FURTH

city, Bavaria Land (state), south-central Germany, situated at the junction of the Pegnitz and Rednitz rivers (which there form the Regnitz), just northwest of Nrnberg. It was originally a Franconian settlement dating from the mid-8th century. The royal palace of Furti (the Furt) was first mentioned in 1007, when the village was assigned to the newly formed bishopric of Bamberg. In the following centuries both the margraves of Ansbach and the imperial city of Nrnberg claimed seignorial rights over Frth. Largely destroyed in the Thirty Years' War (161848), the town passed to Bavaria in 1806 and was chartered in 1808. The town hall (184050) and the 12th- and 14th-century St. Michael's Church are notable. The FrthNrnberg line (the Ludwigsbahn, 1835) was the first railway in Germany, and Frth now has a port on the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal. Formerly a centre of the goldbeaters' craft, it still produces gold leaf and beaten metals and aluminum and bronze powders. Other products include glassware, toys, optical instruments, furs, and clothes. Pop. (1989 est.) 98,832.