Welden is a community in the Augsburg district of

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 ...

, and is the seat of the commune of Welden. Since the local government reform in 1978 it comprises Welden, Reutern and Ehgatten.

Geography

Welden lies at the centre of the ''Holzwinkel'' landscape in Augsburg-West forestry natural park. Welden and Ehgatten are situated on the Laugna which supplies the

Zusam The Zusam is a river in Bavaria, Germany and a right tributary of the Danube. Its source is just north of the village of Könghausen, in the Unterallgäu district of Bavaria. It flows north for approximately 97 km, before converging into the ...

. Reutern is on a hill between the Zusam and Laugna vallies.

History

Welden was first mentioned in 1156. It was seat of the Lords of Welden who took their fief from the marquesses of

Burgau Burgau is a town in the district of Günzburg in Swabia, Bavaria. Burgau lies on the river Mindel and has a population of just under 10,000. History The territory around Burgau was originally part of the stem duchy of Swabia. The death of C ...

. In 1402 the village became a "market". In 1597 the Fugger family acquired the estate which remained in the hand of the ''Fugger-Wellenburg'' branch until it extinguished in 1764, followed by the counts and princes of ''Fugger-Babenhausen''. In 1806 Welden became part of 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 ...

. The monastery is still owned by the Fugger family foundation. During the local government reform of 1978, the commune of Reutern was added to Welden as was Ehgatten, which belonged to the commune of Streitheim (now belonging to

Zusmarshausen Zusmarshausen is a municipality in the district of Augsburg, Bavaria, Germany. The 1648 Battle of Zusmarshausen The Battle of Zusmarshausen was fought on 17 May 1648 between Bavarian- Imperial forces under von Holzappel and an allied Franco-S ...

community). Before 1978, Ehgatten's parish and school was governed by Welden.

Politics

Mayor

Mayors since the local government reform of 1978: Since 2002, Gerhard Groß (FWV) has been the deputy mayor.

Local Council

Local council elections since the 1978 reform:

Culture and Places of Interest

* St. Thekla church * Church of the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary contains early frescoes by 18th century painter

Matthäus Günther Matthäus Günther (also Mathäus Günther) (7 September 1705 – 30 September 1788) was an important German painter and artist of the Baroque and Rococo era. Günther, who was born in Peissenberg (at that time: Tritschengreith), helpe ...

Notable citizens

The author Ludwig Ganghofer spent a significant part of his childhood (1859–1865) in Welden.

References

External links

* {{Authority control Augsburg (district)