Vilseck is a town and municipality () in the

Oberpfalz The Upper Palatinate (; , , ) is an administrative district in the east of Bavaria, Germany. It consists of seven districts and 226 municipalities, including three cities. Geography The Upper Palatinate is a landscape with low mountains and numer ...

region of northeastern

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, situated on the river Vils, a

tributary A tributary, or an ''affluent'', is a stream or river that flows into a larger stream (''main stem'' or ''"parent"''), river, or a lake. A tributary does not flow directly into a sea or ocean. Tributaries, and the main stem river into which they ...

of the

Naab __NOTOC__ The Naab (Czech: ''Nába'') is a river in Bavaria, Germany. This 97.5 kilometer long river is a left tributary of the Danube. Its average discharge at the mouth is . The Naab is formed by the confluence of the Waldnaab and the Hai ...

river. , Vilseck's population was 6,768 citizens, who live within an area of consisting of Vilseck town proper and 35 other hamlets and villages. The town is 402 meters (1,300 feet) above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an mean, average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal Body of water, bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical ...

. The town’s name comes from Vilseck castle built in 920. ''Eck'' is the German word for ''corner''. The Vils river has a tight bend where the castle () is located: thus the name ''Vilseck''. The town is geographically separate from a nearby large American military base known as the ''Rose Barracks'', but more commonly referred to as Vilseck. The base, built in 1937–1938, was captured 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 ...

from the Germans, whose name for it was ''Südlager''.

Geography

The municipality’s neighbouring municipalities are

Edelsfeld Edelsfeld is a municipality in the district of Amberg-Sulzbach in Bavaria, Germany. Geography Apart from Edelsfeld the municipality consists of the following villages: *Alternsthof *Bernricht *Birkhof *Boden *Eberhardsbühl *Gassenhof *Kalchsreut ...

, Königstein,

Freihung Freihung is a municipality in the district of Amberg-Sulzbach in Bavaria in Germany. Geography Apart from Freihung the municipality consists of the following villages: *Blauenneuschacht *Böcklmühle *Elbart *Freihungsand *Großschönbrunn *Häm ...

and

Hahnbach Hahnbach is a municipality in the district of Amberg-Sulzbach in Bavaria in Germany. There are living at the moment about 5000 people. The most important districts are: Fronbergsiedlung, Friedhofsiedlung, Süd 3, Markt. About 2000 of the 5000 pe ...

. Apart from the town of Vilseck proper, the municipality consists of the following villages: *Altmannsberg *Axtheid *Axtheid-Berg *Bruckmühle *Bürgerwald *Drechselberg *Ebersbach *Frauenbrunn *Gressenwöhr *Gumpenhof *Heringnohe *Heroldsmühle *Hohenzant *Kagerhof *Ködritz *Langenbruck *Leinschlag *Lohhof *Neuhammer *Oberweißenbach *Oedgodlricht *Rauschenhof *Reisach *Schlicht *Schöfelhof *Schönlind *Schüsselhof *Seiboldsricht *Sigl *Sollnes *Sorghof *Triebweg *Unterweißenbach *Weiherhäusl *Wickenricht

History

920

Construction of the castle at around 925. Primawatchtower with piling and moat, stone watchtower built in the 12th century. At this time a "Burg" (castle) on an elevated place was often called an ''Eck''; thus the name Vilseck derived from: City next to the Vilsburg. (Vilseck). It is also possible that the name comes from the fact that the city is situated on the Vils on a west-to-east stretch between two distinct 90-degree bends in the river. The German word for ''corner'' is also "Eck".

1104

Destruction of the castle by Emperor Heinrich IV during a devastating campaign against Berengar from Sulzbach.

1185

First documentation of the town "Vilseck"

1188-1268

Affiliation of Vilseck and surrounding areas to the administrative district of the Episcopal-

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 ...

bailiwick (Vogtei) under the protection of the Stauffer Emperor.

1190

Earliest documentation of the second castle. In the following years construction of a new castle with the growing of the new city of Vilseck. City and Castle accrete.

1269-1802

Town area belongs to the administrative office of the

Bishop of Bamberg This is a list of bishops and archbishops of the Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg and the modern Archdiocese of Bamberg in Germany. __TOC__ Bishops, 1007–1245 * Eberhard I 1007-1040 * Pope Clement II, Suidger von Morsleben 1040-1046 (Later Pope Clemen ...

1289

First documentation of "City" (''ciuitatis'') of Vilseck.

1332-1380

Construction of the city fortification: 940 m (half a mile) curtain wall, (9 m (30 feet) high, 1.60 m (5 feet) thick), 17 towers and three gates surrounded by a moat.

1380

Awarding of the city crest by Lampert von Brunn, Bishop of Bamberg. Construction of the town hall (''

Rathaus In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or municipal hall (in the Philippines) is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses the city o ...

''). Construction of choir aisle and nave on Romanic foundation, remaining from 11th century, at the church in Schlicht.

1407-1412

Construction of parish church on from 11th century remaining Romanic foundation.

1466

Construction of the Vogelturm "bird-tower" (well-known landmark and symbol of Vilseck).

1512

Castle is attacked, plundered and burned down by the knights Hans Pflug and Hand Selbitz, comrades-in-arms of Götz von Berlichingens. Afterwards - reconstruction.

1522

Majority of the city, including the town hall, burns down. Plundering of city through Margrave (Markgraf) Albrecht IV from Hohenzollern-

Brandenburg Brandenburg, officially the State of Brandenburg, is a States of Germany, state in northeastern Germany. Brandenburg borders Poland and the states of Berlin, Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Lower Saxony, Saxony-Anhalt, and Saxony. It is the List of Ger ...

1620

Pillaged during

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 ...

1631-1634

The

black death The Black Death was a bubonic plague pandemic that occurred in Europe from 1346 to 1353. It was one of the list of epidemics, most fatal pandemics in human history; as many as people perished, perhaps 50% of Europe's 14th century population. ...

carries off most of population.

1638-1639

Pillaged during Thirty Years' War.

1751-1754

Construction of the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

at Catholic church in

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style.

1802

Since 1802 affiliation to Bavaria.

1803

Integration into the Oberpfalz. (Upper Palatinate District).

1808

Local villages, like Gressenwöhr, Irlbach, Langenbruck, Schlicht and Sigl, become political structured communities.

1838

After authorization through

King Ludwig I King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by fi ...

. the ''Landgericht'' (County Court) is set in the Vilseck cityhall.

1852-1919

In this timeframe a "Vilseck District" exists as major regional authority with the communities of Adlholz, Ehenfeld, Gebenbach, Gressenwöhr, Großschönbrunn, Hahnbach, Iber, Irlbach, Kürmreuth, Langenbruck, Massenricht, Schlicht, Seugast, Sigl, Sigras, Süß, Vilseck and Weißenberg .

1864

City hall on fire. Ruin will be transferred to state government to construct new district courthouse.

1901

Opening of a public telephone office.

1908

Construction of the Grafenwöhr Training Area North, with displacement of larger parts of the Vilseck Bürgerwald. (forest).

1929-1930

Construction of water supply system

1937

Enlargement of water supply system to supply German Army Base.

1937-1938

Construction of German Army Base (Südlager) in the

Grafenwöhr Training Area Grafenwoehr Training Area (GTA) (), also known as the U.S. Army Garrison Grafenwoehr (abbreviated USAG Grafenwoehr), is a United States Army military training base located near Grafenwöhr, eastern Bavaria, Germany. At , it is the largest traini ...

. For the extension of the Grafenwöhr Training Area several villages, like: Langenbruck, Altenweiher, Altneuhaus, Bernhof, Betzlhof, Erzhäusl, Fenkenhof, Grünwald, Hellziechen, Kittenberg, Schindlhof, Schmierhütte and Wirlhof had to be evacuated. The base capitulated to the U.S. Army in 1945.

Postwar history

In 1946, the town integrated the villages of Schönlind, Ödgodlricht, Heroldsmühle and Gumpenhof from the broken-down community of Irlbach, forming the community of Schlicht. In 1951, there was the construction of the new railway station. In 1955, the city's water supply system was connected to Schlicht. During the following years (1956–1959), the

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 ...

church was built. 1957 was the start of construction of the city sewage system. 1962-1964 saw the construction of the new school with gymnasium in Vilseck. From 1981 to 1993, the US Army extended and enlarged the Rose Barracks for about DM1,000 million. In 2000 the "''Erstes Deutsches Türmermuseum''" (1st German museum of tower watchman or tower keeper) had its grand opening.

Vilseck and the U.S. Army

Vilseck is home to Rose Barracks, a U.S. Army post located just outside the town.

Trivia

The town is home to Germany's first tower museum.

Notable people

* Matthias Kohl (born August 14, 1973 in Vilseck),

mathematician A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...

and

statistician A statistician is a person who works with Theory, theoretical or applied statistics. The profession exists in both the private sector, private and public sectors. It is common to combine statistical knowledge with expertise in other subjects, a ...

References

External links

*
Information about Grafenwoehr and the area
{{Authority control Populated places in Amberg-Sulzbach