History and Culture
Ingolstadt was first mentioned in a document of Charlemagne on 6 February 806 as "Ingoldes stat", the place of Ingold. Circa 1250, Ingolstadt was granted city status.
Ingolstadt was the capital of the duchy 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, whose form was strongly influenced by French Gothic architecture. In 1472 Louis IX, Duke of Bavaria founded the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Ingolstadt. In 1800 it was moved to Landshut and finally to Munich.
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.
The remains of Gustavus Adolphus' horse 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 form on display. It has remained thus for almost 400 years.
Originally a fortress city, Ingolstadt is enclosed by a medieval defensive wall. The Bavarian fortress (1537–1930) now holds the museum of the Bavarian army. 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, and 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-limit" military training areas have been converted into well-used public parks.
Ingolstadt was the city where William IV, Duke of Bavaria wrote and signed the Bavarian Reinheitsgebot in 1516. In 1748, Adam Weishaupt, the founder of the Order of Illuminati, was born in Ingolstadt.
Adolf Scherzer composed the "Bayerischen Defiliermarsch". Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was set at the Ingolstädter Alte Anatomie (Old Anatomy Building), now a museum for medical history. The famous writer Marieluise Fleißer wrote Pioniere in Ingolstadt in 1928.
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