Amstetten () is a

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having municipal corporation, corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality' ...

Alb-Donau-Kreis Alb-Donau-Kreis is a (district) in Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is bounded by (from the south and clockwise) the districts of Biberach, Reutlingen, Göppingen and Heidenheim, the two Bavarian districts Günzburg and Neu-Ulm, and the city ...

, 20 kilometers north-west of

Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, 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 i ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Municipality arrangement

Amstetten includes the districts Bräunisheim, Hofstett-Emerbuch, Reutti, Schalkstetten and Stubersheim. The place Amstetten itself is divided into the old Amstetten-Dorf and the newly created after the railway construction Amstetten Station.

History

Traces of a Roman road station at the top of the

Geislinger Steige The Geislinger Steige ("Geislingen climb") is an old trade route over the low mountain range of the Swabian Jura in southern Germany. It links Geislingen an der Steige with Amstetten and is one of the most famous ascents in the Jura. The name "Geis ...

demonstrate the important traffic geographical position. In Amstetten no traces of an early medieval settlement were found. However, finds from the districts Schalkstetten, Bräunisheim and Stubersheim show a settlement at least since the

Merovingian dynasty The Merovingian dynasty () was the ruling family of the Franks from around the middle of the 5th century until Pepin the Short in 751. They first appear as "Kings of the Franks" in the Roman army of northern Gaul. By 509 they had united all the ...

. The first mention of Amstetten dates back to 1275 in the Liber decimationis, the tenth book of the

Bishopric of Constance The Prince-Bishopric of Constance () was a small Hochstift, ecclesiastical principality of the Holy Roman Empire from the mid-12th century until its German Mediatisation, secularisation in 1802–1803. In his dual capacity as prince and as bisho ...

. In the late

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the 5th to the late 15th centuries, similarly to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire and ...

, the region was mainly dominated by the

House of Helfenstein The House of Helfenstein was a Germans, German noble family during the High Middle Ages, High and Late Middle Ages. The family was named after the family castle, Ruine Helfenstein, Castle Helfenstein, located above Geislingen an der Steige in th ...

. However, they had to mortgage their possession in the late 14th century to the imperial city of Ulm.

Crest

The coat of arms shows on silver (white) base a black Shepherd shovel, which is covered with a silver (white) five-spoke wheel. The town flag corresponds with this black and white crest. Emblem and flag were awarded in 1958. The colors of the emblem reminiscent of the city of Ulm to where Amstetten once belonged. The Shepherd shovel recalls the formerly widespread sheep farming and the five-spoke wheel remembered as in the area symbol transport and industry to the train station, the Amstetten owes its economic development.

Partnerships

Amstetten maintains a partnership to

Celles-sur-Belle Celles-sur-Belle () is a commune in the Deux-Sèvres department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region in western France. It is the site of an abbey dating from the 11th Century which was reconstructed between 1660 and 1685 on the orders of Louis XIV. ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

since 1990.

Economy and Infrastructure

Transport

Amstetten is located on the B 10

Stuttgart Stuttgart (; ; Swabian German, Swabian: ; Alemannic German, Alemannic: ; Italian language, Italian: ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, largest city of the States of Germany, German state of ...

– Ulm.

Railroad / branch lines

The railway line Stuttgart-Ulm-

Munich Munich is the capital and most populous city of Bavaria, Germany. As of 30 November 2024, its population was 1,604,384, making it the third-largest city in Germany after Berlin and Hamburg. Munich is the largest city in Germany that is no ...

(Fils Valley Railway) runs through the municipality. Schmalspurbahn Amstetten - Oppingen

The Amstetten station had earlier more importance by the connection of two branch lines (Amstetten-Laichingen) and the location at the top of the Geislinger Steige. Today drive on the secondary rails temporarily two museum railways. The local railway Amstetten-Gerstetten (1435 mm) operates on a 20-kilometer route to Gerstetten. The Albbähnle after Oppingen (1000 mm gauge) runs along a section of the former railway line to Laichingen. After its closure in 1985, the breakdown of the six-kilometer route between Amstetten and Oppingen could be prevented.

Sports

The SV Amstetten 1946 is the local sports club with the divisions football, tennis, handball and gymnastics. It maintains two large sports fields, a clubhouse and a tennis hall with outdoor facilities. The district Stubersheim had in Germany in the season 2010/2011 the football team with the fewest points and most goals conceded per game on average 13.

Notable people

* Benedictus Ducis, (1492–1544), worked from 1533 in Stubersheim, from 1535 in Schalkstetten, parson, humanist and a

Renaissance The Renaissance ( , ) is a Periodization, period of history and a European cultural movement covering the 15th and 16th centuries. It marked the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and was characterized by an effort to revive and sur ...

composer. * Jakob Stoller, (1873–1930), geologian and university teacher * Wilhelm Stoller, (1884–1970), diplomat

External links

Official website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Amstetten (Wurttemberg) Alb-Donau-Kreis