Günzburg (; Swabian: ''Genzburg'') is a town in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

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 ...

. It is a ''

Große Kreisstadt ''Große Kreisstadt'' (, "major district town") is a term in the municipal law (''Gemeindeordnung'') of several States of Germany, German states. In some federal states the term is used as a special legal status for a Districts of Germany, distric ...

'' and the capital of the Swabian district Günzburg. This district was constituted in 1972 by combining the city of Günzburg – which had not previously been assigned to a '' Kreis'' (district) – with the district of Günzburg and the district of Krumbach. Günzburg lies where the river

Günz The Günz is a river in Bavaria, Germany. It is formed near Lauben by the confluence of its two source rivers: the Östliche Günz (eastern Günz) and the Westliche Günz (western Günz). It is approx. long (including its western source river ...

enters the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

, and has a population of about 20,350.

Legoland Deutschland Resort Legoland Deutschland Resort (known in English as Legoland Germany) is a Legoland park located in Günzburg, Germany, Günzburg in Bavaria, roughly halfway between Munich and Stuttgart, which opened in 2002. At opening it was 43.5 hectares (107 ac ...

is located in Günzburg.

History

Günzburg was founded in about 70 BC by the

Romans Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of Roman civilization *Epistle to the Romans, shortened to Romans, a letter w ...

to defend the borders of their land along the

; it was known as ''

Castellum A ''castellum'' in Latin is usually: * a small Roman fortlet or tower,C. Julius Caesar, Gallic War; 2,30 a diminutive of (' military camp'), often used as a watchtower or signal station like on Hadrian's Wall. It is distinct from a , which ...

Guntia'', ''Gontia'' or ''Contia''. The name comes from that of the

Celtic Celtic, Celtics or Keltic may refer to: Language and ethnicity *pertaining to Celts, a collection of Indo-European peoples in Europe and Anatolia **Celts (modern) *Celtic languages **Proto-Celtic language *Celtic music *Celtic nations Sports Foot ...

goddess A goddess is a female deity. In some faiths, a sacred female figure holds a central place in religious prayer and worship. For example, Shaktism (one of the three major Hinduism, Hindu sects), holds that the ultimate deity, the source of all re ...

Gontia. It consisted of a fort, later replaced by at least one other on the same site, a fairly large civilian settlement and most likely an important bridge over the Danube. After the Romans left in the fifth century, the

Alamanni The Alemanni or Alamanni were a confederation of Germanic tribes * * * on the Upper Rhine River during the first millennium. First mentioned by Cassius Dio in the context of the campaign of Roman emperor Caracalla of 213 CE, the Alemanni c ...

tribe settled there. In around 700 the nearby castle of ''Ricinis'' was mentioned by the Cartographer of Ravenna as one of the five most important castles of Alemannia. In 1065 first documentary evidence appears of the town itself as ''Gunceburch''. In 1301 the town became part of the

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

house A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air c ...

and was developed into the centre of the Margraviate of

Burgau Burgau () is a Town#Germany, town in Günzburg (district), the district of Günzburg in Swabia (Bavaria), Swabia, Bavaria. Burgau lies on the river Mindel (river), Mindel and has a population of just under 10,000. History The territory around ...

; for a time (1803–1805) it was even the capital of all

Further Austria Further Austria, Outer Austria or Anterior Austria (; , formerly ''die Vorlande'' (pl.)) was the collective name for the early (and later) possessions of the House of Habsburg in the former Swabian stem duchy of south-western Germany, includin ...

. Very near Günzburg is the site where the "

Leipheim Leipheim ( Swabian: ''Leiba'') is a town in the district of Günzburg, in Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the Danube, west of Günzburg, and northeast of Ulm. The village Riedheim and the hamlet Weissingen are districts of Leipheim. Since ...

Horde" was defeated by the

Swabia Swabia ; , 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 Swabia, one of ...

n army in 1525 during the

German Peasants' War The German Peasants' War, Great Peasants' War or Great Peasants' Revolt () was a widespread popular revolt in some German-speaking areas in Central Europe from 1524 to 1525. It was Europe's largest and most widespread popular uprising befor ...

. The same site saw the first flight by a

Messerschmitt Me 262 The Messerschmitt Me 262, nicknamed (German for "Swallow") in fighter versions, or ("Storm Bird") in fighter-bomber versions, is a fighter aircraft and fighter-bomber that was designed and produced by the German aircraft manufacturer Messers ...

in 1942. In 1770 the city was visited by French queen Marie Antoinette. She broke her journey towards France for two days and was joined by her father’s sister, Princess Anne Charlotte of Lorraine. Together, they made a pilgrimage to the church of Maria Königin Bild, near Limbach. On 9 October 1805, elements of the Sixth Corps of Napoléon's

Grande Armée The (; ) was the primary field army of the French Imperial Army (1804–1815), French Imperial Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Commanded by Napoleon, from 1804 to 1808 it won a series of military victories that allowed the First French Empi ...

assaulted Austrian positions in Günzburg. The first assault was initiated by the 25th Light Infantry and the 27th and 50th Infantry Regiments of the Line (under

Pierre-Louis Binet de Marcognet Pierre-Louis Binet de Marcognet (; 14 November 1765 – 19 December 1854) joined the French army in 1781 as an officer cadet and fought in the American Revolutionary War. During the French Revolutionary Wars he fought in the Army of the Rhine ( ...

), while the second consisted of only the 59th Infantry Regiment of the Line, under Mathieu de la Bassé; around one thousand

Austrian Austrian may refer to: * Austrians, someone from Austria or of Austrian descent ** Someone who is considered an Austrian citizen * Austrian German dialect * Something associated with the country Austria, for example: ** Austria-Hungary ** Austria ...

prisoners were taken, and six guns captured. In 1806, through the Franco-Bavarian alliance, Günzburg was integrated into the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...

. In April 1945, near the end of the Second World War, the city of Günzburg was bombed by the allies. Among other targets that were severely damaged or destroyed were the nearby town of Denzingen, the castle, and a munitions train that was in the train station. Günzburg has flourished, boasting a thriving downtown shopping area, scenic views of the nearby historic castle, and one of the top five Legoland theme parks in Germany. It is also home of the football player

Stefano Celozzi Stefano Celozzi (born 2 November 1988) is a German former professional footballer who played as a right-back. Having represented Germany at youth level, he is of Italian descent. Club career Youth After playing youth football with a succession o ...

, who moved to Günzburg in 2016.

Main sights

The attractions of Günzburg include the Church of Our Lady ('' Frauenkirche'') built by Dominikus Zimmermann, the

margrave Margrave was originally the Middle Ages, medieval title for the military commander assigned to maintain the defence of one of the border provinces of the Holy Roman Empire or a monarchy, kingdom. That position became hereditary in certain Feudal ...

s' castle (the only Habsburg castle built in Germany), the ''Reisensburg'' fort, today the congress centre of the

University of Ulm Ulm University () is a public university in Ulm, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The University was founded in 1967 and focuses on natural sciences, medicine, engineering sciences, mathematics, economics and computer science. With 9,891 studen ...

and the nearly-intact old town centre. In 2002

Legoland Legoland (, trademarked in uppercase as LEGOLAND) is a chain of family amusement parks focusing on the Lego building toy brand. They are owned and operated by the British theme park company Merlin Entertainments, which shares a common owner ...

built a theme park near the town.

Notable people

* Fred Benninger (1917–2004), executive of several companies in the United States *

, (born 1988), footballer for

VfL Bochum Verein für Leibesübungen Bochum 1848 Fußballgemeinschaft, commonly referred to as VfL Bochum (), is a Football in Germany, German professional association football club based in the city of Bochum, North Rhine-Westphalia. They currently play ...

Diana Damrau Diana Damrau (; born 31 May 1971) is a German soprano who has achieved international fame for her performances, primarily in opera, but also in concert and lieder. She has been successful in coloratura soprano roles since her early career, and gr ...

(born 1971), opera singer, soprano *

Johann Eck Johann Maier von Eck (13 November 1486 – 13 February 1543), often anglicized as John Eck, was a German Catholic theologian, scholastic, prelate, and opponent of Martin Luther. Life Johann Eck was born Johann Maier at Eck (later Egg, near M ...

(1494–1554), Reformation theologian * Johann Eberlin von Günzburg (died 1533), reformist preacher and author, was born in the town around 1470 * Erhard Keller (born 1944), speed skater *

Petra Kelly Petra Karin Kelly (29 November 1947 – 1 October 1992) was a German Green politician and ecofeminist activist. She was a founding member of the German Green Party, the first Green party to rise to prominence both nationally in Germany and w ...

(1947–1992), politician, peace activist and founding member of the party Greens * Klaus Mack (born 1973), politician (CDU) *

Josef Mengele Josef Mengele (; 16 March 19117 February 1979) was a Nazi German (SS) officer and physician during World War II at the Russian front and then at Auschwitz during the Holocaust, often dubbed the "Angel of Death" (). He performed Nazi hum ...

(1911–1979), a German doctor, the SS officer and

Auschwitz concentration camp Auschwitz, or Oświęcim, was a complex of over 40 Nazi concentration camps, concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany, occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) d ...

physician was born in Günzburg. On 8 March 2005 a monument to his victims was erected in the town. * Karl Mengele (1884–1959), father of German doctor

, temporarily owner of the Mengele agricultural Engineering company, in the 1950s, with 2,000 employees the largest employer in the region *

Franz Xaver Schwarz Franz Xaver Schwarz (27 November 1875 – 2 December 1947) was a high ranking German Nazi Party official who served as ''Reichsschatzmeister'' (National Treasurer) of the Party throughout most of its existence. He was also one of the highes ...

(1875–1947), Nazi politician, Reichsschatzmeister * Tina Stöckle (1948–1992), activist in humanistic

anti-psychiatry Anti-psychiatry, sometimes spelled antipsychiatry, is a movement based on the view that psychiatric treatment can often be more damaging than helpful to patients. The term anti-psychiatry was coined in 1912, and the movement emerged in the 1960s, ...

* Zenon Andrusyshyn (born 1947), former professional football player

athlete An athlete is most commonly a person who competes in one or more sports involving physical strength, speed, power, or endurance. Sometimes, the word "athlete" is used to refer specifically to sport of athletics competitors, i.e. including track ...

Ute Schmid Ute Maria Schmid (born 1965) is a German computer scientist whose research interests include interpretable artificial intelligence and inductive programming. She is a professor at the University of Bamberg, in charge of the chair for cogniti ...

(born 1965), computer scientist * Robert Sigl (born 1962), film director, actor, writer, Bavarian Film Award 1988 *

Literature

* Wüst, Wolfgang: ''Historische Einleitung'', in: Klaus Kraft: ''Landkreis Günzburg, Bd. 1: Stadt Günzburg'' (Die Kunstdenkmäler von Bayern, Teil Schwaben IX), München 1993, p. 1–49. * Wüst, Wolfgang: ''Günzburg''. Historischer Atlas von Bayern, Teil Schwaben, Reihe I, Bd. 13, München 1983, . * Keller, Sven: ''Günzburg und der Fall Josef Mengele – Die Heimatstadt und die Jagd nach dem NS-Verbrecher''. Oldenbourg Verlag, München 2003, .

References

External links