Ingolstadt

Ingolstadt (; Austro-Bavarian: ) is an independent city on the Danube, in Upper Bavaria, with 142,308 inhabitants (as of 31 December 2023). Around half a million people live in the metropolitan area. Ingolstadt is the second largest city in Upper Bavaria after Munich and the fifth largest city in Bavaria after Munich, Nuremberg, Augsburg and Regensburg. The city passed the mark of 100,000 inhabitants in 1989 and has since been one of the major cities in Germany. After Regensburg, Ingolstadt is the second largest German city on the Danube.

The city was first mentioned in 806. In the late Middle Ages, the city was one of the capitals of the Bavarian duchies alongside Munich, Landshut and Straubing, which is reflected in the architecture. On 13 March 1472 Ingolstadt became the seat of the first university in Bavaria, which later distinguished itself as the center of the Counter-Reformation. The freethinking Illuminati order was also founded here in 1776. The city was also a Bavarian state fortress for more than 400 years. The historic old town has been preserved.