Amberg (äm'berk) [key], city (1994 pop. 44,213), Bavaria, S central Germany, on the Vils River. The large iron mines have been worked since the Middle Ages. Until 1810, Amberg was capital of the Upper Palatinate. At Amberg in 1796, Archduke Charles of Austria defeated the French under Marshal Jean Baptiste Jourdan. St. Martin's church (15th cent.) and the town hall (14th–16th cent.) are the city's outstanding buildings.
