Dinkelsbühl () is a historic town in Central
Franconia
Franconia ( ; ; ) is a geographical region of Germany, characterised by its culture and East Franconian dialect (). Franconia is made up of the three (governmental districts) of Lower Franconia, Lower, Middle Franconia, Middle and Upper Franco ...
, a region of Germany that is now part of the state of
Bavaria
Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...
, in southern Germany. Dinkelsbühl is a former
free imperial city of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire, also known as the Holy Roman Empire of the German Nation after 1512, was a polity in Central and Western Europe, usually headed by the Holy Roman Emperor. It developed in the Early Middle Ages, and lasted for a millennium ...
. In local government terms, Dinkelsbühl lies near the western edge of the (or local government district) of
Ansbach
Ansbach ( , ; ) is a city in the Germany, German state of Bavaria. It is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk, administrative region of Mittelfranken, Middle Franconia. Ansbach is southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the river Fränk ...
, north of
Aalen
Aalen (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Oole'') is a town located in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, about east of Stuttgart and north of Ulm. It is the seat of the Ostalbkreis district and is its largest town. It is ...
.
Dinkelsbühl lies on the northern part of the
Romantic Road, and is one of three particularly striking historic towns on the northern part of the route, the others being
Rothenburg ob der Tauber
Rothenburg ob der Tauber () is a town located in the district of Ansbach (district), Ansbach of Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia), the Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. It is well known for its well-preserved Middle Ages, medieval old town, a d ...
and
Nördlingen
Nördlingen (; Swabian: ''Nearle'' or ''Nearleng'') is a town in the Donau-Ries district, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, with a population of approximately 20,674. It is located approximately east of Stuttgart, and northwest of Munich. It was ...
. These three, along with
Berching
Berching () is a town in the district of Neumarkt in Bavaria, Germany. It is today one of only four towns in Germany that still have completely intact city walls, along with Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Nördlingen and Dinkelsbühl, all in Bavaria. ...
, are today the only towns in Germany that still have completely intact
city wall
A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or Earthworks (military), earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as ...
s. All four are in Bavaria.
The town lies on the southern edge of the Franconian Heights and on the
River Wörnitz, which rises in the town of
Schillingsfürst
Schillingsfürst is a municipality in the district of Ansbach, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 12 km southeast of Rothenburg ob der Tauber, and 23 km west of Ansbach
Ansbach ( , ; ) is a city in the Germany, German state of Ba ...
. The population in 2013 was 11,315.
History
Fortified by
Emperor Henry V
Henry V (; probably 11 August 1081 or 1086 – 23 May 1125) was King of Germany (from 1099 to 1125) and Holy Roman Emperor (from 1111 to 1125), as the fourth and last ruler of the Salian dynasty. He was made co-ruler by his father, Henry IV, in ...
, in 1305 Dinkelsbühl received the same municipal rights as
Ulm
Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city.
Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...
, and in 1351 was raised to the position of a
Free Imperial City. Its municipal code, the ''Dinkelsbühler Recht'', published in 1536, and revised in 1738, contained a very extensive collection of public and private laws.
Reformation
During the Protestant
Reformation
The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...
, Dinkelsbühl was notable for being – eventually along only with
Ravensburg
Ravensburg ( or ; Swabian: ''Raveschburg'') is a city in Upper Swabia in Southern Germany, capital of the district of Ravensburg, Baden-Württemberg.
Ravensburg was first mentioned in 1088. In the Middle Ages, it was an Imperial Free City and ...
,
Augsburg
Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...
and
Biberach an der Riß
Biberach an der Riß (, ; ), often referred to as simply Biberach (), is a town in southern Germany. It is the capital of Biberach (district), Biberach district, in the Upper Swabia region of the German state (Lands of Germany, Land) of Baden-Wü ...
– a Bi-confessional (i.e. roughly equal numbers of Roman Catholics and Protestant citizens, with equal rights) Imperial City () where the
Peace of Westphalia
The Peace of Westphalia (, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought peace to the Holy Roman Empire ...
caused the establishment of a joint Catholic–
Protestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
government and administrative system, with equality offices () and a precise and equal distribution between Catholic and Protestant civic officials. This status ended in 1802, when these cities were annexed by the
Kingdom of Bavaria
The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...
.
Around 1534 the majority of the population of Dinkelsbühl became Protestant.
Thirty Years War
Every summer Dinkelsbühl celebrates the city's surrender to Swedish troops in 1632 during the
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...
. This reenactment is played out by many of the town's residents. It features an array of Swedish soldiers attacking the city gate and children dressed in traditional garb coming to witness the event. Paper cones full of chocolate and candy are given as gifts to children.
This historical event is called the "
Kinderzeche" and can in some aspects be compared with the "Meistertrunk" in Rothenburg. The name is derived from the two German words for "child" and "the bill for food and drink in an inn", and is called such because of the legend that a child saved the town from massacre by the Swedes during the surrender. The legend tells that when the Swedish army besieged the town, a teenage girl took the children to the Swedish general to beg for mercy. The Swedish general had recently lost his young son to illness, and a boy who approached him so closely resembled his own son that he decided to spare the town.
Present day
The film ''
The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm
''The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm'' is a 1962 American Biographical film, biographical fantasy film directed by Henry Levin (film director), Henry Levin and George Pal. The latter was the producer and also in charge of the stop motion a ...
'' (1962) was filmed on location in Dinkelsbühl.
The
Werner Herzog
Werner Herzog (; né Stipetić; born 5 September 1942) is a German filmmaker, actor, opera director, and author. Regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema, his films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with unusu ...
film ''
The Enigma of Kasper Hauser'' (German: ''Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle''; trans. ''Every Man for Himself and God Against All'') premiered on 1 November 1974 in Dinkelsbühl, where it was originally filmed.
Main sights
Dinkelsbühl is still surrounded by the old medieval walls and towers.
There exist a lot of outstanding attractions.
The image of this town is very typical for a German town of the 15th to early 17th centuries.
* St. George's Minster was built in the late 15th-century Gothic style to designs by Nikolaus Eseler. It is the largest
hall church
A hall church is a Church (building), church with a nave and aisles of approximately equal height. In England, Flanders and the Netherlands, it is covered by parallel roofs, typically, one for each vessel, whereas in Germany there is often one s ...
(one built without aisles) in the country.
* St. Paul's, now a Protestant church, was rebuilt in the 19th century in the style of the far late
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of Roman civilization
*Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...
architectural style. It was originally part of a monastery.
*The Castle of the Teutonic Order has a
rococo
Rococo, less commonly Roccoco ( , ; or ), also known as Late Baroque, is an exceptionally ornamental and dramatic style of architecture, art and decoration which combines asymmetry, scrolling curves, gilding, white and pastel colours, sculpte ...
chapel.
*The so-called ''Deutsches Haus'' is the ancestral home of the Counts of Drechsel-Deufstetten. It is a fine specimen of the German
renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...
style of wooden architecture.
*Situated in front of the Minster is a monument to
Christoph von Schmid (1768–1854), a 19th-century writer of stories for the young.
*Museum of the 3rd Dimension is housed in the former city mill.
*The Museum of History shows historical discoveries found within Dinkelsbühl and also has reconstructions of the ancient houses of the city. Since 2008, the museum has had a new domicile in the so-called "Steinerne Haus" from the 14th century. The official name is now: "house of history". While many of the artifacts are the same, the presentation is completely new.
*The church of St. Vincent, which is 2 km outside the city.
*The
Summer Breeze Open Air
Summer Breeze Open Air is an annual German heavy metal music festival. It was first held in 1997. The festival had been held in Abtsgmünd until 2006 when it was moved to its new location of Dinkelsbühl, Bavaria. The festival draws around 40,00 ...
heavy metal festival has been held in Dinkelsbühl since 2007.
People from Dinkelsbühl
*
Nikolaus von Dinkelsbühl (1360–1433), theologian, born in Dinkelsbühl.
*
Christoph von Schmid (1768–1854), writer of children's stories, born in Dinkelsbühl.
*
Friedrich von Hermann (1795–1868), economist and statistician, born in Dinkelsbühl.
*
Stefan Reuter
Stefan Reuter (born 16 October 1966) is a German football executive and former player who played as a defender or midfielder. He has been the sportvorstand of Bundesliga club FC Augsburg since 2012.
During his playing career, he was included i ...
(born 1966), football world champion in 1990, born in Dinkelsbühl.
Gallery
File:Dinkelsbuehl BW 1.JPG, Wörnitz gate
File:Dinkelsbuehl BW 3.JPG, Saint George
Saint George (;Geʽez: ጊዮርጊስ, , ka, გიორგი, , , died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was an early Christian martyr who is venerated as a saint in Christianity. According to holy tradition, he was a soldier in the ...
's Minster
File:Dinkelsbuehl BW 7.JPG, St. George's Minster interior
File:Dinkelsbuehl BW 2.JPG, Market place with "Deutsches Haus" (3rd from right)
File:Dinkelsbuehl BW 8.JPG , Weinmarkt
File:Dinkelsbuehl BW 6.JPG, Segringen gate
File:Dinkelsbuehl BW 5.JPG, Segringen street
File:Dinkelsbuehl BW 9.JPG, Rothenburg gate
File:Dinkelsbuehl BW 10.JPG, Dr.-Martin-Luther street
File:Dinkelsbuehl BW 11.JPG, Nördlingen street
File:Dinkelsbuehl BW 12.JPG, Nördlingen gate
image:Dinkelsbuhlchurch1.JPG, St. Paul's church
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dinkelsbuhl
1802 disestablishments in the Holy Roman Empire
States and territories established in 1351
History of the Palatinate (region)
1350s establishments in the Holy Roman Empire
1351 establishments in Europe
Displaced persons camps in the aftermath of World War II
Free imperial cities