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city in Bavaria, Germany
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Ingolstadt (German: [ˈɪŋɡɔlˌʃtat] ⓘ; Austro-Bavarian: [ˈɪŋl̩ʃtɔːd]) is an independent city on the Danube, in Upper Bavaria, Germany, with 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Bavaria after Munich and the fifth largest city in Bavaria after Munich, Nuremberg, Augsburg and Regensburg. The city passed the mark of 100,000 inhabitants in 1989 and has since been one of the major cities in Germany. After Regensburg, Ingolstadt is the second largest German city on the Danube.
The city was first mentioned in 806. In the late Middle Ages, the city was one of the capitals of the Bavarian duchies alongside Munich, Landshut and Straubing, which is reflected in the architecture. On 13 March 1472, Ingolstadt became the seat of the first university in Bavaria, which later distinguished itself as the centre of the Counter-Reformation. The freethinking Illuminati order was also founded here in 1776. The city was also a Bavarian state fortress for more than 400 years. The historic old town has been preserved.
There are two colleges in the city. The place is one of the three regional centres in Bavaria. The city is mainly characterized by the manufacturing industry, such as automobile and mechanical engineering. The unemployment rate was 3.3% in February 2022.
Covering an urban area of 133.35 km2 (51.49 sq mi), Ingolstadt is geographically Bavaria's fourth-largest city after Munich, Nuremberg, and Augsburg. At its largest point, the city is about 18 km (11 mi) from east to west and from north to south about 15 km (9 mi). The city boundary has a length of 70 km (43 mi).
The city boundary is about 14 km (9 mi) away from the geographic centre of Bavaria in Kipfenberg. The old town is approximately 374 m (1,227 ft) above sea level and the highest point, located in the district of Pettenhofen, is 410.87 m (1,348.00 ft). The lowest point of the Schutter confluence with the Danube is at 362 m (1,188 ft) above sea level. Ingolstadt uses Central European Time throughout Germany; the average time lag is 14 minutes.
The city is expanding at the northern and southern banks of the Danube in a wide, flat bowl. The Ingolstadt basin borders the Franconian Jura foothills, located south and to the north of the Donau-Isar-Hügelland. In the southwest is the Old Bavarian Donaumoos, while in the east, the lowland forests of the Danube reach into the urban area. It is the second-largest hardwood floodplain on the Danube. The Sandrach, the former southern main branch of the Danube, partly forms the southern city border. In the north, the Schutter flows through from the west, reaching the Danube near the old town.
Ingolstadt was first mentioned in a document of Charlemagne on 6 February 806 as "Ingoldes stat", i.e. "the place of [a person named] Ingold". c. 1250, Ingolstadt was granted city status.
Ingolstadt was the capital of the Duchy of Bavaria-Ingolstadt between 1392 and 1447. Ingolstadt was then united with Bavaria-Landshut. Louis VII, Duke of Bavaria ordered the building of the New Castle as well as the Church of Our Lady (Münster Zur Schönen Unserer Lieben Frau, also Liebfrauenmünster), also known as "Upper Parish" (Obere Pfarr), whose form was strongly influenced by French Gothic architecture.
In 1472, Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria founded the University of Ingolstadt, which became LMU Munich. In 1800, it was moved to Landshut and in 1826 eventually to Munich. The University of Ingolstadt was an influential defender of the Catholic Church during the Reformation era, led by such notable scholars as Johann Eck.
Ingolstadt is where William IV, Duke of Bavaria wrote and signed the Bavarian Reinheitsgebot in 1516.
On 30 April 1632, the German field marshal Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly died at Ingolstadt during a Swedish siege of the city. The field marshal had been badly wounded in a previous engagement with the Swedes under King Gustavus Adolphus. Ingolstadt proved to be the first fortress in Germany that held out for the entire length of the Swedish siege, and the Swedes eventually withdrew.
Gustavus Adolphus' horse's remains can be seen in the City Museum. The horse was shot from under the king by one of the cannons inside the fortress, a cannon known as "The Fig". When the Swedes withdrew, the city preserved the remains of the king's horse, eventually putting the Schwedenschimmel on display. It has remained thus for almost 400 years. In 1748, Adam Weishaupt, the founder of the Order of Illuminati, was born in Ingolstadt. After the French invasion in 1799, the fortress was demolished, and the university was relocated to Landshut.
Originally a fortress city, Ingolstadt is enclosed by a medieval defensive wall. The Bavarian fortress (1537–1930) now holds the Bavarian Army Museum. During World War I, future French president Charles de Gaulle was detained there as a prisoner of war. A sappers' drill ground lies next to the river. Two military air bases are located nearby, one used for testing aircraft. The long military tradition of the city is reflected in today's civil and cultural life. Former "off-limits" military training areas have been converted into well-used public parks.
Adolf Scherzer composed the "Bayerischer Defiliermarsch". Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was set at the Ingolstädter Alte Anatomie (Old Anatomy Building), now a museum for medical history. Marieluise Fleißer set her play Pioneers in Ingolstadt (1928) in the city.
In 1945, the car manufacturer Auto Union first arrived in the city. The company's original factories in Chemnitz and Zwickau (both then in Soviet-controlled East Germany) were shattered during the war, and were seized by the Soviets as war reparations. Auto Union executives initially started a spare parts operation in Ingolstadt in the immediate post-war period, with a view to relocating the entire company to the region. With the help of Marshall Plan aid, Auto Union was formally re-founded in Ingolstadt in 1949, ultimately evolving into the modern-era Audi company, after it was taken over by Volkswagen in 1964. Today, Audi is the region's largest employer and dominates the economy of the city.
As one of five ducal residences of medieval Bavaria—besides Landshut, Munich, Straubing and Burghausen—the city of Ingolstadt features many Gothic buildings, such as the Herzogskasten ('old ducal castle', c. 1255) and the New Castle, which was built from 1418 onwards. The largest church is the Gothic hall church of Our Lady, which was begun in 1425. The church was built to serve as a second parish church beside Saint Maurice, as well as the burial place for Louis and his family and was intended to be the official burial place for the future Dukes of Bavaria-Ingolstadt. Its peculiar and rare angle of footprint was emulated in the 20th-century-built Cathedral of Newark. Also, the churches of Saint Maurice (1235) and of the Gnadenthal and Franciscan monasteries date from the Gothic era. The Kreuztor (1385) is one of the remaining gates of the old city wall and, to this day, the key landmark of the city. The Gothic Old City Hall was constructed in the 14th century and was later altered several times.
After the old Stadttheater in Ingolstadt was destroyed during World War II, it wasn't until 1966 that a new venue was built. The new Stadttheater was designed by architect Hardt-Waltherr Hämer and seats 663 people. In addition to this main theatre, the Ingolstadt Theater–complex includes four smaller venues. The Kleine Haus am Turm Baur, the open-air stage at Turm Baur, the Studio im Herzogskasten, and the Werkstattbühne, which is also located in the Hämer building. A total of around 500 performances take place in the Stadttheater Ingolstadt each year. The city also has a large number of other stages run by theatre groups with various sponsors.
The theatre has been undergoing extensive renovations since 2007, and a complete renovation is planned for the end of 2027, but yet uncertain because of the difficult financial situation of the city.
Ingolstadt is home to 11 museums run by various organizations (see: de:Liste der Museen in Ingolstadt).
The largest and oldest museum in the city is the Bayerisches Armeemuseum (Bavarian Army Museum), which houses a collection of weapons, equipment, uniforms, flags, standards, paintings, and medals with a focus on the Bavarian Army, as well as the Bavarian Army Library. The museum is located in the New Palace and the Reduit Tilly and covers military history up to and including World War I.
The Bavarian Police Museum is the newest museum in Ingolstadt. It is located in the Triva Turm– a neoclassicistic building, built between 1828 and 1841 – which opened in 2011. It is a branch of the Bavarian Army Museum. The museum documents the development of the police force in Bavaria since 1918/19.
The Deutsches Medizinhistorisches Museum (German Museum of Medical History) – opened in 1973 and housed in the "Alte Anatomie" (a Baroque building, built between 1723 and 1736) – traces the development of medicine since the time of Ancient Egypt and is the only museum of its kind in Germany. In addition to surgical instruments, the museum features a botanical garden with a wide variety of medicinal plants.
The Stadtmuseum Ingolstadt (Ingolstadt City Museum) displays numerous exhibits that trace the development of the city and the region from ancient times to the present day. For example, the Kavalier Hepp building (a spacious fortification built between 1838 and 43 houses the amber necklace and a replica of Jakob Sandtner’s city model, and the white horse of King Gustav Adolf of Sweden. The Schwedenschimmel (Swedish Grey) is a stuffed warhorse that belonged to King Gustav II Adolf of Sweden; it was struck by a bullet and killed in 1632 during the Siege of Ingolstadt . It is considered the oldest preserved animal specimen in Europe.
Since 1998, the Kavalier Hepp has also housed the Spielzeug Museum (Museum of Toys).
The Bauerngerätemuseum (Farm Equipment Museum) is also part of the City Museum.
The Museum of Concrete Art exhibits works of artists of the concrete art movement. The Museum is guided by the universal idea of Concrete Art, which shares close affinities with Minimalism. In addition to an extensive collection of artworks, the museum has been collecting design objects since 2000. In 2026, the museum will still be located in the old building on Tränktorstraße, but is expected to move to a new building in 2027. At that time, the museum's name will also change to the Museum of Concrete Art and Design.
The Audi museum mobile is a museum of Audi in Ingolstadt, showcasing historic car models and motorbikes of the company. It is situated in a round, fully glazed building, which draws on the principal of annual rings of a tree trunk. The museum shows the historic development of the company and gives additional info on the economic and societal conditions of the time. Audi with its ArtExperience-department also is a regular sponsor of cultural events like Classical music-concerts and the Salzburg Festival. In 2007 Audi was one of the cofounders of the Stiftung für Konkrete Kunst und Design Ingolstadt, which is connected to the Museum of Concrete Art and deals with the conservation of the legacy of prominent artists.
There are also smaller museums and memorial sites, such as the Alf Lechner Sculpture Museum, the Heimatmuseum Niemes-Prachatitz, a local history museum, which houses the local history collection of the town of Niemes and the district of Prachatitz in Bohemia.
Marieluise Fleißer, who was born in Ingolstadt, has a museum located in Fleißer's childhood home.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Ingolstadt”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.