Eichstätt () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

in the federal 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 ...

, Germany, and capital of the district of Eichstätt. It is located on the

Altmühl The Altmühl (, )
s.v. is a river in

river and has a population of around 13,000. Eichstätt is also the seat of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Eichstätt.

Geography

Location

Eichstätt lies on both sides of the river

Altmühl The Altmühl (, )
s.v. is a river in

in the district of Eichstätt of the Oberbayern region of Bavaria, in the heart of Altmühl Valley Nature Park.

Geology

Eichstätt is located in a valley of the

Franconian Jura The Franconian Jura ( , , or ) is an upland in Franconia, Bavaria, Germany. Located between two rivers, the Danube in the south and the Main in the north, its peaks reach elevations of up to and it has an area of some 7053.8 km2. Emil Mey ...

and is famous for the quarries of Solnhofen Plattenkalk (Jurassic limestone). On the Blumenberg the Berlin specimen of

Archaeopteryx ''Archaeopteryx'' (; ), sometimes referred to by its German name, "" ( ''Primeval Bird'') is a genus of bird-like dinosaurs. The name derives from the ancient Greek (''archaîos''), meaning "ancient", and (''ptéryx''), meaning "feather" ...

was found by Jakob Niemeyer.

History

St. Willibald founded the Diocese of Eichstätt on the site of an old Roman station ( or ) in 741. The city was given walls and chartered in 908. It was ruled by a

prince-bishop A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to '' Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinals. Since 1951, the sole extant prince-bishop has been the ...

, and in the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...

was the seat of the Bishopric of Eichstätt until

secularization In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

in 1802. In 1806, it became a part of the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...

. Eichstätt was included as part of the Principality of Eichstätt, which King Maximilian I granted to his son-in-law

Eugène de Beauharnais Eugène Rose de Beauharnais (; 3 September 1781 – 21 February 1824) was a French statesman and military officer who served in the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars. Through the second marriage of his mother, Joséphine de Beauharnais, ...

in 1817 and an episcopal see was reestablished in 1821. It reverted to the Bavarian crown in 1855. In 870, the remains of St. Walpurga were transferred from their original Heidenheim interment to Eichstätt, where in 1035 the newer burial site was enshrined as the Benedictine Abbey of St. Walburga, which continues to this day. In 1943, the painter Karl Friedrich Lippmann moved to Eichstätt and stayed until 1955. '' Hortus Eystettensis'' ("Garden at Eichstätt") is the name of an important botanical book first published in 1613 and written by Basilius Besler.

World War II

Allied prisoners of war were held at Oflag VII-B in Eichstätt 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 ...

. Activities carried on by the prisoners there included attempted escapes and the production of plays and musical works. These included

Hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play. Set in Denmark, the play (the ...

and the

Comedy of Errors ''The Comedy of Errors'' is one of William Shakespeare's early plays. It is his shortest and one of his most farce, farcical Shakespearean comedy, comedies, with a major part of the humour coming from slapstick and mistaken identity, in addit ...

William Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...

, the premiere of ''

Post-Mortem An autopsy (also referred to as post-mortem examination, obduction, necropsy, or autopsia cadaverum) is a surgical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse by dissection to determine the cause, mode, and manner of death ...

'' by

Noël Coward Sir Noël Peirce Coward (16 December 189926 March 1973) was an English playwright, composer, director, actor, and singer, known for his wit, flamboyance, and what ''Time (magazine), Time'' called "a sense of personal style, a combination of c ...

- featuring Desmond Llewelyn, later best known as Q in the James Bond movies - and of the ''Ballad of Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard'' by

Benjamin Britten Edward Benjamin Britten, Baron Britten of Aldeburgh (22 November 1913 – 4 December 1976) was an English composer, conductor, and pianist. He was a central figure of 20th-century British music, with a range of works including opera, o ...

Attractions

The town is dominated by the '' Willibaldsburg''. Besides the

cathedral A cathedral is a church (building), church that contains the of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, Annual conferences within Methodism, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually s ...

, Eichstätt also has 12 churches and 10 monasteries.

Mayors

* 1944–1945: Hans Rösch, NSDAP * 1945–1948: Romuald Blei * 1948–1949: Richard Jaeger CSU * 1949–1951: Romuald Blei * 1951–1976: Hans Hutter, CSU * 1976–1994: Ludwig Kärtner, CSU * 1994–2012: Arnulf Neumeyer, SPD * 2012–2020: Andreas Steppberger, FW * 2020–present: Josef Grienberger, CSU

Education

Eichstätt is home to the (KU), the lone Catholic university in Germany. The KU was founded in 1980, and was granted full rights of a university, including Ph.D. and

Habilitation Habilitation is the highest university degree, or the procedure by which it is achieved, in Germany, France, Italy, Poland and some other European and non-English-speaking countries. The candidate fulfills a university's set criteria of excelle ...

degrees by the State of Bavari

Sons and daughters of the town

* Tobias Barnerssoi (born 1969), alpine skier and sports reporter * Erhard Bauer (died 1493), municipal architect of

Eger Eger ( , ; ; also known by other #Names and etymology, alternative names) is the county seat of Heves County, and the second largest city in Northern Hungary (after Miskolc). A city with county rights, Eger is best known for Castle of Eger, its ...

* Erich Emminger (1880–1951), politician (center party), minister of justice from 1923 to 1924 *

Anton Fils Anton Fils (also Antonín Fils, Johann Anton Fils, Johann Anton Filtz), 22 September 1733 (baptized) – 14 March 1760 (buried) was a German classical composer. Fils was born in Eichstätt, in the Bishopric of Eichstätt, Bavaria. Long thou ...

(1733–1760), composer * Edmund Harburger (1846–1906), Munich draftsman and painter * Johann Philipp Jeningen (1642–1704), catholic priest Max von Widnmann - Maler

Anna Knauer Anna Knauer (born 20 February 1995) is a German former professional racing cyclist, who rode professionally between 2014 and 2017 for the and teams. Major results Track ;2011 : National Novices Track Championships ::1st 500m time trial ::1s ...

(born 1995), cyclist * Konrad Kyeser (1366–after 1405), nobleman and war technician of medieval Europe * Jörg Mager (1880–1939), electronic music pioneer and inventor * Caritas Pirckheimer (1467–1532), abbess in Nuremberg during the Reformation * Willibald Pirckheimer (1470–1530), lawyer, author humanist * Max von Widnmann (1812–1895), sculptor and successor of Schwanthaler as professor at the academy of fine arts in Munich (1849–1887)

Personalities connected with the city

Pope Victor II Pope Victor II (c. 1018 – 28 July 1057), born Gebhard von Dollnstein-Hirschberg, was the head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 April 1055 until his death in 1057. Victor II was one of a series of German-born popes ...

(Gebhard von Dollnstein-Hirschberg) (died 1057), fifth German pope 1055–1057 * Gundekar II of Eichstätt (1019-1075), bishop, church politician, (

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...

in the St. John's Chapel of the Cathedral). * Loy Hering (1484/85–1564), Renaissance sculptor from Kaufbeuren, councilor and mayor in Eichstätt Prinz Max von Sachsen

* Elias Holl (1573–1646), master builder from Augsburg, architect of the Willibaldsburg * Karl Engel, brother of Jakob Engel, carpenter and builder * Franz Xaver Witt (1834–1888), church musician, composer, reformer, founder of the general German Cäcilienvereine, 1870-1871 conductor of Eichstätt * Prince Maximilian of Saxony (1870–1951) (1870–1951), prince of the albertine branch, priestly and chaplain activity in Eichstätt, church researcher * Cesare Orsenigo (1873–1946 in Eichstätt), from 1930 to 1945 apostolic

Nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

in Germany, successor of

Pius XII Pope Pius XII (; born Eugenio Maria Giuseppe Giovanni Pacelli; 2 March 18769 October 1958) was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958. He is the most recent p ...

(Eugenio Pacelli) as

Apostolic Nuncio An apostolic nuncio (; also known as a papal nuncio or simply as a nuncio) is an ecclesiastical diplomat, serving as an envoy or a permanent diplomatic representative of the Holy See to a state or to an international organization. A nuncio is ...

in Germany * Karl Friedrich Lippmann (1883–1957), art painter, (

New Objectivity The New Objectivity (in ) was a movement in German art that arose during the 1920s as a reaction against German Expressionism, expressionism. The term was coined by Gustav Friedrich Hartlaub, the director of the ''Kunsthalle Mannheim, Kunsthalle' ...

), 1943–1955 in Eichstätt *

Saint Walpurga Walpurga or Walburga (; ; ; 71025 February 777 or 779) was an Anglo-Saxon missionary to the Frankish Empire. She was canonized on 1 May c. 870 by Pope Adrian II. Walpurgis Night, Saint Walpurgis Night (or "Sankt Walpurgisnacht") is the name fo ...

, also spelled Valderburg or Guibor (AD 710 – 25 February 777 or 779), was an Anglo-Saxon missionary to the Frankish Empire. She was canonized on 1 May c. 870 by Pope Adrian II. Saint Walpurgis Night (or "Sankt Walpurgisnacht") is the name for the eve of her feast day, which coincides with May Day. At Eichstätt, her bones were moved to a rocky niche, which allegedly began to exude a miraculously therapeutic oil, which drew pilgrims to her shrine.

References

Sources

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Eichstatt Eichstätt (district)