Laupheim

Laupheim (; ) is a major district town in southern Germany in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Laupheim was first mentioned in 778 and gained city rights in 1869. One of the main trading routes, from Ulm to Ravensburg and then on towards Lake Constance ran through Laupheim. Having developed from a rural settlement into a small urban area, Laupheim is home to a number of small to medium-sized industries and businesses. One of the largest employers are the German Armed Forces which maintain an airbase close to Laupheim, Laupheim Air Base.

Laupheim was the administrative centre of the district of Laupheim from 1842 until 1938 when the district was abolished. The southern parts of it were incorporated into the district of Biberach (including Laupheim itself) whereas the remainders were allocated to the district of Ulm.

In the second half of the 19th century Laupheim was home to the largest Jewish community in the Kingdom of Württemberg.

After World War II, Laupheim became part of the French occupation zone in 1945 and became part of the newly founded state of Württemberg-Hohenzollern in 1947.

Laupheim is the educational centre for the surrounding rural areas particularly with regards to secondary education.

Geography

Laupheim is situated in the region of Upper Swabia approximately 20 km north of Biberach and 20 km south of Ulm on the Bundesstraße 30. Laupheim is the second largest city in the district of Biberach. The original settlement of Laupheim was located close to the Rottum which still runs through the city but since 1950 the city has expanded and sprawls onto the surrounding slopes.

With effect of 1 Januar 2016 Laupheim has been awarded the status of major district town.

The elevation within the city confines ranges from 509 m (1670 ft) above sea level at the bottom of the valley to 539 m (1768 ft) in the outlying suburban areas.

Apart from the city of Laupheim itself, the following once autonomous villages nowadays belong administratively to Laupheim: Baustetten (population 2121), Obersulmetingen (population 1389), Untersulmetingen (population 2082) and Bihlafingen (population 853), which, with an elevation of 580 m (1903 ft), has the highest elevation of the administrative area.

History

The area in and around Laupheim has been settled from very early times onwards. Archaeological evidence shows that 15000 years ago nomadic tribes roamed the countryside. From ca. 2000 BCE onwards, Celts inhabited this area. From the first century CE until around the year 260 CE, it was part of the Roman province of Raetia, after which the Alamanni invaded the '' Agri Decumates'', eventually also settling in the area that was to become Laupheim. During archaeological excavations in 1840-1842 graves dating from the Merovingian period were discovered in the northern part of the town.

Laupheim was first mentioned as ''Louphaim'' in a charter dated 778. The charter is still kept in the archives of the monastery of St Gallen, Switzerland. This reference is the earliest of any city in Upper Swabia and any parish in the district of Biberach.

Situated in the vicinity of two major trade routes between the Lake of Constance and Ulm and the Swabian Alb and the valley of the river Iller respectively, Laupheim developed into a major settlement. In 853, it was elevated to the status of town when a court responsible for the '' Rammachgau'' (also spelled ''Rammagau'') was set up there.

During the 9th century, parts of Laupheim came into the possession of the monastery of Weißenburg which was afterwards passed on to successive minor Swabian aristocratic houses.

As early as the 10th century, Laupheim possessed a parish church with subsidiaries. In 926, Laupheim and its surroundings were destroyed by the Hungarians. A castle is mentioned around the year 1100.

Laupheim appears to have been home of an indigenous noble family, whose members used the suffix ''von Laupheim.'' They were attested for the first time in 1110 with Landoldus de Lobhein and seemed to have been in service of the counts of Kirchberg. The last known member of this family was Berchtolt von Laupheim who was a citizen of Ulm 1372, long after his family has lost possession of any rights in Laupheim around 1310.

After the collapse of the Empire of the Staufers during the 13th century, the castle and parish of Laupheim came into the possession of the Truchsessen von Waldburg who, in 1331, sold Laupheim together with their other possessions in Upper Swabia to the Austrian House of Habsburg.

The Habsburgs mortgaged Laupheim in 1334 to the barons von Ellerbach and enfeoffed this baronial family in 1407 with castle, town and patronage of the church.

The village was badly affected by the crisis of the mid 14th century, caused by the Black Death and other factors. The population shrunk and as a consequence the hamlet of Ringelhausen, situated between Laupheim and Bronnen, was abandoned and eventually lost in the 15th century. Only the name of a street and a development area in the city of Laupheim nowadays hints at the existence of this hamlet.

The Herren von Ellerbach had St Leonhard's Chapel built in 1448, which soon became a place of pilgrimage.

In 1430, Emperor Sigismund bestowed upon Burkhard von Ellerbach the right to hold regular markets, Laupheim thereby becoming a market town, and also the privilege of inflicting high justice, which gave him the right to hold a criminal court inflicting bodily punishment, including the death penalty. The local ruler was now master of life and death. Due to the weekly market and the annual Gallus-market, Laupheim quickly developed into a commercial centre.

During the course of the German Peasants' War 1525, Laupheim Castle was destroyed by the Baltringer Haufen, an army of peasants named after the nearby village of Baltringen, where approximately 12.000 farmers gathered to form an army. After the suppression of the revolt, the peasants were forced to rebuild the castle.

After the agnatic line of the Ellerbach dynasty became extinct in 1570, Laupheim passed through Hans Pankraz von Freyberg to the Herren von Welden in 1582. They turned Laupheim into their permanent residence and established the first school in 1584. From 1582 until 1806, Laupheim was a Lordship (''Reichsritterschaft'') ruled by the heir of the Welden family, whose title was "Imperial Knight" (''Reichsritter'').

In 1596, the right to bear a coat of arms was given to Laupheim, showing the colours of green, white and red together with three leaves on a three hills, thereby incorporating the coat-of-arms of the family of Welden with the three leaves, referring to the name of the town on the hills of the valley of the river Rottum.

The last member of the House of Ellerbach, Anna von Freyberg, founded the Hospital of the Holy Spirit in 1601, the building of which still exists and now functions as a retirement home.

Between 1623 and 1661, the church St. Peter and Paul was built in the vicinity of the castle.

Due to the inheritance laws of the house of Welden, the market town was divided into two different territories, ''Großlaupheim'' and ''Kleinlaupheim'' (''Great Laupheim'' and ''Little Laupheim''), in 1621, at the beginning of the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648), each territory being ruled by its own dynasty. As a consequence economic growth slowed down.

During the Thirty Years' War, Laupheim repeatedly fell victim to the ravages of war, mainly due to marauding troops, both imperial, that is Catholic, and Swedish, their Protestant opponents. A massive outbreak of the bubonic plague in 1635 further diminished the population. At the close of the Thirty Years' War, Laupheim had lost two-thirds of its pre-war population, so that ultimately towards the end of the 17th century, Laupheim had sunk to the status of an unimportant, impoverished village. As a consequence of the Thirty Years' War, the feudal lords attempted to increase taxation and extend the amount of socage the peasants had to do for them. This led to legal conflicts between the two parties, which lasted for decades.

In order to stimulate the local economy and income generated by taxation, Carl Damian von Welden allowed the first Jewish families to settle in Großlaupheim in the 1720s. This which was made possible by a contract, protecting the Jews. The Jews were made to settle in an area of the town soon to be called ''Judenberg'' (literally ''Jews' mountain'' or ''Jews' hill''). Subsequently, a Jewish quarter evolved, with a cemetery, synagogue, school and a Rabbi's office.

During the 18th century, the Welden dynasty had the old castle, '' Großlaupheim Castle'', restored, and subsequently renewed in Baroque-style in 1752. Between 1766 and 1769, the branch of the Welden dynasty that ruled Kleinlaupheim had their residence renewed in Baroque-style by architect Johann Georg Specht. This castle is now called ''Schloss Kleinlaupheim'' ( Kleinlaupheim Castle). This makes Laupheim unique in that it has two castles within its city boundaries, as a result of once having been two independent states.

In 1778, a town hall and the granary were built in the Upper Market Square.

Following the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss, the mediatisation and secularisation of numerous secular and ecclesiastical

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