Upper Swabia

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Upper Swabia in 1645
Gate of monastery in Wiblingen
Großlaupheim Castle
Narrow-gauge railway "Öchsle"
Old train station Warthausen
House in "Weavers Lane", Biberach
Former Imperial Abbey Zwiefalten
Neufra Castle
Open-air museum Kürnbach
Federsee
Parish church Steinhausen
Wooden bridge over the Schussen near Eriskirch
Bog near Bad Wurzach
Sigmaringen Castle
Basilica in Weingarten
Waldburg Castle
Carnival group from Tettnang
Train Station Meckenbeuren
Meersburg Castle on Lake Constance

Upper Swabia (German: Oberschwaben or Schwäbisches Oberland) is a region in Germany in the federal states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria.[1] The name refers to the area between the Swabian Jura, Lake Constance and the Lech. Its counterpart is Lower Swabia (Niederschwaben), the region around Heilbronn.

Geography

The region of Upper Swabia is situated in the central south of Germany consisting of the south-east of Baden-Württemberg and the south-west bavarian

watershed also passes through the region, with some rivers emptying into the Danube (ultimately flowing into the Black Sea) and others emptying into Lake Constance (ultimately ending in the North Sea
).

Due to Upper Swabia's altitude and hilly terrain, agriculture consists mainly of dairy farming, the exception being the basin of the river Schussen, where the predominant produce is hops and fruits.

Upper Swabia is still a very rural area dominated by villages. The urban population is concentrated in the cities of Augsburg, Friedrichshafen, Ravensburg & Weingarten and Biberach an der Riß as well as Memmingen and Günzburg.

The eastern border of Upper Swabia has been disputed for some time. Historically, the river

Bavarian Swabia would have to be incorporated into Upper Swabia. As a result, these days the river Iller
marks the eastern border of Upper Swabia.

The inhabitants of the former

Swabian Alb
, geographically, historically and culturally, they have always been closely connected to Upper Swabia.

Administration

Upper Swabia is part of the Regierungsbezirk Tübingen, a Regierungsbezirk being a sub-division of a federal state.

The following districts are wholly or partially part of Upper Swabia:

History

Upper Swabia has been populated at least since the Neolithic age. Archaeological evidence confirming this was discovered around the Federsee, a lake near Bad Buchau. Until around the year 260 CE, the region that was to become Upper Swabia, was part of the

Alamanni invaded the Agri Decumates
and settling there.

During the

Merovingian period, Upper Swabia came under the rule of the Frankish kings. It was part of the Duchy of the Alamanni
. During the same period, the Christianization of the region began.

During the

Salian period, Upper Swabia was part of the Duchy of Swabia
.

From the

Imperial Abbeys
and other clerical territories.

During the

Haufen (or Haufe): the Allgäuer Haufen, active in the Allgäu and eastern Upper Swabia, the Seehaufen, centred on the region north of Lake Constance, and the Baltringer Haufen, named after the village of Baltringen, a few kilometres south of Laupheim
in northern Upper Swabia.

During the revolt, numerous castles and monasteries in Upper Swabia were destroyed by the peasants. By July 1525, however, the rising had been utterly suppressed in Upper Swabia, with countless peasants losing their lives either due to battles or due to punitive measures inflicted upon them afterwards by their lords. Economically and socially, the consequences were dramatic: whole communities were bankrupt and unable to pay proper taxes for a long time, the legal position of peasants was not to be altered for another 300 years, and due to the large number of outlawed peasants trying to survive by illegal means, such as robbery, commerce was severely hindered.

This instability was one of the factors that lead to Upper Swabia's becoming a plaything of marauding armies during the

Thirty Years War 1618 - 1648. Military actions followed by disease, such as the plague
, led to a severe depopulation of Upper Swabia.

After the end of the war,

the Catholic Church intensified its efforts to regain ground from the Protestants. These efforts are known as the Counter-Reformation. The local lords, secular and clerical, tried to attract immigrants to areas affected by the ravages of war and to re-populate these areas. This led to an economic upturn within the region. The efforts of the Counter-Reformation and the newly acquired financial ability of both secular and clerical lords enabled them to restore, extend and enhance the already existing seigneurial buildings in Baroque
-style. The result of this is today called Upper Swabian Baroque.

During the

protestant Kingdom of Württemberg. This annexation was finalized during the Congress of Vienna
in 1815.

The aristocratic dynasties that ruled Upper Swabia for centuries still have considerable political and economic influence and power. After

Württemberg
.

After

French occupation zone. In 1946, the Allied authorities founded the states of Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern, the borders of which ran along the borders of the occupation zones. As a consequence, the northern areas of Upper Swabia became part of the state of Württemberg-Baden and the southern areas became part of the state of Württemberg-Hohenzollern. Both states joined the Federal Republic of Germany on its founding in 1949. This situation lasted until 1952, when, following a referendum the previous year, Württemberg-Baden and Württemberg-Hohenzollern together with Baden created the new federal state of Baden-Württemberg
.

Tourism

Theme routes

Vantage points

Name Elevation Description
Höchsten 833 m (2733 ft) The highest mountain in Upper Swabia is a popular vantage point; situated approximately 17 km north of Lake Constance in western Upper Swabia.
Waldburg Castle 772 m (2533 ft) Situated on top of a cone-shaped mountain to the east of Ravensburg.
Bussen 767 m (2516 ft) The "Holy Mountain of Upper Swabia", also a place of pilgrimage.
Gehrenberg 754 m (2474 ft) Mountain in the vicinity of Markdorf. On top of the mountain, there is an observation tower with views of Lake Constance and the Alps (weather permitting).
Grabener Höhe 754 m (2474 ft) Located between Bad Waldsee and Bad Wurzach, it offers views on the Alps and the Wurzacher Ried, one of the largest bog areas in Central Europe.

In spite of this, the touristic development of Upper Swabia has been rather slow during the last decennia.[

rural infrastructure
.

Regional media

Print media

  • Schwäbische Zeitung (Swabian Newspaper), based in Leutkirch im Allgäu; most read daily .
  • Südwest-Presse (South-Western Press)), based in Ulm, mostly read in northern Upper Swabia, and its counterpart for the region around Lake Constance the Südkurier ('Southern Courier') based in Konstanz.
  • Wochenblatt (Weekly Paper), free weekly newspaper, based in Biberach an der Riß.
  • Memminger Kurier (Weekly Paper), free weekly newspaper, based in Memmingen

Radio and television

  • Südwestrundfunk ('Southwest Broadcasting') have local and regional studios for radio and television broadcasts in Ulm and Friedrichshafen.
  • REGIO TV Euro 3, regional television channel for southern Upper Swabia.
  • Radio 7, commercial radio station, based in Ulm with several local studios throughout the region.
  • Donau 3 FM, local commercial radio station, based in Ulm, for the surrounding region.
  • RT1-Südschwaben, local commercial radio station, based in Memmingen, for the surrounding region between Memmingen, Mindelheim and Illertissen

Infrastructure

Railways

Upper Swabia is criss-crossed by several railway lines:

  • Württembergische Südbahn (Wurttembergian Southern Railway), the most important railway line, linking Ulm with Friedrichshafen on Lake Constance. At Laupheim-West station a railway line branches off, connecting the city of Laupheim with the main artery of the Wurttembergian Southern Railway. Originally this railway line extended as far as the municipality of Schwendi. In Warthausen, the so-called Öchsle, a narrow-gauge railway line to Ochsenhausen, branches off. These days, the Öchsle is only used as a museum railway line. From May to October, it runs every weekend and on public holidays too, from July until September also on Thursdays. Additionally, there are extra tours during the winter months.
  • Württembergische Allgäubahn (Wurttembergian Allgäu Railway), connecting Aulendorf with Memmingen
  • Donautalbahn (Danube Valley Railway), leading from Ulm via Sigmaringen to Donaueschingen in Baden. Finally
  • Zollernalbbahn (Zollern Alb Railway), which on its stretch from Aulendorf to Sigmaringen passes through Upper Swabia, before leading on to Tübingen across the Swabian Alb mountain range, passing the ancestral home of the dynasty of the Hohenzollern, hence the name of the railway line.

Roads

There are no

motorways (Autobahnen) in Upper Swabia. However, several federal highways (Bundesstraßen
) traverse the region:

Airports

  • charter flights
    to popular holiday destinations.
  • charter flights
    to popular holiday destinations.

See also

References

  1. ^ Brockhaus Enzyklopädie. 19. Auflage. Band 16, 1991, p. 72.

Further reading

External links

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