HAMBACH, a village of Rhenish Bavaria, near
Neustadt, 15 m. W. of Spire; pop. about 2,200.
It contains a castle of the middle ages called
Kastanienburg. A celebrated political
gathering, known as the Hambacher Fest, was held
here, May 27, 1832, by 30,000 persons, for the
purpose of agitating and preparing “the
regeneration of Germany as a free country.” Siebenpfeiffer, Wirth, and other leaders were indicted on June 28; and a sanguinary conflict took place on the first anniversary of the gathering between the soldiery and the citizens, the Bavarian government having prohibited its celebration. The castle was presented in 1842 to the crown prince, the late king of Bavaria, and called after him Maxburg. It was greatly damaged during the revolution of 1849.