Monacum, nominatis sima Bavariae, Civitas [on sheet with] Ingolstadium [and] Frisingensis. . .Nordlinga. . .Ratispona. . .Straubinga. . .

A fine antique copper engraved sheet with six German/Bavarian panoramic views by Braun and Hogenberg: München, Ingolstadt, Freissing, Nördlingen, Regensburg and Straubing. From: 'Civitates Orbis Terrarum', Liber Primus. Köln, 1572.

MUNICH (MÜNCHEN). TRANSLATION OF CARTOUCHE TEXT: Munich, the most frequently mentioned city in Bavaria. COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "Munich is a splendid city in Bavaria, situated on the Isar.
It has a favourable location and possesses a magnificent palace, in which the Bavarian princes hold court in our own day."
The view of Munich across the banks of the Isar is the first of six small-format views of Upper German cities presented on a double page. The Dom Zu Unserer Lieben Frau, the so-called Frauenkirche, with its characteristic bulbous domes dating from 1525, can be identified at the centre.

INGOLSTADT. COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "In the beginning Ingolstadt was not exactly a large town, almost rectangular in shape, and within an area marked by the three ancient towers that still stand today: the Glockenturm in the cemetry of the minster of Our Lady, the Striegelturm beside the gaol and the Judenturm. The old castle is also a clear indication of this.
Ingolstadt was first expanded in 1312, when it grew to about double the size and took on a shape resembling that of an egg, apart from a few bulges in the southern part of the town."
Braun's text bears no relation to the plate: it shows a small part of Ingolstadt from an unusual perspective, looking from the church tower (visible on the right) across the fortified city wall at an animated battle field.
In 1537, Ingolstadt was made into a Bavarian fortress through the construction of a new wall with bastions. In 1546, during the Schmalkaldic War, the troops of Charles V fought those of the Schmalkaldic League before the gates of the city.
This view appears in only a few editions of the Civitates ; at this place in the first edition there is just an empty space to the right of Munich, in later editions there is a very schematic view of Innsbruck.

FREISING. CAPTION: Picture of the episcopal city of Freising.
COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "Freising, the episcopal city in Bavaria, [...] is said to have been founded at the time of Roman rule, which extended from the Danube to the Alps, on a favourable site by the Moosach, which flows into the Isar close by. Beatus Rhenanus records that in the library of St Corbinian's he found a very beautiful book containing the four Gospels in Frankish."
The cityscape of Freising remains hallmarked even today by the Domberg hill with the cathedral of SS Mary and Corbinian. The red-brick basilica arose in the 12th century on the ruins of an earlier church dedicated to St Mary dating from the 8th century.
In the 17th/18th centuries it was remodelled in the Baroque style. As Braun notes in his text, in 1531 the German humanist and philologist Beatus Rhenanus discovered in the cathedral's important library the Gospel Harmony of Otfried von Weissenburg, dating from the 9th century, a very early example of Old High German (Frankish) poetry.

NÖRDLINGEN. CAPTION: Nördlingen, imperial city in Lower Rhaetia, on the far side of the Danube, commonly called Ries.
COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "Nördlingen formerly lay on the Hohe Hart hill, above the present city, where the old parish church of St Emmeran can still be seen. This town burned down in 1238 and due to the lack of water many lost their lives. Afterwards it was rebuilt in the valley beside the Eger, and ever since then the waters of the river have run through it."
Nördlingen is seen in side view from the northwest. The historical cityscape has survived right up to the present and is hallmarked by the late medieval city wall from the 14th century, which boasts five tower gates and 16 further turrets.
The tower rising almost 90m high in the centre is known as "The Daniel" and forms part of the late Gothic parish church of St George. In front of it lies the town hall of 1382. Nördlingen was an imperial city from 1215 to 1803. In 1529 it signed the Protestant Confession at the imperial diet in Speyer and embraced the Reformation.

REGENSBURG. CAPTION: Regensburg, the oldest city in Bavaria, lies on the Danube.
COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "Regensburg is a magnificent and ancient city in Bavaria on the banks of the Danube, at a favourably situated point where four rivers converge. For the Laber and the Naab flow into the Danube above the city and the Regen below it. [...] Emperor Arnulf expanded the city and most importantly linked it to the settlement on the opposite bank by means of a sturdy stone bridge with many arches."
This plate offers a view across the suburb of Stadt am Hof and the stone bridge with its three towers towards the Gothic cathedral. As well as church steeples, the numerous family towers belonging to wealthy patrician houses are visible on the skyline. The highest tower is that of the town hall.

STRAUBING. COMMENTARY BY BRAUN: "Straubing is a town in Bavaria that was founded by Duke Ludwig in 1218. The Danube runs near the town and thereby lends it importance."
Straubing is shown from the northeast looking across the Danube. The town's present-day cityscape bears a close resemblance to that in the early modern era and is dominated by the 68-m-high Gothic watchtower and the 14th-century town hall beside it.
Also clearly recognisable are the largest church in the town, St James's, to the left of which is the Romanesque church of St Peter and on the right the Gothic red-brick church of St Veit. Straubing, which received its charter in 1218, was initially a centre of the Reformation in Lower Bavaria, but in the Counter-Reformation the Protestants were expelled from the town (Taschen).The 'Civitates Orbis Terrarum', or the "Braun & Hogenberg", is a six-volume town atlas and the greatest book of town views and plans ever published: 363 engravings, sometimes beautifully colored. It was one of the best-selling works in the last quarter of the 16th century.
Georg Braun wrote the text accompanying the plans and views on the verso. A large number of the plates were engraved after the original drawings of Joris Hoefnagel (1542-1600), who was a professional artist. The first volume was published in Latin in 1572, the sixth volume in 1617. Frans Hogenberg created the tables for volumes I through IV, and Simon van den Neuwel created those for volumes V and VI. Other contributors were cartographer Daniel Freese, and Heinrich Rantzau. Works by Jacob van Deventer, Sebastian Münster, and Johannes Stumpf were also used. Translations appeared in German and French.

Reference: Van der Krogt 4 - 2893 State.4; Fauser - #9252; Taschen, Br. Hog. - p.106-107