Erding

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Erding


Country	Germany
State	Bavaria
Administrative region	Upper Bavaria
District	Erding
Population	33,000 (2005)
Area	54.64 km²
Population density	596 /km²
Elevation	463 m
Coordinates	48°17′ N 11°54′ E
Postal code	85435
Area code	08122
Licence plate code	ED
Mayor	Karl-Heinz Bauernfeind
Website	erding.de

Erding is a town in Bavaria, Germany, and capital of the district Erding. It is located at 48°18′N 11°54′E, and had a population of 34,122 in 2004. It is twinned with Bastia in Corsica

The original Erdinger Weissbier is a well-known Bavarian specialty. Grünbacher is one of the better-known local brands.

Due to the nearby Munich Airport and headquarters of Amadeus.net, both of which employ people from many countries, Erding has quite an international feel, despite its relatively small size.

Erding is a Bavarian farming town with an Airport.

1 Getting to and away from Erding
2 Things to do in Erding
3 Eating out in Erding
4 Going for a drink in Erding
5 Winter in Erding
6 Spring in Erding
7 Summer in Erding
8 Erding Timeline
9 Agriculture in Erding
10 Some Images of Erding
11 External links

[edit] Getting to and away from Erding

Erding is located around 45 kilometers (28 miles) northeast of central Munich, about a 40-minute drive by car. Regular S-Bahn trains connect to Munich and beyond. Munich is accessible by bike lanes, although it's slightly too far for regular commutting except for enthusiasts.

[edit] Things to do in Erding

Go to the Therme Erding - Europe's largest thermal spa is located a short walk from Altenerding S-Bahn station. This huge spa and sauna complex has been rated Germany's best spa [1].

Go to the Farmers Market (Bauernmarkt) - Friday afternoons at the Bauernhausmuseum at Taufkirchenerstrasse 24 you can shop for a range of excellent quality local produce at reasonable prices.

Go for a look at the donkey and his friends in the small zoo in the Stadtpark. Small children will enjoy getting up close to goats, peacocks, hamsters, rabbits, deer and the bird enclosure.

Erding also has plenty of smaller shops and a decent selection of cafes, restaurants and bars. It's a lot easier finding a park than in downtown Munich, though parking regulations are strictly enforced. Consumers typically find that goods in Erding's shops are expensive but of high quality.

Erding has a yearly Jazz Festival that books internationally known artists.

The Sinnflut festival seasons in summer and winter offer soundstages, concerts in tents, food and drink and arty crafty bits and pieces. This is a small town version of the Tollwood with smaller names on the bill and no Schicki-Micki factor.

The Herbstfest is a yearly beer festival held a fortnight before the much larger Oktoberfest in nearby Munich. Herbstfest offers similar attractions as Oktoberfest but with smaller crowds.

[edit] Eating out in Erding

Erding has a mix of restaurants in varying price classes. You'll find good Bavarian, Italian, Vietnamese, Chinese, Turkish and other international styles available. During summer, street tables are placed outside many establishments.

International visitors may find the amount of smoking in restaurants disturbing, and there is plenty of room for improvement to this aspect of public life in Erding. Book in advance for a group, normally a couple or single person will always find a spot on a table somewhere: sharing a table with people you don't know is fairly standard when places get busy.

[edit] Going for a drink in Erding

Erding is not famous for its beergardens, but it has plenty of pubs and bars. Most places are closed by about 1 or 2 in the morning so for a real all nighter your luck will be better in Munich.

During the day you'll find you can get a decent cup of tea at the Boeuf a la Mode, which is a nice place to sit outside in summer, watching the world go by, on Lange Zeile.

For a game of pool or billiards, try the imaginatively named "Billiard" pool hall on Geheimrat Irl Strasse 4, right near the Kleinen Markt. Youngish crowd with halfway decent music, nice tables.

[edit] Winter in Erding

Winter weather with snow, ice and night time temperatures down to −10°C (14°F) is normal from November until the beginning of March.

The long dark winter months are broken with Christmas and Fasching (Carnival). Christmas traditions in Bavaria include a visit from the Christkind on the 24th of December but also the more sinister Krampus puts in an appearance on December the 5th.

On Rosen Montag and Faschings Dienstag (Shrove Tuesday) children and grown-ups have a great time running around in fancy dress, driving out the last of Winter to make way for Spring. Fasching celebrations are more noticeable in Erding than in Munich—most businesess will be closed, and Erding grinds to a halt for a party in the middle of town.

Skiing and snowboarding enthusiasts in Erding enjoy winter by hunting for fresh snow in the nearby Austrian Alps. Ice skating on local lakes is also popular. The local ice hockey team have an enthusiastic local following.

[edit] Spring in Erding

The migratory birds return from the south, and trees start sprouting. Green tones return to the Bavarian countryside after a bare, colourless winter. Pollen can be problematic to hay-fever sufferers, but regular rain can offer some relief. Local produce including white asparagus and strawberries comes on the market.

On the first of May, Maypoles are erected all over Bavaria, including Erding.

Children get two weeks of school holiday over Pfingsten (Pentecost) in June. Many families use the long break to take a seaside holiday somewhere on the Mediterranean Coast.

[edit] Summer in Erding

Local farmers may complain about the lack of rain damaging crops , but the rest of the Erdingers look forwards to the summer months as a time to relax, eat, drink and socialise outdoors.

Local lakes are popular for swimming, cycling and inline skating are also popular summer sports.

The Sinntlut festival is a highlight of the summer cultural calendar with several sound stages offering a varied mix of entertainment: Karaoke, Line dancing, heavy metal, Gypsy folk, African reggae, South Sea retro pop are all on offer. An interesting range of stalls and food stands makes this festival a great outing. There is no charge for entrance, this year the money for the car park went to a local Montessori Kindergarten.

[edit] Erding Timeline

Most of the information in this timeline is taken from the book “Landkreis Erding”, available from the Erding public library. This book was published in 1985, so it predates the time when the Munich Airport was built on the nearby Erdinger Moos (wetland). I also translated some of the information on the Landkreis Erding website to fill in some gaps.

Approx 1 million B.C. Glaciers during the Riss Ice age reach their most Northern point in Southern Bavaria near Erding.

Approx 9000 BC Neolithic ( New Stone Age ) spread of humans to the Inntal region of the Alps and beyond into the region now called Bavaria.

Approx 6000 B.C Belongings of Hunter/Gatherers in the Erding area dating to this time are the first indications of human habitation found so far. Individual finds of relics from Erding region area include an axe made of deer horn.

Approx 2500 B.C Excavations of 2 dwellings of at least 6.5 metres in length near Altenerding from this period are the first evidence of permanent agricultural based inhabitants

1800 B.C. Successful excavation of approx 20 Early bronze age graveyards from this period in Langenpriesing.

1188 A.D. The Wittlesbacher Duchy is created as a reward for Otto VI. von Wittlesbach-Wartenberg for loyalty to Kaiser Friedrich I. Barbarossa. This land award includes the settlement later to be known as Erding.

1228 – 1230 The city of Erding is founded. Erding develops as a township after it becomes an alternative route from Landshut to Munich. Erding becomes known as a border town, midway between the two rival towns.

1632 & 1634 During the 30 year’s war, Erding was taken twice by Swedish Forces, who plundered it and set it on fire.

1789 A census in Erding at this time shows Erding with a population of 1700. It had 4 blacksmiths and 4 saddlers, 8 tailors and shoemakers, 3 rope makers, 2 hat makers, 11 pubs, 11 butchers, 11 bakers, and 11 professional musicians, according to the records.

1886 Johann Kienle opens the towns first brewery.

1936 The Fliegerhorst military airport nearby central Erding was opened.

1945 Several air raids on the nearby military airport are made towards the end of the Second World War by allied forces, damage to buildings in Erding and civilian casualties are considerable. The air raid on 18.04.1945 hit the town especially hard with 144 deaths. Control of this airport is given to the American forces after the war – which immediately exposes the local populace to a whole new way of thinking after the Nazi years.

1957 Control of the Fliegerhorst airbase is passed back to German authorities. Since that time this base has been a small but active base – occasionally jets will quite fly low and loud over Erding during training exercises.

1972 Erding is connected to the Munich’s S-Bahn network. This makes Erding more attractive as a place to live, because it places it within the Munich commuter belt.

1978 Erding has its 750 year birthday celebrations.

1992 Franz Josef Strauss Airport – more commonly known as Munich airport – opens. The decision to build a major airport on the ecologically sensitive Erdinger Moos was a source of controversy for the previous decade. The airport has attracted new businesses and additional population to the area since it was opened.

[edit] Agriculture in Erding

Farm fields surround Erding: where the housing stops, the open fields begin. Local crops include corn for animal feed, wheat, sunflowers, carrots, cabbages white/red/blue/green , strawberries, kohlrabi , turnips, and sugar beet.

Farm animals are normally kept in stalls and are mostly limited to pigs, chickens and cows. Fish farming in privately owned lakes is also practised.

You certainly get the sights and - not always pleasant when the fields have been freshly dunged - smells of living in a country area in Erding. Large agricultural vehicles are a common sight on local roads.

Farmers in Bavaria are a political force to be reckoned with and tend to be conservative, stubborn, and Catholic. These are values traditionally seen as positive in rural areas of Bavaria.

Erding has enthusiastic gardeners, but allowances need to be made for the relatively cool climate.

[edit] Some Images of Erding

Cars with the Erding plate, downtown.	Looking down Haagerstrasse.	Saturday in the Park.	The zoo in Erdings Stadtpark.
The church tower in Altenerding.	A typical house with garden in Erding.	Modern Apartment buildings	At the Farmers Market.