Coburg

Location:

Approximately 25 kilometres north of Bad Staffelstein, bordering Thuringia, Coburg can be found.

History:

The first formal document was dated in 1056 and Coburg received the town privileges in 1331.
Being the residence and capital of the royalty of Saxonia-Coburg for the first time in the 16th century, the town lost its privileges after about 50 years, but regained them in the mid-eighteenth century, thanks to the dukes of Saxonia-Coburg and Gotha.
The monarchy ended in 1918 with the recession of Duke Carl Eduard. In addition, the citizens voted against the union with Thuringa in the first free plebiscite and Coburg has been a part of Bavaria since 1920.
During the National Socialism, Coburg was a centre of it, which shows the fact that Coburg was the first German town to declare Adolf Hitler as a honorary citizen.
After World War II Coburg was, like the rest of Bavaria, an area occupied by the Americans but an area adjacent to the Soviet zone.
Today, Coburg has many twinned towns, some are Garden City in the USA, Niort in France and Cobourg in Canada.

Curiosities:

The inner city has a large pedestrian area, which is great for shopping or just to take a stroll around and to sightsee.
If you go to Coburg by car, you can leave it at one of the parking lots near the city centre.
The inner city in winter is particularly beautiful, when it is decorated for the annual Christmas fair, from the first Advent Sunday until the 23th of December.
It is worth visiting the regional theatre and the well-preserved historic city, where you can still find pieces of the ancient city wall.
There is also the possibility to explore the city with a tour-guide. Information can be found at the tourist-information centre.

The “Veste Coburg” rises 170 metres above the town. It is the biggest preserved castle in Germany – it was first officially mentioned in 1225 – and is also known as the “Fränkische Krone” (Franconian Crown). Today it houses the former ducal art collections.

Furthermore there are different castles: the “Veste Coburg“, the “Ehrenburg“, and the “Bürglaß-Schlösschen“, which is currently used as a register office, the castle „Hohenfels“, which is now used as a trade school and the castle “Ketschendorf“, a youth hostel today.
Coburg offers nice parks, too. The most important ones are the “Hofgarten“ below the “Veste“ and the “Rosengarten“ which is located near the congress hall and was especially built for the German “Rosenschau“ (exhibition of roses). Today it offers exquisite exhibitions as well as aviaries with exotic birds.
Prestigious museums in Coburg are, amongst others, the art collection of the “Veste“ and the museum of natural history, which can be found in the “Hofgarten“.

At the foot of the fortress lies the castle park with a monument of Duke Ernst I in the middle and the former royal castle “Ehrenburg“. The castle was built in the middle of the 16th century and was expanded into a renaissance castle through the years. The “Ehrenburg“ is the home to the regional library of Coburg and is currently a fortress as well as a museum.

Events:

THE event in Coburg is undeniably the “Samba-Festival“, which is the biggest one of this kind outside Brazil. It takes place annually in July and attracts around 200.000 people.
Samba-Dancing groups from different countries create a moving atmosphere.
The “HUK-Open-Air-Sommer“ with several concerts by various music groups and solo-artists attract many people in August.
In a wide open area, called the “Anger“, a lot of different events take place, like the “Frühlingsfest“ (spring festival) and the „Vogelschießen“ at the beginning of August.

Culinary:

The best-known specialties of Coburg are the “Coburger Bratwurst” (fried sausage), the regional dish of Coburg, the “Coburger Schmätzchen”, a delicacy made of honey dough and the “Coburger Klöße” (dumplings), affectionately called "Matschklöße” (mud dumplings), because of their look.

Tip:

If you would like to try the traditional food of Coburg, why not combine it with a visit in a beer garden?
There, the young and the old meet to finish their day and relax with a typical Franconian beer and a delicious plate of cold cuts from the regional butchers, as long as the sun allows it.

Sources:
http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coburg
http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Datei:Coburg-Veste4.jpg&filetimestamp=20110209200110 (Bild der Veste Coburg)
http://de.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Datei:Coburg-Ehrenburg1.jpg&filetimestamp=20060520081949 (Bild der Ehrenburg)
http://www.coburg-tourist.de/
http://www.coburg.de/
text written by Janina Fischer, P-Seminar10/12 „Werbung für Bad Staffelstein“ am MGL
translated by Friederike Gräf, P-Seminar10/12 „Werbung für Bad Staffelstein“ am MGL