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Dinkelsbühl | |
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 View of the old town from the church tower | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Dinkelsbühl within Ansbach district  | |
 Location of Dinkelsbühl | |
  Dinkelsbühl  Dinkelsbühl | |
| Coordinates:49°4′15″N10°19′10″E / 49.07083°N 10.31944°E /49.07083; 10.31944 | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Bavaria |
| District | Ansbach |
| Government | |
| • Lord mayor(2020–26) | Dr. Christoph Hammer[1] (CSU) |
| Area | |
• Total | 75.16 km2 (29.02 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 442 m (1,450 ft) |
| Population (2023-12-31)[2] | |
• Total | 12,272 |
| • Density | 163.3/km2 (422.9/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 91550 |
| Dialling codes | 09851 |
| Vehicle registration | AN, DKB, FEU, ROT |
| Website | dinkelsbuehl.de |
Dinkelsbühl (German pronunciation:[ˈdɪŋkl̩sˌbyːl]ⓘ) is a historic town in CentralFranconia, a region of Germany that is now part of the state ofBavaria, in southern Germany. Dinkelsbühl is a formerfree imperial city of theHoly Roman Empire. In local government terms, Dinkelsbühl lies near the western edge of theLandkreis (or local government district) ofAnsbach, north ofAalen.
Dinkelsbühl lies on the northern part of theRomantic Road, and is one of three particularly striking historic towns on the northern part of the route, the others beingRothenburg ob der Tauber andNördlingen. These three, along withBerching, are today the only towns in Germany that still have completely intactcity walls. All four are in Bavaria.
The town lies on the southern edge of the Franconian Heights and on theRiver Wörnitz, which rises in the town ofSchillingsfürst. The population in 2013 was 11,315.[3]
Fortified byEmperor Henry V, in 1305 Dinkelsbühl received the same municipal rights asUlm, and in 1351 was raised to the position of aFree Imperial City. Its municipal code, theDinkelsbühler Recht, published in 1536, and revised in 1738, contained a very extensive collection of public and private laws.[4]
During the ProtestantReformation, Dinkelsbühl was notable for being – eventually along only withRavensburg,Augsburg andBiberach an der Riß – a Bi-confessional (i.e. roughly equal numbers of Roman Catholics and Protestant citizens, with equal rights) Imperial City (German:Paritätische Reichsstadt) where thePeace of Westphalia caused the establishment of a joint Catholic–Protestant government and administrative system, with equality offices (German:Gleichberechtigung) and a precise and equal distribution between Catholic and Protestant civic officials. This status ended in 1802, when these cities were annexed by theKingdom of Bavaria.
Around 1534 the majority of the population of Dinkelsbühl became Protestant.[5]
Every summer Dinkelsbühl celebrates the city's surrender to Swedish troops in 1632 during theThirty Years' War. This reenactment is played out by many of the town's residents. It features an array of Swedish soldiers attacking the city gate and children dressed in traditional garb coming to witness the event. Paper cones full of chocolate and candy are given as gifts to children.This historical event is called the "Kinderzeche" and can in some aspects be compared with the "Meistertrunk" in Rothenburg. The name is derived from the two German words for "child" and "the bill for food and drink in an inn", and is called such because of the legend that a child saved the town from massacre by the Swedes during the surrender. The legend tells that when the Swedish army besieged the town, a teenage girl took the children to the Swedish general to beg for mercy. The Swedish general had recently lost his young son to illness, and a boy who approached him so closely resembled his own son that he decided to spare the town.
The filmThe Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm (1962) was filmed on location in Dinkelsbühl.
TheWerner Herzog filmThe Enigma of Kasper Hauser (German:Jeder für sich und Gott gegen alle; trans.Every Man for Himself and God Against All) premiered on 1 November 1974 in Dinkelsbühl, where it was originally filmed.
Dinkelsbühl is still surrounded by the old medieval walls and towers.There exist a lot of outstanding attractions.The image of this town is very typical for a German town of the 15th to early 17th centuries.
One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in thepublic domain: Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Dinkelsbühl".Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 8 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 277.
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Towns and municipalities inAnsbach (district) | ||
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