From the 10th cen­tu­ry onwards, this town became an impor­tant link with the Slav peo­ples, espe­cial­ly those of Poland and Pomera­nia. Dur­ing its peri­od of great­est pros­per­i­ty, from the 12th cen­tu­ry onwards, the archi­tec­ture of Bam­berg strong­ly influ­enced north­ern Ger­many and Hun­gary. In the late 18th cen­tu­ry it was the cen­tre of the Enlight­en­ment in south­ern Ger­many, with emi­nent philoso­phers and writ­ers such as Hegel and Hoff­mann liv­ing there.