Population development of Ingolstadt. Above from 1450 to 2017. Below an excerpt from 1871
The first written statement about the size of Ingolstadt comes from the year 841. At that time the Carolingian chamber property of Ingolstadt was transferred from Ludwig the German , the successor of Charlemagne to the Frankish royal throne, to his chancellor Gozbald, the abbot of the Niederaltaich monastery . The size of the place is mentioned for the first time in the deed of gift issued. In addition to the Fronhof , it comprised a total of 34 hubs , 12 of which were courtyards for royal messengers (Sintmannen) and two own churches . The population should therefore have been a few hundred people. There is no documentary evidence for Ingolstadt for the period between the late 9th and the beginning of the 13th century. It is assumed that the settlement was destroyed during the Hungarian invasions in the 10th century or a large fire that destroyed large parts of Ingolstadt, which certainly greatly reduced the population.
During the Middle Ages and the beginning of the early modern period there was only slow population growth in Ingolstadt, which was repeatedly interrupted by the numerous wars, epidemics and famine. Population increases resulted mainly after the city's expansion in the 14th century and the establishment of the University of Ingolstadt . The decrease in the number of inhabitants between 1762 and 1803 from 8000 to 4800 people is due to the dissolution of the Jesuit order in 1773, the relocation of the university to Landshut in 1800 and the razing of the fortress and Audörfer by the Napoleonic troops during the occupation of the city in 1800/1801.
With the onset of industrialization in the course of the 19th century, population growth slowly accelerated. But the expansion of Ingolstadt into a royal Bavarian main fortress , which initially brought with it strong growth, later had an inhibiting effect, as any construction activity in the vicinity of the city had to be approved by the military. Only after the fortress status was lifted in 1938 and the urban area expanded after 1962, the city was able to develop unhindered.
In the last census before the First World War , Ingolstadt had a population of 23,745. In 1914 it was around 25,000. At the time of the Kingdom of Bavaria, the so-called "local population" was still counted. This means that Ingolstadt's garrison, which lasted around 5,000 men, was also included in the population figures. Therefore, these older figures are not necessarily comparable with later population figures. 1959 had reached 50,000 inhabitants. The city passed the limit of 100,000 inhabitants in 1989. At the end of December 2015, according to an update by the Bavarian State Office for Statistics and Data Processing, 132,438 people were living in Ingolstadt with their main residence . Ingolstadt is the second largest German city on the Danube after Regensburg and one of the fastest growing cities in Germany (after Potsdam and Munich). The local auto industry is likely to have made a significant contribution to this.
From 1450 to 1870
The following overview shows the number of inhabitants according to the respective territorial status. Official census results and official updates from the respective statistical offices or the city administration itself form the basis.
From 1843 onwards, the information relates to the “local population”. Before 1843, the number of inhabitants was determined according to inconsistent survey methods.
