Markt Schwaben - History

History

Markt Schwaben's history can be traced back to the 11th century. From this time comes a document witnessing the granting of a mill among the Swabians. The town gets its name from the settlers who came from the Alemannic region of Swabia.

First, the town of Schwaben found itself in the ownership of the Count of Ebersberg. It was then later owned by the Count of Limburg/Wasserburg and eventually the Lords of Neuburg-Falkenstein, finally passing to the Wittelsbachers. In 1283, Duke Ludwig the Strict of Upper Bavaria built a castle on a rise, as in those days, the old border between Upper and Lower Bavaria ran just behind Markt Schwaben to the northeast. The strategically well placed castle was destroyed many times, being built anew each time until in 1650 there arose on the spot a great, four-winged castle, whose south wing, made over in the neo-Gothic style in 1908, is still maintained today in the middle of town. The rest of the castle was torn down in 1812 (east and north wings together with the St. Magdalenenkapelle and the "bridgehouse") and 1969 (west wing and southwest corner) owing to decaying building materials and reasons of cost. The community acquired the property in 1967 and incorporated it into a new community centre and town hall. The castle's former moat can still be made out in the south and west. In 1340, Markt Schwaben was granted market rights by Duke Rudolf. Through this and village status the town blossomed further and eventually boasted a state court seat – at the Electoral palace. In 1805, the last "blood court" sentence was imposed, as a result of which two murderers from Grafing were beheaded in the Galgenhölzl. In 1811, the court was moved to Ebersberg, leaving the town to suffer for a long time under the threat of sinking into insignificance.

After the Second World War came a great inflow of Germans driven from their lands in the east, some of whom settled in Markt Schwaben. This is recalled by some street names in the town's southwest, such as Königsberger Straße, Neusatzer Straße and Ödenburger Straße.

At this time, the population mostly drew together and worked to provide the market and the outlying villages with products. Many streets were named after these industrious citizens, such as Weißgerberweg ("Tawer Way"), Kupferschmiedberg ("Coppersmith Hill") and Nagelschmiedgasse ("Nailsmith Lane").

Since the community decided in 1922 to include the designation Markt in its name, the town’s official name is Markt Markt Schwaben. Under Wilhelm Hoegner's leadership, a number of market towns were raised to town, among them Grafing and Ebersberg. The word "Markt" in the placename at that time thwarted the community's efforts to be raised to town.

In the 1960s in Markt Schwaben, as everywhere else in the Munich suburban area, a building boom was unleashed, leading to two highrise developments in the town (von-Kobell-Straße and Dr. Hartlaubring). Postcards from the time describe the community as a "residential area in east Munich". Connection to the Munich local transport network (MVV) for the Olympics in 1972 afforded the town something of a boom, as the town now had a quick route into the city alongside the regional service. In 1990, the Autobahn interchange was finished.

In 1992 and 1993, the Sportpark with the bathing pond was built in the southeast of town, in record time.