Elchingen 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 ...

about 7 km east 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, ...

–

Neu-Ulm Neu-Ulm ( Swabian: ''Nej-Ulm'') is the capital of the Neu-Ulm district and a town in Swabia, Bavaria. Neighbouring towns include Ulm, Senden, Pfaffenhofen an der Roth, Holzheim, Nersingen and Elchingen. The population is 58,978 (31 December 2019 ...

in the district of Neu-Ulm in

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 ...

. Municipality parts: * Thalfingen: 4 211 residents, 8.83 km² * Oberelchingen: 3 024 residents, 7.31 km² * Unterelchingen: 2 863 residents, 8.76 km²

History

In 1294, Elchingen (today: Unterelchingen) was sold by Konrad of Plochingen to the Cistercian monastery of Salem. Unterelchingen stayed in its property until the secularization in 1802. Unterelchingen never was in possession of the Monastery of Elchingen. In 1803, Ober-, Unter-elchingen and Thalfingen became Bavarian, due to the Principal Decree of the Imperial Deputation. The

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

monastery of Elchingen was founded at the beginning of the 12th century. In 1395 all authentic documents were destroyed in a fire. So the probable consecration date (15 August 1128) cannot be proven. Around 1500, the German Conquistador Ambrosius Ehinger was born there. He later went on to be a pivotal figure in the colony of Klein-Venedig in modern-day Venezuela. He was killed in 1533 by native tribes while searching for the mythical El Dorado. Elchingen became famous through the

Battle of Elchingen The Battle of Elchingen, fought on 14 October 1805, saw French forces under Michel Ney rout an Austrian corps led by Johann Sigismund Riesch. This defeat led to a large part of the Austrian army being invested in the fortress of Ulm by the arm ...

: on 14 October 1805 the

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...

ic troops under the command of Marshal

Michel Ney Michel Ney, 1st Duke of Elchingen, 1st Prince of the Moskva (; 10 January 1769 – 7 December 1815), was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. He was one o ...

defeated the

Austria Austria, , bar, Östareich officially the Republic of Austria, is a country in the southern part of Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine states, one of which is the capital, Vienna, the most populous ...

ns. One day later the

Battle of Ulm The Battle of Ulm on 16–19 October 1805 was a series of skirmishes, at the end of the Ulm Campaign, which allowed Napoleon I to trap an entire Austrian army under the command of Karl Freiherr Mack von Leiberich with minimal losses and to fo ...

began, after which

Karl Mack von Leiberich Karl Freiherr Mack von Leiberich (25 August 1752 – 22 December 1828) was an Austrian soldier. He is best remembered as the commander of the Austrian forces that capitulated to Napoleon's ''Grande Armée'' in the Battle of Ulm in 1805. Early ...

finally had to capitulate. In 1806 Napoleon conferred the title of ''Duc d'Elchingen'' on Marshal Ney and the name of Elchingen was engraved on the

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile (, , ; ) is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Place de l'Étoile—the ''étoile'' ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

. For the region the Napoleonic victory meant the end of the Austrian supremacy which led to a re-organization of the area of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Hohenzollern, two other historical territories, Würt ...

and Bavaria. Today's municipality of Elchingen is the result of the reorganization of Bavaria on 1 May 1978 through the integration of Thalfingen, Oberelchingen and Unterelchingen.

Number of residents

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width: 620 height:200 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:10000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:2500 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:500 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:2001 text:2001 bar:2002 text:2002 bar:2003 text:2003 bar:2004 text:2004 bar:2005 text:2005 bar:2006 text:2006 bar:2007 text:2007 bar:2008 text:2008 bar:2009 text:2009 bar:2010 text:2010 bar:2011 text:2011 PlotData= color:barra width:40 align:center bar:2001 from:0 till: 9336 bar:2002 from:0 till: 9320 bar:2003 from:0 till: 9326 bar:2004 from:0 till: 9294 bar:2005 from:0 till: 9232 bar:2006 from:0 till: 9213 bar:2007 from:0 till: 9239 bar:2008 from:0 till: 9244 bar:2009 from:0 till: 9185 bar:2010 from:0 till: 9187 bar:2011 from:0 till: 9164 PlotData= bar:2001 at: 9336 fontsize:S text: 9.336 fontsize:S shift: (2,5) bar:2002 at: 9320 fontsize:S text: 9.320 fontsize:S shift: (2,5) bar:2003 at: 9326 fontsize:S text: 9.326 fontsize:S shift: (2,5) bar:2004 at: 9294 fontsize:S text: 9.294 fontsize:S shift: (2,5) bar:2005 at: 9232 fontsize:S text: 9.232 fontsize:S shift: (2,5) bar:2006 at: 9213 fontsize:S text: 9.213 fontsize:S shift: (2,5) bar:2007 at: 9239 fontsize:S text: 9.239 fontsize:S shift: (2,5) bar:2008 at: 9244 fontsize:S text: 9.244 fontsize:S shift: (2,5) bar:2009 at: 9185 fontsize:S text: 9.185 fontsize:S shift: (2,5) bar:2010 at: 9187 fontsize:S text: 9.187 fontsize:S shift: (2,5) bar:2011 at: 9164 fontsize:S text: 9.164 fontsize:S shift: (2,5)

Mayor

*1984-2008: Anton Lang (died 2008) *November 2008: Joachim Eisenkolb was elected the new mayorhttp://www.elchingen.de/index.php4?id=44&Detail=166

Economics

Traffic

Elchingen lies on the A8 autobahn, which connects Stuttgart and Munich, near the intersection where the A8 crosses the A7, and has its own exit. Elchingen also lies on the train line between Ulm and

Aalen Aalen () is a former Free Imperial City located in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, about east of Stuttgart and north of Ulm. It is the seat of the Ostalbkreis district and is its largest town. It is also the large ...

, the so-called ''Brenzbahn''.

Attractions

* The Catholic Church St. Laurentius in the center of Thalfingen. * North of Thalfingen is the

truck stop A truck stop, known as a service station in the United Kingdom, and a travel center by major chains in the United States, is a commercial facility which provides refueling, rest (parking), and often ready-made food and other services to motori ...

Seligweiler. * The monastery Oberelchingen with the former abbey church St. Peter and Paul.

Sport

In the hamlet of Thalfingen is a multi-purpose hall, which was completely renovated in 2005.

Regular events

The Protestant church organizes an annual community festival in Thalfingen. The traditional, well-known in the region "Narrabaumstella", a Swabian-Alemannic carnival custom takes place every year in Oberelchingen and attracts hundreds of participants in the streets of Oberelchingen.

Sons and daughters of the town

Ambrosius Ehinger Ambrosius Ehinger, also (Ambrosio Alfínger in Spanish) Dalfinger, Thalfinger, (ca. 1500 in Thalfingen near Ulm – 31 May 1533 near Chinácota in modern-day Colombia) was a German conquistador and the first governor of the Welser concessi ...

(born before 1500-1533) German conquistador and the first governor of Venezuela * Konstantin Vidal (1900-1990), German politician (CSU), 1946-1950 member of the Bavarian Parliament * Martin Grath (born 1960 in Thalfingen) Member of Landtag *

Katrin Albsteiger Katrin Albsteiger (''née'' Poleschner, born 20 November 1983) is a German politician from the Christian Social Union of Bavaria. Education and early career Albsteiger studied political science at the University of Augsburg and the University of ...

, (born 1983), CSU politician

Literature

*Franz Willbold: ''Napoleons Feldzug um Ulm. Die Schlacht von Elchingen 1805'' *Alfred Krauss: ''1805 – Der Feldzug von Ulm.'' Vienna 1912 (Maps from this a
napoleon-online.de

Battle near Elchingen
un
Situation at the evening of 14 October

References

External links

* {{Authority control Neu-Ulm (district)