Wallerstein is a municipality and former principality in the district of
Donau-Ries 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 ...
in
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 was first mentioned in 1238 as Steinheim. For generations ruled by the
House of Oettingen-Wallerstein
The House of Oettingen was a high-ranking noble Franconian and Swabian family. It ruled various estates that composed the County of Oettingen between the 12th century and the beginning of the 19th century. In 1674 the house was raised to the rank ...
, in 1806 Wallerstein became part of 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 ...
by the process of
mediatisation Mediatization or mediatisation may refer to:
* German mediatisation, German historical territorial restructuring
* Mediatization (media)
Mediatization (or medialization) is a method whereby the mass media influence other sectors of society, inclu ...
. The family still owns the
Wallerstein Castle and its surrounding land.
Mayors
* 1972-2002: Manfred Schürer
*since 2002: Joseph Mayer
Culture and Sights
* Castle Wallerstein
* Castle rock
* Old Jewish burial ground
* One of only three German
Marian and Holy Trinity columns
Marian columns are religious monuments depicting the Virgin Mary on the top, often built in thanksgiving for the ending of a plague (plague columns) or for some other reason. The purpose of the Holy Trinity columns was usually simply to celebrat ...
Gallery
Wallerstein, die Pestsäule DmD-7-79-224-7 en die katholische Pfarrkirche Sankt Alban DmD-7-79-224-1 foto5 2016-08-04 09.39.jpg, Wallerstein, monument (die Pestsäule) and Catholic Parish Church of Saint Alban
Saint Alban (; ) is venerated as the first-recorded British Christian martyr, for which reason he is considered to be the British protomartyr. Along with fellow Saints Julius and Aaron, Alban is one of three named martyrs recorded at an ea ...
File:St. Oswald Kirche Ehringen - panoramio.jpg, St. Oswald Church
Notable inhabitants

*
Yom-Tov Lipmann Heller
Rabbi Gershon Shaul Yom-Tov Lipmann ben Nathan ha-Levi Heller (c. 157919 August 1654), was a Bohemian rabbi and Talmudist, best known for writing a commentary on the Mishnah called the ''Tosefet Yom-Tov'' (1614–1617). Heller was one of the majo ...
(1579-1654), born in Wallerstein and later Rabbi of Prague, Nemirow and Krakow. He published a three-volume
Mishnah
The Mishnah or the Mishna (; , from the verb ''šānā'', "to study and review", also "secondary") is the first written collection of the Jewish oral traditions that are known as the Oral Torah. Having been collected in the 3rd century CE, it is ...
commentary which is studied to this day.
*
Louis of Oettingen-Wallerstein (1791-1870), Bavarian statesman and prince
*
William Berczy (1744-1813), painter, colonist and architect, co-founder of Toronto
*
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany, the country of the Germans and German things
**Germania (Roman era)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...
General
A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry.
In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...
Theodor Busse
*
Bernhard Mettenleiter (1822-1901), organist and composer
See also
*
Synagogues of the Swabian type (Wallerstein)
References
Further reading
* Ludwig Brutscher: ''Wallerstein. Markt und Residenz. Beiträge zur Orts- und Grafschaftsgeschichte.'' Markt Wallerstein 1996.
External links
*
*
Amtliche Statistik(PDF; 1,3 MB)
Donau-Ries
{{DonauRies-geo-stub