'Landshut' is a city in
Bavaria in the south-east of
Germany both belonging to Eastern and Southern Bavaria. Situated on the banks of the
Isar river Landshut acts as capital of
Lower Bavaria, one of the seven
administrative regions of the
Free State of Bavaria. In addition to this it is also seat of the
surrounding district. With a population of over 60,000 inhabitants, Landshut is Lower Bavaria's biggest city followed by
Straubing and
Passau as well as Eastern Bavaria's second biggest city after
Regensburg.
Owing to its characteristical coat of arms, the city is also often called "Three Helmets City" (
German: ''Dreihelmenstadt'').
Due to the good infrastructural accessibility near the metropolis of
Munich and the
Franz Josef Strauss International Airport halfway between the two cities on the banks of the Isar boasts Landshut East Bavaria's lowest unemployment rate (ca 4.2% in October 2006), which is much lower than the Bavarian average (ca 5.8%).
Geography
Settings
Landshut lies in the center of
Lower Bavaria. It's part of the
Alpine Foreland. The river
Isar runs throught the city center. Landshut is about 45 miles northeast of
Munich.
Climate
History
The city of Landshut and Trausnitz castle were founded in 1204 by
Duke Louis I. Already in 1231 Landshut became a
Wittelsbach residence and in 1255 when the duchy of Bavaria was split in two Landshut became also the capital of
Lower Bavaria. Duke
Henry XVI was the first of the three famous rich dukes, who reigned Bayern-Landshut in the 15th century. The wedding of duke
George with the Polish princess royal
Jadwiga Jagiellon in 1475 was celebrated in Landshut with one of the most splendid festivals of the Middle Age (called "
Landshuter hochzeit"). After his death and a short war of succession Lower-Bavaria Landshut was reunited with Bavaria-
Munich.
Louis X, Duke of Bavaria built the Landshut Residence 1537-1543 after his visit in Italy. Louis bulit the first
Renaissance palace constructed north of the Alps after the
Palazzo Te in
Mantua.
William V, Duke of Bavaria ordered to upgrade
Trausnitz Castle from a gothic fortification into a renaissance complex when he lived in Landshut as crown prince for ten years until 1579. Afterwards Landshut lost most of its importance until the
Ingolstadt University was moved to Landshut in
1800. But already in
1826 the university was transferred to Munich.
During
World War II, a subcamp of
Dachau concentration camp was located in the city to provide
slave labour to local industry.
[1] Since the opening of the
Munich airport close to Landshut in
1992 the city has become an attractive business location.

The Cathedral of St. Martin with its bell tower.
Main sights and culture
The city is of national importance because of its predominantly
Gothic architecture within the historic city center, especially
Trausnitz Castle and the
Church of Saint Martin featuring the world's tallest brick-tower. It is also known for a festival celebrated every four years called the
Landshuter Hochzeit, commemorating the
1475 marriage of
George of Bavaria and
Jadwiga Jagiellon.
Theatres
★ Stadttheater (city theatre)
★ ''Kleines Theater''
★
Theater Nikola
Cinemas
★
Kinoptikum -
Programmkino [1]
★
Kinopolis Landshut -
Multiplexkino [2]
★ Burgtheater/Kühlhauskino
Museums
★ Skulpturenmuseum im Hofberg (Sculptural Museum in Hofberg)
Venues
★
Eisstadion am Gutenbergweg - Indoor
Ice hockey arena, mainly used by the
Landshut Cannibals
★
Sparkassen-Arena - Mainly used for concerts and fairs
Businesses
★
BMW
★
Draexlmaier
★
Deutsche Telekom
★
ebmpapst
★
Endor AG
★
Renesas (formerly
Hitachi)
★
Schott Glasa
★
T.D.T. Transfer Data Test GmbH
★
Josef Urzinger GmbH - Textile Mietdienste
★
Vishay
There are also two nuclear power plants located 14km away from Landshut,
Isar I and
Isar II.
Twinnings
★
Elgin, Moray,
Scotland, since
1956
★
Compiègne,
France, since
1962
★
Ried im Innkreis,
Austria, since
1974
★
Schio,
Italy, since
1981
★
Sibiu,
Romania, since
2002
People
Famous citizens
★ Rudy Ratzinger, the sole musician of .
★
Martin Stosch -
DSDS Season 4 contestent was born in Landshut.
Honorary citizens
★
Hans Futterer
★
Hans Leinberger
★
Roman Herzog
★
Erich Kühnhackl
★
Ludwig Andreas Feuerbach
★
Spitzlberger
External links
★ http://www.landshut.de - Official website
★ In German:
★
★ http://www.fh-landshut.de/
★
★
kleines Theater Landshut
★
★
Theater Nikola
★
★
Stadttheater Landshut (City Theatre)
★
★
EVL bzw. Cannibals traditionsreicher Eishokey Verein
★ 'Map and aerial photos'
★
★
Street map from Mapquest or
Google
★
★
Aerial photograph from Microsoft Terraserver