Ansbach
Ansbach, or
Anspach, originally
Onolzbach, is a town in
Bavaria,
Germany. It is the capital of the
administrative region of
Middle Franconia. Ansbach is situated 25 miles southwest of
Nuremberg and 90 miles north of
Munich, on the
Fränkische Rezat, a tributary of the
Main river. Population: 40.723 (2004).
The city has five schools. It is connected by motorway
A6 and routes
B13 and
B14.
A Benedictine monastery at the place was founded around
748 by a
Franconian noble,
Gumbertus, who was later canonized. In the following centuries the monastery and the adjoining village (
Onoldsbach) grew to become the town of Ansbach (called a town in
1221 for the first time).
The counts of
Oettingen ruled over Ansbach until the
Hohenzollern burgraves of Nuremberg took over in
1331. The Hohenzollerns made Ansbach the seat of their dynasty until their acquisition of the
electorate of
Brandenburg in
1415. However, after the death of
Frederick I, Margrave of Brandenburg in
1440 the Franconian cadet branch of the family was not politically united with the main Brandenburg line, remaining independent as "Brandenburg-Ansbach."
Margrave
George the Pious introduced the
Protestant Reformation to Ansbach in
1528, leading to the secularization of St. Gumbertus Abbey in
1563.
In
1792 Ansbach was annexed by the Hohenzollerns of
Prussia. In 1796 the Duke of Zweibrücken,
Maximilian Joseph, the posterior Bavarian king Max I. Joseph was exiled to Ansbach after Zweibrücken had been taken by the French. In Ansbach
Maximilian von Montgelas wrote an elaborate concept for the future political organisation of Bavaria, which is known as the "
Ansbacher Mémoire". In
1806 Prussia ceded Ansbach and the principality of Ansbach to Bavaria in exchange for the Bavarian
duchy of Berg.
At the end of the
17th century, the margraves' palace at Ansbach was rebuilt in
Baroque style.
Since
1970, Ansbach has enlarged its municipal area by incorporating adjacent communities.
Ansbach was a small town largely by-passed by the
Industrial Revolution, an administrative and cultural center. Although all bridges were destroyed, the historical center of Ansbach was spared during
World War II and it has kept its baroque character.
Ansbach hosts several units of the U.S. armed forces, associated with German units under
NATO. There are three separate U.S. installations: Shipton Kaserne, home to 6th Bn., 52nd Air Defense Artillery; Katterbach Kaserne, where the 1st Infantry Division's 4th Combat Aviation Brigade resides, associated with Bismarck Kaserne, where the post exchange, etc. are located, and Barton Barracks, home to the USAG Ansbach.
*
Eyb, part of Ansbach since
October 1 1970*
Bernhardswinden, part of Ansbach since
July 1 1972*
Brodswinden, part of Ansbach since
July 1 1972*
Claffheim, part of Ansbach since
July 1 1972*
Elpersdorf bei Ansbach, part of Ansbach since
July 1 1972*
Hennenbach, part of Ansbach since
July 1 1972*
Neuses bei Ansbach, part of Ansbach since
July 1 1972**
Strüth**
Wasserzell*
Schalkhausen, part of Ansbach since
July 1 1972**
Geisengrund**
Dornberg **
Neudorf**
Steinersdorf*
Anglet,
France*
Bay City, MichiganAlbert of Prussia, Grand Master of the
Teutonic Order and the first duke of
Ducal Prussia.
In the late sixteenth century, the physician to margrave Georg Friedrich was the famous botanist,
Leonhart Fuchs.
Ansbach was home of the astronomer
Simon Marius, who observed
Jupiter's moons from the castle's tower. Later he claimed to be the discoverer of the moons, which led to a dispute with the true discoverer,
Galileo Galilei.
Ansbach was the birthplace of the early chemist,
Georg Ernst Stahl.
Queen Caroline of
Great Britain was born in Ansbach in 1683.
Two poets,
Johann Peter Uz (1720-1796) and
August Graf von Platen (1790-1835), were also born there.
Kaspar Hauser lived in Ansbach from 1830 to 1833. He was murdered in the palace gardens.
* Castle of the Margraves of Brandenburg-Ansbach
* Margrave museum
* Kaspar Hauser Monument
* St. Gumbertus and St. Johannis churches, both fifteenth century
*
*
Official Website (German, English, French)
*
Ansbach information*
US Army Garrison Ansbach - Ansbach Military Community 
