Place:Fürth, Fürth, Mittelfranken, Bayern, Germany

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source: Family History Library Catalog

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Fürth (; East Franconian: ; ) is a city in northern Bavaria, Germany, in the administrative division (Regierungsbezirk) of Middle Franconia. It is now contiguous with the larger city of Nuremberg, the centres of the two cities being only apart.

Fürth is one of 23 "major centres" in Bavaria. Fürth, Nuremberg, Erlangen and some smaller towns form the "Middle Franconian Conurbation", which is one of the 11 German metropolitan regions.

Fürth celebrated its thousand year anniversary in 2007, its first mention being on 1 November 1007.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Founded as a Franconian settlement in the mid-8th century AD, the first historical mention of Fürth was in a document dated 1 November 1007, in which the Emperor Heinrich II donated his property in Fürth to the newly created Bishopric of Bamberg. The name "Fürth" derives from the German word for "ford", as the first settlements originated around a ford. In the following years, Fürth was granted market privileges, but these were later lost to the neighbouring Nuremberg, under Heinrich III. From 1062 onward, Fürth was again permitted to have a market, but by that time Nuremberg was already the more important town.

In the following centuries, the town was under varying authority, involving the Bishopric of Bamberg, the Principality of Ansbach and the City of Nuremberg. For a long time, the character of the settlement remained largely agricultural, and in 1600 the population was probably still only between 1000 and 2000.

In the Thirty Years War, the village was almost completely destroyed by fire, in military actions leading up to the September 1632 Battle of Fürth.

In 1835, the first German railway was opened between Nuremberg and Fürth.

Throughout the Cold War, Fürth had a significant NATO presence, especially the U.S. Army, due to its proximity to both the East German and Czechoslovak borders.

Expansion

In the course of time, a number of municipalities or other administrative divisions were integrated into the urban district of Fürth:

• 1 January 1899: the western part of the municipality of Höfen, including Weikershof (to the south of the Schwabacher Straße)
• 1 January 1900: the municipality of Poppenreuth (to the east of the historic centre of the city, on the far side of the river Pegnitz)
• 1 January 1901: the municipality of Dambach (to the west of the current Südstadt (South Town), as well as Unterfürberg and Oberfürberg
• 1 January 1918: Atzenhof (to the north-west, on the right bank of the River Zenn between Unterfarrnbach and Vach)
• 1 January 1918: the municipality of Unterfarrnbach (to the west, on the bank of the river Farrnbach)
• 3 December 1923: the municipality of Burgfarrnbach (to the north-west, on the far side of the canal, not contiguous with Fürth proper)
• 1 July 1927: the municipality of Ronhof, and Kronach
• 1 July 1972: the municipality of Sack, including Bislohe, which is north of the Knoblauchsland and is not separately listed in official documents.
• 1 July 1972: the municipality of Stadeln^[1]
• 1 July 1972: the municipality of Vach^[1] (to the north of Fürth, north of the river Zenn and west of river Regnitz
• 1 July 1972: Herboldshof and Steinach, previously parts of the municipality of Boxdorf^[1]

Population development

In the Middle Ages and early Renaissance, the population of Fürth grew slowly, owing to the numerous wars, epidemics and famines. In the Thirty Years War, the town lost about half its population. When Croatian soldiers set fire to Fürth in 1634, it burned for several days, and was almost completely destroyed. At the end of the war, the population was a mere 800. In 1685, Reformed Christians from France, or Huguenots, settled in Fürth. By 1700 the restoration of the town had been completed, and the population rose to about 6000.

With the beginning of industrialization in the 19th century, the population began to increase rapidly. In 1800 Fürth had a population of 12,000; by 1895 it had multiplied fourfold to 47,000. In 1950 the population of the town exceeded 100,000, making it a Großstadt. At the end of 2005, as recorded by the Bavarian Statistical Office (Landesamt für Statistik und Datenverarbeitung), the population (based on principal residence) was 113,076, a historical record. This makes Fürth the second largest town in Middle Franconia, after Nuremberg, and the seventh largest town in Bavaria. As of 2015, the proportion of foreign nationals in Fürth is about 18 percent.

The following table shows the population of Fürth over time. Up to 1818 the figures are mainly estimates; after that they are mostly based on census results (¹) or official projections from the appropriate statistical offices or the town administration itself.

¹ Census result

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