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A spine-chilling scream pierces the Ingolstadt night. A few moments later a dark shadow hurries through the narrow streets of the Old Town, close to the people taking part in the Frankenstein themed tour, who all hold their breath.
Step back into the 19th century and the fascinatingly eerie world of Frankenstein, and you'll shudder! Because the legend of Victor Frankenstein, who is reputed to have audaciously crossed the boundaries between life and death, between mind and matter, lives on. No wonder, because Ingolstadt Old Town provides the ideal setting for treating visitors to tales and legends from the earliest days of modern medicine.
The "Hohe Schule" building was once used by the first Bavarian state university and the Anatomical Institute, now the Museum of Medical History, housed the one of the first medical faculties. Wherever pioneers are at work, visions become a reality – but perhaps sinister creatures also take shape. At least, that was what many people feared. Mary Shelley played on such fears in writing her popular novel "Frankenstein" in 1818. Throw the quest for immortality into the mix, and you have a timeless formula that still draws many inquisitive tourists to our city.
We highly recommend the Frankenstein themed tour to all those who would like to visit the real locations woven into the story – and whose nerves are strong enough. So beware! There may be a few scary surprises along the way.
The first stage of the Ingolstadt fortifications tour proceeds through the former Bavarian State Fortress Ingolstadt from the bridgehead (Konrad Adenauer Bridge) to Rechberg Front (Rechbergstrasse). New signs point the way. Large information panels erected by the Friends of the Bavarian State Fortress Ingolstadt explain the individual structures and buildings.
It is part of the standard repertoire at folk festivals and celebrations throughout Bavaria, and many a political grandee enters the beer tent to its strains. What not many people know is that the Bavarian Parade March from 1850 hails from Ingolstadt. Composer Adolf Scherzer, one-time Bavarian Court Master of Music at the Seventh Infantry Regiment in Ingolstadt, composed this march as well as many other lively tunes.
None other than King Ludwig II declared that the march was to be used as the Bavarian Advancing and Parade March. Today, some even regard the Bavarian Parade March as the unofficial national anthem. And no wonder: the piece is easy to play, so it has become a standard piece for many wind ensembles. Yet its composer Adolf Scherzer, who was born in 1815 in Neustadt an der Aisch, and who died in 1864 in Ingolstadt and was buried in the city's Westfriedhof cemetery, has remained a largely unknown figure. Records show that the first major performance of the Bavarian Parade March was at the start of the 20th century in front of the Würzburg Residence, on the occasion of the "Grand Parade of the Royal Bavarian Second Army Corps".
It must have been truly rousing: 1,000 musicians and 500 drummers and buglers, accompanied by 300 torchbearers, took up position and the conductor gave the beat using an electrically illuminated baton.
(Süddeutsche Zeitung, quoted from Dr Wolfgang Mück, former Mayor of Neustadt an der Aisch.)