Schellenberg () is a
municipality in the lowland area of
Liechtenstein, on the banks of the
Rhine. , it has a population of 1,107
and covers an area of
History
Early history
The area was first settled by
Celts, then by
Rhaetia
Raetia ( ; ; also spelled Rhaetia) was a province of the Roman Empire, named after the Rhaetian people. It bordered on the west with the country of the Helvetii, on the east with Noricum, on the north with Vindelicia, on the south-west with Tr ...
ns.
Rome conquered the area in 15 BC, and made it part of the province of Rhaetia. The Province later became a county (countship) under
Charlemagne. The county was repeatedly divided among heirs.
[History of Schellenberg]
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The Lordship of Schellenberg was purchased by the Counts of Vaduz in 1437 and the two states have been united in fact ever since. After the Swabian War in 1499, both came under Austrian suzerainty. Different dynasties of counts bought and sold them, until their purchase in the early 18th century by the Liechtenstein dynasty, which had been granted princely status in 1706, but which needed to acquire a territory with imperial immediacy in order to vote in the Diet of the Princes of the Empire. The emperor formally united Vaduz and Schellenberg in 1719 as the Principality of Liechtenstein.[
]
World War II
The Russian Monument, located in Hinterschellenberg, in the municipality commemorates the asylum given to Russian soldiers during the Second World War. Near the end of World War II, Liechtenstein granted asylum to approximately five hundred soldiers of the First Russian National Army, a collaborationist Russian force within the German Wehrmacht. This act was no small matter, as the country was poor and had difficulty feeding and caring for such a large group of refugees.
Administration
Schellenberg is administered by the mayor and a 9-person municipal council, elected every four years since 1975. The incumbent mayor is Dietmar Lampert, since 2023.
List of mayors (1864–present)
Geography
Schellenberg territory borders with the Liechtensteiner municipalities of Eschen, Gamprin, Mauren and Ruggell
Ruggell is a municipality of Liechtenstein. It is the northernmost and lowest elevated municipality. As of 2019, it has a population of 2,322.
History
The name is said to be from the Latin for "clearing the land" (roncale - ad roncalem). Most know ...
. It borders also with the Austrian municipality of Feldkirch Feldkirch may refer to:
Places
* Feldkirch, Vorarlberg, a medieval city and capital of an administrative district in Austria
** Feldkirch (district), an administrative division of Vorarlberg, Austria
* Feldkirch (Hartheim), a village in the municip ...
, in the federal state of Vorarlberg.
Transport
In Schellenberg there is a small road crossing to Austria, manned by Austrian and Swiss border guards.
Notable people
* Gisela Biedermann
Gisela Biedermann (born 5 April 1948) is a German and Liechtensteiner physician and politician who served in the Landtag of Liechtenstein from 2009 until 2013. A member of the Patriotic Union party, she represented the Oberland constituency.
Bio ...
, physician and politician
* Julia Hassler
Julia Hassler (born 27 February 1993) is an Olympic and national-record holding swimmer from Liechtenstein. She swam for and was Liechtenstein closing-ceremony flagbearer at the 2012 Olympics. She has also swam for Liechtenstein at several other ...
, Olympic swimmer.
* Fabienne Wohlwend
Fabienne Wohlwend (born 7 November 1997 in Vaduz) is a female racing driver from Liechtenstein who competes in the W Series.
Biography Formula 4
Wohlwend entered car racing in 2016, having been successful in junior karting in Liechtenstein and ...
, motor racing driver.
References
External links
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{{Authority control
Municipalities of Liechtenstein
Austria–Liechtenstein border crossings
Schellenberg