View source for Amberg

{{Other uses}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{{Infobox German place
|type              = Stadt
|image_coa         = DEU Amberg COA.svg
|image_flag        = File:Flagge Amberg.svg
|image_photo       = Amberg Altstadt.jpg
|image_caption     = View from Mariahilfberg towards the Amberg Old Town, 2004
|coordinates       = {{coord|49|26|40|N|11|50|54|E|format=dms|display=inline,title}}
|image_plan        = 
|state             = Bayern
|region            = Oberpfalz
|district          = Kreisfreie Stadt
|elevation         = 374
|area              = 50.04
|postal_code       = 92224
|area_code         = 09621
|licence           = AM
|Gemeindeschlüssel = 09 3 61 000
|website           = {{URL|amberg.de}}
|mayor             = Michael Cerny<ref>[https://www.statistik.bayern.de/wahlen/kommunalwahlen/bgm/ Liste der Oberbürgermeister in den kreisfreien Städten], accessed 19 July 2021.</ref>
|leader_term       = 2020&ndash;26
|Bürgermeistertitel= Oberbürgermeister
|party             = CSU
}}
'''Amberg''' ({{IPA|de|ˈambɛʁk|audio=Amberg.ogg}}) is a [[Town#Germany|town]] in [[Bavaria]], [[Germany]]. It is located in the [[Upper Palatinate]] about halfway between [[Regensburg]] and [[Bayreuth]].

== History ==

The town was first mentioned in 1034 with the name '''Ammenberg'''. It became an important trading centre in the [[Middle Ages]], exporting mainly [[iron ore]] and iron products. In 1269, together with [[Bamberg]], the town became subordinate to the [[Wittelsbach]] dynasty which ruled Bavaria.

In 1329 the town and the entire region fell to the Palatinate branch of the [[Wittelsbach]] family. The region adopted the name Upper Palatinate. It was no longer part of the duchy of Bavaria politically, though in geographic terms it was regarded as Bavarian and the region was part of the Bavarian circle in the organization of the [[Imperial Circle]]s. In the 16th century, the rulers of Upper Palatinate turned to [[Protestantism]]. The town turned to [[Lutheran church|Lutheranism]]. Later attempts of the ruling family to introduce the more radical [[Calvinism]] failed due to the reluctance of its citizens. In 1628 Amberg and Upper Palatinate became part of the electorate of Bavaria. The inhabitants were given the choice to return to [[Catholicism]] or emigrate. Many families left the town and moved to the [[Free Imperial Cities]] of [[Regensburg]] and [[Nuremberg]].

On 24&nbsp;August 1796, during the [[French Revolutionary Wars]], a major battle, the [[Battle of Amberg]] was fought in the city and its environs at which 35,000&nbsp;French, under the command of [[Jean Baptiste Jourdan]] fought with 40,000 Austrians under the command of [[Archduke Charles, Duke of Teschen|Archduke Charles]]; the French suffered significantly more losses in the Austrian victory. Amberg was the regional capital of [[Upper Palatinate]] until 1810 when power was transferred to the larger city of [[Regensburg]].

After [[World War II]], when Bavaria fell into the American Sector, Amberg was home to Pond Barracks, a [[United States Army]] post. [[I.F.Stone]] writes about it in his book [[Underground to Palestine]] (pp.&nbsp;31ff). The post was closed in 1992 and the facility turned over to the local community for housing, most of it for social housing.

In late 2018, the town was the site of the Amberg attacks<ref>{{cite news |title=German interior minister renews call for stricter deportation laws in wake of Amberg attacks |url=https://www.dw.com/en/german-interior-minister-renews-call-for-stricter-deportation-laws-in-wake-of-amberg-attacks/a-46921740 |access-date=3 January 2019 |work=[[Deutsche Welle]] |date=2 January 2019 |quote="The federal government must take a stand on this case," Wendt told Bild.}}</ref> resulting in [[Rainer Wendt]] asking the federal government to take a stand on the case. The city was reported to be "in a state of emergency."<ref>{{cite news |last1=Elisa Britzelmeier |last2=Oliver Das Gupta |last3=Camilla Kohrs |last4=Johann Osel |title=Wer nach den Angriffen in Amberg nach der Deutungshoheit greift |url=https://www.sueddeutsche.de/bayern/amberg-angriffe-abschiebungen-1.4274115 |access-date=3 January 2019 |work=[[Süddeutsche Zeitung]] |date=3 January 2019 |language=de |quote=Like Cerny, his city is in a state of emergency.}}</ref> [[Joachim Herrmann (CSU)|Joachim Herrmann]], the Bavarian minister of the Interior, visited Amberg for consultations.<ref>{{cite news |last1=KARIN TRUSCHEIT |title=: A night of violence and its consequences |url=https://www.faz.net/aktuell/politik/inland/angriffe-in-amberg-eine-gewaltnacht-und-ihre-folgen-15971016.html |access-date=3 January 2019 |work=[[Frankfurter Allgemeine]] |date=3 January 2019 |language=de |quote=Bavarian Interior Minister Joachim Herrmann (CSU) arrived in the evening for a briefing}}</ref> [[Horst Seehofer]], the federal minister of the Interior, said "the violent attacks (were) worrisome."<ref>{{cite news |title=Polizei prüft Berichte über rechte Bürgerwehr in Amberg |url=https://www.welt.de/politik/deutschland/article186477096/Amberg-Polizei-prueft-Berichte-ueber-rechte-Buergerwehr.html |access-date=3 January 2019 |work=[[Die Welt]] |date=3 January 2019 |language=de |quote=Die gewalttätigen Übergriffe seien besorgniserregend, so Seehofer}}</ref>

=== Jewish history ===
[[Jews]] had settled in Amberg before 1294, when the first documentation can be found. Shortly after, in 1298, thirteen of the town Jews died during the [[Rindfleisch massacres]].<ref name=jvl>{{cite web|url=https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/judaica/ejud_0002_0002_0_00951.html|title=Amberg|website=www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org|access-date=11 April 2018}}</ref> Nevertheless, in 1347 six families received permission to settle in Amberg and twenty years after, in 1367, a [[Yeshivah]] was opened in it, although the Jewish community was expelled from Amberg in 1403.<ref name = jvl /> Upon the expulsion, the [[synagogue]] was annexed to the nearby church.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1374-amberg|title=AMBERG - JewishEncyclopedia.com|website=jewishencyclopedia.com|access-date=11 April 2018}}</ref> Twelve Jews remained in town in 1942. The few survivors returned to the town after 1945, and a [[displaced persons camp]] named Amberg<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lamoth.info/index.php?p=digitallibrary/digitalcontent&id=467|title=RG-02.03.12, Sylvia Lowe, the form for identity card to the former Jewish inmates of Nazi concentration camps.pdf - Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust|website=lamoth.info}}</ref>-near the town-housed mostly [[Jewish]] refugees and survivors.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://collections.ushmm.org/search/catalog/pa1170155|title=Jewish men gather in a communal sukka in the Amberg displaced person's camp. - Collections Search - United States Holocaust Memorial Museum|website=collections.ushmm.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ushmm.org/online/hsv/source_view.php?SourceId=31242|title=Holocaust Survivors and Victims Database -- Records of the Displaced persons camps and centers in Germany, 1945-52. Entries include lists of Holocaust survivors for Amberg, Berchtesgaden,|website=www.ushmm.org|access-date=11 April 2018}}</ref> As a result of immigration from the former [[USSR]] to [[Germany]], the [[Jewish]] population grew to about 275 in 2003.<ref name="jvl"/> There is a synagogue in town.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mavensearch.com/synagogues/C3389Y41640RX|title=Synagogues in Amberg - Shuls in Amberg - Jewish Temples in Amberg|website=www.mavensearch.com}}</ref>

== Subdistricts ==
Amberg has 25 sub-districts, which include its surrounding villages:
{{colbegin|colwidth=12em}}
* Amberg
* Atzlricht
* Bergsteig
* Bernricht
* Eglsee
* Fiederhof
* Fuchsstein
* Gailoh
* Gewerbegebiet-Gailoh
* Gewerbegebiet-West
* Gärbershof
* Karmensölden
* Kemnathermühl
* Kleinraigering
* Krumbach
* Lengenloh
* Luitpoldhöhe
* Neubernricht
* Neumühle
* Neuricht
* Oberammersricht
* Raigering
* Schäflohe
* Schweighof
* Speckmannshof
* Unterammersricht{{colend}}

==Lord mayors==
* 1866–1892: Vincent König
* 1892–1907: Josef Heldmann
* 1907–1913: Georg Schön
* 1913–1933: Eduard Klug, [[Bavarian People's Party|BVP]]
* 1933: Otto Saugel (temporary)
* 1933–1945: Josef Filbig, [[Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei|NSDAP]]
* 1945–1946: Christian Endemann, [[Sozialdemokratische Partei Deutschlands|SPD]]
* 1946: Eduard Klug
* 1946: Christian Endemann, SPD 
* 1946–1952: Michael Lotter, [[Christlich-Soziale Union in Bayern|CSU]]
* 1952–1958: Josef Filbig, Deutsche Gemeinschaft (Deutschland) 
* 1958–1970: Wolf Steininger, CSU
* 1970–1990: Franz Prechtl, CSU
* 1990–2014: [[Wolfgang Dandorfer]], CSU
* since 2014: Michael Cerny, CSU

==Population==
{{historical populations|align=none|cols=3
| 1400 | 2720 
| 1450 | 2980 
| 1500 | 3180 
| 1550 | 3730 
| 1600 | 4280 
| 1630 | 4910 
| 1648 | 3274 
| 1700 | 3720 
| 1713 | 1900 
| 1750 | 4537 
| 1800 | 5763 
| 1840 | 11793 
| 1859 | 12312 
| 1871 | 13005 
| 1880 | 14583 
| 1890 | 19126 
| 1900 | 22039 
| 1910 | 25242 
| 1919 | 26009 
| 1925 | 28387 
| 1939 | 31775
| 1946 | 36795
| 1950 | 37920
| 1960 | 41849
| 1970 | 41345
| 1980 | 44264
| 1990 | 43111
| 2000 | 43794
| 2010 | 43755
| 2014 | 41535
| source = <ref>Quelle: [http://www.amberg.de/fileadmin/Inhalte/Rathaus/Statistik/Jahrbuch/2010-2011_Jahrbuch.pdf Statistisches Jahrbuch der Stadt Amberg] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131018065542/http://amberg.de/fileadmin/Inhalte/Rathaus/Statistik/Jahrbuch/2010-2011_Jahrbuch.pdf |date=18 October 2013 }} (PDF; 1,9&nbsp;MB), 13. Ausgabe, 2010/2011, S. 28.</ref> 
}}

== Sights ==
A defining feature of the town is the ''Stadtbrille'' (literally: town spectacles)–a bridge, originally a part of the town fortifications, whose arches reflected on the river waters resemble a pair of spectacles.

Other tourist attractions in Amberg:

* Market Square, which contains the Gothic town hall (built in 1358) and the late-Gothic parish church of St. Martin
* The [[Electoral Palace, Amberg|New Palace]], the former residence of the [[Count palatine|counts of the Rhenish Palatinate]], built at the beginning of the 15th century and renovated in 1603
[[File:Amberg Wahrzeichen Stadtbrille.JPG|thumb|Stadtbrille, April 2007]]
[[File:Amberg Marktplatz-Rathaus.jpg|thumb|right|The Gothic town hall, July 2004]]
* A well-preserved section of the medieval walls and gates
* The baroque [[Franciscan]] monastery on the Hill of Our Lady Help of Christians (Germ. ''Mariahilfberg'') above the town; the hill was given its name during the [[bubonic plague]] in the [[Thirty Years' War]] in 1633/4 when the locals beseeched the Virgin Mary to rid them of the plague
* The '[[Eh'häusl|Little Wedding House]]' (local German dialect ''Eh’häusl''), claimed by town authorities to be the world's smallest hotel; built in 1728, the 2 metre wide hotel was 'sold' to young couples for one night to circumvent laws prohibiting marriages between poor people<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amberg.de/index.php?id=3768?&print=1&no_cache=1|title=Eh'häusl|language=de|publisher=Official Amberg website|access-date=18 February 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120212124625/http://www.amberg.de/index.php?id=3768%3F&print=1&no_cache=1|archive-date=12 February 2012|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* The town museum (Stadtmuseum Amberg) has exhibits on life and industry in Amberg, the history of clothing and works of [[Michael Mathias Prechtl]] and houses travelling exhibitions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.stadtmuseum-amberg.de/ |title=Stadtmuseum Amberg |publisher=Stadtmuseum Amberg |language=de }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.mittelbayerische.de/index.cfm?pid=10057&pk=543206 |title=Neuer Museumsführer |newspaper=[[Mittelbayerische Zeitung]] |date=14 April 2010 |access-date=24 June 2013 |language=de}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.mittelbayerische.de/index.cfm?pid=10057&pk=316684 |title=Amberger Stadtmuseum zeigt die älteste Apotheke Bayerns |newspaper=Mittelbayerische Zeitung |date=11 September 2008 |access-date=24 June 2013 |language=de}}</ref>
* Air Museum (Luftmuseum), opened in 2006<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.luftmuseum.de/en/ausstellungen/aktuell/ |title=Aktuell |publisher=Luftmuseum Amberg |access-date=25 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130712020703/http://www.luftmuseum.de/en/ausstellungen/aktuell/ |archive-date=12 July 2013 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ramasuri.de/29150/nachrichten/nachrichten-amberg/amberger-luftmuseum-wieder-geoeffnet/ |title=Amberger Luftmuseum wieder geöffnet |publisher=Radio Ramasuri | date=14 November 2011 |access-date=24 June 2013 |language=de}}</ref>

==Twin towns – sister cities==
{{See also|List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany}}
Amberg is [[Sister city|twinned]] with:<ref>{{cite web|title=Partnerstädte|url=https://amberg.de/leben/partnerstaedte/|website=amberg.de|publisher=Amberg|language=de|access-date=4 November 2020|archive-date=30 June 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190630141022/http://amberg.de/leben/partnerstaedte/|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Partnerstädte|url=https://amberg.de/rathaus/netzwerke/partnerstaedte|website=amberg.de|publisher=Amberg|language=de|access-date=8 August 2024}}</ref>
{{div col|colwidth=20em}}
*{{flagicon|GER}} [[Bad Bergzabern]], Germany
*{{flagicon|POL}} [[Gmina Bystrzyca Kłodzka|Bystrzyca Kłodzka]], Poland
*{{flagicon|ITA}} [[Desenzano del Garda]], Italy
*{{flagicon|FRA}} [[Périgueux]], France
*{{flagicon|GRC}} [[Trikala]], Greece
*{{flagicon|CZE}} [[Ústí nad Orlicí]], Czech Republic
*{{flagicon|SLO}} [[Kranj]], Slovenia
{{div col end}}

== Notable people ==<!-- Please respect alphabetical order -->
* [[Karl Addicks]] (born 1950), politician (FDP), Member of Bundestag 2004–2009
* [[Hans Aumeier]] (1906–1948), Nazi [[Schutzstaffel|SS officer]] in a leading position in several [[concentration camp]]s executed for war crimes
* [[Hans Baumann (writer)|Hans Baumann]] (1914–1988), elementary school teacher, poet, song composer, Children's Book Author, Nazi official
* [[Alexander Bugera]] (born 1978), football player
* [[Sara Däbritz]] (born 1995), German football player ([[FC Bayern Munich (women)|Bayern Munich]], [[Germany women's national football team|Germany national team]])
* [[Daniel Ernemann]] (born 1976), football player
* [[Heiner Fleischmann]] (1914–1963), motorcycle racer (mainly on NSU)
* [[Fritz Hilpert]] (born 1956), musician (Kraftwerk)
* [[Michael Huber (priest)|Michael Huber]] (1841–1911), priest
* [[Theodor Kaes]] (1852–1913), German neurologist, was a native of Amberg
* [[Barbara Meier]] (born 1986), German fashion model
* [[Franz Stigler]] (1915–2008), German [[World War II]] [[Luftwaffe]] fighter ace, 45 aerial victories, member of [[Jagdgeschwader 27]], and [[Jagdverband 44]]. Known best for [[Charlie Brown and Franz Stigler incident]].
* [[Kathrine Switzer]] (born 1947), first woman to run the [[Boston Marathon]], was born to American parents in Amberg

== Sport ==
* [[FC Amberg]], football team

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category}}
*{{Official website}}

{{Germany districts Bavaria}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Amberg| ]]
[[Category:Urban districts of Bavaria]]
[[Category:Upper Palatinate]]