EICHSTADT, or EICUSTITT, originally Eistet, a town in the Bavarian district of Franconia, is situated in a deep valley on the Altmiihl, about 35 miles south of Nuremberg. It is inclosed by walls, and has a very antique appearance. It is the seat of a bishop, and since 1838 of the appeal court of Middle Franconia. The making of stoneware, iron smelting, brewing, and weaving constitute its chief industries. It possesses a good many educational institutions. Among its principal buildings are the palace occupied by the dukes of Leuchtenberg, with its beautiful park, and containing a celebrated Brazilian cabinet ; the town-house ; the cathedral, containing some beautiful paintings and windows, and the grave of Wilibald, the first bishop and founder of the town ; and the church of St Walpurgis, under whose altar the bones of the saint of that name are said to rest. Near the town is the famous stronghold Wilibaldsburg, occupying the site of a Roman castle, and built for a bishop's residence by St Wilibald in 740.

Eichstddt was founded by St Wilibald in 745. The bones of St Walpurgis were brought to the town in 871, and from that time it became a great resort of pilgrims. Through the death of Count von Hirschberg in 1305, the bishopric became one of the richest foundations of Germany. It was secularized in 1802, became a principality of E. Bavaria in the same year, and still in the same year passed into the possession of Duke Ferdinand of Tuscany, who again transferred it to Bavaria in 1805. In 1817 it was assigned to the duke of Leuchtenberg. It lost its principality in 1854. The population in 1875 was 7136.