Treuchtlingen is a town in the

Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the west of Bavaria, Germany with a population of 95,000. Neighbouring districts are (from the north clockwise) Ansbach, Roth, Eichstätt and Donau-Ries. It is located in the south of Middle Franconia, 50 kilometr ...

district, in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. It has a population of around 12,000.

History

The spot where the town is situated was first settled by

Celts The Celts (, see pronunciation for different usages) or Celtic peoples () are. "CELTS location: Greater Europe time period: Second millennium B.C.E. to present ancestry: Celtic a collection of Indo-European peoples. "The Celts, an ancient ...

Romans 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 ancient Rome *''Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

and

Franks The Franks ( la, Franci or ) were a group of Germanic peoples whose name was first mentioned in 3rd-century Roman sources, and associated with tribes between the Lower Rhine and the Ems River, on the edge of the Roman Empire.H. Schutz: Tools ...

. The town proper was founded in 793, during the reign of

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( , ) or Charles the Great ( la, Carolus Magnus; german: Karl der Große; 2 April 747 – 28 January 814), a member of the Carolingian dynasty, was King of the Franks from 768, King of the Lombards from 774, and the first Holy ...

, and it was first mentioned in 899, as ''Drutelinga''. In the 12th century the castle was erected. In 1495 Treuchtlingen was burnt down. In 1869 the train station was opened. On 23 February 1945 at 11:00 clock an air raid on the station Treuchtlingen (Operation Clarion) took place, in which the Fronturlauberzug SF 2046 just stopped. The passengers of the train fled into the platform underpass, which received a direct hit.300 people died in the platform underpass, a total of nearly 600 people were killed and another 900 injured in the station and the surrounding area. Most of the bomb victims are buried in the memorial site of Kriegsgräberfürsorge on the Nagelberg. In the underpass, which tunneled the tracks elsewhere since a station renovation in 2004, a marble plaque commemorates the victims. In a second attack on April 11, 1945, no people were killed, but among other things, a steam locomotive type Bayerische G 3/4 H destroyed. Part of the wreck was found in the course of the reconstruction and is now in the Bavarian Railway Museum in Nördlingen.

Geography

Location

Treuchtlingen is situated on the river

Altmühl The Altmühl (, la, Alchmona, Alcmana, Almonus)
s.v. is a river in

, 9 km southwest of

Weißenburg in Bayern Weißenburg in Bayern, formerly also ''Weißenburg im Nordgau'', ''Weißenburg am Sand'', is a town in Middle Franconia, Germany. It is the capital of the district Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen. In 2020 its population was 18,578. Weißenburg was a fre ...

, and 45 km northeast of

Donauwörth Donauwörth () is a town and the capital of the Donau-Ries district in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is said to have been founded by two fishermen where the rivers Danube (Donau) and Wörnitz meet. The city is part of the scenic route called "Roman ...

. Since it is located on the European Watershed between

Rhine ), Surselva, Graubünden, Switzerland , source1_coordinates= , source1_elevation = , source2 = Rein Posteriur/Hinterrhein , source2_location = Paradies Glacier, Graubünden, Switzerland , source2_coordinates= , so ...

and

Danube The Danube ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

, the municipal territory is the site of the remains of

Fossa Carolina The Fossa Carolina (or Karlsgraben in German) was a canal named after Charlemagne in what is today the German state of Bavaria, intended to connect the Swabian Rezat river to the Altmühl river (the Rhine basin to the Danube basin). It was cre ...

, an early Medieval attempt to bridge the watershed.

Subdivisions

In addition to the town itself, the municipality of Treuchtlingen today includes 53

hamlet ''The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark'', often shortened to ''Hamlet'' (), is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare sometime between 1599 and 1601. It is Shakespeare's longest play, with 29,551 words. Set in Denmark, the play depicts ...

s and

village A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...

s. The municipal territory is divided into 12 ''Ortsteile'' (including the town) and several hamlets:

Government

Mayors

* Friedrich Grahl, 1894–1907 * Jacob Aurnhammer, 1888-1894 and 1907-1909 * Ludwig Staudinger, 1909–1912 * Karl Kraft, 1912–1918 * Emil Otto Sommer, 1918–1933 * Andreas Güntner, 1933–1945 * Friedrich Korn, 1946–1956 * Hans Döbler, 1956–1984 * Wolfgang Herrmann (CSU), 1984–2008 * Werner Baum jun. (SPD), 2008–2020 * Kristina Becker (CSU), since 1 May 2020

Transport

Treuchtlingen is the initial point of the Treuchtlingen-Würzburg railway.

Twin towns – sister cities

Treuchtlingen is twinned with: *

Bonyhád Bonyhád (german: Bonnhard) is a town in Tolna County in Southwestern Hungary. Government It is governed by a city council and a mayor. The current mayor of Bonyhád is Filóné Ferencz Ibolya who has served in this capacity since 2014. Populati ...

, Hungary *

Ponsacco Ponsacco is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Pisa in the Italian region Tuscany, located about southwest of Florence and about southeast of Pisa. La Popolazione è composta da Diletta Pratelli Geography The municipality of Pons ...

, Italy

Photogallery

Image:Treuchtlingen (Ringstraße).jpg, Town centre at Ringstraße Image:Treuchtlingen (Luitpoldstraße).jpg, Town centre at Luitpoldstraße Image:Burg Treuchtlingen 10.jpg, The old castle of Treuchtlingen (around 1420) Image:Burg Treuchtlingen 2.jpg, Old castle of Treuchtlingen (''Obere Veste'') Image:Treuchtlingen - Burgruine.jpg, Ruins of the old castle Image:Stadtschloss Treuchtlingen 2.jpg, The new castle Image:Treuchtlingen Bahnhof.JPG,

Train station A train station, railway station, railroad station or depot is a railway facility where trains stop to load or unload passengers, freight or both. It generally consists of at least one platform, one track and a station building providing suc ...

Image:Treuchtlingen Mühle.JPG, Old watermill in western suburb Image:Burg Treuchtlingen 9.jpg, Wood near ''Obere Veste''

Notable people

Gottfried Heinrich Graf zu Pappenheim Gottfried Heinrich Graf zu Pappenheim (29 May 1594 – 17 November 1632) was a field marshal of the Holy Roman Empire in the Thirty Years' War. A supporter of the Catholic League, he was mortally wounded during the Battle of Lützen fight ...

(1594-1632), field marshal of the Holy Roman Emperor, during the Thirty Years' War commander of a cavalry regiment in the service of the League and the Habsburg Emperor. * Albert Stöckl (1823-1895), priest and theologian, professor and Reichstag deputy for the

Centre Party (Germany) The Centre Party (german: Zentrum), officially the German Centre Party (german: link=no, Deutsche Zentrumspartei) and also known in English as the Catholic Centre Party, is a Catholic political party in Germany, influential in the German Empire ...

* Elkan Naumburg (1835-1924), German-American banker, philanthropist and musicologist * (born 1946), writer *

Joachim Grzega Joachim Grzega (born 9 September 1971) is a German linguist. He studied English and French at the Catholic University of Eichstätt-Ingolstadt, University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Paris-Sorbonne University and the University of Graz. He has tau ...

(born 1971), linguist * Sebastian Glasner (born 1985), soccer player

Bibliography

* Daniel Burger/Birgit Friedel: ''Burgen und Schlösser in Mittelfranken''; ars vivendi verlag:

Cadolzburg Cadolzburg (outdated also ''Kadolzburg'', colloquially pronounced "Kalschbuʳch" or "Sporch" ) is a municipality in the Middle Franconian district of Fürth, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated west of Fürth. Its name derives from its central ...

2003; S. 125-128; . * Werner Somplatzki: ''Kirchen in Altmühlfranken''; (Reihe Gelbe Taschenbuch-Führer); wek-Verlag: Treuchtlingen 1990; ; hier: S. 70-73 u. 76-85. * Walter E. Keller: ''Treuchtlingen''; (Reihe Gelbe Taschenbuch-Führer); wek-Verlag: Treuchtlingen/

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

2006; . * Walter E. Keller (Hrsg.): ''Das Dorf Schambach''; wek-Verlag: Treuchtlingen 2002; . * Gotthard Kießling: ''Landkreis Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen.'' (Denkmäler in Bayern, V 70/1);

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the States of Germany, German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the List of cities in Germany by popu ...

2000; .

References

External links

*
History of Treuchtlingen's coat of arms
at HdBG {{Authority control Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen