Krauchenwies is a municipality in the district of Sigmaringen in

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Geography

Krauchenwies lies about south of Sigmaringen and north of

Lake Constance Lake Constance (, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein (). These ...

. It is on the ''Oberschwäbischen Barockstraße'' (west route) and on the southern edge of the conservation area of ''Obere Donau''. The Ablach, which originates on the continental divide, flows through town and on to the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

. The landscape is hilly and wooded, sloping down to the Danube valley.

History

Krauchenwies is first mentioned in a document from the Reichenau monastery in 1202. The name appeared as ''Cruchinwis'' (meaning "Cruchin meadow"). By 1216, it had its own parish. Later, the Lords of Leiterberg took over the village and sold it at the end of the 13th century to the

Habsburgs The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

. In 1595, Charles II bought Krauchenwies, which has been closely tied to the county of Sigmaringen ever since. Because

Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen () was a principality in southwestern Germany. Its rulers belonged to the junior House of Hohenzollern#Swabian branch, Swabian branch of the House of Hohenzollern. The Swabian Hohenzollerns were elevated to princes in 162 ...

lands became

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n, the town belonged to Prussia starting in 1850. Since 1975, the town has incorporated six surrounding villages.

Demographics

Population development:

Mayors

In 1999 Jochen Spieß was elected mayor of Krauchenwies. He was reelected in 2007 and 2015. * 1963–1999: Heinz Schöllhammer (CDU) * since 1999: Jochen Spieß (CDU)

References

Sigmaringen (district) {{Sigmaringen-geo-stub