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Bayreuth (German pronunciation: [baɪˈɾɔʏt]; local (Upper Franconian) dialect: [ba(ː)ˈɾaɪ̯t];...

Bayreuth (German pronunciation: [baɪˈɾɔʏt]; local (Upper Franconian) dialect: [ba(ː)ˈɾaɪ̯t]; English: /beɪˈruːθ/) is a city in northern Bavaria, Germany, on the Red Main river in a valley between the Frankish Alb and the Fichtelgebirge. It is the capital of Upper Franconia and has a population of 73,048 citizens (2008). The city is believed to have been founded by the Counts of Andechs on an unknown date in the Middle Ages and was first mentioned in 1194. The city centre still possesses the typical structure of a Bavarian street market: the settlement is grouped around a road widening into a square; the Town Hall was located in the middle. The church stood apart from it and on a small hill stood the castle. Some sixty years later the town (at that time a tiny village) became subordinate to the Hohenzollern state, and when this state was divided, Bayreuth belonged to the county of Kulmbach. The city suffered several plagues and wars until in 1430 it was destroyed in the course of the Hussite Wars. In 1602 there was another plague, and fires damaged it in 1605 and 1621. The turning point of the town's history was in 1603, when Margrave Christian of Kulmbach (Brandenburg-Kulmbach)