Moosburg an der Isar ( Central Bavarian: ''Mooschbuag on da Isa'') is a town in the ''Landkreis'' Freising of Bavaria, Germany. The oldest town between

Regensburg Regensburg or is a city in eastern Bavaria, at the confluence of the Danube, Naab and Regen rivers. It is capital of the Upper Palatinate subregion of the state in the south of Germany. With more than 150,000 inhabitants, Regensburg is the f ...

and Italy, it lies on the river

Isar The Isar is a river in Tyrol, Austria, and Bavaria, Germany, which is not navigable for watercraft above raft size. Its source is in the Karwendel range of the Alps in Tyrol; it enters Germany near Mittenwald and flows through Bad Tölz, Munic ...

at an altitude of 421 m (1381 ft). It has 18,033 inhabitants (2016) and covers an area of 44 km². It is easily reached by the A 92 autobahn and regional trains on the Munich–Regensburg line. Furthermore, it takes just 20 minutes to get to Munich Airport. Moosburg is popular with commuters who travel to Munich, Freising, and Munich Airport. There is considerable industry in the town consisting of chemical, electro-technical, food processing, and machine-building plants.

History

There was a Benedictine abbey in Moosburg in the 8th century: a cluster of dwellings and artisans sprang up around it. Duke

Heinrich der Löwe Henry the Lion (german: Heinrich der Löwe; 1129/1131 – 6 August 1195) was a member of the Welf dynasty who ruled as the duke of Saxony and duke of Bavaria, Bavaria from 1142 and 1156, respectively, until 1180. Henry was one of the most po ...

started the construction of the

Kastulus Saint Castulus (died 286) is venerated as a martyr. According to tradition, he was the chamberlain (or officer, valet) of Emperor Diocletian and the husband of Saint Irene of Rome. Biography A convert to the Christian religion, he sheltered Chr ...

Minster (cathedral) in 1171, dedicated to

Saint Castulus Saint Castulus (died 286) is venerated as a martyr. According to tradition, he was the chamberlain (or officer, valet) of Emperor Diocletian and the husband of Saint Irene of Rome. Biography A convert to the Christian religion, he sheltered Chr ...

– whose supposed

relic In religion, a relic is an object or article of religious significance from the past. It usually consists of the physical remains of a saint or the personal effects of the saint or venerated person preserved for purposes of veneration as a tangi ...

s were brought to the city. In the 12th century, a town was established and received its first charter in 1311. The walls and moat were completed in the 15th century. The town reached its peak during the early part of the 16th century. In 1599, the Benedictines moved to

Landshut Landshut (; bar, Landshuad) is a town in Bavaria in the south-east of Germany. Situated on the banks of the River Isar, Landshut is the capital of Lower Bavaria, one of the seven administrative regions of the Free State of Bavaria. It is also t ...

, reducing Moosburg's importance. Sieges and plundering during the

Thirty Year War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

started the decline of the town. In 1702, a fire reduced half the buildings to ashes. Moosburg suffered further depredation during the War of the Austrian Succession and the Napoleonic Wars. Another disastrous fire in 1865 resulted in the downtown area being redeveloped in the style of the late 19th century. During the 1920s and 1930s, new industries revived the town. In September 1939, a

prisoner of war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, internment camps, and military prisons. ...

Stalag VII-A was built to accommodate 10,000. By early 1945, the number of registered prisoners had grown to more than 70,000—including many in associated labor camps. It is likely that the presence of this camp close to the town center spared it from large-scale bombing. After the liberation of the camp by the Americans at the end of April 1945, it was turned into Civilian Internment Camp #6 for 12,000 German men and women suspected of criminal activity for the Nazi regime. From 1948, the camp served to house German

refugee A refugee, conventionally speaking, is a displaced person who has crossed national borders and who cannot or is unwilling to return home due to well-founded fear of persecution.

s exiled from Eastern Europe. It became a new part of the town, named ''Moosburg-Neustadt''.Moosburg Online: POW camp Stalag VII A
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Main sights and culture

The main altar of the Kastulus Minster is the principal masterpiece of the wood sculptor

Hans Leinberger Hans Leinberger, sometimes given as Lemberger (c.1475/1480 – after 1531) was a Late Gothic sculptor from Altbayern, who worked in wood, metal and stone. Life and work His exact birthplace is unknown, as is the place and manner of his arti ...

of Landshut. Originally, the altar was a triptych in which the side panels could be swiveled inward to close the altar. Today, the side panels hang above the choir stalls. The Romanesque-style west doorway of the Minster was actually built in the 19th century. The

Baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

facades that survived the 1865 fire can be seen at the east end of Herrnstrasse, for instance, the red front of the chemist's shop. The

memorial A memorial is an object or place which serves as a focus for the memory or the commemoration of something, usually an influential, deceased person or a historical, tragic event. Popular forms of memorials include landmark objects or works of a ...

to inmates of Stalag VII-A is a fountain in the center of ''Neustadt''. It consists of four bas-reliefs created out of local stone by the French sculptor Antoniucci Volti while he was a prisoner in the camp. File:Rathaus moosburg by freak222 2012.jpg, The town hall of Moosburg an der Isar

Partner cities

Bry-sur-Marne Bry-sur-Marne (, literally ''Bry on Marne'') is a commune in the Val-de-Marne department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the center of Paris. The commune of Bry-sur-Marne is part of the sector of Porte de Paris, one ...

, (France) * Moosburg, (Austria) *

Rochester, Minnesota Rochester is a city in the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Olmsted County. Located on rolling bluffs on the Zumbro River's south fork in Southeast Minnesota, the city is the home and birthplace of the renowned Mayo Clinic. Acco ...

, (USA)

Books

* Roger DEVAUX : ''Treize Qu'ils Etaient'' – Life of the French prisoners of war at the peasants of low Bavaria (1939–1945) �
Treize Qu'ils Etaient
– Mémoires et Cultures – 2007 –

References

External links

Moosburg Online
– information about Moosburg

– pictures of old Moosburg {{Authority control Freising (district)