Nördlingen

Nördlingen

Nördlingen, south view from the church tower Daniel
Nördlingen

Coordinates: 48°51′0″N 10°30′0″E / 48.85000°N 10.50000°E / 48.85000; 10.50000Coordinates: 48°51′0″N 10°30′0″E / 48.85000°N 10.50000°E / 48.85000; 10.50000
Country Germany
State Bavaria
Admin. region Schwaben
District Donau-Ries
Government
 • Lord Mayor Hermann Faul (PWG)
Area
 • Total 68.10 km2 (26.29 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)[1]
 • Total 19,841
 • Density 290/km2 (750/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 86720
Dialling codes 09081
Vehicle registration DON, NÖ
Website www.noerdlingen.de

Nördlingen is a town in the Donau-Ries district, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, with a population of approximately 24,000. It was first mentioned in recorded history in 898, and in 1998 the town celebrated its 1100th anniversary. The town was the location of two battles during the Thirty Years' War, which took place between 1618–1648. Today it is one of only three towns in Germany that still has a completely established city wall, the other two being Rothenburg ob der Tauber and Dinkelsbühl.

Another attraction in the town is the Saint Georg's Church's 90 m steeple, called "Daniel", which is made of a suevite impact breccia that contains shocked quartz. Other notable buildings are the town hall (which dates to the 13th century), St. Salvator church and the Spital, a former medieval hospital. The Ries crater museum is located in the well-preserved medieval tanner's quarter.

The city is home to several other museums, such as the Bavarian Railway Museum, the Nördlingen city museum (Stadtmuseum), the city wall museum (Stadtmauermuseum) and Augenblick museum with panoramas, magic lanterns, silent films, barrel organs, pianolas, music boxes and gramophones.

Nördlingen is also known for the Scharlachrennen, a horse riding tournament that was first mentioned in 1463.

History

Nördlingen in the 16th century
Nördlingen stamp

The remains of a Roman castellum, built in the 85AD and probably called Septemiacum, have been found under the city. [2] In 1998, Nördlingen celebrated its 1100-year-old history.

Nördlingen was one of Germany's major trading towns, until its importance declined with the battles of the Thirty Years' War. In 1215 Emperor Frederick II declared Nördlingen a Free Imperial City, and it remained so until 1802 when it changed to become part of present-day Bavaria. The Nördlingen trade fair (Pfingstmesse) was first mentioned in 1219.

A well-documented legal case of 1471 involved the prostitute Els von Eystett who worked in Nördlingen's Frauenhaus, an officially sanctioned municipal brothel.

Nördlingen was one of the first Protestant cities and took part in the Protestation at Speyer in 1529.

In 1604 a shortened and simplified version of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was performed in Nördlingen; this was one of the first performances of any Shakespearean play outside England.[3]

Nördlingen saw two major battles during the Thirty Years' War: the Battle of Nördlingen (1634) and the Battle of Nördlingen (1645).

Nördlingen was seen from above in the final scene and closing credits of the 1971 film Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory.

Economy

Saint George's church, Nördlingen, the Daniel in background

Important companies in Nördlingen are:

Nördlingen has a station on the Ries Railway, which is served hourly on weekdays.

Sport

Nördlingen town hall, seen from Daniel

The local sports club, the TSV 1861 Nördlingen, has a very successful basketball department with the men's and the women's team both in the Basketball Bundesliga. The clubs football team is traditionally the strongest side in northern Swabia. Its most successful former player is Gerd Müller, who was born and raised in Nördlingen. Its stadium was renamed in his honour in 2008.

Impact diamonds

Moon rock in the Ries crater museum

Stone buildings in the town contain millions of tiny diamonds, all less than 0.2 millimeters across. The impact that caused the Nördlinger Ries crater created an estimated 72000 tons of them when it impacted a local graphite deposit. Stone from this area was later quarried and used to build the stone buildings.

Panorama of Nördlingen from the Daniel

International relations

Twin towns – Sister cities

Nördlingen is twinned with:

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ "Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes". Bayerisches Landesamt für Statistik und Datenverarbeitung (in German). June 2016.
  2. ↑ http://vici.org/vici/18421/?lang=de
  3. ↑ Dawson, Anthony B. (2002). "International Shakespeare". In Wells, Stanley; Stanton, Sarah. The Cambridge Companion to Shakespeare on Stage. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 174–193. ISBN 978-0-521-79711-5, p. 176
  4. ↑ "National Commission for Decentralised cooperation". Délégation pour l’Action Extérieure des Collectivités Territoriales (Ministère des Affaires étrangères) (in French). Retrieved 2013-12-26.

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Nördlingen.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Nördlingen.
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