Furth im Wald (in Czech Brod nad Lesy, resp. Bavorský Brod) is a town in Bavaria, Germany, near the Czech border in the Bavarian Forest, 16 kilometres (9.9 miles) northeast of Cham, and 17 kilometres (11 miles) southwest of Domažlice. The city is known as Drachenstadt (Dragon City), a reference to Furth im Wald's annual Drachenstich (Slaying of the Dragon) play. The Drachenstich, originally part of a Corpus Christi procession, was first mentioned in 1590. As one of the oldest folk plays in the German language, each year actors re-enact the legend of Saint George slaying the dragon.[3] In 2010, the play became notable for using the world's largest walking robot, an animatronic dragon called Tradinno.
Furth im Wald | |
|---|---|
 | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Furth im Wald within Cham district  | |
  Furth im Wald  Furth im Wald | |
| Coordinates: 49°18′35″N 12°50′24″E / 49.30972°N 12.84000°E | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Bavaria |
| Admin. region | Upper Palatinate |
| District | Cham |
| Government | |
| • Mayor (2020–26) | Sandro Bauer[1] (CSU) |
| Area | |
• Total | 67.00 km2 (25.87 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 407 m (1,335 ft) |
| Population (2023-12-31)[2] | |
• Total | 8,998 |
| • Density | 130/km2 (350/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 93437 |
| Dialling codes | 0 99 73 |
| Vehicle registration | CHA |
| Website | www.furth.de |
Twin towns
editFurth im Wald is twinned with:
Ludres, France
Furth bei Göttweig, Austria
Domažlice, Czech Republic
Gallery
editPhotographs from the Drachenstich[4]
Sons and daughters of the town
edit
- Aloys Fischer (1880–1937), educator
- Helmut Sturm (1932–2008), painter, member of the group SPUR, from 1980 to 1982 guest professor at the Berlin University of the Arts
- Willibald Utz (1893–1954), officer, most recently Generalleutnant in the Second World War
References
edit- ^ Liste der ersten Bürgermeister/Oberbürgermeister in kreisangehörigen Gemeinden, Bayerisches Landesamt für Statistik, 15 July 2021.
- ^ Genesis Online-Datenbank des Bayerischen Landesamtes für Statistik Tabelle 12411-003r Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes: Gemeinden, Stichtag (Einwohnerzahlen auf Grundlage des Zensus 2011).
- ^ "Drachenstich Festspiele". Drachenstich-Festspiele e.V. Archived from the original on 2016-10-03. Retrieved 2016-10-02.
- ^ Bohnenstengel, A. (2002): Bayern, Page 132–139
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