Fürstenfeldbruck () is a town in

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 ...

, Germany, 32 kilometres west of

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

. It is the capital of the district of Fürstenfeldbruck. it had a population of 35,494. Since the 1930s Fürstenfeldbruck has had an air force base.

Geography

Fürstenfeldbruck covers an area of 32.53 km². It is located halfway between

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 along the Amper river.

Main sights

* Fürstenfeld Abbey, a Cistercian monastery founded in 1266 by

Louis II, Duke of Bavaria Louis the Strict () (13 April 1229 – 2 February 1294) was Duke of Upper Bavaria and Count Palatine of the Rhine from 1253. He is known as Louis II or Louis VI following an alternative numbering. Born in Heidelberg, he was a son of Otto II W ...

and closed in 1803.

Fürstenfeldbruck Air Base

Fürstenfeldbruck has been the site of an Air Base since 1936. It was used by the

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

before and during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. It was used by

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...

after

and returned to the German government in 1957 and used as a base for the German Air Force. The air force base was the site of the Munich Massacre during the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and officially branded as Munich 1972 (; ), were an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. It was the ...

. The nine Israeli hostages (two had been killed earlier at the Olympic Village) and eight Black September terrorists who captured them were flown to the base from the Olympic Village via helicopter, where the terrorists demanded they, and their hostages, be flown to a friendly Arab nation. After a botched rescue attempt by Bavarian border guards and Munich police, the terrorists killed all of the nine remaining Israeli hostages, who were unable to escape from the helicopters. Five of the terrorists and a Munich policeman were also killed in the gunfight.

Twin towns – sister cities

Fürstenfeldbruck is twinned with: * Almuñécar, Spain *

Cerveteri Cerveteri () is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital, in the Italian region of Lazio. Known by the ancient Romans as Caere, and previously by the Etruscans as Caisra or Cisra, and as Agylla (or ) by the Greeks, ...

, Italy * Livry-Gargan, France * Wichita Falls, United States *

Zadar Zadar ( , ), historically known as Zara (from Venetian and Italian, ; see also other names), is the oldest continuously inhabited city in Croatia. It is situated on the Adriatic Sea, at the northwestern part of Ravni Kotari region. Zadar ...

, Croatia

Notable people

* (1869–1934), German sculptor and goldsmith * Ferdinand von Miller (1813–1887), iron moulder * Adolf Des Coudres (1862–1924), landscape painter, died in Fürstenfeldbruck * Richard W. Higgins (1922–1957), pilot, died preventing a plane crash over Fürstenfeldbruck *

Alexander Wesselsky Alexander "Alexx" Wesselsky (born 18 November 1968) is a German singer. He is a founder and the lead vocalist of Neue Deutsche Härte band Eisbrecher. He was also a founding member and lead singer of Megaherz, having performed with them for 10 ...

(born 1968), singer and musician

References

Fürstenfeldbruck (district) {{Fürstenfeldbruck-geo-stub