Ansbach () is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It surrounds – but does not include – the town of

Ansbach Ansbach (; ; East Franconian: ''Anschba'') is a city in the German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränkische Rezat, ...

; nonetheless the administrative seat of the district is located in Ansbach. It is the district with the largest area in Bavaria.

History

Some of the local towns already existed during the lifetime of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first ...

, who visited

Feuchtwangen Feuchtwangen is a city in Ansbach district in the administrative region of Middle Franconia in Bavaria, Germany with around 12,000 citizens and 137km² of landmass making it the biggest city in the Ansbach district by Population and Landmass. In t ...

about 800. In the 13th century the towns of Rothenburg, Dinkelsbühl and Feuchtwangen were elevated to

Free Imperial cities In the Holy Roman Empire, the collective term free and imperial cities (german: Freie und Reichsstädte), briefly worded free imperial city (', la, urbs imperialis libera), was used from the fifteenth century to denote a self-ruling city that ...

; so they were directly subordinate to the Holy Roman Emperor. The town of Ansbach became subject to the Hohenzollern family, who established the state of Ansbach (later Brandenburg-Ansbach) in the region. The district of Ansbach was established in 1972, when the former districts of Ansbach, Dinkelsbühl, Feuchtwangen and Rothenburg were merged. The historic town of Rothenburg lost its status as an urban district and was incorporated into the district.

Geography

Ansbach is the largest district of Bavaria. Its northern half is occupied by the Franconian Heights, a gentle hilly countryside. The southern parts are covered with heaths and forests. The source of the Altmühl river is located in the district. The district is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts

Ostalbkreis The Ostalbkreis is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the east of Baden-Württemberg, Germany, on the border to Bavaria. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) Schwäbisch Hall, Ansbach, Donau-Ries, Heidenheim, Göppingen and Rems-M ...

Schwäbisch Hall Schwäbisch Hall (; "Swabian Hall"; from 1802 until 1934 and colloquially: ''Hall'' ) is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg located in the valley of the Kocher river, the longest tributary (together with its headwater Lein) of the ...

and

Main-Tauber Main-Tauber-Kreis is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the northeast of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from northwest clockwise) Miltenberg, Main-Spessart, Würzburg, Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim and Ansbach (all in Bavaria ...

(all in the state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

), and the districts of

Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim (German: Landkreis Neustadt an der Aisch-Bad Windsheim, official Landkreis Neustadt a.d.Aisch-Bad Windsheim) is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the distr ...

Fürth Fürth (; East Franconian: ; yi, פיורדא, Fiurda) is a city in northern Bavaria, Germany, in the administrative division ('' Regierungsbezirk'') of Middle Franconia. It is now contiguous with the larger city of Nuremberg, the centres of the ...

, Roth,

Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the west of Bavaria, Germany with a population of 95,000. Neighbouring districts are (from the north clockwise) Ansbach, Roth, Eichstätt and Donau-Ries. It is located in the south of Middle Franconia, 50 kilometr ...

and

Donau-Ries Donau-Ries (''Danube-Ries'') is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Ansbach, Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen, Eichstätt, Neuburg-Schrobenhausen, Aichach-Friedberg, Au ...

Coat of arms

The coat of arms displays: * top left: the black and white arms of the Hohenzollern dynasty, who ruled the former state of Brandenburg-Ansbach * top right: the red and white arms of

Franconia Franconia (german: Franken, ; Franconian dialect: ''Franggn'' ; bar, Frankn) is a region of Germany, characterised by its culture and Franconian languages, Franconian dialect (German: ''Fränkisch''). The three Regierungsbezirk, administrative ...

* bottom: the heraldic eagle of the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

, which stands for the former Free Imperial cities of Rothenburg, Dinkelsbühl and Feuchtwangen

Towns and municipalities

References

External links

Official Website
(German)
''Frankenhöhe''/Franconian Heights tourism site
(German) {{Authority control