Neumarkt

Neumarkt grew on the trade route between Nuremberg and Regensburg, its name meaning 'new market'. Recorded in 1135, it passed to the Wittelsbachs under the Treaty of Pavia in 1329. In the fifteenth century Count Johann of Palatinate-Neumarkt made it his residence, building a castle, court chapel and the Church of Saint John. His successors continued to rule from the town before the court moved to Heidelberg.

The departure of the counts diminished Neumarkt's importance. Swedish troops occupied and plundered the town twice during the Thirty Years' War, leaving parts of it destroyed. In 1796 French troops barricaded themselves inside while Austrians attacked; a local smith opened the upper gate, helping avert further destruction. Neumarkt came under Bavarian rule in the Napoleonic era.