Forchheim () is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

Upper Franconia Upper Franconia (, ) is a (administrative 'Regierungs''region 'bezirk'' of the state of Bavaria, southern Germany. It forms part of the historically significant region of Franconia, the others being Middle Franconia and Lower Franconia, wh ...

() in northern

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 ...

, and also the seat of the administrative district of Forchheim. Forchheim is a former royal city, and is sometimes called the Gateway to the

Franconian Switzerland Franconian Switzerland (, ) is an upland in Upper Franconia, Bavaria, Germany and a popular tourist retreat. Located between the River Pegnitz in the east and the south, the River Regnitz in the west and the River Main in the north, its relief ...

, referring to the region of outstanding natural beauty to the north east of the town. Nowadays Forchheim is most famous for its ten day long beer and music festival (Annafest) which takes place in late July in an idyllic wooded hillside, home to 24 beer gardens, on the outskirts of the town. Forchheim's population, as of December 2013, was 30,705, and its land area is . Its position is 49° 44' N, 11° 04' E and its elevation is

above sea level Height above mean sea level is a measure of a location's vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) in reference to a vertical datum based on a historic mean sea level. In geodesy, it is formalized as orthometric height. The zero level ...

Name and coat of arms

When the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

was bestowed upon the town at the beginning of the 13th century, people wrongly believed that their town's name, "Vorchheim" originates from the

Old High German Old High German (OHG; ) is the earliest stage of the German language, conventionally identified as the period from around 500/750 to 1050. Rather than representing a single supra-regional form of German, Old High German encompasses the numerous ...

word ''vorhe'' (“trout”). This resulted in the coat of arms showing two trout (above). Although the rivers around the town were certainly home to a great number of trout in those days, it seems likelier that the town's name was actually derived from the Old High German word ''vorha'', ''forha'' (Föhre=“pine”). Hence, the name means “pine home” with a probability bordering on certainty. The name most likely originates in the 7th century, when Frankish settlers first ensconced themselves in the region. They established many riverside towns with names ending in ''–heim''.

Transport connections

Forchheim is directly connected to the

Autobahn The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...

network by way of the A 73, via 2 Exits Forchheim-Nord and Forchheim-Süd. Through Forchheim run Federal Highways (''Bundesstraßen'') B 470. In 2011, the former B 4 which also ran through Forchheim was downgraded to a regional road because of its parallelity concerning the regional importance to the Autobahn A 73. Rail traffic from the station goes towards

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

and

Ebermannstadt Ebermannstadt (; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Ärmaschdood'') is a town in the Forchheim (district), district of Forchheim, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated 10 km northeast of Forchheim (Oberfranken), Forchheim and 25 km ...

. The railway line to

Höchstadt Höchstadt an der Aisch, commonly known as Höchstadt (), is a town in the Erlangen-Höchstadt district, in Bavaria, Germany. Geography Höchstadt is situated on the river Aisch, 18 km northwest of Erlangen and 22 km south of Bamberg. O ...

was permanently closed on 1 April 2005. Since 2010, Forchheim is also connected to the Nuremberg

S-Bahn The S-Bahn ( , ), , is a hybrid urban rail, urban–suburban rail system serving a metropolitan region predominantly in German language, German-speaking countries. Some of the larger S-Bahn systems provide service similar to rapid transit syst ...

; work began on this project in 2006. Local public transportation, such as buses and hailed shared taxis, is incorporated into the Greater Nuremberg transport area. The city lies right on the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal and lies roughly 30 minutes from

Nuremberg Airport Nuremberg Airport ( ) is an international airport of the Franconian metropolitan area of Nuremberg and the second-busiest airport in Bavaria after Munich Airport. The year 2018, with 4.5 million, was the year with the highest passenger volume t ...

Neighborhoods

* Buckenhofen (on the left bank of the Regnitz; first mentioned in documents in 1251, but likely older; has about 4,500 inhabitants) * Burk (likely older than the town itself; known for its Dreikönigskirche , the only one so dedicated in the whole diocese of

) * Kersbach with Sigritzau * Reuth * Serlbach (northeast of Forchheim; its name is a corruption of an older name, ''Zum Erlebach'')

History

In the 8th century, a royal court and a palace were built in Forchheim. In 805, the town was mentioned in the ''Diedenhofener Kapitular'', a

capitulary A capitulary (medieval Latin ) was a series of legislative or Public administration, administrative acts emanating from the Franks, Frankish court of the Merovingian and Carolingian dynasties, especially that of Charlemagne, the first Holy Roman Em ...

(royal order) from

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

forbidding the two towns that it named –

Magdeburg Magdeburg (; ) is the Capital city, capital of the Germany, German States of Germany, state Saxony-Anhalt. The city is on the Elbe river. Otto I, Holy Roman Emperor, Otto I, the first Holy Roman Emperor and founder of the Archbishopric of Mag ...

was the other – to trade weapons with the

Slavs The Slavs or Slavic people are groups of people who speak Slavic languages. Slavs are geographically distributed throughout the northern parts of Eurasia; they predominantly inhabit Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, and ...

, issued at Diedenhofen (now

Thionville Thionville (; ; ) is a city in the northeastern French Departments of France, department of Moselle (department), Moselle. The city is located on the left bank of the river Moselle (river), Moselle, opposite its suburb Yutz. History Thionvi ...

, France). This is the first documentary evidence of the town's existence. FRSchweiz

In the following centuries, Forchheim saw many imperial diets and princely gatherings. On 10 November, 911, Conrad I was elected and crowned the first "German" king. On 1 November 1007, Emperor Heinrich II granted Forchheim, then under Crown ownership, the

Bishopric of Bamberg The Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg () was an ecclesiastical State of the Holy Roman Empire. It goes back to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Bamberg established at the 1007 synod in Frankfurt, at the behest of King Henry II to further expand the spr ...

. By 1039, however, Emperor Heinrich III had brought the town back under Imperial administration until it was finally made part of the Bishopric of Bamberg on 13 July 1063, a status which lasted up until the secularization in 1802–1803. In Heinrich IV's time, Rudolf von Rheinfelden was chosen to be the ''Gegenkönig'' ("

anti-king An anti-king, anti king or antiking (; ) is a would-be king who, due to succession disputes or simple political opposition, declares himself king in opposition to a reigning monarch. OED "Anti-, 2" The OED does not give "anti-king" its own entry ...

") on 15 March 1077, in Forchheim. Sometime between 1200 and 1220, Forchheim was raised to the status of a city, and was granted its current coat of arms. Owing to Forchheim's fortifications, it got through 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 ...

without being overrun even once. The

Prince-Bishop A prince-bishop is a bishop who is also the civil ruler of some secular principality and sovereignty, as opposed to '' Prince of the Church'' itself, a title associated with cardinals. Since 1951, the sole extant prince-bishop has been the ...

of Bamberg fled the

Swedes Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...

in this war, seeking shelter for himself, and also for his cathedral treasure, in the strongly defended fortress town of Forchheim. The Swedes laid siege to the town several times from 1632 to 1634. It was also in this era of Forchheim's history that some of the townsfolk earned the rather unflattering nickname ''Mauerscheißer'' ("wall shitters"). This came from their practice of defecating over the city walls during the siege, to demonstrate to the Swedes that there was still enough to eat in the city, and that their siege was ineffective and pointless. On 6 September 1802, Forchheim was occupied by Bavarian troops and annexed to the Electorate of Bavaria. In 1889, Forchheim became a '' kreisfreie Stadt'', conferring on it certain enhanced local powers. It lost this status in 1972 under Bavarian regional government reform, and was united with ''Landkreis Forchheim'', the local district. Since then its title is ''Große Kreisstadt''.

Today

In 2005, Forchheim celebrated its 1,200th anniversary of first documentary mention, on the occasion of which the

Deutsche Post (, ) is a brand of the DHL Group (listed as ), used for its domestic mail services in Germany. The services offered under the brand are those of a traditional mail service, making the brand the successor of the former state-owned mail monopoly ...

(German Post) issued special commemorative stamps worth 45 cents. In 2004, the city played host to the Bavarian provincial Exhibition. There were about 199,100 visitors.

Things to see

* Rathaus (City Hall), 14th–16th centuries with décor by Hans Ruhalm, 1523. Forchheim town hall +49 9191 7140 https://www.google.com/maps?q=Forchheim+town+hall,+Hauptstra%C3%9Fe+24,+91301+Forchheim,+%EB%8F%85%EC%9D%BC&ftid=0x47a1f661b8ca41cf:0xe7fd270bbb36bee&hl=ko-KR&gl=kr&entry=gps&lucs=a2 * Kaiserpfalz, prince-bishop's palace, 14th century. Pfalzmuseum Forchheim +49 9191 714326 https://www.google.com/maps?q=Pfalzmuseum+Forchheim,+Kapellenstra%C3%9Fe+16,+91301+Forchheim,+%EB%8F%85%EC%9D%BC&ftid=0x47a1f6616ca1e941:0x31fec517a04d2292&hl=ko-KR&gl=kr&entry=gps&lucs=a2 * Martinskirche (church), 12th–15th centuries. * Marienkapelle (chapel), 12th century. * Festungsmauer (fortification wall), 1560–1750 with mediaeval Saltorturm (tower). * Kammerersmühle (a quaintly leaning old mill, now used as a wine bar), 17th century. Das schiefe Haus https://www.google.com/maps?q=Das+schiefe+Haus,+Wiesentstra%C3%9Fe+10,+91301+Forchheim,+%EB%8F%85%EC%9D%BC&ftid=0x47a1f719e7d9eec3:0xe0075900bbb5152f&hl=ko-KR&gl=kr&entry=gps&lucs=a2 * Katharinenspital (hospital), 1611 and Spitalkirche (hospital church), 1490 Spitalkirche St. Katharina https://www.google.com/maps?q=Spitalkirche+St.+Katharina,+91301+Forchheim,+%EB%8F%85%EC%9D%BC&ftid=0x47a1f79908cbab9b:0x86f425ae7e96b788&hl=ko-KR&gl=kr&entry=gps&lucs=a2 * Klosterkirche and Kloster (monastery church, and monastery) 17th century. Klosterkirche St. Anton Klosterverein St. Anton e.V. +49 9191 7169311 https://www.google.com/maps?q=Klosterkirche+St.+Anton+Klosterverein+St.+Anton+e.V.,+Klosterstra%C3%9Fe+12,+91301+Forchheim,+%EB%8F%85%EC%9D%BC&ftid=0x410cb2628ac6418b:0xf90c7eea5c6d9731&hl=ko-KR&gl=kr&entry=gps&lucs=a2 * Stadtpark (Citypark), surrounded by the old city wall, big grassed area. Martinskirche Forchheim

Stadtpark https://www.google.com/maps?q=Stadtpark,+91301+Forchheim,+%EB%8F%85%EC%9D%BC&ftid=0x47a1f66274a00925:0x13e861fd3db36989&hl=ko-KR&gl=kr&entry=gps&lucs=a2

Regular events

* January/February: ''Carnival festival'' and ''Carnival parade'' * April/May: ''Theatertage'' (“Theatre days”) * June: ''Altstadtfest'' (“Old Town Festival“) * July/August: '' Annafest'' * December: ''Schönster Adventskalender der Welt'' (“World’s loveliest Advent calendar”)and actually the biggest one in the world (Entry in the "World Guinness Book Records") Besides those big and famous events, Forchheim offers a plenty of different festivals around the year. Especially in the summer there is a lot going on in the city. Africafestival, Streetmusicfestival, Winefestival or even some special Neighborhood- or Streetfestivals with live music are pretty common. The so-called "Jahn Halle", a kind of "Townhall," offers live music performances during the year.

Economy

Forchheim's economy is mainly shaped by its proximity to

. In Forchheim, the

Siemens Siemens AG ( ) is a German multinational technology conglomerate. It is focused on industrial automation, building automation, rail transport and health technology. Siemens is the largest engineering company in Europe, and holds the positi ...

company runs a large site for production and development of medical devices, particularly for

computed tomography A computed tomography scan (CT scan), formerly called computed axial tomography scan (CAT scan), is a medical imaging technique used to obtain detailed internal images of the body. The personnel that perform CT scans are called radiographers or ...

. Together with the company's sites in

Erlangen Erlangen (; , ) is a Middle Franconian city in Bavaria, Germany. It is the seat of the administrative district Erlangen-Höchstadt (former administrative district Erlangen), and with 119,810 inhabitants (as of 30 September 2024), it is the smalle ...

and Nuremberg, it is part of the "Siemens' Medical Valley". There is a famous pedestrian precinct downtown (see picture above). Plenty of shops, restaurants and cafés can be found there, as well as cultural and

architectural Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

artwork.

Twin towns – sister cities

Forchheim is twinned with: *

Broumov Broumov (; ) is a town in Náchod District in the Hradec Králové Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 7,100 inhabitants. There are three important historic buildings, protected as national cultural monuments: the Benedictine monastery, the ...

, Czech Republic * Gherla, Romania *

Le Perreux-sur-Marne Le Perreux-sur-Marne (, ) is a Communes of France, commune in the Val-de-Marne Departments of France, department in the eastern suburbs of Paris, France. It is located from the Kilometre Zero, center of Paris. History The commune of Le Perreux-s ...

, France * Pößneck, Germany * Roppen, Austria *

Rovereto Rovereto (; "wood of sessile oaks"; locally: ''Roveredo'') is a city and ''comune'' in Trentino in northern Italy, located in the Vallagarina valley of the Adige River. History Rovereto was an ancient fortress town standing at the fronti ...

, Italy

Notable people

* (died 1480), Roman Catholic theologian * Johann Salver (around 1670–1738), copper cutters * Johann Philipp Anton von Franckenstein (1695–1753), bishop * Hilmar Wäckerle (1899–1941), National Socialist, first commander of Dachau Concentration Camp * Wolfgang Droege (1949–2005), Canadian-German right-wing extremist * Klaus Kreuzeder (1950–2014), saxophonist * Horst Kummeth (born 1956), actor, director and author * Mustafa Özkan (born 1975), German-Turkish footballer * Roberto Hilbert (born 1984), footballer * Andreas Sponsel (born 1986), soccer goalkeeper * El Hotzo (born 1996), satirist * Moritz Löhner (born 1998), racing driver

References

External links

* * *
Map of Forchheim in 1821
{{Authority control Forchheim (district) Pontius Pilate