INGOLSTADT, a fortified town in the government district of Upper Bavaria, is situated on the left bank of the Danube at its junction with the Schutter, 50 miles north of Munich by rail. As the chief town of the district it is the seat of the usual authorities. The town is well built. The principal buildings are the old castle of the dukes of Bavaria-Ingolstadt, now used as an arsenal ; the remains of the earliest Jesuits' college in Germany, founded in 1555 ; the former university buildings, now a school ; the theatre ; the large Gothic church of Our Lady, founded in 1425, with two massive towers, and the grave of Dr Eck, Luther's opponent ; the Franciscan convent and nunnery ; and several other churches and hospitals. Ingolstadt possesses several technical and other schools. In 1.472 a university was founded in the town by Duke Louis the Rich, which at the end of the 16th century was attended by 4000 students. In 1800 it was removed to Landshut, whence it was finally transferred to Munich in 1826. The industries of Ingolstadt comprise brewing, wax-bleaching, and potash-boiling ; there is also trade in vegetables. Tire station, an important junction 1 miles distant, is connected with the town by tramway. The population in 1875 was 14,485.

Ingolstadt, known as Aureatum or Clerysopolis, was a royal ia the beginning of the 9th century, and only received its city charter about 1312, from the emperor Louis of Bavaria. After that date it gradually grew in importance, and became the capital of a mediaeval dukedom which merged finally in that of Bavaria-Munich. The fortifications, erected in 1539, were put to the test during the contests of the Smalkaldian League, and in the Thirty Years War. Gustavus Adolphus besieged Ingolstadt in 1632, when Tilly, to whom there is a monument in the church, lay mortally wounded within the walls. In the war of the Spanish succession it was besieged by the margrave of Baden in 1704. In 1743 it was surrendered by the French to the Austrians, and in 1500, after a three months' siege, the French under General Moreau took the town, and destroyed the fortifications. These, however, were rebuilt on a much larger scale under King Louis I. ; and since 1834 Ingolstadt has ranked as a fortress of the first class. In 1872 even more important fortifications were begun, which include tetes-de-pont with round towers of massive masonry, and the Ikkluit Tilly on the right bank of the river.