer (1818–1912), rabbi * George H. Brickner (1834–1904), U.S. Representative from

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

* Pinchas Kohn (1867–1941), was the last rabbi of Ansbach. He was the rabbinical advisor to the German occupying forces of Poland in the First World War and was also one of the founders of the

World Agudath Israel World Agudath Israel (), usually known as the Aguda, was established in the early twentieth century as the political arm of Ashkenazi Torah Judaism. It succeeded ''Agudath Shlomei Emunei Yisroel'' (Union of Faithful Jewry) in 1912. Its base of s ...

movement *

Theodor Endres __NOTOC__ Theodor Endres (25 September 1876 – 18 January 1956) was a German general during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Endres retired from active service on 31 January 1943. Awards a ...

(1876–1956), General of the Artillery *

Wilhelm Adam Wilhelm Adam (28 March 1893 – 24 November 1978) was an officer in the Wehrmacht of Nazi Germany during World War II. Following the German surrender after the Battle of Stalingrad, he became a member of the National Committee for a Free Germ ...

(1893–1978), Colonel General *

Hermann Fegelein Hans Otto Georg Hermann Fegelein (30 October 1906 – 28 April 1945) was a high-ranking commander in the ''Waffen-SS'' of Nazi Germany. He was a member of Adolf Hitler's entourage and brother-in-law to Eva Braun through his marriage to ...

(1906–1945), General of the

Waffen-SS The (; ) was the military branch, combat branch of the Nazi Party's paramilitary ''Schutzstaffel'' (SS) organisation. Its formations included men from Nazi Germany, along with Waffen-SS foreign volunteers and conscripts, volunteers and conscr ...

, was married to the sister of

Eva Braun Eva Anna Paula Hitler (; 6 February 1912 – 30 April 1945) was a German photographer who was the longtime companion and briefly the wife of Adolf Hitler. Braun met Hitler in Munich in 1929 (aged 17) when she was an assistant and model ...

* Waldemar Fegelein (1912–2000), officer in the

Amélie Jakobovits Amélie Jakobovits, Baroness Jakobovits (née Munk; 31 May 1928 – 7 May 2010) was a British charity patron, and the wife of Immanuel Jakobovits, Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth, and an important figure in Je ...

(née Munk, 1928–2010), wife of

Immanuel Jakobovits Immanuel Jakobovits, Baron Jakobovits (8 February 192131 October 1999) was the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth from 1967 to 1991. Prior to this, he had served as Chief Rabbi of Ireland and as rabbi of the Fi ...

, Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom *

Walter Brandmüller Walter Brandmüller (born 5 January 1929) is a German prelate of the Catholic Church, a cardinal since 2010. He was president of the Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences from 1998 to 2009. Early life Brandmüller was born in 1929 in ...

(born 1929), theologian and historian, president of the

Pontifical Committee for Historical Sciences The Pontifical Committee of Historical Sciences is a division of the Roman Curia established on 7 April 1954 by Pope Pius XII. Background Pope Pius XII created this committee on 7 April 1954 as the successor to the Commission of Cardinals for Histo ...

* Manfred Ach (born 1940), politician, from 1994 to 2008 Member of the Bavarian Parliament Wilhelm Hecht - Holzschneider und Radierer

Arts & science

Leonhart Fuchs Leonhart Fuchs (; 17 January 1501 – 10 May 1566), sometimes spelled Leonhard Fuchs and cited in Latin as ''Leonhartus Fuchsius'', was a German physician and botanist. His chief notability is as the author of a large book about plants and thei ...

(1501–1566), botanist and physician to margrave Georg Friedrich * Simon Marius (1573–1625), astronomer lived in Ansbach, he observed

Jupiter Jupiter is the fifth planet from the Sun and the List of Solar System objects by size, largest in the Solar System. It is a gas giant with a Jupiter mass, mass more than 2.5 times that of all the other planets in the Solar System combined a ...

's moons from the castle's tower, which led to a dispute with the true discoverer,

Galileo Galilei Galileo di Vincenzo Bonaiuti de' Galilei (15 February 1564 – 8 January 1642), commonly referred to as Galileo Galilei ( , , ) or mononymously as Galileo, was an Italian astronomer, physicist and engineer, sometimes described as a poly ...

Georg Ernst Stahl Georg Ernst Stahl (22 October 1659Stahl's date of birth is often given erroneously as 1660. The correct date is recorded in the parish register of St. John's church, Ansbach. See – 24 May 1734) was a German chemist, physician and philosopher. ...

(1659–1734), chemist, physician and metallurgist. *

Matthias Buchinger Matthias Buchinger (; June 2, 1674 – January 17, 1740), sometimes called Matthew Buckinger in English, was a German artist, magician, calligrapher, and performer who was born without hands or feet and was tall. Buchinger was especially noted ...

(1674–1740), a German artist, magician and illustrator, born without hands or legs * Johann Uz (1720–1796), a German poet. * Marcus Eliezer Bloch (1723–1799), ichthyologist. *

Georg Christian Oeder Georg Christian Edler von Oldenburg Oeder (3 February 172828 January 1791) 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''. ...

(1728–1791), pre-Linnean botanist * Ludwig von Förster (1792–1863), architect: Ringstrasse, 3 & synagogues in Vienna and Budapest *

August von Platen-Hallermünde Karl August Georg Maximilian Graf von Platen-Hallermünde (24 October 17965 December 1835) was a German poet and dramatist. In German he mostly is called ''Graf'' (Count) Platen. Biography August von Platen was born on 24 October 1796 at Ansbac ...

(1796–1835), poet. * Georges Oberhaeuser (1798–1868), optician * Oskar Freiherr von Redwitz (1823–1891), a poet from nearby Lichtenau. * Ferdinand Christian Gustav Arnold (1828–1901), lichenologist and taxonomist * Wilhelm Hecht (1843–1920), wood engraver and etcher *

Fritz Hommel Fritz Hommel (31 July 1854 – 17 April 1936) was a German Orientalist. Biography Hommel was born on 31 July 1854 in Ansbach. He studied in Leipzig and was habilitated in 1877 in Munich, where in 1885, he became an extraordinary professor ...

(1854–1936), orientalist *

Theodor Escherich Theodor Escherich (; 29 November 1857 – 15 February 1911) was a German- Austrian pediatrician and a professor at universities in Graz and Vienna. He discovered and described the bacterium ''Escherichia coli''. Life and achievements Fami ...

(1857–1911), pediatrician and bacteriologist *

Max Westenhöfer Max Westenhöfer (February 9, 1871 – September 25, 1957) was a German pathologist and biologist who contributed to the development of the anatomic pathology and the reform of public health in Chile. Education Maximilian Joseph Johann Westenhö ...

(1871–1957), pathologist, professor at the

University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

and the

University of Chile The University of Chile () is a public university, public research university in Santiago, Chile. It was founded on November 19, 1842, and inaugurated on September 17, 1843.

. Proposed the

Aquatic ape hypothesis The aquatic ape hypothesis (AAH), also referred to as aquatic ape theory (AAT) or the waterside hypothesis of human evolution, postulates that the ancestors of modern humans took a divergent evolutionary pathway from the other great apes by be ...

* Herbert Blendinger (1936–2020), violinist and composer

Sport

* Helga Matschkur (born 1943), gymnast, competed in six events at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Mexico 1968 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 12 to 27 October 1968, in Mexico City, Mexico. These were the first Ol ...

. *

Georg Volkert Georg "Schorsch" Volkert (28 November 1945 – 16 August 2020) was a German professional footballer. He played in 410 games in Bundesliga and scored 125 goals. He was also under contract in Switzerland, playing for FC Zürich. A forward, Volker ...

(1945–2020), footballer, played 410 games in Bundesliga and won 12 caps for

West Germany West Germany was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) from its formation on 23 May 1949 until German reunification, its reunification with East Germany on 3 October 1990. It is sometimes known as the Bonn Republi ...

* Sebastian Preiss (born 1981), handball player *

Dominik Farnbacher Dominik Farnbacher (born 26 September 1984 in Ansbach) is a German sports car racing driver, and currently an SRT factory driver, driving an SRT Viper GTS-R in the Tudor United SportsCar Championship. Career After beginning his career in karting ...

(born 1984), racing driver * Alex King (born 1985), basketball player *

Mario Farnbacher Mario Farnbacher (born 14 May 1992) is a German racecar driver. He won the IMSA SportsCar Championship in the GTD class in 2019 and 2020, and also won the GT World Challenge America Pro-Am title in 2022. He has class victories at the Petit Le ...

(born 1992), racing driver * Danilo Dittrich (born 1995), football player

Twin towns – sister cities

Ansbach is twinned with: *

Anglet Anglet (; , )ANGELU
Auñamendi Encyclopedia, Auñamendi Eusko Entziklopedia is a Communes of Fra ...

Nouvelle-Aquitaine Nouvelle-Aquitaine () is the largest Regions of France, administrative region in France by area, spanning the west and southwest of Metropolitan France. The region was created in 2014 by the merging of Aquitaine, Limousin, and Poitou-Charentes ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

* Bay City,

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

Fermo Fermo (; ancient: Firmum Picenum) is a town and ''comune'' of the Marche, Italy, in the Province of Fermo. Fermo is on a hill, the Sabulo, elevation , on a branch from Porto San Giorgio on the Adriatic coast railway. History The oldest huma ...

Marche Marche ( ; ), in English sometimes referred to as the Marches ( ) from the Italian name of the region (Le Marche), is one of the Regions of Italy, twenty regions of Italy. The region is located in the Central Italy, central area of the country, ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

Jingjiang Jingjiang () is a county-level city under the administration of Taizhou, Jiangsu province, China. It is located on the northern (left) bank of the Yangtze River, and is the southernmost part of Taizhou City, bordering Nantong to the northeast, Suz ...

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

In popular culture

In the novel ''

The Schirmer Inheritance ''The Schirmer Inheritance'' is a 1953 novel by Eric Ambler. It was adapted for television in 1957 by ITV. Plot Franz Schirmer was a soldier from Ansbach who had deserted after the 1807 Battle of Preussisch-Eylau. He changed his name to Sch ...

'' (1953) by

Eric Ambler Eric Clifford Ambler OBE (28 June 1909 – 23 October 1998) was an English author of thrillers, in particular spy novels, who introduced a new realism to the genre. Also working as a screenwriter, Ambler used the pseudonym Eliot Reed for books ...

(1909–1998), Sergeant Franz Schirmer of the Ansbach Dragoons is wounded in the battle of Preussisch-Eylau in 1807. He returns to Ansbach to settle but changes his name as he has been posted as a deserter. The bulk of the novel concerns efforts by an American law firm to trace his descendants to claim an inheritance.

Notes

References

* *

External links

* (German, English, French)
Ansbach informationUS Army Garrison Ansbach – Ansbach Military CommunityAnsbach University of Applied Sciences
{{Authority control Holocaust locations in Germany Urban districts of Bavaria Districts of Middle Franconia