Altstadt is the German language word for "old town", and generally refers to the historical town or city centre within the old town or city wall, in contrast to younger suburbs outside. Neustadt (new town), the logical opposite of Altstadt, mostly stands for a part of the "Altstadt" in modern sense, sometimes only a few years younger than the oldest part, e. g. a late medieval enlargement. Germany Most German towns have an Altstadt, even though the ravages of war have destroyed many of them, especially during the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). Another notable example was during the Nine Years' War (1688–1697), where Mélac's aggressive tactics devastated many cities and large parts of South Western Germany, like the Heidelberg Castle. Allied strategic bombing during World War II destroyed nearly all large cities, with the exception of Regensburg and Heidelberg. Many smaller towns remained intact, for example Bamberg, Konstanz, Passau, Tübingen, Dinkelsbühl, Quedlinburg and Wismar. Some Altstadt parts in Freiburg, Erfurt, Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Weimar and others have been restored. But most destroyed bigger German old towns were not reconstructed. Important old towns like those of Hildesheim, Braunschweig, Frankfurt, Kassel and Pforzheim were largely lost or only reconstructed in limited areas. Recent efforts of Altstadt reconstructions can be found in Dresden (Neumarkt area), Potsdam (the old market and city palace) and Frankfurt (Römerberg around the Cathedral). Examples of Altstadt districts in cities and towns Austria Baden bei Wien Gmünd, Carinthia Gmünd, Lower Austria Graz Judenburg Salzburg Schärding Steyr Zell am See Germany Aachen Amberg Baden-Baden Bamberg (a World Heritage Site) Bayreuth Bernkastel-Kues Bietigheim Büdingen Celle Cologne (Altstadt Nord & Süd) Dinkelsbühl Dresden (Dresden old town) Düsseldorf (Altstadt (Düsseldorf)) Erfurt Freiburg (:de:Altstadt (Freiburg im Breisgau)) Gernsbach Görlitz (:de:Görlitzer Altstadt) Goslar (a World Heritage Site) Güstrow Hamburg (Altstadt) Heidelberg (:de:Heidelberger Altstadt) Konstanz Landshut Limburg an der Lahn Lindau Lübeck (a World Heritage Site) Lüneburg Marbach am Neckar Marburg Mosbach Munich (Altstadt-Lehel) Neustrelitz Nuremberg Nördlingen Putbus Quedlinburg (a World Heritage Site) Ravensburg Regensburg (a World Heritage Site) Rostock Rothenburg ob der Tauber Rüdesheim Schwerin Stade Stralsund (a World Heritage Site) Tangermünde Trier Tübingen Überlingen Waren (Müritz) Weingarten (Baden) Weinheim Wernigerode Wetzlar (:de:Historische Altstadt Wetzlar) Wismar (a World Heritage Site) Switzerland Baden (AG) Bellinzona Bern (UNESCO) Biel/Bienne Bremgarten (AG) Brugg Bulle Delémont Eglisau (ZH) Fribourg Greifensee (ZH) Gruyères Kyburg (ZH) Lausanne Lavaux Luzern Müstair Rapperswil (SG) Regensberg (ZH) Romont Murten Rheinau Schaffhausen Solothurn St.