Olching

Olching (Central Bavarian: Oiching) is a town in the district of Fürstenfeldbruck, and suburb to Munich in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated approximately 20 km (12 mi) northwest of Munich.

Olching lies approximately halfway between Dachau and Fürstenfeldbruck, and stretches along both sides of the River Amper. There are two picturesque man made lakes to the east of Olching, namely the Olchinger See (Lake Olching) and the eponymous Kleiner See (Small Lake), both of which border on the neighbouring community of Gröbenzell. In recent years, Olching has expanded considerably through new building work to meet the demand for housing outside Munich while taking advantage of its good communications, which allow a reasonable commute for those still working in the city and its outskirts. These new developments, especially Schwaigfeld, located north east of the town centre — close to Olching's motorway exit — have attracted controversy amongst some locals for their apparently inconsistent planning and sometimes eclectic architecture. The ongoing influx of younger families into these new developments would appear to show that they have become a significant part of the modern Olching community, and the developments continue to grow and generate their own infrastructure improvements. A small shopping centre was opened in Schwaigfeld in January 2008.

Olching is bordered to the west by Gernlinden, and Maisach; in the north, Bergkirchen; in the East from Gröbenzell and the outskirts of metropolitan Munich and to the south by Puchheim, Eichenau, Emmering and Fürstenfeldbruck. The municipality of Olching is now (since 1978) made up of three main municipalities, namely Olching, Esting (including Neu Esting), and Geiselbullach (including Graßlfing).

Olching is located near the Autobahn A8 exits Dachau/Fürstenfeldbruck and Lochhausen/Langwied, as well as the Autobahn A99 Lochhausen. The Munich trunk ring road B471 also has 2 exits for Olching. The River Amper is neither navigable to leisure craft nor to goods traffic. Smaller watercraft such as dinghies and kayaks are however frequently underway in the summer months.

Olching is connected to the Munich S Bahn network on the line. It takes about 20 minutes to München Hauptbahnhof (Munich Central Station). The line is part of the MVV, or Münchener Verkerhrsverbund, which is a unified tariff zone that includes local buses, trams, and underground trains (U Bahnen) in the Munich area. Olching station is located on—but not served by—the DB Munich–Augsburg mainline which also carries significant goods traffic. For express train travel, residents of Olching may travel via Munich Pasing and Munich Hauptbahnhof

Olching lies in the transitional zone between the humid Atlantic climate and the dry continental climates. Other significant factors affecting the weather are the Alps, which act as south central European border, and the Danube, which is a regional meteorological divide. Due to this constellation, the weather in the region is quite changeable.

The so called foehn is a weather phenomenon particular to the region near to the Alps that occasionally brings warmer and drier air from the south to Olching, potentially occurring at any time of year. This is accompanied by extremely good visibility, in particular the much clichéd Bavarian blue and white sky, and the Bavarian Alps may be clearly visible, apparently close by, although they are approximately 100 kilometres (60 mi) away to the south. Some people suffer from headaches and circulatory problems as a result of the foehn.

Olching is an old bavarii settlement and was first mentioned in the Early Middle Ages. In 740 the Agilolfingian duke Tassilo II of Bavaria bestowed the town, together with its church and flour mill, to the Benediktbeuern Abbey (the authenticity of this document is contested). The early Gothic church was replaced by the Romanesque basilica St. Peter und Paul in 1903. In 1258 Louis II, Duke of Bavaria founded a monastery as a form of penance for the execution of his wife Maria von Brabant, who had wrongfully been convicted of adultery. This monastery was relocated from Aibling to Olching in 1262. The monastery was relocated to Fürstenfeldbruck only one year later, either due to flooding or structural problems. The Fürstenfeld Abbey owned several estates in Olching until the period of secularization in Bavaria in 1802/1803. Olching suffered severely as a consequence of the Thirty Years' War, particularly after the city of Munich was taken by Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden in 1632. Only nine out of formerly 67 estates remained in Olching after 1648.

In 1821 Olching (which had until then been administered by Dachau) was transferred to the newly founded Mayordomía of Fürstenfeldbruck, and in 1823 it also came under the jurisdiction of Fürstenfeldbruck. In 1834 the first school was established in Olching. Until 1839 Olching was still very rural with about 50 farms and approximately 300 inhabitants. This changed with the construction of the railway line between Munich to Augsburg. The line between Munich and Olching was completed on 27 October 1839 and the rail service commenced the following year. At the same time a wood pulp factory opened in Olching, which in turn led to a strong influx of workers.

The predominantly working class population had a large influence on the social and political culture of Olching during the 20th century. During the Weimar Republic the municipal council was solely dominated by left wing parties. However, for some of these left wing politicians, such as SPD mayor Josef Tauscheck, their political beliefs had serious repercussions due to the rise of the right in Germany in the 1920s and 1930s. Some experienced a great degree of harassment, for others it led to internment in the infamous concentration camps after 1933. Just as in the rest of Germany the National Socialists also gained a large following in Olching in the run up to and during the Third Reich. During an allied air raid on 22 February 1944, 22 people were killed, including two of the approximately 1000 forced laborers located in and around Olching during the war. After World War II about 5,000 Heimatvertriebene (expellees), mainly from Silesia and Czechoslovakia, arrived in Olching. In 1950 these new citizens made up 25% of the population of Olching and they contributed towards the dynamic development of Olching in the post war era. The erstwhile rural appearance of Olching has changed over time, as the cityscape of Olching is becoming more and more dominated by businesses and blocks of flats. Many of Olching's citizens use the S Bahn to commute to work in Munich, which was built for the 1972 Summer Olympics. In 1978 Esting, Geiselbullach, and Graßlfing were merged into the larger community of Olching and this has contributed towards a continuous population growth, especially since the development of the Schwaigfeld area in the early 2000s. Olching was named a city on 19 June 2011.

Olching's coat of arms originates from the year 1951. The swept blue bar in the lower part symbolises the river Amper, which flows through Olching and is of major significance for the town. The reed in the middle reminds that Olching was once marshland; the head of wheat symbolises the agriculture and land cultivation. The upper part displays the chequered blue and white Bavarian standard.

The current figure (August 2009) for the population of Olching is 24,582. In the past ten years, the population has grown by 10% and is expected by local officials to rise to 25,750 by 2010. This development is mainly driven by the importance of Munich as a centre of employment and by a wish to avoid the higher urban property prices which have been driven by Munich's continuing economic success.

At present approximately 9% of the current population are of non German origin.