Thierhaupten is a

market town A market town is a settlement most common in Europe that obtained by custom or royal charter, in the Middle Ages, a market right, which allowed it to host a regular market; this distinguished it from a village or city. In Britain, small rura ...

in south-central

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 ...

in the district of

Augsburg (district) Augsburg (; Swabian German: ''Augschburg'') is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the east and clockwise) the city of Augsburg and the districts of Aichach-Friedberg, Landsberg, Ostallgäu, Unterallg� ...

in the

Swabia Swabia ; , colloquially ''Schwabenland'' or ''Ländle''; archaic English also Suabia or Svebia is a cultural, historic and linguistic region in southwestern Germany. The name is ultimately derived from the medieval Duchy of Swabia, one of ...

administrative region of

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 ...

, and is located at the Lech Valley.

Districts

There are 8 town districts (Ortsteile) in Thierhaupten: * Altenbach * Hölzlarn * Königsbrunn * Neukirchen * Ötz * Sparmannseck * Thierhaupten * Weiden

Geography

Thierhaupten is located on the eastern margin of the

Lech (river) The Lech (; , ''Licca'') is a river in Austria and Germany. It is a right tributary of the Danube in length with a drainage basin of . Its average discharge (hydrology), discharge at the River mouth, mouth is . Its source is located in the Aust ...

Valley in the middle between

Augsburg Augsburg ( , ; ; ) is a city in the Bavaria, Bavarian part of Swabia, Germany, around west of the Bavarian capital Munich. It is a College town, university town and the regional seat of the Swabia (administrative region), Swabia with a well ...

and

Donauwörth Donauwörth (; ) is a town and the capital of the Donau-Ries district in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is said to have been founded by two fishermen where the rivers Danube (Donau) and Wörnitz meet. The city is part of the scenic route called "R ...

. The "lower village" is located in the Lech Valley, so as the villages Ötz and Altenbach. The "upper village" of Thierhaupten and the villages Neukirchen, Weiden, Hölzlarn, Sparmannseck are located in the Old Bavarian Tertiary Hills. The Lech is the western frontier of the town district of Thierhaupten, but it does not touch the town itself. The Friedberger Ach creek goes through Thierhaupten from south to north. The Kühberg (499 m NN) ("cow hill") in the village district of Neukirchen is the highest elevation of Thierhaupten. The Kreuzberg (479 m NN) ("cross hill") dominates the Thierhaupten town itself.

Neighbour Communities

* Aindling (district of Aichach-Friedberg) * Baar, Swabia (district of Aichach-Friedberg) * Ellgau (

) * Meitingen (

) * Münster, Bavaria (district of Donau-Ries) * Pöttmes (district of Aichach-Friedberg * Todtenweis (district of Aichach-Friedberg)

History

The name "Thierhaupten" is of Germanic origin: there must have been a Germanic settlement, where animal heads were exposed (Tierhaupt = animal head). In the year of 1776 a sandy stone animal head was dug out. This could be a further indication in favour of this theory. After a legend, in the year 750 Tassilo III,

Duke Duke is a male title either of a monarch ruling over a duchy, or of a member of Royal family, royalty, or nobility. As rulers, dukes are ranked below emperors, kings, grand princes, grand dukes, and above sovereign princes. As royalty or nobi ...

(

Agilolfings The Agilolfings were a noble family that ruled the Duchy of Bavaria on behalf of their Merovingian suzerains from about 550 until 788. A cadet branch of the Agilolfings also ruled the Kingdom of the Lombards intermittently from 616 to 712. They ...

dynasty) lost his way in the woods around Thierhaupten and swore to God to build a monastery ( Thierhaupten Abbey) at the place of his rescue. Suddenly a hind appeared and showed him his way back (German hunter's jargon: Tier = hind). Still today a hind is on the Thierhaupten coat of arms. Thierhaupten Abbey was one of the eldest monasteries in

. The abbey was looted by the Hungarians in 955. It was destroyed by the Swabian League in 1504 but re-built, although it was always a small community. Finally it was dissolved in 1803 in the secularisation of Bavaria. The buildings were sold off to a local businessman. The last abbot, Edmund Schmid, remained in Thierhaupten as the parish priest, and succeeded in 1812 in acquiring the former abbey church for use as the parish church. The remaining buildings gradually fell into disrepair, but were bought by the Thierhaupten market town administration in 1983 and renovated.

References

{{Authority control Augsburg (district)