Bayreuth

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Bayreuth

Bayreuth ^* is a town in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Frankish Alb and the Fichtelgebirge. It is the capital of Upper Franconia. Population: 74,392 (2004).

History

The city is believed to have been founded by the Counts of Andechs on an unknown date in the Middle Ages and was first mentioned in 1194. The city centre still possesses the typical structure of a Bavarian street market: the settlement is grouped around a road widening into a square; the Town Hall was located in the middle. The church stood apart from it and on a small hill stood the castle. Some sixty years later the town (at that time a tiny village) became subordinate to the Hohenzollern state, and when this state was divided, Bayreuth belonged to the county of Kulmbach. The city suffered several plagues and wars until in 1430 it was destroyed in the course of the Hussite Wars. In 1602 there was another plague, and fires damaged it in 1605 and 1621.

The turning point of the town's history was in 1603, when Christian the margrave of Kulmbach (in the meantime also called Brandenburg-Kulmbach) decided to move his residence to Bayreuth. The develepmont of the new capital stagnated due to the Thirty Years' War, but afterwards many famous baroque buildings were added to the town. Christian died in 1655. His grand-son Christian Ernst, who ruled from 1661 until 1712, was an educated and well-travelled man, whose tutor had been the statesman Joachim Friedrich von Blumenthal. He had the fountain of the Margraves and an equestral monument, placed at first in the courtyard of the Old Castle and now in the middle of the square in front of the New Castle, built. In 1701 the town of St. Georgen was founded, later absorbed into Bayreuth in 1811.

Bayreuth's Golden Age was that during the reign of margravine Wilhelmine, the favourite sister of Frederic the Great. Several parks and castles were built which constitute much of Bayreuth's present appearance, together with the Opera of the Margraves, the most beautiful extant baroque theatre in Europe.

In 1769 the last margrave of Brandenburg-Kulmbach (or Brandenburg-Bayreuth) died without an heir, and the state was annexed by the neighbouring Ansbach. Bayreuth was no longer a state capital. Soon after it became Prussian (1792), French (1806) and finally Bavarian (1810).

In 1804, the author Jean Paul Richter moved from Coburg to Bayreuth until his death in 1825.

In 1872 the composer Richard Wagner moved to Bayreuth. For the connection between Wagner and the town, see below.

Later Bayreuth became a scene of the Nazi ideology. Nazi leaders often visited the Wagner festival and tried to turn Bayreuth into a Nazi model town. It was one of several cities in which town planning was administered directly from Berlin, due to Hitler's special interest in the town and in the festival.

Bayreuth was heavily bombed at the end of World War II. One third of the city was destroyed and about a thousand people died.

After the war Bayreuth tried to part with its ill-fated past. The Wagner festival started again in 1951. In 1975 the University of Bayreuth was founded and largely contributed to the further growth of the town. In 1999 the world gliding championship took place at Bayreuth municipal airport.

Richard Wagner and Bayreuth

The city is best known for its association with the composer Richard Wagner, who lived in Bayreuth from 1872 until his death in 1883. Wagner's villa, "Wahnfried", was constructed in Bayreuth under the sponsorship of King Ludwig II of Bavaria, and has been converted into a Wagner Museum. To the north of Bayreuth is the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, an opera house specially constructed for the performance of Wagner's operas. The premieres of the final two works of Wagner's Ring cycle, the Cycle as a whole, and of Parsifal took place here.

Every summer, Wagner's operas are performed at the Festspielhaus during the month-long Richard Wagner Festival, commonly known as the Bayreuth Festival. The Festival draws thousands of attendees each year, and has consistently been sold-out since its inauguration in 1876. Currently, waiting lists for tickets can stretch for up to 10 years or even much more.

Sights

New Castle, seat of the margraves from 1753 on
Bayreuth Festspielhaus
Richard Wagner Museum (Villa Wahnfried)
Jean-Paul Museum
Margrave's Opera House, one of the finest Baroque theatres of Europe, built in the 18th century
The German Masonic Museum
The Goldener Anker hotel
baroque parks
- park of Eremitage and Old Castle, former seat of the margraves, outside the inner town
- castle and park of Fantaisie, in the vicinity of Bayreuth
- park Sanspareil, about 30 km west of Bayreuth

City partnerships:

Famous Citizens

Friederike Sophie Wilhelmine, Princess of Prussia 1709-1758
Jean Paul, writer 1763-1825
Franz Liszt, composer 1811-1886
Richard Wagner, composer 1813-1883
German industrial/gothic band Das Ich

Economy and traffic

Bayreuth has an airport.

External links

Official website (German)
Tourist website (German, English, French)
University of Bayreuth website (German)

Towns in Bavaria