Landshut, Germany

 

Landshut is an independent city in Germany in south-eastern Bavaria. It is the seat of the government of Lower Bavaria and the Lower Bavaria district of the same name, as well as the administrative seat of the Landshut district. With 75,457 inhabitants, Landshut is the largest city in Lower Bavaria before Passau and the second largest city in East Bavaria after Regensburg. In a Bavaria-wide comparison of population figures, it ranks 10th after Bamberg (as of December 31, 2022). The regional center on the Isar is the north-eastern focal point of the Munich metropolitan region.

The place “Landeshuata” (“Landeshut” for “guard and protection of the country”) was mentioned in documents as early as 1150, and in 1204 the town and Trausnitz Castle were officially founded by the Bavarian Duke Ludwig I. In the late Middle Ages, the city was one of the capitals of the Bavarian duchies along with Munich, Straubing and Ingolstadt, which is reflected in the architecture to this day. As the capital of the part-duchy of Bavaria-Landshut, the city experienced its heyday in the 14th and 15th centuries. The magnificent Landshut Wedding is a historical event in the city, at which the marriage of the Bavarian Duke George the Rich in 1475 to the Polish king's daughter Hedwig has been reenacted since 1903.

Landshut's valuable Gothic and Renaissance cityscape with many monuments and pre-industrial building ensembles is of great cultural and historical importance on a Central European scale. Landshut's old town is considered one of the most important and best-preserved historic city centers in Germany in terms of architectural culture and has already been nominated for World Heritage status. At 130 meters, the Gothic tower of the Martinskirche is the thirteenth tallest church tower and the tallest church tower made of brick in the world. The Stadtresidenz Landshut is one of the first Renaissance buildings north of the Alps.

After Landshut was home to the Ludwig Maximilian University from 1800 to 1826, Landshut has been a university town again since the Landshut University of Applied Sciences was founded in 1978. Landshut is one of the economically strongest and most affluent municipalities in Germany, the most important for the processing industry are the nearby BMW plant Landshut-Ergolding, the world market leader in ventilation and drive technology ebm-papst, the glass company Schott AG and the rusk manufacturer Brandt. The service sector is also important, with locations of the energy company E.ON, Sparkasse Landshut, Deutsche Telekom and other providers. With the Landshut trade fair, it is also a national trade fair location. Traditional breweries in the city are the Landshuter Brauhaus from 1493 and the C. Wittmann brewery from 1616.

 

Getting here

By plane
Munich Airport (IATA: MUC) is about 40 km from Landshut and can be easily reached via the A 92 motorway. There is also a bus service between the airport and the city, the so-called Airport Line. In modern coaches, it takes about 40 minutes to travel from the stop in the central area of the airport via the Moosburg-Nord, Landshut-Münchnerau, Landshut Hauptbahnhof stop to the Landshut Altstadt stop. Buses run every hour except late at night, with some buses only going to/from Central Station. The Moosburg-Nord stop is a request stop. When you're on the bus, tell the driver that he's stopping. If you want to get on, you have to call 0871/1436-2706 beforehand and register there. A single trip costs €10 for adults. There are cheaper tickets for families and frequent travelers.

Landshut also has an airfield (EDML) that can be used by aircraft up to 5.7 tons. This is located in the district of Ellermühle, almost 10 km west of the city centre

By train
Landshut main station (Bahnhofplatz 1) is located about 1.5km northwest of the historic old town. It is served daily by around 120 regional trains. There are regular connections to Freising, Ingolstadt, Munich, Nuremberg, Passau, Regensburg, Rosenheim and Salzburg. The important connection to Munich is served twice an hour by a regional express, which takes about 45 minutes to get to the state capital.

Landshut Süd station (Pettenkoferstraße 1) is located about 1.5 km south-west of the historic old town. It is approached every hour by regional trains that run between Landshut and Salzburg. The journey to Salzburg takes about two hours (with a 15-minute stopover in Mühldorf).

By bus
Landshut can usually be reached daily from the surrounding communities by a few regional bus connections (RBO).

In the street
Landshut is on the A 92, which has only been fully passable since 1988 and connects Munich with Deggendorf at the foot of the Bavarian Forest.

In addition, the following federal roads lead to/via Landshut:
B 11 Munich-Freising-Landshut
B 15 Regensburg-Landshut-Rosenheim
B 299 Mühldorf am Inn-Landshut-Neumarkt

The B 15 is to be completely rebuilt as a four-lane expressway. This construction has now been completed from the A 93 near Saalhaupt (approx. 15km south of Regensburg) to Ergoldsbach (approx. 20km north of Landshut) and will in future be used between the junctions Landshut-Essenbach and Wörth a.d. Isar meet the A92. In the long term, a continuation beyond Landshut is also planned. This so-called B 15 new should first cross the A 94 near Schwindegg (approx. 50 km east of Munich) and then flow into the A 8 near Rosenheim.

 

Travel around the city

city bus
Stadtwerke Landshut offers a very good bus network with 14 different lines (the city lines). The buses usually run every 30 minutes and stop very frequently. The main bus hubs are the main train station and the old town. Both are frequently served by almost all changing lines. It is generally not permitted to take bicycles with you.

A somewhat slimmed-down nighttime timetable with ten lines (the evening lines) also makes it possible to reach many destinations at a later hour. There are special timetables during the Dult (the regional folk festival) or the Landshut Wedding. Sometimes the passengers are slightly to heavily intoxicated at a later hour.

At peak times, five additional lines (the express lines) with fewer stops and changed routes run to relieve the cramped space situation in the city buses.

The 14 city lines in detail:
Line 1: Preisenberg/Kumhausen - Ländtorplatz/Stadttheater - Luitpoldstraße - Hauptbahnhof - Nordfriedhof - Altdorf/Kleinfeld
Line 2: Altstadt - Josef-Deimer-Tunnel - Ländtorplatz/Stadttheater - Luitpoldstraße - Klinikum - Hauptbahnhof - Industriegebiet - Ergolding
Line 3: Auloh - exhibition center - Niedermayerstraße - old town - Seligenthaler Straße - main station - Wolfgangsiedlung
Line 4: Ländtorplatz/Stadttheater - Klötzlmüllerstraße - Bannwallstraße - Querstraße - Löschbrand
Line 5: Old Town - Main Cemetery - Moniberg - Old Barracks (- Schweinbach)
Line 6: Auwaldsiedlung - Altstadt - Seligenthaler Straße - Hauptbahnhof - Wolfgangsiedlung - Altdorf - Eugenbach
Line 7: Mitterwöhr - old town - main cemetery - Hagrain - Hofberg - Achdorf - upper old town
Line 7A: Old town - main cemetery - Hagrain - Berggrub/JVA
Line 8: main station - settlement North Wolfgang - Altdorf - Eugenbach
Line 9: Altstadt - Seligenthaler Straße - Hauptbahnhof - Rennweg - Landshut Park - Münchnerau - Gündlkoferau
Line 10: Metzental - Klausenberg - Ländtorplatz/Stadttheater - Luitpoldstraße - Sportzentrum West/Protestant nursing home
Line 11: Piflaser Weg - Am Alten Viehmarkt/CCL - Seligenthaler Straße - Hauptbahnhof - Rupprechtstraße - Querstraße - Landshut Park
Line 12: Altstadt - Stethaimer Straße - Piflas - Ergolding
Line 14: Old Town - Niedermayerstraße - Exhibition Center - Gretlmühle - Wolfsteinerau/Frauenberg

The ten evening lines in detail:
Line 101: Main station - Luitpoldstraße - Ländtorplatz/Stadttheater - Achdorf - Kumhausen
Line 102: Altstadt - Josef-Deimer-Tunnel - Ländtorplatz/Stadttheater - Luitpoldstraße - Hauptbahnhof - industrial area (- Piflas) - Ergolding
Line 103: Wolfgangsiedlung - main station - Seligenthaler Straße - old town - Niedermayerstraße - exhibition center - Auloh (- Frauenberg)
Line 104: Central Station - Rupprechtstraße - Querstraße (- Bannwallstraße) - Klötzlmüllerstraße - Ländtorplatz/Stadttheater
Line 105: Central Station - Seligenthaler Strasse - Old Town - Main Cemetery - Moniberg - Niedermayerstrasse - Old Town
Line 106: Old Town - Am Alten Viehmarkt/CCL - Mitterwöhr - Auwaldsiedlung (- Exhibition Center - Schweinbach)
Line 107: Old Town - Main Cemetery - Hagrain - Hofberg - Achdorf - Josef-Deimer-Tunnel - Old Town
Line 108: Altstadt - Seligenthaler Straße - Hauptbahnhof - Wolfgangsiedlung - Altdorf - Eugenbach
Line 109: Am Alten Viehmarkt/CCL - Altstadt - Seligenthaler Straße - Hauptbahnhof - Oberndorfer Straße - Löschbrand - Münchnerau - Gündlkoferau - Münchnerau - Querstraße - Rupprechtstraße - Hauptbahnhof - Seligenthaler Straße - Am Alten Viehmarkt/CCL
Line 110: Ländtorplatz/Stadttheater - Klausenberg - Metzental - Südbahnhof - Ländtorplatz/Stadttheater

The 5 express lines in detail:
Line X2: Ergolding - Piflas - Hauptbahnhof
Line X3: Auloh - Exhibition Center - Auwaldsiedlung - Mitterwöhr - Seligenthaler Straße - Hauptbahnhof
Line X6: Eugenbach - Altdorf - Oberndorfer Straße - Hauptbahnhof
Line X10: Metzental - Klausenberg - Ländtorplatz/Stadttheater - Luitpoldstraße - Hauptbahnhof
Line X33: University - Exhibition Center - Niedermayerstraße - Seligenthaler Straße - Hauptbahnhof
The timetables for the individual lines can be downloaded in PDF format from the Stadtwerke website.

RBO
For longer distances, the route of the Verkehrsgesellschaft Regionalbus Ostbayern (RBO) is recommended. Most lines start from Landshut main station. During the Dult (the regional folk festival) or the Landshut Wedding, there are often special trips by private providers. Sometimes the passengers are slightly to heavily intoxicated at a later hour.

With the RBO buses, all communities in the Landkreis district (radius of 30 to 40 kilometers) as well as surrounding communities from the neighboring counties can be reached from Landshut. However, the RBO timetables are not regular-interval timetables, as the capacity utilization is too low. Usually only a few trips are offered daily.

Parking facilities
Long-term parking
Grieserwiese: on Wittstraße, approx. 1300 parking spaces, parking in the asphalted area near the city is subject to a charge (1€/day), in the gravel area free of charge, approx. 5 minutes on foot to the pedestrian zone (closed to the Dult)
Sparkassen-Arena (at the exhibition center): on Niedermayerstraße, approx. 800 free P+R parking spaces (with the city bus line 3 every 30 minutes to the old town)
Main station: on Oberndorfer Straße, 628 free commuter parking spaces

Short-term/day parkers
parking garages
Center/Mühleninsel: approx. 300 paid parking spaces (first 30 minutes free), open daily until 6 a.m. to midnight (Friday and Saturday until 2 a.m., Sunday from 8 a.m.), during the day €1.80 per hour, 5 minutes’ walk to the pedestrian zone
Freyung/Gestütstraße: 189 paid parking spaces, only open during the day, only open on Sundays for special events (Christmas market, Haferl market, Landshut wedding), €0.60 per hour, in the immediate vicinity of the judicial authorities and the tax office, 10 minutes' walk to the pedestrian zone
Karstadt-Oberpaur/Wittstraße: approx. 550 paid parking spaces, open 24 hours, max. €1.50 per hour (parking fee reimbursement for some shops in the city centre), 2 minutes' walk to the old town
City Center Landshut (CCL): on Podewilsstraße, approx. 600 paid parking spaces (first hour free during the day), open 24 hours, €2.00 per hour, directly in the CCL shopping center, 5 minutes' walk to the pedestrian zone
Sparkasse Landshut: on Bischof-Sailer-Platz, approx. 100 paid parking spaces, only open during the day, €1.60 per hour (discounted for Sparkasse Landshut customers), entry only with EC card, 5 minutes’ walk to the pedestrian zone

parking spaces
Neustadt: 209 paid parking spaces, €1.20 per hour, 3 minutes' walk to the pedestrian zone
Postplatz: 24 paid parking spaces, €1.20 per hour, 5 minutes' walk to the pedestrian zone
Mühlenstraße: approx. 70 paid parking spaces, 5 minutes' walk to the pedestrian zone
Trinity Square: approx. 75 paid parking spaces, €1.20 per hour, 2 minutes' walk to the pedestrian zone
Zeughaus/Ringelstecherwiese: on Wittstraße, paid parking, €1.20 per hour, 3 minutes' walk to the pedestrian zone (closed for the Landshut Wedding)

 

Sights

Churches

The Landshut parish and collegiate church of St. Martin and Kastulus (Basilica minor) is the main church in Landshut and is centrally located (and visible from afar) in the middle of the old town. It was started by master builder Hans Krumenauer around 1385 as a hall church and completed around 1500 with the significant participation of Hans von Burghausen. With its extraordinary, excessively vertical architecture, in which elements of high and late Gothic are combined, the Martinskirche is one of the most important monumental Gothic buildings in southern Germany. At 130.6 meters, the tower is the tallest brick tower in the world and the tallest church tower in Bavaria.

The Spitalkirche Heilig-Geist is a side church of the parish of St. Martin. It is located almost directly on the banks of the Great Isar and forms the end of the old town to the north. Directly opposite the church is the Heilig-Geist-Spital, which - founded in 1208 - has a close historical connection with the Heilig-Geist-Kirche. This was built in the Gothic style between 1407 and 1461 according to the plans of Hans von Burghausen. After the master builder died in 1432, Hans Stethaimer, after whom an important street in Landshut is named, took over the construction work. The tower was originally supposed to be even higher than the Martinsturm, but this was not realized by Stethaimer for cost reasons. In contrast to the architectural style, the interior was designed in the Baroque style (much later), but was replaced by neo-Gothic elements at the end of the 19th century. After extensive renovations in 1961 and 1998, very little of these remains today. Damage from the Second World War was also repaired during these renovation measures. Today, the Heilig-Geist-Kirche hosts exhibitions from time to time, since only a few services are held here.

The parish church of St. Jodok is the second oldest parish church in Landshut after the Martinskirche (founded in 1369). It was commissioned by Duke Heinrich XIV for the newly founded district of Freyung in 1338. The Jodokskirche was built in the Gothic style between the second half of the 14th century and the end of the 16th century. The construction work was set back decades by the fire of 1402, which led to a redesign of the architecture. The ceiling construction was redesigned and the two side chapels were built. The interior was completely redesigned in the mid-19th century, and the last renovation dates from the 1990s. At 77 meters, the tower of the Jodokskirche is the second highest tower in Landshut after that of the Martinskirche.

The parish church of St. Nikola also has a long history. As early as 1157, almost 50 years before Landshut was founded, St. Nikola was founded as a subsidiary church of the neighboring town of Ergolding. In 1232 the Nikolakirche was attached to the already existing Cistercian monastery in Seligenthal. Towards the end of the Second World War, the church was badly damaged and only provisionally restored. After the foundation, which was built on piles, threatened to collapse due to the ever-increasing water regulation, the structure had to be extensively renovated in the 1990s. The church was greatly enlarged by a new building.

The Church of the Holy Blood is a Gothic church worth seeing with two striking round towers in the Berg district and the oldest cemetery in Landshut.

 

Castles, palaces and castles

Trausnitz Castle is enthroned on the spur of a steep slope called Hofberg at an altitude of over 500m above sea level. NN directly above the old town of Landshut and the Isar and is next to the Martinskirche the most famous landmark of Landshut. The oldest parts of today's castle date back to 1204, the year the city of Landshut was founded. It was completed in 1235 when Emperor Friedrich II was staying in Landshut. He made the castle a center of imperial politics and Hohenstaufen rule. Then, until 1503, it was almost continuously the ducal seat of the (Lower) Bavarian Wittelsbach family. The castle, now known as Trausnitz (= don't dare), experienced a cultural boom again in the late 16th century by Duke Wilhelm V. However, the wall paintings created at that time were largely destroyed by the castle fire in 1961 (the fool's staircase in the so-called Italian extension has been preserved ). During the Thirty Years' War, on July 22, 1634, the town of Landshut and the castle were besieged by the Swedes. In the eastern part of the castle complex, a large breach was made in the castle wall, through which the Swedes could gain access. The gate located at this point is still called Schwedentor because of this incident.

The Landshut city residence is the first Renaissance palace north of the Alps. It is located opposite the town hall in the middle of the old town. It was built between 1536 and 1543 under Duke Ludwig X. First, the German building was built by regional master builders. On a trip to Italy, the duke then hired Italian builders, who extended the residence to include the Italian building at the back. The model for the Italian building was the villa-like, suburban Palazzo del Te in Mantua. The state rooms of the city residence with rich stucco work and fresco paintings are today a tourist attraction of the city. While the stucco work was done by Italians, the paintings on biblical, mythological and historical subjects are by artists such as Hermanus Posthumus, Hans Bocksberger the Elder and Ludwig Refinger. The façade on the city side was redesigned in a classical style when Count Palatine Wilhelm von Birkenfeld-Gelnhausen resided here from 1780-1799. The Birkenfeld rooms also date from this period. When Crown Prince Ludwig lived here during his studies in Landshut in the first decade of the 19th century, some rooms were given early wallpaper that has become rare today. Today the city residence houses a museum with changing exhibitions and a café.

 

More buildings

Town hall with town hall state hall, Altstadt 315
Former Jesuit College with Jesuit Church of St. Ignatius (now housing the police station), Neustadt 480
Former Dominican monastery with the Dominican church of St. Blasius (now housing the government of Lower Bavaria), Government Square 540
Former Franciscan monastery with St. Loretto church (today houses the museum in the cloister), Marienplatz 9
Cistercian monastery Seligenthal with kindergarten, elementary school, high school, etc., Bismarckplatz 14
St. Joseph Convent of the Ursulines with secondary school, Neustadt 535
Landtor, Landtorplatz

Museums
City residence (changing exhibitions), Altstadt 79
Heilig-Geist-Kirche (changing sacred exhibitions), Landshut 394
Sculpture Museum in the Hofberg (exhibition site of the famous Landshut sculptor Fritz Koenig, also an important collection of African art), Am Prantlgarten 1
Museum in the cloister (about Landshut art and cultural history), Marienplatz 9
Kunst- und Wunderkammer (artificial, natural, exotic and scientific exhibits collected by Duke Wilhelm V.) at Trausnitz Castle
KASIMIRmuseum (Landshut's first children's and youth museum), Alter Franziskanerplatz 484

streets and squares
Streets in the historic old town
old town
new town
theater street
country lane
Freying
government road
Holy Spirit Alley
At the old cattle market

Squares in the historic old town
Ländtorplatz (corner of Theaterstraße/Ländgasse)
Trinity Square (southern end of Old Town)
Postplatz (northern end of the old town)
Bischof-Sailer-Platz (corner of Neustadt/Heilig-Geist-Gasse/Am Alten Viehmarkt)
Government Square (forecourt of the former Dominican monastery)
Bismarckplatz (Forecourt of the Seligenthal Monastery)

Important arterial roads
Luitpoldstraße/Wittstraße (B 11 towards Munich)
Inner Munich Street/Outer Munich Street
Stethaimer Strasse/Johannisstrasse/Rennweg/Theodor-Heuss-Strasse
Podewilsstrasse/Schlachthofstrasse/Innere Regensburger Strasse/Outer Regensburger Strasse
Hofmark-Aich-Strasse/Neue Regensburger Strasse (B 15 towards Regensburg)
Zweibrückenstrasse/Seligenthaler Strasse/Altdorfer Strasse
Parkstrasse/Oberndorfer Strasse
Konrad-Adenauer-Straße (B 299 towards Neustadt a. d. Donau or towards Altötting)
Maximilianstrasse/Niedermayerstrasse/Wildbachstrasse/Am Lurzenhof
Neue Bergstrasse/Veldener Strasse (B 15 towards Rosenheim)

Other places in the city
Kupfereck (corner of Inner Münchener Straße/Neue Bergstraße/Wittstraße/Äußere Münchener Straße)
Kennedyplatz (corner of Seligenthaler Strasse/Stethaimerstrasse/Johannisstrasse
Karl-Eisenreich-Platz (corner of Stethaimerstraße/Äußere Regensburger Straße)
Bahnhofsplatz (at the main station)
St.-Wolfgangsplatz (on Oberndorfer Straße, forecourt of the parish church of St. Wolfgang)
Bayerwaldplatz (on Bayerwaldstraße)
Herzog-Georg-Platz/Ludwig-Bachmeier-Platz (on Niedermayerstraße, forecourt of the parish church of St. Peter and Paul)

Parks and green spaces
Albin-Lang-Stadtpark (green space on Luitpoldstraße; near the clinic and the municipal pool)
Mühleninsel recreation park (green space between the historic old town and the city park)
Ringelstecherwiese (green area on Wittstraße; Landshut Wedding venue; near Stadttheater and Ländtor)
Hofgarten (green space on the Hofberg; near Trausnitz Castle)
Flutmulde (canal running straight through Landshut, which is flooded at high tide and can otherwise be used as a local recreation area; near the main station)
Gretlmühle (526,000 m² local recreation area approx. 7km down the Isar from the city center; several bathing lakes and a windsurfing lake with a total water area of 290,000 m²; spacious sunbathing lawns and floodplain forest; ice skating or curling possible in winter)

 

What to do

Landshut wedding.
Every four years, the Landshut Wedding of 1475, one of the largest historical festivals in Europe, is celebrated here with the cry "Heaven Landshut, Thousand Landshut". The wedding of the Landshut duke's son George the Rich with the Polish king's daughter Hedwig is remembered. This was precisely documented and is honored in this three-week festival, as it united the Christian Occident at the time.
Around 2,400 performers, clad in true-to-the-original medieval costumes, can be seen bringing the wedding of yesteryear to life against the backdrop of the old capital of what was then the Duchy of Lower Bavaria. The event is attended by over 700,000 spectators every year.
Last performance (four-year cycle!) of the LaHo (as it is called by the locals) was in June/July 2017.

Carnival parade
Every two years (always in odd years) the Landshut carnival parade takes place on Shrove Sunday in the inner city area. The approx. 1.2 kilometer long route leads from Inner Münchener Straße via Dreifaltigkeitsplatz, Altstadt, Postplatz and Heilig-Geist-Gasse to Bischof-Sailer-Platz. The parade will then come to an end at various stands in the city centre.

Landshut Zinc Carnival
The Landshut zinc carnival in the old town takes place every year in the afternoon of Shrove Tuesday. The many red noses, after which this important event is named shortly before the finale, are particularly striking in the hustle and bustle.

Landshut Short Film Festival
The Landshut Short Film Festival, which was first held in the Dreihelmenstadt in 2000, takes place in March every year. All formats and genres with a playing time of up to 30 minutes are permitted. The event has the character of a competition: the best films of each genre are honored by a well-known jury. The springboard competition for young directors is particularly worth mentioning.

Strong Beer Festival
During Lent, the strong beer festival, which is now well known far beyond the city limits, takes place every year on the Emslander parking lot in the industrial area. The cabaret artist Christian Springer, who is well-known throughout Bavaria, will hold the obligatory Lenten sermon.

garden festival
Every year at the beginning of May, the Garden Festival takes place at Trausnitz Castle. The usually three-day event has a different motto every year. Around 150 exhibitors then present their contributions on the castle grounds, which attract around 30,000 visitors.

Landshut Court Music Days
The Landshut Court Music Days, which were first held in 1982, are also of national importance. The European Festival for Early Music, which takes place every two years, was the first festival of its kind in the 1980s. In the beginning, music from the Gothic, Renaissance and early Baroque periods was mainly performed, but more recently modern music has also been incorporated. The concept of the initially revolutionary music event has now been adopted by many other cities in a similar way. The Court Music Days take place annually in the period from mid to late May.

Africa Days
A weekend in July (in the LaHo years already in June) in Landshut is all about African culture. The fascinating way of life and culture of the people of Africa is brought closer to the visitors. It is about peaceful coexistence and exchange between different cultures.

Dult
The popular folk festival takes place twice a year - traditionally on the Grieserwiese near the historic old town. The spring festival attracts numerous visitors to the fairground and beer tent as early as mid/late April, the Bartlmädult (names after Bartolomäus, name day August 24) takes place at the end of August during the classic folk festival. The Dult actually consists of two events: the pleasure Dult as a classic folk festival and the market-like sales Dult.

Haferlmarkt
Every year on a weekend in September, the Landshuter Haferlmarkt takes place in Obere Freyung (in the immediate vicinity of Bavaria's only vocational school for ceramics). Garden ceramics, decoration, a diverse selection of traditional Kröninger ceramics, modern everyday ceramics, up to the unusual decorative pottery art, but also simple household pottery are offered to the visitor here.

Niederbayernschau
One of the largest trade fairs in Lower Bavaria takes place every two years (always in odd years) in the exhibition park in the east of the city. Exhibitors from all sectors of the regional and national economy can present themselves to a wide audience here. The Niederbayernschau usually opens its doors at the end of September/beginning of October.

Night of the Blue Wonders
Every year in November, the night of the blue wonders takes place, which allows the numerous visitors to listen to many bands in about 30 bars, pubs, clubs and restaurants for a single admission price.

Christmas pyramid
The unique pre-Christmas attraction in the immediate vicinity of the CCL opened in mid-November. Visitors can warm themselves up with a cup of mulled wine or punch every day from 10 a.m. to 11 p.m.

Christmas market
During the entire Advent season, the Christmas market takes place in the Freyung on the large forecourt of the Jodokskirche. It is considered one of the most beautiful in Bavaria, especially since the location is in the shadow of Trausnitz Castle.

Landshut Nativity Trail
The Landshut Nativity Scene Trail has been held parallel to the Christmas market since 1999. Numerous historic cribs are exhibited in churches and various public buildings throughout the inner city area.

 

Shopping

Landshut's old town and new town, the two shopping miles in the city center, offer a variety of shopping opportunities of all kinds. The old town is mostly a pedestrian zone, the new town is accessible by car.

Only a short walk from Neustadt - in the street Am Alten Viehmarkt - is the CCL (City Center Landshut), which opened in 2003 and which, in addition to many clothing and shoe shops, also has an Aldi discounter (the last remaining supermarket in the city centre), a multiplex cinema ( the Kinopolis, which has supplanted almost all other cinemas in Landshut), various options for a snack bar, a pub (Eisgruber's) and two nightclubs (skylight, mea:mea). In addition, the CCL provides sufficient parking spaces in its three-storey underground car park.

The industrial area in the north, which the city of Landshut shares with the neighboring market town of Ergolding, is also ideal for shopping. The hardware stores and supermarkets dominate here. The industrial area can be reached directly via the Landshut-Nord motorway exit and the B 299.

The west of the city was greatly upgraded in 2011 with the opening of Landshut Park in the Münchnerau. Previously, there were only a few shops in this part of the city, but now there are specialist stores from all the important shopping segments conveniently located at the Landshut-West motorway exit.

markets
Weekly market in the lower Neustadt, on Fridays
Schwaigermarkt in the old town, weekdays except Friday

 

History

Early settlement

Since the Neolithic Age more than 7000 years ago, people from the black earth area of the lower Danube have settled on the middle course of the Isar. Around 5500 BC it is proven that the first settlers reached the area in which the city of Landshut later developed. At the latest around 4700 B.C. a Stone Age settlement. Archaeological excavations from 2006, which mainly revealed potsherds and stone tools, suggest that this village was founded by settlers from Bohemia, whose influence was formative for over a hundred years before the local culture of the Oberlauterbach group was finally adopted. This settlement existed for about 300 years.

After this time there is no evidence of a possible settlement of the greater area for about 3500 years. A clay funerary urn is dated to 900 BC. dated. During this time, one of the largest settlements in Bavaria is said to have arisen in what is now the northern part of the city. Since 15 BC The densely forested hills of Lower Bavaria, which were sparsely populated at the time, belonged to the Roman Empire. While numerous fortresses and cities such as Regensburg (Latin: Castra Regina) or Passau (Latin: Batavia) were built on the state border, the Danube, this epoch in Landshut's prehistory passed relatively quietly in the area.

From 500 AD, the Bavarian people emerged from various tribes and local population. The first settlements in the region that still exist today, such as Ergolding and Eching, were founded and the land was cultivated. Up until the 12th century, most families made a living from farming to be self-sufficient. In the High Middle Ages, many people began to specialize in certain professional activities: trade and crafts developed. Representatives of these new professional groups primarily settled in geographically favorable locations in order to attract more customers. Because of its location on an important bridge over the Isar, the future Landshut was able to develop into an important city.

 

Founding of cities and divisions of land

Even before the city was founded, there was a military and guard settlement on the site of today's Trausnitz Castle, which is mentioned in documents around 1150 as Landeshuata, but according to excavations in 2002 it probably existed since the 10th century.

The burgeoning of trade in Bavaria fell under the reign of the second Bavarian duke from the House of Wittelsbach: Power disputes broke out between Duke Ludwig the Kelheimer, son of Otto I, who was enfeoffed with the Duchy of Bavaria by Friedrich Barbarossa, and the bishop of Regensburg . As a result, the duke had the episcopal castle "Strassbourg" to the north-east of today's Landshut destroyed, which was probably built to guard an important bridge.

Shortly thereafter, in 1204, the duke decided to found a town a few kilometers up the Isar and to bridge the river. The settlement, which has since been referred to as Landshut, was the first major city founding by Ludwig the Kelheimer in Lower Bavaria. The exact year in which the city and Trausnitz Castle were founded is only known from the annals of Abbot Hermann von Niederaltaich, which states: “Lvdwicus dux Bawariae castrum et oppidum in Lantshvt construere cepit” (English: “Ludwig, the Duke of Bavaria, began building the castle and town in Landshut”).

The place was made for a trading post: on the one hand, the Hofberg represented a good starting point for building a castle, on the other hand, it was particularly easy to cross the Isar here, since only two smaller bridges were built over the mill island instead of one large one had to. The location on the river in general, on which shipping was still being carried out at that time, and the contractual stipulation that all trade routes from Munich and the Alpine region in the direction of Regensburg and the Bavarian Forest should be bundled in Landshut, did the rest and left the young city quickly grow. Jews are mentioned as donors when the city was founded in 1204, but it is not clear from this source whether they were living in Landshut at that time.

In the first fifty years of its existence, Landshut consisted of three parts: the old town, for a long time one of the widest and most expansive streets in Bavaria, where many rich craftsmen settled, the castle high above the settlement and from 1232 the Seligenthal monastery, the by Ludmilla, widow of Ludwig the Kelheimer, who had been donated after his death. Many Bavarian dukes are buried in Seligenthal. The Jewish population has been documented since 1256, as they are named in a police and trade code that regulated the sale of meat for Jews.

Up until 1253, Landshut was the headquarters of the Wittelsbach family, making it the de facto capital of Bavaria. The ducal suburb had shifted in the previous period, first from Regensburg to Kelheim and then to Landshut. As early as 1255, however, the country was divided between the duke's two sons in Upper Bavaria with the capital Munich and Lower Bavaria with the capital Landshut. Almost a hundred years later, in 1340, Ludwig the Bavarian reunited the two parts of the country - this time with his headquarters in Munich. But only nine years later, the Bavarian territory was again divided: This time, the three areas of Straubing-Holland, Upper Bavaria and Lower Bavaria-Landshut were created under the sons of Ludwig the Bavarian. The latter area was ruled by Stephen II, who united two of the three parts of the country after the death of the Upper Bavarian ruler in 1363.

In these historically confused times, Landshut prospered so that the city walls had to be expanded several times: The first expansion took place around fifty years after the city was founded, when the existing street was supplemented by the "Lower Old Town". Towards the end of the 13th century, the entire area of today's new town was built parallel to the old town. A good twenty years later, the area around today's "Dreifaltigkeitsplatz" was also built on. Since 1340, the city walls have also been drawn around the new district of "Freyung". As the name already suggests, the establishment in this district was associated with large tax benefits; citizens were exempt from all tax payments for ten years. In addition, the city limits were shifted to the Isar and more city gates were built.

Ever since a town fire in 1342 destroyed more than a hundred buildings, newly built houses in Landshut have always been made of stone. As a result of the great fire, the construction of a new church became necessary. However, a new building was not started before 1380.

 

Landshut's heyday

With the death of Stephen II, his three sons divided the country again, which went down in history as the Bavarian division of 1392. This resulted in the three duchies of Bavaria-Munich, Bavaria-Ingolstadt and Bavaria-Landshut.

The first duke of the economically most successful part of the country, Bavaria-Landshut, was Frederick the Wise, who reigned from 1375 to 1393 and heralded the era of the rich Landshut dukes. During his reign, construction began on one of the most splendid buildings in Bavaria at the time: after a construction period of 120 years, the Martinskirche was not completed until around 1500. A few hundred meters to the northeast, the city afforded the Heilig-Geist-Kirche around the same time.

Friedrich's successors, all of whom were nicknamed "the rich", played a key role in the rise of Landshut. The first of the wealthy dukes, Henry XVI, ruled with an iron fist when he captured the Landshut town councilor at Trausnitz Castle, filling the state coffers by expropriating the 49 wealthiest townspeople. He was also extremely successful from a political point of view, because he was able to significantly expand the Landshut sphere of influence, fought successfully against his cousin, Ludwig VII of Bavaria-Ingolstadt, received parts of the "Straubinger Ländchen" in 1429 and almost all of Bavaria-Ingolstadt in 1447 this line died out. In the years that followed, Landshut, already a political center, also developed into an economic and cultural center of Bavaria and became richer than Bavaria-Munich, which is not least attributed to the trade in the "white gold", salt, which was found in cities within the Duchy, such as Bad Reichenhall, Kitzbühel, Rattenberg or Kufstein.

Henry's successor, Louis the Rich, who ruled the duchy from 1450, began systematically discriminating against Landshut's Jews, who were expelled if they did not allow themselves to be baptized and paid 30,000 guilders. The social highlight of the reign, which was characterized by tournaments and events, was undoubtedly the marriage of his son Georg to Hedwig of Poland (Polish Jadwiga) from the Jagiellonian dynasty in 1475, which is one of the most magnificent celebrations of the late Middle Ages and went down in the annals as the Landshut Wedding .

After the death of his father, George the Rich took over the office of duke four years later, in 1479. The medieval town expansion was completed under him. With the exception of the Mühleninsel district, all built-up areas of the city were surrounded by a massive wall. Overall, the city wall was breached in only eight places by gates. In addition to the Ländtor, there was also the Outer and Inner Isartor, near the Spitalerturm, on the eastern city limits the Kapuzinertor and the Hagrainertor, in the west the Münchnertor and the Hutertor granted admission. Numerous well-known artists, such as Hans Leinberger or Mair von Landshut, were active in the city at this time and enriched cultural life.

 

Secondary residence of the Wittelsbach family

With the death of George the Rich on December 1, 1503, the glorious period of the Gothic city came to an end. This left no male descendants from the marriage with Hedwig. As a result, under the existing Wittelsbach House Treaties, Bayern-Landshut was to fall entirely to Bayern-Munich. Shortly before his death, Georg tried in vain to appoint his son-in-law and nephew Ruprecht von der Pfalz as his successor. The Munich line entitled to inherit under Albrecht IV did not want to accept this breach of contract, which led to the Landshut War of Succession. In the period that followed, numerous settlements around Landshut were burned down before Ruprecht and his wife Elisabeth died in 1505, bringing the conflict to an end. As a result of an imperial arbitration, Bayern-Landshut was reunited with Bayern-Munich and the city lost political importance.

However, in 1507 the Rentamt Landshut was established, which meant that the city continued to be one of the most important administrative centers of the Duchy. When in 1514 Louis X claimed the dukeship of his brother Wilhelm IV, many feared that disputes would flare up again. At the Kaiser's insistence, Wilhelm agreed to a division of government powers. Ludwig was then assigned the administration of the Landshut and Straubing rent offices from Landshut. From 1537 to 1543 he had the city residence in Landshut built, the first Renaissance palace north of the Alps. When Ludwig died childless in 1545, Landshut once again lost its status as a residential city, but the tax office remained.

Hereditary Prince Wilhelm resided in his native town of Landshut for ten years until he took office in 1579. Under him, Friedrich Sustris expanded the Trausnitz into a Renaissance castle. A detailed city model that is exceptional worldwide, which Jakob Sandtner made around 1570 on behalf of Duke Albrecht V for Landshut and the four other Bavarian government cities of Munich, Ingolstadt, Straubing and Burghausen, also dates from this period. The city itself continued to lose political importance in the period that followed.

 

Descent to the Bavarian provincial town

In the decades that followed, the city's history was relatively quiet, far from any major unrest. In order to strengthen the position of the Catholic faith in Landshut, Duke Maximilian moved the collegiate monastery of St. Kastulus from Moosburg to Landshut and appointed St. Martin as the collegiate church. In Landshut, too, a large church building for the Jesuits was built in the course of the Counter-Reformation with St. Ignatius at the end of the Renaissance.

The Thirty Years' War did not pass Landshut by. A total of three times - in 1632, 1634 and 1648 - the city was visited by the Swedes. The invasion of July 22, 1634 in particular dealt the city a heavy blow and destroyed its relative prosperity. While the mayor and councilors capitulated early in 1632 when Swedish troops first arrived and finally agreed to the payment of 100,000 Reichsthaler and were thus able to avert greater devastation, the second time they met they went into battle. The Swedish troops, on their way to break the siege of Regensburg, took the castle and town by storm. In the slaughter that followed, the imperial general Johann von Aldringen died alongside numerous residents and defenders. After the storming, the Swedish generals Bernhard von Sachsen-Weimar and Gustaf Graf Horn allowed their armies to sack Landshut for eight days. The Swedes thus failed to immediately move on to Regensburg in order to relieve the city, which had been besieged by an imperial army for three months. The omission had serious consequences, because Regensburg had already capitulated on July 26, 1634, as it turned out when the withdrawal from Landshut was delayed on July 30. The long stay of the Swedes in Landshut - probably a result of the plundering of the city for several days - was a serious, momentous strategic mistake by the two Swedish generals, the cause of which has not yet been clarified. The Swedish commander of Regensburg, who later became Field Marshal Lars Kagg, was so bitter about the absence of the relief army that he did not want to exchange a word when he later met Bernhard von Sachsen-Weimar in Nuremberg. The surrender of Regensburg was the beginning of further serious military defeats for the Swedes. Both Swedish armies under Bernhard von Sachsen Weimar and Gustaf Horn were badly defeated by the two Imperial Bavarian armies, which had failed to fight them at Regensburg, after their hasty retreat from Bavaria to Württemberg in the Battle of Nördlingen, which had become necessary.

As if the exceptionally violent sacking of the city had not brought enough suffering to the city, plague and famine broke out within the city walls as a result of the incursion, and a third of the city's population at the time was wiped out. Finally, in 1648, the city once again fell into the hands of foreign occupiers. This time it was French troops led by Marshal Turenne and Swedish troops led by Field Marshal Carl Gustav Wrangel who exacted tribute from the city for another five months, albeit doing far less damage than the occupation fourteen years earlier. The history of the city, which had been on a steady downward slide in the previous centuries, had thus reached a low point.

In 1668 Elector Ferdinand Maria brought the Ursuline Sisters from Messkirch to Landshut to teach young women. In 1671, the elector himself laid the foundation stone for the Sankt Joseph monastery. After a long period of peace from 1648, Landshut was occupied by the Austrians in 1704, when Bavaria under Elector Maximilian II Emanuel had allied itself with France in the War of the Spanish Succession. In 1705 Landshut was briefly the seat of the Imperial Administration in Bavaria. In the 1740s, not even a hundred years after the great devastation of the Thirty Years' War, the city suffered again from the Austrian auxiliary troops during the War of the Austrian Succession, when Elector Karl Albrecht had himself elected Emperor against the resistance of the Habsburgs.

In 1771, the demolition of the hospital gate marked the beginning of the systematic destruction of a total of seven of the eight historic city gates. The façade of the city residence was redesigned in a classical style when Count Palatine Wilhelm von Birkenfeld-Gelnhausen resided in Landshut from 1780 to 1799.

 

City boom again

A trend-setting year for the history of Landshut was 1800. At that time, Elector Max IV Joseph relocated the oldest university in Bavaria, which had been founded in 1472 by Ludwig the Rich in Ingolstadt, to Landshut. The official justification for this move was the direct threat to well-fortified Ingolstadt from French troops. In reality, however, a move of the university had been considered for the first time at least twenty years earlier, since the fortress city on the Danube and the established provincialism interfered too much with university life there. However, because Max I Joseph, who rose to become king a short time later, rejected excessive centralization in Munich, the Dreihelmenstadt was considered as an alternative. Crown Prince Ludwig lived in the city residence for some time during his studies in the first decade of the 19th century.

Ultimately, however, Landshut also suffered from Napoleon's campaign, which entered the city on April 21, 1809. As a result of the clashes known as the "Battle of Landshut", three city gates and towers were so badly damaged that they had to be demolished. After a former Jesuit monastery had already disappeared from the townscape at the end of the 18th century, the other seven monasteries existed until 1802/1803. However, when secularization began in the early 19th century, all monasteries and the collegiate monastery were dissolved. In the forty years that followed, at least three ecclesiastical institutions were reopened: the first was the St. Joseph Convent of the Ursulines in 1826, followed almost ten years later - in 1835 to be precise - by the Seligenthal Convent of the Cistercians and the Franciscan Convent (erroneously referred to as the monastery of St. Peter and Paul).

In 1826, only a good quarter of a century after the university was relocated to the city, King Ludwig I was responsible for the fact that the almost 1,000-student tertiary educational institution known as the "reform university", which was one of the five largest in Germany, moved to the State capital Munich was relocated and still exists today as the Ludwig Maximilian University. In order to stop the subsequent loss of importance - at least partially - the Royal Bayer. 2nd Chevaulegers Regiment and the Kgl. Bayer. 4th Jäger Battalion and the Court of Appeal were relocated from Munich to the city and a lyceum (comparable to a university at the time) was set up. The latter was moved to Freising after just under ten years in 1834, from which the Philosophical-Theological University of Freising ultimately developed.

However, Landshut only played a subordinate role within Bavaria after the short "university era". With the administrative reorganization of Bavaria under Count von Montgelas, the city of Landshut was assigned to the Isar district, which was newly founded in 1806 and administered from Munich. This situation changed at least partially when the Unterdonaukreis was renamed Niederbayern in 1838, Landshut was assigned to this district and the district seat was moved from Passau to Landshut in 1839.

In 1858, Landshut was finally connected to the Bavarian railway network with a line in the direction of Munich. In 1874, the Munich Gate, the penultimate historic city gate of Landshut, was demolished to allow traffic to flow freely in the upper old town.

Between 1869 and 1873, King Ludwig II had magnificent rooms set up for himself on the second floor of the Trausnitz princely building.

 

20th and 21st centuries

The first thirty years of the city's history in the 20th century passed relatively quietly and were characterized by the beginnings of industrialization. One year before Adolf Hitler came to power in 1932, the governments of Lower Bavaria and Upper Palatinate were merged. The much larger Regensburg was chosen as the administrative seat of the newly founded “Government District of Lower Bavaria and Upper Palatinate”.

Towards the end of the Second World War, the Todt Organization set up the Landshut satellite camp of the Dachau concentration camp on what was then the “small parade ground”. Around 500 Jewish concentration camp prisoners were used for forced labor in armaments projects, of whom at least 83 died as a result of the inhuman prison conditions. A commemorative plaque on the Landshut-Achdorf cemetery commemorates these victims of the Nazi regime, including 74 prisoners from a death march from the Flossenbürg concentration camp.

On March 19, 1945, just over a month before American troops marched into the city on May 1, the station area was devastated by the heaviest bomb attack on the city. There were 300-400 casualties. On April 29, 1945, at the instigation of Gauleiter Ludwig Ruckdeschel, government councilor Franz Seiff was publicly hanged by Gestapo men on the Viehmarktplatz without trial because he had hoisted a white and blue flag on his house in Schweinbach near Landshut. He was the leader of a 30 to 50-strong resistance group that worked on a peaceful handover of the city to the Americans as part of the Bavarian Freedom Action. The planned actions could no longer be carried out after Seiff's arrest. At the same time, police officers, who had only responded to the radio call from the Bavarian Freedom Campaign, occupied the town hall in order to hand over the city to the Allied troops peacefully. However, this action also failed. The city honored Franz Seiff with a street name in 1946. To commemorate those victims of National Socialism who lived in Landshut, a total of 26 stumbling blocks in Landshut have been laid by Gunter Demnig since October 2, 2012 in Theaterstraße, the street "Altstadt", in Seligenthaler Straße and in Innere Münchner Straße.

Just two days after American troops marched into the city, on May 3, 1945, the short-lived Ergolding Air Base was established by the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF) 4 kilometers northeast of Landshut city center. The airfield, known as Advanced Landing Ground "R-71", was operated as a supply and evacuation airfield and was already abandoned on June 15, 1945.

After the end of the war and the "years of foundation" of the Federal Republic of Germany, the East Bavarian administrative district was split into two parts again in 1956 and Landshut was once again declared the seat of government for Lower Bavaria.

On October 21, 1961, the princely building of the castle burned down. Almost all of the wall paintings, the furniture and fittings of the Palas fell victim to the fire, as did the magnificent rooms that King Ludwig II had furnished. In the late 1960s and early 1970s in particular, medieval buildings in Landshut were demolished to make room for new buildings such as banks, department stores and offices. In 1973 alone, more historic buildings were destroyed than during the entire war. Parts of the old town were sacrificed for the construction of roads and parking spaces for cars. Instead of developing open spaces close to the city center into new business centers, monofunctional zones with large administration buildings were created.

Between 1972 and 1974, the urban area increased from around 19 km² to almost 66 km² as part of the regional reform. The Landshut University of Applied Sciences was founded in 1978. It initially comprised the three departments of economics, social affairs and technology and over the years has been expanded to include mechanical engineering and computer science.

In 1992 the new Munich Airport was opened, in whose catchment area Landshut is located, which has contributed to the fact that the city has recorded strong population growth since 2000. In 1999 the Josef Deimer Tunnel (Hofberg Tunnel until July 2007) was completed. This made it possible for the first time to quickly cross the urban area in an east-west direction within the Hofberg below the castle and to calm traffic in the city centre. However, city buses were only banned from this pedestrian zone in 2006. In 2004 the city of Landshut celebrated its 800th anniversary. A German commemorative stamp was issued for this occasion.

 

Incorporations

On April 1, 1928, the hitherto independent communities of Achdorf and Berg ob Landshut were incorporated. On January 1, 1972, the former community of Münchnerau and part of the dissolved community of Hohenegglkofen were added. Schönbrunn followed on July 1, 1972. A large part of the dissolved municipality of Frauenberg was added on July 1, 1974.

 

Geography

Geographical location
Landshut is located in the center of the Lower Bavarian hill country (also known as "Tertiary Hill Country"), which stretches from the Danube in the north to the border of the Munich gravel plain in the south; the city therefore belongs to the foothills of the Alps. The Tertiary hill country is interrupted in the urban area of Landshut by the river bed of the Isar. Most of the built-up area lies on the flat terraced deposits of the river in the Isar valley. The Isar divides Landshut into three large urban areas: a northern part in the Isar-Donau hill country, a southern part in the Isar-Inn hill country and the Mühleninsel in the city center. The southern districts of the city are delimited by a chain of hills, some of which rise steeply, of which the Hofberg forms the highest point in the city area at a height of 505 meters above sea level. Southwest of the built-up area in the direction of Moosburg is the bird sanctuary of the Middle Isar reservoirs, which is one of the most valuable water bird sanctuaries in Bavaria. On the lower Isar to the east of the city area there are other artificial lakes, of which the Altheim reservoir, the Niederaichbach reservoir and the Gretlmühle bathing lakes are the most important. North of the Isar, the Landshut trough runs through the city. When not flooded, the Flutmulde is one of the most popular parks in Landshut.

The city is around 70 km south of Regensburg and Straubing, 75 km south-west of Deggendorf, 120 km west of Passau, 60 km north-west of Altötting and 100 km from Traunstein, 85 km north of Rosenheim and 70 km north-east of the state capital Munich.

 

Geology

There are extensive bentonite deposits near Landshut, which are also mined. The formation of bentonite is directly related to the Ries event.

 

Urban area

The city of Landshut is an enclave within the district of the same name. The urban area covers a total area of 65.7 square kilometers, which is largely based on the course of the Isar, which flows from southwest to northeast. In this way, the relatively generous east-west extension is created, which is a maximum of 21.5 kilometers. In a north-south direction, the city area stretches a maximum of 7.2 kilometers at its widest point.

While the built-up area of approximately 20.3% is in the center of the area, the city is dominated by water and forest areas to the east and west, which together represent another approximately 20% of the land use. The most distinctive form of land use is agriculture. Over 45% of the total area of the independent city is used for agricultural purposes. Approximately 8.1% of the total area is made up of a wide variety of traffic areas. Only about one percent of the area is used for recreation.

 

Neighboring communities

A total of nine municipalities border on the area of the independent city of Landshut, all of which are located within the district of the same name. Starting clockwise, the municipality of Essenbach borders the urban area in the northeast, followed by Niederaichbach in the extreme east, followed by the municipality of Adlkofen, followed by Kumhausen and Tiefenbach in the south. Finally, in the extreme south-west of the urban area, there are borders with Eching and Bruckberg. In the north, the municipalities of Altdorf and Ergolding also border.

 

Climate

The city of Landshut is located in the temperate climate zone with continental characteristics. The climate is humid all year round. The average annual temperature is 8.5 °C, with January being the coldest month with an average temperature of −1.0 °C and July being the warmest month of the year with an average temperature of 18.1 °C.

The average annual precipitation of 824 mm is above average compared to other Bavarian cities. The precipitation in southern Bavaria generally increases from the north towards the Alps; the average annual precipitation in Regensburg, north of Landshut, is only 637 mm, while Rosenheim, close to the Alps, records 1075 mm of precipitation per year. The rainiest month is July, with over 100mm of precipitation, while February is the wettest with just 43mm. Most snow falls on the days clustered around January 8th.

 

Population

Population development

In the first century after its founding, the city attracted many residents. Around 1500 it already had several thousand inhabitants. At the end of the late Middle Ages, the number of city dwellers stagnated. Over the centuries, it has been repeatedly decimated by numerous wars and the resulting famines and epidemics. The Thirty Years' War weighed particularly heavily. Since the 19th century, when Landshut regained its importance, the population has increased again. Many incorporations during the 20th century led to further growth. After World War II, the population was over 40,000 and steadily increased through the 1970s to hover between 50,000 and 60,000 residents by 2000. Since the turn of the millennium, the population has been growing again, with the 70,000 mark being exceeded in 2016 and 75,000 in 2022 after a small, corona-related stagnation. On the northern outskirts, the city has grown together with the settlement centers of the communities of Altdorf and Ergolding and in the south with the community of Kumhausen. About 100,000 people live in this agglomeration.