Donauwörth

Donauwörth
Reichsstrasse, Donauwörth
Coat of arms
Donauwörth
Location of Donauwörth within Donau-Ries district
Coordinates:
Country	Germany
State	Bavaria
Admin. region	Swabia
District	Donau-Ries
Government
• Lord Mayor	Armin Neudert (CSU)
Area
• Total	77.02 km2 (29.74 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)
• Total	18,550
• Density	240/km2 (620/sq mi)
Time zone	CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes	86609
Dialling codes	0906
Vehicle registration	DON
Website	www.donauwoerth.de

Donauwörth is a city and the capital of the the Donau-Ries district in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is said to have been founded by two fishermen where the Danube (Donau) and Wörnitz rivers meet. The city is part of the scenic route called "Romantische Straße" (Romantic Road)

The city is situated between Munich and Nuremberg, 46 km north of Augsburg.

History

It is historically important to Germany as the site of one of the incidents which led to the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648). In 1606, the Lutheran majority barred the Catholic residents of the town from holding an annual Markus procession, causing a riot to break out.

Donauwörth was later the scene of the Battle of Schellenberg (or Battle of Donauwörth) on 2 July 1704, during the War of the Spanish Succession (1702–1713). The battle was named after the village and high ground behind the city. The Duke of Marlborough was marching from Flanders to Bavaria and came to the Danube river. The French decided to make a crossing of the Danube at Donauwörth, where they were surprised by Marlborough's troops and after heavy fighting pulled back. This allowed Marlborough to capture Donauwörth and cross the Danube without any problem. About 5,000 French troops drowned while trying to escape.

Notable citizens

• 1291 Margareta Ebner, German mystic
• 1499 Sebastian Franck, was a 16th-century German freethinker, humanist, and radical reformer
• 1838 Franz Hartmann
• 1848 Michael Deffner, philologist and archaeologist
• 1861 Ferdinand Bonn, stage and film actor
• 1901 Werner Egk, Composer
• 1942 Werner Schnitzer, actor
• 1948 Manfred G. Schmidt
• 1980 Carolin Hingst
• 1980 Sercan Güvenışık

Twin towns — sister cities

See also: List of twin towns and sister cities in Germany

Donauwörth is twinned with:

• Perchtoldsdorf, Austria

Kloster Heilig Kreuz church, Decorations above the main altar.

See also

• Danube

External links

• Media related to at Wikimedia Commons
• Official website
•