Coburg (/ˈkoʊbɜːrɡ/ KOH-burg, German: [ˈkoːbʊʁk] ⓘ) is a town located on the Itz river in the Upper Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany.

Long part of one of the Thuringian states of the Wettin line, it joined Bavaria by popular vote only in 1920.

Since it was little damaged in World War II, Coburg retains many historic buildings, making it a popular tourist destination.

The origin of the name Coburg is unclear; the first element may be kuh, which would give a literal meaning of "cow borough".

[3]: 16 In 1596, Coburg was raised to the status of capital of one of the dynasty's splintered Saxon-Thuringian territories, the newly created Duchy of Saxe-Coburg under the leadership of Duke John Casimir (ruled 1596–1633).

The duke also started the collection of copperplate engravings that is today part of the Veste Coburg museum.

[3]: 17 During the 19th century, dynastic marriages created ties with the royal families of Belgium, Bulgaria, Portugal and Britain.

This turned the ducal family from the rulers of a fairly obscure backwater duchy into one playing an influential role in European politics.

The marriage between Albert and Victoria established the present British royal house, which renamed itself Windsor during World War I.

This marriage led to a union with Germany's ruling dynasty, the Hohenzollerns, when the couple's eldest child, Victoria, married the future Kaiser Friedrich III.

In 1894 the wedding of Ernest Louis, Grand Duke of Hesse and Princess Victoria Melita of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha brought together Queen Victoria, her son Edward (future Edward VII), her second son Alfred (Duke of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha), her daughter the German Dowager Empress Friedrich (Victoria), and many of her grandchildren, such as future Tsar Nicholas and Alexandra of Russia (Alix of Hesse), Kaiser Wilhelm II of Germany, and the future King George V of the United Kingdom.

[3]: 17 In 1929, Coburg was the first German town in which the Nazi Party won the absolute majority of the popular vote during municipal elections.

[8] The memorial book of the German Federal Archives for the victims of the Nazi persecution of Jews in Germany lists in particular 63 Jewish inhabitants of Coburg, who were deported and mostly murdered.

After World War II, which Coburg survived largely undamaged, the town faced the challenge of integrating over 15,000 refugees.

While the other Saxon-Thuringian principalities were incorporated into the German Democratic Republic, Bavarian Coburg became part of West Germany.

As a result, the town spent the Cold War years lying right next to the Iron Curtain, surrounded by East German territory on three sides and cut off from much of its natural back country.

In 1950, the Haftpflicht-Unterstützungs-Kasse kraftfahrender Beamter Deutschlands a. G. (today HUK-Coburg [de]) relocated from Erfurt to Coburg.

[13][14] Kapp Werkzeugmaschinen has been a manufacturer of gear-milling machines since 1953, after taking over the production assets of COMAG (Coburger Maschinenbau GmbH).

This is disputed by those who claim the hot dog was created in the late 17th century by Johann Georghehner, a butcher, living in Coburg.

[24] A popular local delicacy is the Coburger bratwurst, a sausage (the official measure of which is denoted by the marshall's staff held by the statue of the town's patron, Sankt Mauritius, located on the town hall and overlooking the square) roasted over a pine cone fire.

Since December 2017, the Coburg station is served by Intercity Express high speed trains of the Munich-Nuremberg-Coburg-Erfurt-Berlin(-Hamburg) line (Nuremberg–Erfurt high-speed railway).

The OVF (Omnibus Verkehr Franken) covers Coburg's surrounding countryside with an additional 11 bus lines.