Upper Swabia - History

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 Roman province of Raetia, after which 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 Carolingian, Ottonian and Salian period, Upper Swabia was part of the Duchy of Swabia.

From the High Middle Ages onwards, Upper Swabia became fragmented into a large number of small independent political units: Free Imperial Cities, principalities, counties, seigneuries, Imperial Abbeys and other clerical territories.

During the German Peasants' War of 1524 - 1525, Upper Swabia was a centre of the revolt. The peasants formed three armies, called 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 secularization and mediatization in 1803, almost all monasteries were dissolved and the Free Imperial Cities lost their independence. With the end of the Holy Roman Empire in 1806, marked by the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss, catholic Upper Swabia was incorporated into 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 World War I and the end of the Kingdom of Württemberg, Upper Swabia became part of the new federal state Württemberg.

After World War II, the northernmost areas of Upper Swabia became part of the American occupation zone, while the larger, southern area became part of the 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.