Babenhausen is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

in the district of

Unterallgäu Unterallgäu is a Districts of Germany, ''Landkreis'' (district) in Swabia (Bavaria), Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) Neu-Ulm (district), Neu-Ulm, Günzburg (district), Günzburg, Augsburg (district), ...

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. It is seat of a

municipal association Municipal associations (german: Verwaltungsgemeinschaften) are statutory corporations or public bodies created by statute in the German federal states of Bavaria, Saxony, Thuringia, and Schleswig-Holstein. In Baden-Württemberg the term ''stipul ...

with

Egg an der Günz Egg an der Günz is a municipality in the district of Unterallgäu in Bavaria, Germany. The town has a municipal association with Babenhausen, Bavaria Babenhausen is a municipality in the district of Unterallgäu in Bavaria, Germany. It is seat ...

Kettershausen Kettershausen ( Swabian: ''Kettershausa'') is a municipality in the district of Unterallgäu in Bavaria, Germany. The town has a municipal association with Babenhausen, Bavaria. Notable people * Joseph Siegmund Bachmann Joseph Siegmund Bachmann ...

, Kirchhaslach, Oberschönegg and

Winterrieden Winterrieden is a municipality in the district of Unterallgäu in Bavaria, Germany. The municipality has a municipal association Municipal associations (german: Verwaltungsgemeinschaften) are statutory corporations or public bodies created by ...

. The view of Babenhausen is dominated by the Fugger Castle, a local attraction with a museum, and the Sankt Andreas Church. It is the seat of the

Fuggers The House of Fugger () is a German upper bourgeois family that was historically a prominent group of European bankers, members of the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century mercantile patriciate of Augsburg, international mercantile bankers, and vent ...

, a merchant family from

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

which played an important role during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire a ...

and the

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...

History

Babenhausen was first mentioned in a document related to a boundary conflict in 1237. Municipal rights can be traced back to 1315, and in 1337, Emperor Ludwig IV awarded the city with the town charter of

Ulm Ulm () is a city in the German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Danube on the border with Bavaria. The city, which has an estimated population of more than 126,000 (2018), forms an urban district of its own (german: link=no, ...

. Babenhausen finally lost its municipal rights after the Rottweiler verdict in 1466. The castle and its lordship were purchased by

Anton Fugger Anton Fugger (10 June 1493 – 14 September 1560) was a German merchant and member of the Fugger family. He was a nephew of Jakob Fugger. Biography Anton was the third and youngest son of George Fugger and Regina Imhof. He was born in Augsburg o ...

in 1539. Babenhausen became an Imperial Principality in 1803. As an effect of the ''

Rheinbund The Confederated States of the Rhine, simply known as the Confederation of the Rhine, also known as Napoleonic Germany, was a confederation of German client states established at the behest of Napoleon some months after he defeated Austria an ...

'' act, the city was integrated into the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German E ...

in 1806. The castle is still in the

Fugger The House of Fugger () is a German upper bourgeois family that was historically a prominent group of European bankers, members of the fifteenth- and sixteenth-century mercantile patriciate of Augsburg, international mercantile bankers, and vent ...

family and owned by the current Prince Fugger of Babenhausen (''

Fürst ' (, female form ', plural '; from Old High German ', "the first", a translation of the Latin ') is a German word for a ruler and is also a princely title. ' were, since the Middle Ages, members of the highest nobility who ruled over states of ...

Fugger von Babenhausen''). Babenhausen was connected to the railway in 1894 (''Illertalbahn''), but local public transportation on this route was discontinued in 1964. The railway embankment now provides a bicycle path. Today, the town is known as ''Markt Babenhausen''.

References

External links

*
''Fugger''
– official Fugger family website with information on the museum in Babenhausen (in German) Unterallgäu {{Unterallgäu-geo-stub