Ingolstadt

I was born near Ingolstadt; this is my home. Today we live on the periphery of a city park in the centre of Ingolstadt.

Ingolstadt has around 142,000 inhabitants and is in the centre of Bavaria. First mentioned in 806, Ingolstadt was declared a city in 1250. Today's University of Munich was founded in Ingolstadt in 1472. Today there are again three academic institutions: the University of Applied Sciences, the Technical University, and the Catholic University of Eichstaett.

Prominent representatives of the counter-reformation were the theologian Johann Eck (1486-1543) and the jesuit Peter Canisius (1521-1597). The "Fuchsia" is named after the medical practitioner and botanist Leonhart Fuchs (1501-1566). The author Marieluise Fleißer (1901-1974) wrote about the petit bourgeois life in Ingolstadt at the time. Horst Seehofer is currently well known.

A small part of Ingolstadt's old town centre is still surrounded by the 14th century walls with the Cross Gate. Landmarks include the Liebfrauenmuenster (1425-1500), the Old Palace as a former royal residence (1420), the baroque church Maria de Victoria and the Old Anatomy, which today houses the German Museum of Medical History. In the 19th century, Ingolstadt was developed into a Bavarian state fortress and garrison town. Several reduits, forts and fortifications remain as evidence of this today.

Today's "boom city" Ingolstadt is characterised by a network of railways, motorways, oil pipelines and the Audi car factory. The company with the four rings was relocated from its founding factory in Zwickau, Saxony, to Ingolstadt after the World War II. Today, more than 36,000 employees work here. Following the involvement in the diesel scandal, Audi AG is trying to reposition itself and is now focusing increasingly on the premium segment.

The local elections in March 2020 brought a sensation when the CSU party - after 48 years - had to abandon the office of Lord Mayor to the SPD party candidate Dr Scharpf.