Swabia (german: Schwaben, ) is one of the seven administrative regions 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 l ...

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 betwee ...

Governance

The county of Swabia is located in southwest

. It was annexed by Bavaria in 1803, is part of the historic region of

Swabia Swabia ; german: Schwaben , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of ...

and was formerly ruled by dukes of the

Hohenstaufen The Hohenstaufen dynasty (, , ), also known as the Staufer, was a noble family of unclear origin that rose to rule the Duchy of Swabia from 1079, and to royal rule in the Holy Roman Empire during the Middle Ages from 1138 until 1254. The dynas ...

dynasty. During the Nazi period, the area was separated from the rest of Bavaria to become the Gau Swabia. It was re-incorporated into Bavaria after the war. The Regierungsbezirk is subdivided into 3 regions (''Planungsregionen''): Allgäu, Augsburg, and Donau-Iller. Donau-Iller also includes two districts and one city of

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 ...

. * Part of the Swabian Keuper Land

Districts and district-free towns before the regional reorganization in 1972

Population

Historical population of Swabia: *1939: 934,311 *1950: 1,293,734 *1961: 1,340,217 *1970: 1,467,454 *1987: 1,546,504 *2002: 1,776,465 *2005: 1,788,919 *2006: 1,786,764 *2008: 1,787,995 *2010: 1,785,875 *2015: 1,846,020 *2019: 1,899,442

Economy

The Gross domestic product (GDP) of the region was € 74.8 billion in 2018, accounting for 2.2% of German economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was € 36,500 or 121% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 101% of the EU average.

History

The Bavarian administrative region of Swabia is the eastern part of the Duchy of Swabia. After the execution of the Swabian duke

Conradin Conrad III (25 March 1252 – 29 October 1268), called ''the Younger'' or ''the Boy'', but usually known by the diminutive Conradin (german: link=no, Konradin, it, Corradino), was the last direct heir of the House of Hohenstaufen. He was Duke ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adm ...

in 1268, his uncle, the Bavarian duke Louis inherited some of Conradin's possessions in Swabia. In 1803, with the

German Mediatisation German mediatisation (; german: deutsche Mediatisierung) was the major territorial restructuring that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany and the surrounding region by means of the mass mediatisation and secularisation of a large numbe ...

, Bavaria acquired the further East Swabian territories, which were merged with Palatinate-Neuburg. After the founding 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 state was totally reorganised and, in 1808, divided into 15 administrative districts (german: Regierungsbezirke, link=no), in Bavaria called . They were created in the fashion of the French departements, quite even in size and population, and named after their main rivers. In the following years, due to territorial changes (e.g. the loss of Tyrol, the addition of the Palatinate), the number of districts was reduced to 8. The Swabian territories were merged with Palatinate-Neuburg and the new district was called (Upper Danube District). In 1837, king Ludwig I of Bavaria renamed all the districts after historical territorial names and tribes of the area. This also involved some border changes or territorial swaps. Thus the name changed to Swabia. In 1945, the town of

Lindau Lindau (german: Lindau (Bodensee), ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major Town#Germany, town and Lindau (island), island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Ge ...

was divested by France, but reunited with the district of Swabia in 1955. In 1972, the former Swabian city

Neuburg an der Donau Neuburg an der Donau (Central Bavarian: ''Neiburg an da Donau'') is a town which is the capital of the Neuburg-Schrobenhausen district in the state of Bavaria in Germany. Divisions The municipality has 16 divisions: * Altmannstetten * Bergen, ...

was reunited with the district of

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (german: Oberbayern, ; ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat ...

Main sites

Next to the capital

Augsburg Augsburg (; bar , Augschburg , links=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swabian_German , label=Swabian German, , ) is a city in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, around west of Bavarian capital Munich. It is a university town and regional seat of the ' ...

and several other old cities including Donauwörth,

Nördlingen Nördlingen (; Swabian: ''Nearle'' or ''Nearleng'') is a town in the Donau-Ries district, in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany, with a population of approximately 20,674. It is located approximately east of Stuttgart, and northwest of Munich. It wa ...

, Memmingen, Mindelheim, Kaufbeuren and Kempten, the Ottobeuren Abbey and the scenic attractions of the River

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 ...

in the north and the

Allgäu The Allgäu (Standard German: , also Allgovia) is a region in Swabia in southern Germany. It covers the south of Bavarian Swabia, southeastern Baden-Württemberg, and parts of Austria. The region stretches from the pre-alpine lands up to the ...

in the south with the Allgäu Alps and

Oberstdorf Oberstdorf ( Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in Germany and one of its highest towns. At the&nb ...

and the royal castles of Hohenschwangau and

Neuschwanstein Neuschwanstein Castle (german: Schloss Neuschwanstein, , Southern Bavarian: ''Schloss Neischwanstoa'') is a 19th-century historicist palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Füssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The ...

next to Füssen belong to the major attractions. With the district of

, Bavarian Swabia has access to Lake Constance.

Food and drink

Swabian cuisine is down-to-earth and rather simple. Noodle products are very important. * Brenntar * Spätzle *

Maultaschen (singular ''Maultasche'' , ) are a kind of large meat-filled dumpling in Swabian cuisine. They consist of sheets of pasta dough filled with minced meat, smoked meat, spinach, bread crumbs and onions and flavored with various herbs and spices ...

Bergkäse ( for, , German, mountain cheese) refers to a number of varieties of cheese produced in the Alps. This includes products of mountain farming, the cultivation of alpine pastures as well as the milk processing of local producers in dairies. The te ...

* Schupfnudel *

Alb-Leisa The term Alb-Leisa firstly means the ''Öko-Erzeugergemeinschaft Alb-Leisa'' (engl. "Eco-producer association Alb-Leisa"), secondly a trade name and thirdly traditional varieties of lentils from the Swabian Jura, Germany. "Leisa" means lentils in ...

2015 0718 Käsespätzle Sölden.jpg, Cheese Spätzle File:Musmehl.jpg, ''Musmehl'', main ingredient of Brenntar File:Schupfnudeln mit Sauerkraut.jpg, Schupfnudel with sauerkraut

Notable people

Michael Bredl Michael Bredl (24 December 1915 – 22 June 1999) was a German Volksmusik musician and collector, publisher, teacher and the first Volksmusik conservator in Bavarian Swabia in the region of Allgäu. Life Michael Bredl Michl grew up in the Bavarian ...

(1916–1999), a singer and collector of traditional Swabian Volksmusik *

Ludwig Aurbacher Ludwig Aurbacher (26 August 1784 – 25 May 1847) was a German teacher and writer. He became famous for his stories about The Seven Swabians. Biography He was born in Türkheim, Bavaria, the son of a poor nailsmith. He wanted to become a Catholi ...

(1784–1847), famous for his stories about

The Seven Swabians The Seven Swabians (''Die Sieben Schwaben'') is a German fairy tale, collected by The Brothers Grimm in the second volume edition of their ''Kinder- und Hausmärchen'' (1857) under the number KHM119. The term ''Swabians'' refers to people from ...

* Ludwig Ganghofer (1855-1920), writer and inventor * Sebastian Kneipp (1821-1897), inventor of Kneipp-Kur known as Water-Doctor of Hydrotherapy

References

External links

Official website
{{Authority control Swabia NUTS 2 statistical regions of the European Union History of Swabia Government regions of Germany