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Eichstätt

Residenzplatz in the centre of Eichstätt
Eichstätt Cathedral - view into the western choir
The Willibaldsburg above Eichstätt

Eichstätt (German pronunciation: [ˈaɪçʃtɛt]) is a town in the federal state of Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district of Eichstätt. It is located on the Altmühl 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 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 and is famous for the quarries of Solnhofen Plattenkalk (Jurassic limestone). On the Blumenberg the Berlin specimen of Archaeopteryx was found by Jakob Niemeyer.

History

St. Willibald founded the Diocese of Eichstätt on the site of an old Roman station (Aureatum or Rubilocus) in 741.[3] The city was given walls and chartered in 908. It was ruled by a prince-bishop, and in the Holy Roman Empire was the seat of the Bishopric of Eichstätt until secularization in 1802. In 1806, it became a part of the Kingdom of Bavaria. Eichstätt was included as part of the Principality of Eichstätt, which King Maximilian I granted to his son-in-law Eugène de Beauharnais in 1817 and an episcopal see was reestablished in 1821.[citation needed] It reverted to the Bavarian crown in 1855.[3]

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.[4][5]

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. Activities carried on by the prisoners there included attempted escapes and the production of plays and musical works. These included Hamlet and the Comedy of Errors by William Shakespeare, the premiere of Post-Mortem by Noël Coward - featuring Desmond Llewelyn,[6] later best known as Q in the EON Bond movies - and of the Ballad of Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard by Benjamin Britten.[7][8]

Attractions

The town is dominated by the Willibaldsburg. Besides the cathedral, Eichstätt also has 12 churches and 10 monasteries.

Mayors

Education

Eichstätt is home to the Katholische Universität Eichstätt-Ingolstadt (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 degrees by the State of Bavaria.[9][1]

Sons and daughters of the town

Max von Widnmann

Personalities connected with the city

Prinz Maximilian of Saxony 1901

See also

References

  1. ^ Liste der ersten Bürgermeister/Oberbürgermeister in kreisangehörigen Gemeinden, Bayerisches Landesamt für Statistik, accessed 19 July 2021.
  2. ^ Genesis Online-Datenbank des Bayerischen Landesamtes für Statistik Tabelle 12411-003r Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes: Gemeinden, Stichtag (Einwohnerzahlen auf Grundlage des Zensus 2011).
  3. ^ a b Chisholm 1911.
  4. ^ Benedictine Abbey of St. Walburga, Who is St. Walburga.
  5. ^ Jestice, P. G., ed., Holy People of the World: A Cross-cultural Encyclopedia, vol. 3 (Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 2004), p. 906.
  6. ^ Kathy (2018-09-01). "Desmond Llewelyn, WWII, British Army (1939-1945)". FamilyPhile. Retrieved 2024-09-05.
  7. ^ See information on this web site Archived 2020-09-25 at the Wayback Machine
  8. ^ Ballad of Little Musgrave and Lady Barnard
  9. ^ Catholic University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt ECTS Information Guide, International Relations 15.05.06
  10. ^ Saint Walpurga

Sources

External links