Starnberg (German pronunciation:[ˈʃtaʁnbɛʁk]ⓘ) is atown inBavaria, Germany, some 30 kilometres (19 mi) southwest ofMunich. It is at the north end ofLake Starnberg, in the heart of the "Five Lakes Country",[3] and serves as capital of thedistrict of Starnberg. Recording a disposable per-capita income of €26,120 in 2007, Starnberg regained its status as the wealthiest town in Germany.
The town was first mentioned in 1226 under the name ofAheim am Würmsee. Würmsee (Lake Würm, afterthe river of the same name) was the official name of Lake Starnberg until 1962.
The founding of Starnberg Castle is attributed to theCounts of Andechs and dates back to the 11th century. As a defensive structure, the castle is probably older due to its strategic location. Starnberg Castle was first mentioned in documents in 1244. After the death of the last Andechser (1248), theWittelsbach family, dukes of Bavaria, took over the castle.[4] The dukes then integrated the Starnberg area into their administrative and judicial system. From around 1346 it was the seat of its own court.
In 1541, under DukeWilhelm IV, the medieval castle was demolished and a residential and defensive building was redesigned in theRenaissance style. Under DukeAlbert V, the conversion into a pleasure palace and summer residence began. In 1643, the Swedes stormed the castle during theThirty Years War and partially destroyed it. Under ElectorFerdinand Maria, the castle was an important summer residence, and from 1663 the magnificent shipBucentaur, based on the Venetian model of the Doges of Venice, floated on Lake Starnberg.
Starnberg Castle and the fleet of magnificent ships, led by theBucentaurus, a copy of the ship of the Doges of Venice (around 1700)
In 1734, a large part of the now baroque palace was destroyed by fire, and the remaining buildings slowly fell into disrepair. From 1803 the castle was used as an office building for the regional court, the rent office and the forestry office. From 1969 to 1972 the castle was completely gutted and rebuilt, ever since used as a tax office.[5]
At the beginning of the 19th century, wealthy families discovered the beauty of the landscape around Lake Starnberg and had the first villas built on the lakeshore as summer residences. Steam shipping was the real impetus for the village's rapid development in the second half of the 19th century. A railway line has connected Starnberg withMunich since 1854. The opportunity to work in the city and live by the lake led to a real construction boom in the coming years. The city villas and country houses that professors, lawyers, artists and merchants now had built were no longer just intended to serve as summer homes, they were the main residence of the families.
After 1871, the steamer “Maximilian” carried a million passengers in three years. In 1872 the steamship “Ludwig” was put into operation. He was followed by the steamers “Bavaria” (1878), “Wittelsbach” (1886) and Luitpold (1890). The inns that had been built to cater for the excursionists were soon no longer sufficient, as more and more guests not only wanted to go on a country trip, but also wanted to spend their vacation in Starnberg. Entertainment was provided by sailing regattas, promenade concerts and, above all, a luxuriously equipped bathing establishment. By the turn of the century, in addition to guesthouses, large, elegant hotels had been built, which gave the place the flair of a seaside resort due to their appearance and the high-ranking public who stayed there. In 1890, sewerage began and in 1897 the community's first power station went into operation - attracting more people willing to build, whose villas and parks on the surrounding hills completely changed the landscape. In 1900, the once 65 properties had become 384 in which 4,531 people lived.
Since an actual city center was never able to develop due to the short and intensive history of development from a small village to a city (1912), the demolition of many old buildings that became necessary and the construction of modern buildings changed the face of Starnberg particularly lastingly. The district town of Starnberg has developed from a tourist resort into a diversified business location and the cultural center of the surroundingFive Lakes Region. The core city (excluding the incorporated parts of the community) has now reached a population of just over 11,000.
Oskar Maria Graf (1894–1967), the socially conscious writer, was born in Aufkirchen near Starnberg in 1894. He fought for theBavarian Soviet Republic (orRäterepublik) inMunich in 1919. He fled his homeland in 1938 with hisJewish wife for theU.S.A., whenNational Socialism gripped Germany. Graf was never fully able to adjust to life in the United States or, more to the point, away from his homeland, Bavaria.
Jürgen Habermas (born 1929), philosopher and sociologist who has long lived and worked in Starnberg as a director of the Max-Planck-Institut zur Erforschung der Lebensbedingungen der wissenschaftlich-technischen Welt
Johannes Heesters (1903–2011), actor; lived in Starnberg until his death
King Ludwig II of Bavaria (1845–1886), mysteriously drowned in Lake Starnberg at the small town of Berg nearby, on the evening of 13 June 1886
Gustav Meyrink (1868–1932), The Austrian writer was a resident of Starnberg from 1911 until his death in 1932 and is buried in the local cemetery. Among his best remembered works isThe Golem, which inspired the 1920 classic German Expressionist filmThe Golem: How He Came into the World
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