Neustadt an der Aisch

Neustadt an der Aisch (officially: Neustadt a.d.Aisch) is a small town in the northern part of Bavaria (Germany), within the Franconian administrative region Middle Franconia, and it is the capital of the German district Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim. The abbreviation on German car number plates is NEA. As of 30 June 2005 it has about 12,431 inhabitants. The current Mayor is Klaus Meier.

History
In 741, for the first time, Riedfeld, the town's root settlement, was documented as the German king's court. However, it lasted until 1285, when the town's name is documented for the first time as "Nivenstadt".

At the end of the 12th century, Neustadt became part of the sovereign territory of the burgraves of Nuremberg, the dynasty of the Hohenzollern. The House of the Hohenzollern developed Neustadt into an economical, political and also cultural centre of its region, mainly because of its favourable geographical position in the middle of the main trade route between Würzburg and Nuremberg.

At the end of the 15th century, Margrave Albrecht Achilles and Kurfürstin (Electress) Anna completed Neustadt as a stronghold.

In 1553, in the Second Margrave War, the town was burnt down. Afterwards, a long lasting phase of construction and extension began. This phase ended with the subversions of the Thirty Years' War. The rebuilding lasted several hundred of years.

From 1791 through to 1806, Neustadt was part of the sovereign territory of Prussia, then was military governed by the French, and in 1810 became finally part of the kingdom of Bavaria. The political importance of Neustadt faded thereafter, but trade and industry kept stimulated due to the deployment of a garrison of the Uhlans, and in 1865 due to the opening of its station on the Nuremberg–Würzburg Railway.

In 1934, the town was the scene of an organized boycott against all Jewish merchants, and violence broke out against Christian Germans who patronized stores owned by Jews. Ultimately all of the Jews of Neustadt were expelled, many relocating to Nuremberg, and the Jewish synagogue was razed to the ground.

During the 20th century, with the industrial revolution, traditional handicrafts (like brush-makers and makers of drawing instruments) almost completely vanished. With the resettlement of expellees from Sudetenland, new handicraft industries were imported: construction of musical instruments and the textile industry flourished.

From 1969 through to 1980, in total 16 town districts were incorporated. In the course of a district's reform, Neustadt became capital of the newly formed German district Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim.

In the 1980s and 1990s, the infrastructure was embellished on a grand scale: a beltway was built, and a pedestrian area around the market place was established; the cultural program was extended, and the picturesque Old Town was rehabilitated; new residential zones and business parks could be established.

Town districts

 * Birkenfeld (including Weiherhof)
 * Diebach
 * Eggensee (including Chausseehaus)
 * Herrnneuses (incl. Oberstrahlbach)
 * Kleinerlbach
 * Obernesselbach
 * Unterschweinach
 * Oberschweinach (incl. Stöckach)
 * Schauerheim (incl. Hasenlohe and Virnsbergerhaag)
 * Schellert
 * Unternesselbach

Daughters and sons of Neustadt an de Aisch

 * Elias Levita (* 13. Februar 1469 in Neustadt an der Aisch oder Ipsheim; † 28 January 1549 in Venice; in fact Eliyahu ben Asher Ha-Levi), translator, humanist, Hebrew grammarian, Yiddish writer
 * Johannes Gramann (also: Poliander, * 5 Juli 1487; † 29 April 1541 in Königsberg), Protestant Reformer and poet of chants
 * Lazarus Nürnberger (* 1499; † ca. 1564 in Sevilla), merchant, in cooperation with Jacob and Hans Cromberger founder of the Deutschen Amerikahandel (German trade with America)
 * Johann Mützel (* 1647; † 1717), master builder of several castles in ernestinian principalities of Saxony-Anhalt and Thuringia (e.g. castle Ettersburg near Weimar), in the principalities Schwarzburg-Sondershausen and Arnstadt, in Schlitz, and in Tann (Rhön); builder of the residence of Goethe in Weimar, of the Friedenskirche (church) in Jena and the Kreuzkirche (church) in Eisenach
 * Adolf Scherzer (* 1815; † 1864), composer of the bavarian defile-march
 * Dr. Werner Dollinger (* 10 October 1918; † 3 January 2008), German politician, member of the Bundestag (1953–1990), treasury secretary (1962–1966), minister of postal services and telecommunication (1966–1969), minister of transport (1982–1987)
 * Armin Schwarz (* 16 July 1963), German rally driver.

Honorary Citizens

 * Georg Vogel (* 8 October 1861; † 9 November 1933), mayor 1898-1912, delegate of the Bavarian parliament, since 14. April 1909
 * Paul von Hindenburg (* 2. Oktober 1847; † 2. August 1934), president of the German Reich, since 30 March 1933
 * Andreas Schildknecht (* 7 December 1864; † 4 November 1944), mayor 1913-1917, since 25 August 1936
 * Leonhard Bankel (* 18 May 1883; † 10 July 1974), mayor 1921-1945 and 1948–1960, since 19 April 1951
 * Dr. med. Max Döllner (* 31 March 1874; † 7 January 1959), Oberregierungsrat and Obermedizinalrat, documentarist of his country, since 26. März 1954
 * Georg Selz (* 19. Dezember 1900; † 4. Juli 1968), contractor, Honorary Citizen via the incorporation of the district of Birkenfeld, since 27 November 1965
 * Dr. Werner Dollinger (* 10 October 1918; † 3 January 2008), German politician, since 10 October 1978
 * Dr. Wolfgang Mück (* 9. Oktober 1939), historian, mayor 1990-2002, since 10 October 2009.

Persons associated with Neustadt an der Aisch

 * Albrecht Achilles (* 9 November 1414 in Tangermünde; † 11. March 1486 in Frankfurt/Main), margrave and Elector
 * Kaspar Loener (* 1493 in Markt Erlbach; † 1546), Protestant Reformer in Hof
 * Peter Kolb (* 10 October 1675 in Dörflas, today district of Marktredwitz; † 31. December 1726 in Neustadt an der Aisch), teacher and ethnologist
 * Johann Christoph Georg Schiedmayer (* 1740; † 1820), master joiner, builder of organs and other music instruments
 * Johann Leonhard Städtler (also: Stättler; * 1758; † 1827), painter, copperplate engraver and restorer
 * Jean Paul (* 21 March 1763 in Wunsiedel; † 14 November 1825 in Bayreuth; in fact Johann Paul Friedrich Richter), author
 * Dr. Johann Georg Veit Engelhardt (* 1791; † 1855), theologist (University of Erlangen) and writer
 * Dekan Friedrich Bauer (* 1803; † 1873), member of the Frankfurt Parliament, delegate of the Bavarian parliament
 * Hans W. Geißendörfer (* 6 April 1941 in Augsburg), film director, author and producer
 * Prof. Dr. Guido Knopp (* 29 January 1948 in Treysa, today's town district of Schwalmstadt), historian, author and journalist
 * Lissy Gröner (* 31. May 1954 in Langenfeld), German politician (SPD), MdEP (since 1989)