Ingolstadt

Ingolstadt stands on the Danube in the heart of Bavaria. From 1392 to 1447 it was the capital of its own duchy, Bavaria-Ingolstadt. Duke Ludwig VII ordered the construction of the New Castle and the Church of Our Lady, whose Gothic forms show the influence of French architecture. The city later became both a university town and a stronghold of Bavarian defence.

Founded in 1472, the University of Ingolstadt became an influential centre of Catholic learning during the Reformation, with Johann Eck among its scholars. In 1516 Duke Wilhelm IV signed the Bavarian beer purity ordinance here. During the Thirty Years' War the city withstood a Swedish siege in 1632; the imperial commander Tilly died inside its walls from wounds received in an earlier battle. After a French invasion in 1799 the fortress was demolished, and the university moved to Landshut.