Nördlingen (; Swabian: ''Nearle'' or ''Nearleng'') 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 ...

in the Donau-Ries district, in

Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one 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 ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, with a population of approximately 20,674. It is located approximately east of

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

, and northwest 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 was built in an impact crater 15 million years old and in diameter—the

Nördlinger Ries The Nördlinger Ries is an impact crater and large circular depression in western Bavaria and eastern Baden-Württemberg. It is located north of the Danube in the district of Donau-Ries. The city of Nördlingen is located within the depression ...

—of a meteorite which hit with an estimated speed of 70,000 km/h, and left the area riddled with an estimated 72,000 tons of micro-diamonds. Nördlingen was first mentioned in

recorded history Recorded history or written history describes the historical events that have been recorded in a written form or other documented communication which are subsequently evaluated by historians using the historical method. For broader world h ...

in 898. The town was the location of two battles 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 ...

, which took place between 1618 and 1648. Today it is one of very few 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—joining the ranks of

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 ...

, Dinkelsbühl and

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. ...

, all of them in Bavaria. Another attraction in the town is Saint George's Church's steeple, called "Daniel," which is made of a

suevite Suevite is a rock consisting partly of melted material, typically forming a breccia containing glass and crystal or lithic fragments, formed during an impact event. It forms part of a group of rock types and structures that are known as impact ...

impact breccia that contains shocked quartz. Other notable buildings are the town hall (which dates to the 13th century), St. Salvator church and the ''Spital'', a former medieval hospital. The Ries crater museum is located in the well-preserved medieval tanners' quarter. The city is home to several other museums, such as the Bavarian Railway Museum, the Nördlingen city museum (''Stadtmuseum''), the city wall museum (''Stadtmauermuseum'') and ''Augenblick'' museum. The latter has panoramas, magic lanterns, silent films, barrel organs, pianolas, music boxes and gramophones.

History

Prehistory and Celtic period

Finds in the Ofnet Caves near the city show that the site of present-day Nördlingen was already inhabited in the late

Palaeolithic The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic ( years ago) ( ), also called the Old Stone Age (), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone tools, and which represents almost the entire period of human prehist ...

. In the Large Ofnet, in 1908 archaeologist R. R. Schmidt found two dish-shaped pits in which human skulls were lying "like eggs in flat baskets". In the larger pit were 27 skulls and in the other there were 6 skulls. The skulls were arranged concentrically with their faces turned towards the setting sun. They were all covered with a thick layer of

red ochre Ochre ( ; , ), iron ochre, or ocher in American English, is a natural clay earth pigment, a mixture of ferric oxide and varying amounts of clay and sand. It ranges in colour from yellow to deep orange or brown. It is also the name of the col ...

. The skulls have been dated to the

7th millennium BC The 7th millennium BC spanned the years 7000 BC to 6001 BC (c. 9 ka to c. 8 ka). It is impossible to precisely date events around this millennium, and all dates mentioned here are estimates mostly based on geological and anthropologic ...

. In the area around Nördlingen, additional sites dating to almost all of the subsequent prehistoric epochs have been discovered. Particularly important was an area on the eastern edge of the district Baldingen, where settlements have been found belonging to the

Neolithic The Neolithic or New Stone Age (from Ancient Greek, Greek 'new' and 'stone') is an archaeological period, the final division of the Stone Age in Mesopotamia, Asia, Europe and Africa (c. 10,000 BCE to c. 2,000 BCE). It saw the Neolithic Revo ...

Linear Pottery culture The Linear Pottery culture (LBK) is a major archaeological horizon of the European Neolithic period, flourishing . Derived from the German ''Linearbandkeramik'', it is also known as the Linear Band Ware, Linear Ware, Linear Ceramics or Incis ...

, the

Bronze Age The Bronze Age () was a historical period characterised principally by the use of bronze tools and the development of complex urban societies, as well as the adoption of writing in some areas. The Bronze Age is the middle principal period of ...

Urnfield culture The Urnfield culture () was a late Bronze Age Europe, Bronze Age culture of Central Europe, often divided into several local cultures within a broader Urnfield tradition. The name comes from the custom of cremation, cremating the dead and placin ...

, and the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

Hallstatt Hallstatt () is a small town in the district of Gmunden District, Gmunden, in the Austrian state of Upper Austria. Situated between the southwestern shore of Hallstätter See and the steep slopes of the Dachstein massif, the town lies in the Sa ...

and La Tène cultures.

Roman Empire

The area which includes present-day Nördlingen was part of the

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 ...

province of

Raetia Raetia or Rhaetia ( , ) was a province of the Roman Empire named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the south-west with Transalpine ...

, but little research has been conducted on the city's Roman period. A Roman villa has been excavated in the district of Holheim, and can be visited today. Another villa with an adjoining burial ground has been identified in the Baldingen district. A settlement (''

vicus In Ancient Rome, the Latin term (plural ) designated a village within a rural area () or the neighbourhood of a larger settlement. During the Republican era, the four of the city of Rome were subdivided into . In the 1st century BC, Augustus ...

''), built in 85 C.E., occupied the southern part of the city until 259–260 C.E., when it was destroyed during the conquest of what is now southern Germany by the Germanic-speaking

Alemanni The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic peoples, Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE ...

tribes. The Roman settlement may have been the one known as Septemiacum, which is supposed to have been built between 80–300 C.E.,Czysz, Wolfgang. ''Die Römer in Bayern''. Nikol, 2005. , 9783937872117. 594 pages. although it is possible that this particular settlement was actually located at a different site such as Oberdorf, leaving the name of the settlement at Nördlingen uncertain.

Middle Ages

The

c people occupied the Nördlingen area during the 6th and 7th centuries, during which time the region was gradually

Christianized Christianization (or Christianisation) is a term for the specific type of change that occurs when someone or something has been or is being converted to Christianity. Christianization has, for the most part, spread through missions by individu ...

under the

Merovingian dynasty The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

, and several burial grounds from this period have been discovered. The name "Nordilinga" is first found in documents of the

Carolingian The Carolingian dynasty ( ; known variously as the Carlovingians, Carolingus, Carolings, Karolinger or Karlings) was a Frankish noble family named after Charles Martel and his grandson Charlemagne, descendants of the Arnulfing and Pippinid c ...

royal court dating from 898, and the city today celebrates this as the date of its "foundation". Under the rule of the Bishops of Regensburg, Nördlingen grew into an important market town. In 1215, Nördlingen was granted city rights by

Emperor Frederick II Frederick II (, , , ; 26 December 1194 – 13 December 1250) was King of Sicily from 1198, King of Germany from 1212, King of Italy and Holy Roman Emperor from 1220 and King of Jerusalem from 1225. He was the son of Emperor Henry VI of the Ho ...

and became 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 that year, the first city wall was built, the footprint of which is still visible today. In a document dating to 1219, the ''Nördlinger Pfingstmesse'' ("Nördlingen Pentecost fair") was first mentioned, an event which continues as a folk festival in the city to the present day. Thanks to Nördlingen's location at the crossroads of two major trade routes (Frankfurt / Würzburg-Augsburg and Nuremberg-Ulm), it became an important trading center for grain, livestock, textiles, furs, and metal goods. Besides Frankfurt am Main, Nördlingen was one of the most important long-distance trade fairs in the region. In 1238, a fire destroyed much of Nördlingen, but the city quickly recovered. Three generations later, a large number of craftsmen, especially tanners and weavers, settled outside the city walls. In 1327 the present-day circular wall was built, which increased the size of the walled portion of the city fourfold. 1427 saw the start of construction on St. George's Church. In the year 1472 the court case against the brothel owners Linhardt Freiermuth and his wife Barbara Taschenfeind is recorded in the city's court records. The starting point of the trial was the charge of

forced abortion Forced abortion is a form of reproductive coercion that refers to the act of compelling a woman to undergo termination of a pregnancy against her will or without explicit consent. Forced abortion may also be defined as coerced abortion, and may o ...

on the prostitute Els von Eystett. The court convicted the owners and banished the husband from the city. His wife was branded on the forehead and pilloried. The associated 40 parchment pages in the Nördlingen city archives give unique insight into the conditions of a brothel in this time period.

Early modern period

In 1529, the city was part of the

Protestation at Speyer On 19 April 1529, six princes and representatives of 14 Imperial Free Cities petitioned the Imperial Diet at Speyer against an imperial ban of Martin Luther, as well as the proscription of his works and teachings, and called for the unhindered ...

, which sought to allow the unimpeded spread of the

Protestant Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the papacy and ...

. In 1555, the Reformation in Nördlingen was finally completed. In 1579, Mayor Peter Seng (1512–1589) signed the Lutheran

Formula of Concord Formula of Concord (1577) (; ; also the "''Bergic Book''" or the "''Bergen Book''") is an authoritative Lutheran statement of faith (called a confession, creed, or "symbol") that, in its two parts (''Epitome'' and ''Solid Declaration''), makes up ...

. The

witch trials in the early modern period In the early modern period, from about 1400 to 1775, about 100,000 people were prosecuted for witchcraft in Europe and British America. Between 40,000 and 60,000 were executed, almost all in Europe. The witch-hunts were particularly severe in pa ...

in Nördlingen have been well documented. Between 1589 and 1598, 34 women and one man were burned at the stake for the crime of witchcraft, and one co-defendant midwife, Barbara Lierheimer, died while in custody. The trials of Maria Holl and Rebecca Lemp became especially well-known. In 1589, Pastor Wilhelm Friedrich Lutz delivered sermons against the radical witch persecution of Nördlingen City Council, prior to the Council's execution of the first alleged witches in May 1590. One of the three women executed in that year was a carter's daughter, Ursula Haider, who was arrested on 8 November 1589 and burned on 15 May 1590. The trial of Ursula Haider was by described by Ulrike Haß in her book ''Teufelstanz''. It is often said that in 1604 a shortened and simplified version of William Shakespeare's ''

Romeo and Juliet ''The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet'', often shortened to ''Romeo and Juliet'', is a Shakespearean tragedy, tragedy written by William Shakespeare about the romance between two young Italians from feuding families. It was among Shakespeare's ...

'' was performed in Nördlingen and that this was one of the first performances of any Shakespearean play outside England. In fact, the players applied to perform but were denied by the local authorities and were compensated for their efforts. Nördlingen served as the site of two historic battles, and marked a turning point in the

. In the first Battle of Nördlingen in 1634, the Swedish Protestant forces were decisively defeated for the first time by the imperial

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

troops. The city was compelled to open its gates to the victors, but was not plundered by the victorious troops after high reparations payments. However, during and after the siege, the city lost more than half of its population due to hunger and illness. This was exacerbated by the second Battle of Nördlingen in 1645, and it would not be until 1939 that Nördlingen regained the population it had in 1618. In the early 18th century, during the

War of the Spanish Succession The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the death of the childless Charles II of Spain in November 1700, which led to a struggle for control of the Spanish E ...

, the city was further affected by the impact of nearby battles of Höchstädt. The wars forced trade to shift to the seaports, and as a result, Nördlingen lost its importance as a trading center. In part due to this forced economic standstill, Nördlingen's medieval cityscape remained well preserved. As a result of the

German mediatization German mediatisation (; ) was the major redistribution and reshaping of territorial holdings that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany by means of the subsumption and Secularization (church property), secularisation of a large number of ...

, in 1803 Nördlingen lost its status as an imperial city and became part of the

Electorate of Bavaria The Electorate of Bavaria () was a quasi-independent hereditary electorate of the Holy Roman Empire from 1623 to 1806, when it was succeeded by the Kingdom of Bavaria. The Wittelsbach dynasty which ruled the Duchy of Bavaria was the younger ...

, which had occupied the city in September 1802 in anticipation of the decree. On January 1, 1806, Bavaria's Elector declared himself king, officially changing the Electorate of Bavaria into 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 ...

, which seceded from the Holy Roman Empire the following August.

Modern period

On May 15, 1849, Nördlingen was connected to the network of the Royal Bavarian State Railways. In that same year, the first rail lines opened to

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 ...

. A third railway connection, under the leadership of the Royal Württemberg State Railways, was opened on 3 October 1863 to

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 ...

. During the

Second World War 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 ...

, a total of 33 people were killed in and around Nördlingen by air raids conducted in the spring of 1945. The train station and several houses were destroyed, and St. George's Church was severely damaged. However, most of the historic district of the city was spared. In 1945, Nördlingen became part of the American occupation zone of

Allied-occupied Germany The entirety of Germany was occupied and administered by the Allies of World War II, from the Berlin Declaration on 5 June 1945 to the establishment of West Germany on 23 May 1949. Unlike occupied Japan, Nazi Germany was stripped of its sov ...

. The United States military set up a

displaced persons camp A refugee camp is a temporary settlement built to receive refugees and people in refugee-like situations. Refugee camps usually accommodate displaced people who have fled their home country, but camps are also made for internally displace ...

in the city. It was overseen by

UNRRA United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration (UNRRA, pronounced ) was an international relief agency founded in November 1943 on the joint initiative of the United States, United Kingdom, USSR, and the Republic of China. Its purpose ...

and housed approximately 500 DPs, mostly from

Latvia Latvia, officially the Republic of Latvia, is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. It is one of the three Baltic states, along with Estonia to the north and Lithuania to the south. It borders Russia to the east and Belarus to t ...

and

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

. More than 4,500 people settled permanently in Nördlingen after the war. Since the Middle Ages,

Jewish Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

families have resided in Nördlingen. They buried their dead in the Jewish cemetery on Nähermemminger Way, and a synagogue was built in 1885. The synagogue was destroyed by the

Nazi Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...

s during the November pogrom of 1938, and this is commemorated by a plaque on today's Protestant parish hall. In 1979, a memorial stone was erected in the Jewish cemetery commemorating Jewish victims of the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

. In the course of the municipal reorganization of Bavaria, Nördlingen lost its status as a city on July 1, 1972 and was incorporated into the newly formed district Nördlingen-Donauwörth, which received its current name, Donau-Ries, on May 1, 1973.

Mayors

Economy

Important companies in Nördlingen are: * C.H. Beck – book publisher * Varta – battery manufacturer * Maierbier – brewery Nördlingen has a station on the Augsburg–Nördlingen railway and the Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt–Nördlingen railway, which are served hourly on weekdays.

Sport

The local sports club, the TSV 1861 Nördlingen, has a very successful

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

department with the men's and the women's team both in the Basketball Bundesliga. The clubs football team is traditionally the strongest side in northern Swabia. Its most successful former player is

Gerd Müller Gerhard "Gerd" Müller (; 3 November 1945 – 15 August 2021) was a German professional association football, footballer. A prolific Forward (association football)#Striker, striker, especially in and around the six-yard box, he is widely regarde ...

, who was born and raised in Nördlingen. Its stadium was renamed in his honour in 2008. Nördlingen is also known for the ''Scharlachrennen'' (Scarlet Race), a horse race tournament that was first mentioned in 1463. Since World War II, it has expanded to include eventing, jumping and dressage.

Impact diamonds

Stone buildings in the town contain millions of tiny

diamonds Diamond is a solid form of the element carbon with its atoms arranged in a crystal structure called diamond cubic. Diamond is tasteless, odourless, strong, brittle solid, colourless in pure form, a poor conductor of electricity, and insol ...

, all less than across. The

meteorite A meteorite is a rock (geology), rock that originated in outer space and has fallen to the surface of a planet or Natural satellite, moon. When the original object enters the atmosphere, various factors such as friction, pressure, and chemical ...

impact—from a asteroid—that caused the

crater created an estimated 72,000 tons of these tiny diamonds when it impacted a local graphite deposit. Stone from this area was later quarried and used to build the stone buildings. Noerdlingen Daniel1

In popular culture

Aerial scenes at the end of the 1971 film ''

Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory ''Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory'' is a 1971 American musical film, musical fantasy film directed by Mel Stuart from a screenplay by Roald Dahl, based on his 1964 novel ''Charlie and the Chocolate Factory''. It stars Gene Wilder as chocol ...

'' were filmed in Nördlingen. The setting of the anime '' Princess Tutu'' is based on Nördlingen. Nördlingen bears a resemblance to the town of Shiganshina from ''

Attack on Titan is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Hajime Isayama. It is set in a world where humanity is forced to live in cities surrounded by three enormous walls that protect them from gigantic man-eating humanoids referred to a ...

,'' though there is no official link between the two. After being featured on a Japanese variety show in 2013, Nördlingen became a tourist destination for fans of the series.

Twin towns – sister cities

Nördlingen is twinned with: * Markham, Canada *

Wagga Wagga Wagga Wagga (; informally called Wagga) is a major regional city in the Riverina region of New South Wales, Australia. Straddling the Murrumbidgee River, with an urban population of more than 57,003 as of 2021, it is an important agricultural, m ...

, Australia * Riom, France *

Olomouc Olomouc (; ) is a city in the Czech Republic. It has about 103,000 inhabitants, making it the Statutory city (Czech Republic), sixth largest city in the country. It is the administrative centre of the Olomouc Region. Located on the Morava (rive ...

, Czech Republic

Notable people

* Friedrich Herlin (1425/1430–1500), painter * Bartholomäus Zeitblom (c. 1455 – c. 1518), painter * Karl Heinrich Ritter von Lang (1764 at Balgheim – 1835), historian and statesman * Albrecht Adam (1786–1862),

war artist A war artist is an artist either commissioned by a government or publication, or self-motivated, to document first-hand experience of war in any form of illustrative or depictive record.Imperial War Museum (IWM)header phrase, "war shapes lives" ...

* Heinrich Adam (1787–1862), painter, member of the painter family Adam from Nördlingen * Johann Michael Voltz (1784–1858), graphic artist and painter * Friedrich Voltz (1817–1886), painter * Robert Beyschlag (1838–1903), painter * Otto Förschner (1902–1946), SS commander and a Nazi concentration camp official executed for war crimes * Christel DeHaan (1942–2020), American businesswoman and philanthropist, former owner of

Resort Condominiums International RCI (formerly Group RCI and, before that, Resort Condominiums International) is a timeshare exchange company with over 4,300 affiliated resorts in 100 countries. Founded in Indiana in 1974 by Jon and Christel DeHaan, RCI is one of the two main ...

, founder of Christel House International *

(1945–2021), football player and coach * Anton Meyer (born 1955), economist and professor of business administration * Sabine Haubitz (born 1959), art photographer * Michael Lutz (born 1982), footballer * Frank Kechele (born 1986), racing driver * Stefan Rieß (born 1988), footballer * Steffen Lang (born 1993), footballer

References

External links

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* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nordlingen Free imperial cities Donau-Ries Medieval German architecture