Schwabmünchen ( Swabian: ''Mingkchinga'' Schwabmünchen) is a

town A town is a type of a human settlement, generally larger than a village but smaller than a city. The criteria for distinguishing a town vary globally, often depending on factors such as population size, economic character, administrative stat ...

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 ...

in the administrative region of

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 ...

south of

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

in the Augsburg district.

Geography

Location

Schwabmünchen lies about 20 km south of

between Lech and Wertach on the western edge of the Lechfeld, a gravel plain. Through the city flows the river Singold. In the west, about 5 km from town in the residential area of Stauden rise the ''Westliche Wälder'', or Western Forests.

Neighbouring communities

North of Schwabmünchen, about 3 km away, lies Großaitingen. Furthermore, Schwabmünchen is surrounded by Untermeitingen to the southeast, Langerringen to the south and Hiltenfingen to the southwest, as well as, about 10 km away in the ''Stauden'' – an area of gentle wooded hills and cultivated dales – Mickhausen to the northwest.

City divisions

In 1978, as a result of Bavarian municipal reform, the following communities were amalgamated into Schwabmünchen: * ''Birkach'', with a population today of 186, was mentioned in a document as early as 969 under the name "Pirichah" as a domain of Saint Stephen's Convent (''"Kloster St. Stephan"'') in Augsburg. It lies about 7 km from Schwabmünchen in the ''Schwarzachtal'' (valley). * ''Klimmach'', with a population today of 255 already existed in the early

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 ...

, but was only first mentioned in a document in 1482. Klimmach is an important

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a travel, journey to a holy place, which can lead to a personal transformation, after which the pilgrim returns to their daily life. A pilgrim (from the Latin ''peregrinus'') is a traveler (literally one who has come from afar) w ...

place in the Bishopric of Augsburg. Klimmach lies about 6 km west from Schwabmünchen on the heights between the Wertach Plain ("''Wertachebene''") and the ''Schwarzachtal''. * ''Mittelstetten'' with 571 inhabitants. * ''Schwabegg'', which today has 781 inhabitants, had its first documentary mention in 1110. It lies about 5 km west of Schwabmünchen at the edge of the rise towards the Stauden area and the Wertach Plain.

History

Schwabmünchen was first mentioned in writing in 954 as "castellum Mantahinga" in a biography of Saint Ulrich,

Bishop of Augsburg Diocese of Augsburg () is a Latin diocese of the Catholic Church in Germany. The diocese is a suffragan of the Archdiocese of Munich. History Early history The present city of Augsburg appears in Strabo as ''Damasia'', a stronghold of t ...

. From

archaeological Archaeology or archeology is the study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of Artifact (archaeology), artifacts, architecture, biofact (archaeology), biofacts or ecofacts, ...

digs in the north of the modern city have come clues of

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 ...

Roman 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 ...

and

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 ...

c peoples dwelling in the area in bygone ages. In 1562,

Holy Roman Emperor The Holy Roman Emperor, originally and officially the Emperor of the Romans (disambiguation), Emperor of the Romans (; ) during the Middle Ages, and also known as the Roman-German Emperor since the early modern period (; ), was the ruler and h ...

Ferdinand I raised the community to market town and bestowed upon it a market town's

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

. In the years from 1804 to 1806, Schwabmünchen came under Bavarian rule, having formerly belonged to the

Prince-Bishopric of Augsburg The Prince-Bishopric of Augsburg () was one of the Prince-bishoprics of the Holy Roman Empire, and belonged to the Swabian Circle. It should not be confused with the larger diocese of Augsburg, over which the prince-bishop exercised only spirit ...

(''Augsburger

Hochstift In the Holy Roman Empire, the German language, German term (plural: ) referred to the territory ruled by a bishop as a prince (i.e. prince-bishop), as opposed to his diocese, generally much larger and over which he exercised only spiritual auth ...

''). On 4 March 1945, late in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Schwabmünchen was beset by a heavy air raid, which killed 60 inhabitants. One fourth of the town was utterly destroyed, and two thirds of it was heavily damaged. After the war, the population rose dramatically owing to the great number of refugees flowing into the town, and in 1953, Schwabmünchen was raised from market town to city. In 1972, the former district of Schwabmünchen was merged with the district of Wertingen to form the current district of

Population growth

1840: 3,438 inhabitants
1900: 4,751
1939: 5,453
1970: 9,200
2005: 13,806

Politics

Distribution of places on the 24-seat city council (as of municipal elections in 2008) is as follows: * CSU: 13 seats * SPD: 4 seats * ''Freie Wählervereinigung'' (citizens' coalition): 7 seats Since 2008, Lorenz Müller (CSU) has been mayor of Schwabmünchen.

City partnership

Since 7 June 1975, there has been a city partnership between Schwabmünchen and the city of Giromagny in

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 ...

. Giromagny lies 12 km north of

Belfort Belfort (; archaic , ) is a city in northeastern France, situated approximately from the Swiss border. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Territoire de Belfort. Belfort is from Paris and from Basel. The residents of the city ...

at the foot of the

Vosges mountains The Vosges ( , ; ; Franconian (linguistics), Franconian and ) is a range of medium mountains in Eastern France, near its France–Germany border, border with Germany. Together with the Palatine Forest to the north on the German side of the bor ...

Culture and sightseeing

Worth seeing is one of Schwabmünchen's landmarks, the ''Hexentürmchen'', or Witches' turrets, flanking a gateway at the city hall that once led into the episcopal ''Straßvogtei'', or "road bailiwick", the name given the area for the important ancient road that led through it. The turrets were apparently built in the 16th century. Another thing to see is the ''Strickerbrunnen'', or "Knitter Fountain", at Schrannenplatz. It was created by sculptor Karl-Ulrich Nuss. To the right and the left, underneath the knitter stand a lamb and a goat. According to one story, if two people sit on these animals at the same time, they will be lifelong friends. Every year on the last weekend of September, the local fair ''Michaelimarkt'' takes place.

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Schwabmünchen is the terminal stop on the ''Augsburger Verkehrsverbund'', the Augsburg area's transport system. Trains run half-hourly from to Buchloe and

on the Augsburg–Buchloe railway. Through ringroads and feeder roads, the town is connected with ''Bundesstraße'' (Federal Highway) 17 which leads to

and

Landsberg am Lech Landsberg am Lech (Landsberg at the Lech (river), Lech) is a Town#Germany, town in southwest Bavaria, Germany, about 65 kilometers west of Munich and 35 kilometers south of Augsburg. It is the capital of the district of Landsberg (district), Lands ...

, and which is built quite similarly to an

Autobahn The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...

Established enterprises

* Schöffel Sportbekleidung GmbH (sportswear) *

Osram OSRAM Licht AG is a German company that makes electric lights, headquartered in Munich and Premstätten (Austria). OSRAM positions itself as a high-tech photonics company that is increasingly focusing on sensor technology, visualization and trea ...

wire and chemical works * Kalenderwerk Zettler * Eberle spring factory * CTP GmbH

Public safety

Police

The police station of Schwabmünchen is located at the Fuggerstraße 64 in Schwabmünchen. The area of responsibility is the town of Schwabmünchen itself and the towns Graben, Großaitingen, Hiltenfingen, Kleinaitingen, Klosterlechfeld, Langenneufnach, Langerringen, Mickhausen, Mittelneufnach, Scherstetten, Schwabmünchen, Untermeitingen and Walkertshofen.

Rescue service

The rescue station of the Bavarian Red Cross is located at the Fuggerstraße 42 in Schwabmünchen. Here an emergency physician vehicle, a rescue ambulance and a patient transport ambulance are stationed. There is no fixed area of responsibility for the rescue service. The pupblic-safety answering point (PSAP) of Augsburg is responsible for alerting the rescue service. The PSAP is always alerting the closest rescue vehicle to an emergency. Administrative borders like counties etc. do not matter here. The area of operation is about the south of Augsburg County and the town of Augsburg itself.

Fire brigade

The fire station of the volunteer fire brigade of Schwabmünchen is located at the Riedstraße 91in Schwabmünchen. Here a Löschzug (platoon for fire fighting) and a Rüstzug (platoon for technical help, e.g. road accidents) are stationed. The PSAP of Augsburg is responsible for alerting the fire brigade, also. Therefore, there is no fixed area of responsibility for the fire brigade. The area of operation is about the town of Schwabmünchen itself and for support all other districts of Schwabmünchen and the surrounding towns. The districts Schwabegg, Birkach, Klimmach and Mittelstetten do have independent fire brigades. The fire brigade of Schwabegg is equipped with a medium fire truck (Löschgruppenfahrzeug), the other districts are equipped with one small fire truck, each.

Personalities

Sons and daughters of the city

* Leonhard Wagner (1453–1522), the most important

calligrapher Calligraphy () is a visual art related to writing. It is the design and execution of lettering with a pen, ink brush, or other writing instruments. Contemporary calligraphic practice can be defined as "the art of giving form to signs in an exp ...

of the late German

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 ...

, after whom the city's ''

Hauptschule A ''Hauptschule'' (, "general school") is a secondary school in Germany, starting after four years of elementary schooling (''Grundschule''), which offers Lower Secondary Education (Level 2) according to the International Standard Classification ...

'', ''

Realschule Real school (, ) is a type of secondary school in Germany, Switzerland and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia (''realna gimnazija''), the Austrian Empire, the German Empire, Denmark and Norway (''realskole''), Sweden (''realskola''), F ...

'' and '' Gymnasium'' are named. * Prof. Dr. Werner Huß (1936- ),

ancient historian Historiography is the study of the methods used by historians in developing history as an academic discipline. By extension, the term "historiography" is any body of historical work on a particular subject. The historiography of a specific to ...

* Peter Seitz (1931- ), Graphic Designer, Author, Professor, Business Owner * Maria Blum (1890–1961), German politician

References

External links

*
Gymnasium's homepage

Realschule's homepage

Hauptschule's homepage
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schwabmunchen Augsburg (district)