Neustadt an der Aisch (officially: Neustadt a.d. Aisch) is a small town of around 13,000 inhabitants in the northern part of Bavaria (Germany), within the Franconian administrative region Middle Franconia. It is the district town of the district Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim.
History
In 741, for the first time, Riedfeld, the town's root settlement, was documented as the German king's court. However, in 1285 the town's name is documented for the first time as "Nivenstadt".
At the end of the 12th century, Neustadt became part of the sovereign territory of the burgraves of Nuremberg, the dynasty of the Hohenzollern. The House of Hohenzollern developed Neustadt into an economical, political and also cultural centre of its region, mainly because of its favourable geographical position in the middle of the main trade route between Würzburg and Nuremberg.
At the end of the 15th century, Margrave Albrecht Achilles and Kurfürstin (Electress) Anna completed Neustadt as a stronghold.
In 1553, in the Second Margrave War, the town was burnt down. Afterwards, a long lasting phase of construction and extension began. This phase ended with the destructions of the Thirty Years' War. The rebuilding after that war lasted several hundred of years.
From 1791 through to 1806, Neustadt was part of the sovereign territory of Prussia, then was military governed by the French, and in 1810 became finally part of the Kingdom of Bavaria. The political importance of Neustadt faded thereafter, but trade and industry kept growing due to the deployment of a garrison of the Uhlans, and in 1865 due to the opening of its station on the Nuremberg–Würzburg Railway.
In 1934, the town was the scene of an organized boycott against all Jewish merchants, and violence broke out against Christian Germans who patronized stores owned by Jews. Ultimately all of the Jews of Neustadt were expelled, many relocating to Nuremberg, and the Jewish synagogue was razed to the ground.
During the 20th century, traditional handicrafts (like brush-makers and makers of drawing instruments) almost completely vanished. With the resettlement of expellees from Sudetenland, new handicraft industries were imported: construction of musical instruments and the textile industry flourished.
From 1969 through to 1980, in total 16 Ortsteile were incorporated. In the course of an administrative reorganization (Gebietsreform), Neustadt became capital of the newly formed district "Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim".
In the 1980s and 1990s, the infrastructure was improved on a grand scale: a beltway was built, and a pedestrian area around the market place was created; the cultural program was extended, and the old town was rehabilitated; new residential zones and business parks were established.
Gallery
Subdivisions
Birkenfeld (including Weiherhof) Diebach Eggensee (including Chausseehaus) Herrnneuses (incl. Oberstrahlbach) Kleinerlbach Obernesselbach Unterschweinach Oberschweinach (incl. Stöckach) Schauerheim (incl. Hasenlohe and Virnsbergerhaag) Schellert Unternesselbach
Notable people
Born in Neustadt
Elias Levita (1469 in Neustadt an der Aisch or Ipsheim; 1549 in Venice; in fact Eliyahu ben Asher Ha-Levi), translator, humanist, Hebrew grammarian, Yiddish writer. Johannes Gramann (also: Poliander, 1487–1541 in Königsberg), Protestant Reformer and poet of chants (born 1499; died c. 1564 in Sevilla), merchant, in cooperation with Jacob and Hans Cromberger founder of the Deutscher Amerikahandel (1647–1717), master builder of several castles in ernestinian principalities of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia (e.g. Schloss Ettersburg near Weimar), in the principalities Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and Arnstadt, in Schlitz, and in Tann (Rhön); builder of the residence of Goethe in Weimar, of the Friedenskirche (church) in Jena and the Kreuzkirche (church) in Eisenach (1815–1864), composer of the Bayerischer Defiliermarsch Werner Dollinger (1918–2008), German politician (CSU), member of the Bundestag (1953–1990), treasury secretary (1962–1966), minister of postal services and telecommunication (1966–1969), minister of transport (1982–1987) Armin Schwarz (born 1963), German rally driver Julian Gressel (born 1993), football player Niklas Stark (born 1995), football player
Honorary citizens
Paul von Hindenburg (1847–1934), Generalfeldmarschall and President of the German Reich, since 30 March 1933 (1874-1959), Oberregierungsrat and Obermedizinalrat, documentarist of his country, since 26 March 1954 Werner Dollinger (1918–2008), German politician (CSU), since 10 October 1978