Steingaden is a town and

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

in the

Weilheim-Schongau Weilheim-Schongau is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the south of Bavaria, Germany. Neighboring districts are (from the north clockwise) Landsberg, Starnberg, Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen, Garmisch-Partenkirchen and Ostallgäu. Geography The distric ...

district of

Upper Bavaria Upper Bavaria (german: Oberbayern, ; ) is one of the seven administrative districts of Bavaria, Germany. Geography Upper Bavaria is located in the southern portion of Bavaria, and is centered on the city of Munich, both state capital and seat ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. It is the site of the 12th-century

Steingaden Abbey Steingaden Abbey (German: ''Kloster Steingaden'') was a Premonstratensian monastery in Steingaden in Bavaria, Germany. History Dedicated to John the Baptist, the abbey was founded in 1147 as a Premonstratensian house by Welf VI, third son of ...

(''Kloster Steingaden'') and the

Wies Church The Pilgrimage Church of Wies (german: Wieskirche) is an oval Rococo church, designed in the late 1740s by brothers J. B. and Dominikus Zimmermann, the latter of whom lived nearby for the last eleven years of his life. It is located in the foothil ...

, a

UNESCO The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a List of specialized agencies of the United Nations, specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) aimed at promoting world peace and security through international coope ...

World Heritage Site A World Heritage Site is a landmark or area with legal protection by an international convention administered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO). World Heritage Sites are designated by UNESCO for ...

Geography

The community lies in the

Alpine foothills The Alpine foothills, or Prealps (german: Voralpen; french: Préalpes; it, Prealpi; ), may refer generally to any foothills at the base of the Alps in Europe. They are the transition zone between the High Alps and the Swiss Plateau and the Bavar ...

, on the border between

and the

Allgäu The Allgäu (Standard German: , also Allgovia) is a region in Swabia in southern Germany. It covers the south of Bavarian Swabia, southeastern Baden-Württemberg, and parts of Austria. The region stretches from the pre-alpine lands up to the ...

. The quarters (''Ortsteile'') of the municipality are Fronreiten, Ilgen, Lauterbach, Riesen, Urspring und Wies. Other villages and hamlets are Biberschwöll, Bichl, Boschach, Brandstatt, Butzau, Deutenhof, Deutensee, Egart, Engen, Gagras, Gmeind, Gogel, Graben, Hiebler, Hirschau, Illach, Illberg, Jagdberg, Karlsebene, Kellershof, Kohlhofen, Kreisten, Kreuzberg, Kuchen, Langau, Lechen, Lindegg, Litzau, Maderbichl, Moos, Oberengen, Reitersau, Resle, Sandgraben, Schlatt, Schlauch, Schwarzenbach, Staltannen, Steingädele, Tannen, Thal, Unterengen, Vordergründl, Wiesle und Zöpfhalden.

History

Until the 1803 secularisation of Bavaria, Steingaden belonged to the

, established in 1147 by

Welf VI Welf VI (111515 December 1191) was the margrave of Tuscany (1152–1162) and duke of Spoleto (1152–1162), the third son of Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria, and a member of the illustrious family of the Welf. Biography Welf inherited the familial po ...

Margrave of Tuscany The rulers of Tuscany varied over time, sometimes being margraves, the rulers of handfuls of border counties and sometimes the heads of the most important family of the region. Margraves of Tuscany, 812–1197 House of Boniface :These were origin ...

and

Duke of Spoleto The Duke of Spoleto was the ruler of Spoleto and most of central Italy outside the Papal States during the Early and High Middle Ages (c. 500 – 1300). The first dukes were appointed by the Lombard king, but they were independent in practice. Th ...

, and third son of

Henry IX, Duke of Bavaria Henry IX (107513 December 1126), called the Black, a member of the House of Welf, was Duke of Bavaria from 1120 to 1126. Life and reign Henry was the second son of Duke Welf I of Bavaria (died 1101) from his marriage with Judith, daughter of Co ...

. In the administrative reform of Bavaria in 1818, Steingaden became an independent municipality, while the formerly independent municipalities of Fronreiten, Lauterbach and Urspring were added to the municipality of Steingaden during the administrative reforms of the 1980s.

Culture

Architecture

(''Wieskirche''), a pilgrimage church built by the brothers, Dominic and John Baptist Zimmermann, between 1746 and 1754 in the Rococo style and recognized by

as a

*Welfen Church (''Welfenmünster''), built in 1176 in the Romantic style, now the parish church of the town *''Church of the Visitation'', Ilgen *''Church of the Holy Cross'', Kreuzberg *''Church of St Mary Magdalene'', Urspring

Residents

Johann Georg von Lori Johann Georg von Lori (17 July 1723 – 23 March 1787) was a Bavarian high official, lawyer and historian. He was the driving force behind the foundation of the Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities in 1759. Life Early years Johann Georg ...

was born in Steingaden on 17 July 1723. He became a significant administrator, jurist and historian, and co-founded the

Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities The Bavarian Academy of Sciences and Humanities (german: Bayerische Akademie der Wissenschaften) is an independent public institution, located in Munich. It appoints scholars whose research has contributed considerably to the increase of knowledg ...

. Günther Neureuther, born in the town on 6 August 1955, became one of the most successful jūdōka in Germany.

Gretl Braun Margarete Berta "Gretl" Braun (; 31 August 1915 – 10 October 1987) was one of the two sisters of Eva Braun. She was a member of the inner social circle of Adolf Hitler at the Berghof. Gretl became the sister-in-law of Hitler following his ma ...

, sister of

Eva Braun Eva Anna Paula Hitler (; 6 February 1912 – 30 April 1945) was a German photographer who was the longtime companion and briefly the wife of Adolf Hitler. Braun met Hitler in Munich when she was a 17-year-old assistant and model for his ...

lived her final years and died in Steingarden.

References

{{Authority control Weilheim-Schongau