Krauchenwies is a municipality in the district of

Sigmaringen Sigmaringen (Swabian German, Swabian: ''Semmerenga'') is a town in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Situated on the upper Danube, it is the capital of the Sigmaringen (district), Sigmaringen district. Sigmaringen is renowne ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a 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 inhabitants across a ...

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 ...

Geography

Krauchenwies lies about south of

and north of

Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, 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, ca ...

. 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 ( ; ) is a river that was once a long-standing frontier of the Roman Empire and today connects 10 European countries, running through their territories or being a border. Originating in Germany, the Danube flows southeast for , pa ...

. 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 (), alternatively spelled Hapsburg in Englishgerman: Haus Habsburg, ; es, Casa de Habsburgo; hu, Habsburg család, it, Casa di Asburgo, nl, Huis van Habsburg, pl, dom Habsburgów, pt, Casa de Habsburgo, la, Domus Hab ...

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

Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen ( en, Nothing without God) , national_anthem = , common_languages = German , religion = Roman Catholic , currency = , title_leader = Prince , leader1 ...

lands became

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an em ...

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

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