Kirchheim i.Schw. | |
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 Fugger castle at Kirchheim | |
 Coat of arms | |
Location of Kirchheim i.Schw. within Unterallgäu district  | |
 Location of Kirchheim i.Schw. | |
  Kirchheim i.Schw.  Kirchheim i.Schw. | |
| Coordinates:48°10.36′N10°28.53′E / 48.17267°N 10.47550°E /48.17267; 10.47550 | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Bavaria |
| Admin. region | Schwaben |
| District | Unterallgäu |
| Municipal assoc. | Kirchheim i.Schwaben |
| Subdivisions | 4Ortsteile |
| Government | |
| • Mayor(2020–26) | Susanne Fischer[1] |
| Area | |
• Total | 31.95 km2 (12.34 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 581 m (1,906 ft) |
| Population (2023-12-31)[2] | |
• Total | 2,724 |
| • Density | 85.26/km2 (220.8/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Postal codes | 87757 |
| Dialling codes | 08266 |
| Vehicle registration | MN |
| Website | www.kirchheim- schwaben.de |
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Kirchheim orKirchheim in Schwaben (German pronunciation:[ˈkɪʁçhaɪmʔɪnˈʃvaːbn̩],lit. 'Kirchheim in Swabia') is amunicipality and amarket town in the district ofUnterallgäu in the region ofSwabia (Schwaben) in the south-west ofBavaria,Germany.The town was greatly influenced by theFugger family. North-east of the town lies theAugsburg Western Woods Nature Park.
Besides the town of Kirchheim, the municipality encompasses the villages of Derndorf, Hasberg, Spöck und Tiefenried. The town has amunicipal association withEppishausen of which it is the capital and place of administration.
The town lies 38 kilometres (24 mi) south-west ofAugsburg, 80 kilometres (50 mi) west ofMunich.
Kirchheim's History already begins 8000 BC in theStone Age with the first traces of hunter-gatherers. In theBronze Age around 1800 BC the first larger settlement was founded with around 15 homesteads. After theRomans theAlemanni were settling in the town and were establishing the name Kirchheim (German "Heim bei der Kirche", English "home at the church").
In theMiddle Ages the dominion of Kirchheim first was acrown land of the king. The first mention in a document was 1067. Between the 8th and 10th century it was given away to the bishops aufAugsburg. The bishops gave it as afief to different aristocratic families. 1343Holy Roman EmperorLouis IV gave Kirchheimhigh justice. Kirchheim was burned to the ground in July 1372 because of a dispute between its feudal lord and the city ofAugsburg over custom laws on thelech river. Also in theWar of the cities 1387–1389 the town had to take heavy damages. Kirchheim was vested with market rights 1490 byHoly Roman EmperorFrederick III which stimulated economic growth. In theGerman Peasants' War the town and castle was sacked on 7. May 1525. KnightHans Walther von Hürnheim was awarded for his merits for Kaiser and empire 1544 with coat of arms and seal for Kirchheim byHoly Roman EmperorCharles V himself.
The dominion of Kirchheim was 1551 sold toAnton Fugger.Hans Fugger from 1578 to 1585 erected a gloriousrenaissance castle instead of the medieval castle complex. The castle was created after the model of the SpanishEl Escorial nearMadrid with integrated church. 1601 a friary of theDominican Order was established. An ownguild system was founded 1626. When trying to drain the swampyMindel valley in 1581, the largest plough in the world, pulled by 102 horses, was used. One of the huge ploughshares is preserved in the castle.
In theThirty Years' WarSwabia was occupied by the Swedes in 1632. In the beginning Kirchheim could escape depredations by paying danegeld by the Fugger. Swedish chancellorAxel Oxenstierna gave Kirchheim 1633 as a war loot to the Swedish employed generalHohenlohe-Langenburg. The town was sacked and the population was tortured and murdered. The neighbouring Eppishausen was totally burned down. The Swedish withdrew after the total looting in 1635. In 1646 the place was again a theatre of the war between Swedish, Bavarian, imperial and French troops. All of them pressed the people to pay protection money and war costs.
After some of the peasants refused to swear the oath of allegiance to count Joseph Hugo Fugger and after it was tried to be enforced, it came 1785 to thepeasant shooting: Three peasants where shot and six deadly wounded.
As a result of theNapoleonic Wars, Kirchheim fell in 1806 to theKingdom of Bavaria. On 20 June 1861 nearly the whole town burned down in a great fire. Only three days later a hail storm destroyed most of the harvest. The town was newly structured and rebuilt in the years after.
During theFirst World War, soldiers from Kirchheim were mainly deployed on the western front. In the end there were 77 dead and missing. InWorld War II the town was occupied on 27 April 1945 by US tank units of the7th US Army. Because of the war, the town had 96 dead and missing citizens.
CountJoseph-Ernst Graf Fugger von Glött was a supporter of the20 July plot to assassinateHitler and later a politician and founder of theChristian Social Union of Bavaria, for which he was a representative in the GermanBundestag and theLandtag of Bavaria. He established regular meetings of the bavarian delegates of theBundestag of his party in Kirchheim. The there proclaimed Kirchheimer resolutions were determining for German and bavarian politics.
Today the famous cedar hall, with the most beautiful carved ceiling of the renaissance north of the alps and amazing acoustics, in the castle of Kirchheim is often open and used for cultural events.
| population of the market town Kirchheim in Swabia 1840-2012 | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| year | 1840 | 1871 | 1900 | 1925 | 1939 | 1950 | 1961 | 1970 | 1987 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 |
| residents | 1.834 | 1.802 | 1.939 | 2.256 | 2.149 | 3.274 | 2.425 | 2.376 | 2.403 | 2.571 | 2.567 | 2.544 | 2.517 | 2.505 | 2.480 | 2.483 | 2.489 | 2.444 | 2.548 | 2.545 |
Kirchheim has a rich cultural heritage. Most famous is the large fugger castle, built after the model of the SpanishEl Escorial nearMadrid with the attached castle and parish church St. Peter and Paul. In it the prominent paintingAssumption of Mary ofPeter Paul Rubens is located on the southern side altar. Other paintings are ofDomenichino und Padovini. Inside the church is the table tomb ofHans Fugger made byHubert Gerhard andAlexander Colyn, which is regarded to be an outstanding artwork of sculpture of the renaissance in south Germany. The cedar hall inside the castle has the most beautiful carved ceiling of the Renaissance north of the alps and is said to have the best acoustics in Europe. Other places of interest include the museum of local history inside the historic town hall and the statue of St. Nepomuk on the market square.
Kirchheim lies on the state road 2037 and on state road 2025Thannhausen – Kirchheim –Türkheim.Via the state road 2037 and theBundesstraße 16 it is connected toBundesautobahnA96 /E54Lindau –Memmingen –Landsberg am Lech –Munich nearMindelheim, via state road 2025 toBundesautobahnA8 /E52Stuttgart –Ulm –Augsburg –Munich atJettingen-Scheppach and inMemmingen to theBundesautobahnA7. Train stations are inPfaffenhausen andMindelheim. Local public transport is organized in the Transport Association Middleswabia (Verkehrsverbund Mittelschwaben - VVM).
The internationalairport Memmingen (FMM) is 27 km away,Augsburg Airport (AGB) is in a distance of 43 km.
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