Elchingen is a

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

about 7 km east of

Ulm Ulm () is the sixth-largest city of the southwestern German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with around 129,000 inhabitants, it is Germany's 60th-largest city. Ulm is located on the eastern edges of the Swabian Jura mountain range, on the up ...

–

Neu-Ulm Neu-Ulm (, ; Swabian: ''Nej-Ulm'') is the seat of the Neu-Ulm district and a town in Swabia, Bavaria. Neighbouring towns include Ulm, Senden, Pfaffenhofen an der Roth, Holzheim, Nersingen and Elchingen. The population is 58,978 (31 Decembe ...

in the district of Neu-Ulm in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Municipality parts: * Thalfingen: 4 211 residents, 8.83 km² * Oberelchingen: 3 024 residents, 7.31 km² * Unterelchingen: 2 863 residents, 8.76 km²

History

In 1294, Elchingen (today: Unterelchingen) was sold by Konrad of Plochingen to the Cistercian monastery of Salem. Unterelchingen stayed in its property until the secularization in 1802. Unterelchingen never was in possession of the Monastery of Elchingen. In 1803, Ober-, Unter-elchingen and Thalfingen became Bavarian, due to the Principal Decree of the Imperial Deputation. The

Benedictine The Benedictines, officially the Order of Saint Benedict (, abbreviated as O.S.B. or OSB), are a mainly contemplative monastic order of the Catholic Church for men and for women who follow the Rule of Saint Benedict. Initiated in 529, th ...

monastery of Elchingen was founded at the beginning of the 12th century. In 1395 all authentic documents were destroyed in a fire. So the probable consecration date (15 August 1128) cannot be proven. Around 1500, the German Conquistador Ambrosius Ehinger was born there. He later went on to be a pivotal figure in the colony of Klein-Venedig in modern-day Venezuela. He was killed in 1533 by native tribes while searching for the mythical El Dorado. Elchingen became famous through the Battle of Elchingen: on 14 October 1805 the

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

ic troops under the command of Marshal

Michel Ney Michel Ney, 1st Prince de la Moskowa, 1st Duke of Elchingen (; 10 January 1769 – 7 December 1815), was a French military commander and Marshal of the Empire who fought in the French Revolutionary Wars and the Napoleonic Wars. The son of ...

defeated the

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

ns. One day later the

Battle of Ulm The Battle of Ulm on 16–19 October 1805 was a series of skirmishes, at the end of the Ulm Campaign, which allowed Napoleon I to trap an entire Austrian army under the command of Karl Freiherr Mack von Leiberich with minimal losses and to f ...

began, after which

Karl Mack von Leiberich Karl Freiherr Mack von Leiberich (25 August 1752 – 22 December 1828) was an Austrian officer. He is best remembered as the commander of the Austrian forces that capitulated to Napoleon's ''Grande Armée'' in the Battle of Ulm in 1805. Early ...

finally had to capitulate. In 1806 Napoleon conferred the title of ''Duc d'Elchingen'' on Marshal Ney and the name of Elchingen was engraved on the

Arc de Triomphe The Arc de Triomphe de l'Étoile, often called simply the Arc de Triomphe, is one of the most famous monuments in Paris, France, standing at the western end of the Champs-Élysées at the centre of Place Charles de Gaulle, formerly named Plac ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. For the region the Napoleonic victory meant the end of the Austrian supremacy which led to a re-organization of the area of

Württemberg Württemberg ( ; ) is a historical German territory roughly corresponding to the cultural and linguistic region of Swabia. The main town of the region is Stuttgart. Together with Baden and Province of Hohenzollern, Hohenzollern, two other histo ...

and Bavaria. Today's municipality of Elchingen is the result of the reorganization of Bavaria on 1 May 1978 through the integration of Thalfingen, Oberelchingen and Unterelchingen.

Number of residents

Colors= id:lightgrey value:gray(0.9) id:darkgrey value:gray(0.7) id:sfondo value:rgb(1,1,1) id:barra value:rgb(0.6,0.7,0.8) ImageSize = width: 620 height:200 PlotArea = left:50 bottom:50 top:30 right:30 DateFormat = x.y Period = from:0 till:10000 TimeAxis = orientation:vertical AlignBars = justify ScaleMajor = gridcolor:darkgrey increment:2500 start:0 ScaleMinor = gridcolor:lightgrey increment:500 start:0 BackgroundColors = canvas:sfondo BarData= bar:2001 text:2001 bar:2002 text:2002 bar:2003 text:2003 bar:2004 text:2004 bar:2005 text:2005 bar:2006 text:2006 bar:2007 text:2007 bar:2008 text:2008 bar:2009 text:2009 bar:2010 text:2010 bar:2011 text:2011 PlotData= color:barra width:40 align:center bar:2001 from:0 till: 9336 bar:2002 from:0 till: 9320 bar:2003 from:0 till: 9326 bar:2004 from:0 till: 9294 bar:2005 from:0 till: 9232 bar:2006 from:0 till: 9213 bar:2007 from:0 till: 9239 bar:2008 from:0 till: 9244 bar:2009 from:0 till: 9185 bar:2010 from:0 till: 9187 bar:2011 from:0 till: 9164 PlotData= bar:2001 at: 9336 fontsize:S text: 9.336 fontsize:S shift: (2,5) bar:2002 at: 9320 fontsize:S text: 9.320 fontsize:S shift: (2,5) bar:2003 at: 9326 fontsize:S text: 9.326 fontsize:S shift: (2,5) bar:2004 at: 9294 fontsize:S text: 9.294 fontsize:S shift: (2,5) bar:2005 at: 9232 fontsize:S text: 9.232 fontsize:S shift: (2,5) bar:2006 at: 9213 fontsize:S text: 9.213 fontsize:S shift: (2,5) bar:2007 at: 9239 fontsize:S text: 9.239 fontsize:S shift: (2,5) bar:2008 at: 9244 fontsize:S text: 9.244 fontsize:S shift: (2,5) bar:2009 at: 9185 fontsize:S text: 9.185 fontsize:S shift: (2,5) bar:2010 at: 9187 fontsize:S text: 9.187 fontsize:S shift: (2,5) bar:2011 at: 9164 fontsize:S text: 9.164 fontsize:S shift: (2,5)

Mayor

*1984-2008: Anton Lang (died 2008) *November 2008: Joachim Eisenkolb was elected the mayor As of 2020 Joachim Eisenkolb is the mayor of Elchingen.

Economics

Traffic

Elchingen lies on the A8 autobahn, which connects Stuttgart and Munich, near the intersection where the A8 crosses the A7, and has its own exit. Elchingen also lies on the train line between Ulm and

Aalen Aalen (; Swabian German, Swabian: ''Oole'') is a town located in the eastern part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, about east of Stuttgart and north of Ulm. It is the seat of the Ostalbkreis district and is its largest town. It is ...

, the so-called ''Brenzbahn''.

Attractions

* The Catholic Church St. Laurentius in the center of Thalfingen. * North of Thalfingen is the

truck stop A truck stop (known as a service station in the United Kingdom, a travel center by major chains in the United States and a roadhouse in rural Australia) is a commercial facility which provides refueling, rest (parking), and often ready-made f ...

Seligweiler. * The monastery Oberelchingen with the former abbey church St. Peter and Paul.

Sport

In the hamlet of Thalfingen is a multi-purpose hall, which was completely renovated in 2005.

Regular events

The Protestant church organizes an annual community festival in Thalfingen. The traditional, well-known in the region "Narrabaumstella", a Swabian-Alemannic carnival custom takes place every year in Oberelchingen and attracts hundreds of participants in the streets of Oberelchingen.

Sons and daughters of the town

Ambrosius Ehinger Ambrosius Ehinger, also (Ambrosio Alfínger in Spanish) Dalfinger, Thalfinger, (ca. 1500 in Thalfingen near Ulm – 31 May 1533 near Chinácota in modern-day Colombia) was a German conquistador and the first governor of the Welser conces ...

(born before 1500-1533) German conquistador and the first governor of Venezuela * Konstantin Vidal (1900-1990), German politician (CSU), 1946-1950 member of the Bavarian Parliament * Martin Grath (born 1960 in Thalfingen) Member of Landtag * Katrin Albsteiger, (born 1983), CSU politician

Literature

*Franz Willbold: ''Napoleons Feldzug um Ulm. Die Schlacht von Elchingen 1805'' *Alfred Krauss: ''1805 – Der Feldzug von Ulm.'' Vienna 1912 (Maps from this a
napoleon-online.de
:
Battle near Elchingen
un
Situation at the evening of 14 October

References

External links

* {{Authority control Neu-Ulm (district)