Amberg Explained

Type:Stadt
Image Coa:DEU Amberg COA.svg
Coordinates:49.4444°N 11.8483°W
State:Bayern
Region:Oberpfalz
District:Kreisfreie Stadt
Elevation:374
Area:50.04
Postal Code:92224
Area Code:09621
Licence:AM
Gemeindeschlüssel:09 3 61 000
Website:www.amberg.de
Mayor:Michael Cerny[1]
Leader Term:2020 - 26
Bürgermeistertitel:Oberbürgermeister
Party:CSU

Amberg (pronounced as /de/) is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in the Upper Palatinate, roughly halfway between Regensburg and Bayreuth. In 2020, over 42,000 people lived in the town.

History

The town was first mentioned in 1034, at that time under the name Ammenberg. It became an important trading centre in the Middle Ages, exporting mainly iron ore and iron products. In 1269, together with Bamberg, the town became subordinate to the Wittelsbach dynasty that ruled Bavaria.

In 1329 the town and the entire region fell to the Palatinate branch of the Wittelsbach family. The region adopted the name Upper Palatinate. It was no longer part of the duchy of Bavaria politically, though in geographic terms it was regarded as Bavarian and the region was part of the Bavarian circle in the organization of the Imperial Circles. In the 16th century, the rulers of Upper Palatinate turned to Protestantism. The town turned to Lutheranism. Later attempts of the ruling family to introduce the more radical Calvinism failed due to the reluctance of its citizens. In 1628 Amberg and Upper Palatinate became part of the electorate of Bavaria. The inhabitants were given the choice to return to Catholicism or emigrate. Many families left the town and moved to the Free Imperial Cities of Regensburg and Nuremberg.

On 24 August 1796, during the French Revolutionary Wars, the city and its environs were the locale of a major battle at which 35,000 French, under the command of Jean Baptiste Jourdan fought with 40,000 Austrians under the command of Archduke Charles; the French suffered significantly more losses in this Austrian victory. Amberg was the regional capital of Upper Palatinate until 1810 when power was transferred to the larger city of Regensburg.

After World War II, when Bavaria fell into the American Sector, Amberg was home to Pond Barracks, a United States Army post. I.F.Stone writes about it in his book Underground to Palestine (pp. 31ff). The post was closed in 1992 and the facility turned over to the local community for housing, most of it for social housing.

In late 2018, the town was the site of the Amberg attacks,[2] resulting in Rainer Wendt asking the Federal government to take a stand on the case. The city was said to be "in a state of emergency."[3] Joachim Herrmann, Bavarian Minister of the Interior, visited Amberg for consultations.[4] Horst Seehofer, Federal Minister of the Interior, said "the violent attacks are worrisome."[5]

Jewish history

Jews had settled in Amberg before 1294, when the first documentation can be found. Shortly after, in 1298, thirteen of the town Jews died during the Rindfleisch massacres.[6] Nevertheless, in 1347 six families received permission to settle in Amberg and twenty years after, in 1367, a Yeshivah was opened in it, though the Jewish community was expelled from Amberg in 1403. Upon the expulsion, the synagogue was annexed to the nearby church.[7] Twelve Jews remained in town in 1942. The few survivors returned to the town after 1945, and a displaced persons camp named Amberg[8] - located nearby the town - housed mostly Jewish refugees and survivors.[9] [10] As a result of immigration from the former USSR to Germany, the Jewish population in town grew to about 275 in 2003.[6] A synagogue[11] exists in town nowadays.

Subdistricts

Amberg has 25 sub-districts, which include its surrounding villages:

Lord mayors

Sights

A defining feature of the town is the Stadtbrille (literally: town spectacles) – a bridge, originally a part of the town fortifications, whose arches reflected on the river waters resemble a pair of spectacles.

Other tourist attractions in Amberg include:

Twin towns – sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany. Amberg is twinned with:[18] [19]

Notable people

Sport

Notes and References

  1. https://www.statistik.bayern.de/wahlen/kommunalwahlen/bgm/ Liste der Oberbürgermeister in den kreisfreien Städten
  2. News: German interior minister renews call for stricter deportation laws in wake of Amberg attacks . 3 January 2019 . . 2 January 2019 . "The federal government must take a stand on this case," Wendt told Bild..
  3. News: Elisa Britzelmeier . Oliver Das Gupta . Camilla Kohrs . Johann Osel . Wer nach den Angriffen in Amberg nach der Deutungshoheit greift . 3 January 2019 . . 3 January 2019 . de . Like Cerny, his city is in a state of emergency..
  4. News: KARIN TRUSCHEIT . : A night of violence and its consequences . 3 January 2019 . . 3 January 2019 . de . Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) arrived in the evening for a briefing.
  5. News: Polizei prüft Berichte über rechte Bürgerwehr in Amberg . 3 January 2019 . . 3 January 2019 . de . Die gewalttätigen Übergriffe seien besorgniserregend, so Seehofer.
  6. Web site: Amberg. www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org. 11 April 2018.
  7. Web site: AMBERG - JewishEncyclopedia.com. jewishencyclopedia.com. 11 April 2018.
  8. Web site: RG-02.03.12, Sylvia Lowe, the form for identity card to the former Jewish inmates of Nazi concentration camps.pdf - Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust. lamoth.info.
  9. Web site: Jewish men gather in a communal sukka in the Amberg displaced person's camp. - Collections Search - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. collections.ushmm.org.
  10. Web site: Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database -- Records of the Displaced persons camps and centers in Germany, 1945-52. Entries include lists of Holocaust survivors for Amberg, Berchtesgaden,. www.ushmm.org. 11 April 2018.
  11. Web site: Synagogues in Amberg - Shuls in Amberg - Jewish Temples in Amberg. www.mavensearch.com.
  12. Web site: Eh’häusl. de. Official Amberg website. 18 February 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120212124625/http://www.amberg.de/index.php?id=3768%3F&print=1&no_cache=1. 12 February 2012. dead.
  13. Web site: Stadtmuseum Amberg . Stadtmuseum Amberg . de .
  14. News: Neuer Museumsführer . . 14 April 2010 . 24 June 2013 . de.
  15. News: Amberger Stadtmuseum zeigt die älteste Apotheke Bayerns . Mittelbayerische Zeitung . 11 September 2008 . 24 June 2013 . de.
  16. Web site: Aktuell . Luftmuseum Amberg . 25 June 2013 . https://web.archive.org/web/20130712020703/http://www.luftmuseum.de/en/ausstellungen/aktuell/ . 12 July 2013 . dead .
  17. Web site: Amberger Luftmuseum wieder geöffnet . Radio Ramasuri . 14 November 2011 . 24 June 2013 . de.
  18. Web site: Partnerstädte. amberg.de. Amberg. de. 4 November 2020. 30 June 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190630141022/http://amberg.de/leben/partnerstaedte/. dead.
  19. Web site: Partnerstädte. amberg.de. Amberg. de. 8 August 2024.

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