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This article relates to the city in Germany. For the family name, see Günzburg (surname). Günzburg is a Große Kreisstadt and capital of the district of Günzburg in Swabia, Bavaria. 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 enters the Danube, and has a population of about 19,800.
History Günzburg was founded in about 70 B.C. by the Romans to defend the borders of their land along the Danube; it was known as Castellum Guntia, Gontia or Contia. The name comes from that of a Celtic moon goddess (Góntia). 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 5th century, the Alamanni 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 house and was developed into the centre of the margraviate of Burgau; for a time it was even the capital of all Further Austria. In 1806 the town became part of Bavaria. Very near Günzburg is the site where the "Leipheim Horde" was defeated by the Swabian army in 1525 during the German Peasants' Revolt. The same site saw the first flight by a Messerschmitt Me 262 in 1942. Attractions The attractions of Günzburg include the Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche) built by Dominikus Zimmermann, the margraves' castle (the only Habsburg castle built in Germany), the Reisensburg fort, today the congress centre of the University of Ulm and the nearly-intact old town centre. In 2002 Legoland built a theme park near the town. Image:Guenzburg germany 1918.jpg|Günzburg in about 1918 Image:Guenzburg Kuehturm.jpg|Cooling tower in the old town Image:Guenzburg Frauenkirche Altar.jpg|Altar at the Frauenkirche Image:Guenzburg Frauenkirche Orgel.jpg|Deck and choir at the Frauenkirche Sons and daughters of the town See also | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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