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Weingarten (Wrttemberg)Weingarten (German for wine garden) is a city in Wrttemberg, in the district Ravensburg, in the valley of the Schussen river. Together with the southern neighbour city Ravensburg and Friedrichshafen it forms one of 14 upper centers in Baden-Wrttemberg. Weingarten is seat of an educational university and professional school. History The town formerly known as Altdorf has been rechristened Weingarten in 1865. Before that Weingarten was only the name of the Imperial Abbey Weingarten in Altdorf. Near the Old Town a alemanian burial place was excavated in 1954-1957, dating from the 5th century. In the 8th century the region became part of the Frankian Empire. In the middle of the 9th century the Welfs became counts of the Schussengau and established their seat in Altdorf. The name "Altdorf" is deduced from the frankian "alach", meaning church. So "Altdorf" is the village with the parish church. In 1056 Welf IV. transferred the ancestral seat of the Welfs to the newly edified castle of Ravensburg. He founded a new Benedictine abbey at the Martinsberg (hill of St. Martin) in Altdorf; this abbey was named Weingarten. By a contract of inheritance the Hohenstaufen Frederick Barbarossa acquired 1191 the ownership of the Schussengau (including Altdorf, Weingarten and Ravensburg) from Welf VI., Duke of Spoleto and uncle of both Frederick Barbarossa and Henry the Lion. About 70 years later, with the death of Conradin 1268 in Naples the line of the Hohenstaufen became extinct. Their former estates were confiscated as imperial property of the Holy Roman Empire of German Nation. While the small town of Altdorf was reigned by the "Reichslandvogt" (imperial bailiff) of Swabia, the abbey of Weingarten obtained the status of an "Imperial Abbey" with similar privileges to a Imperial Free City. The seat of the bailiff was first located at the castle of Ravensburg (mostly named "Veitsburg" to distinct it from the Imperial City Ravensburg) until in 1647 swedian troops destroyed the castle. So the bailiff moved to a chateau in Altdorf. The abbey of Weingarten became one of the wealthiest monasteries in southern germany, owning about 306 km² of rich estates, before it was confiscated by the Reichsdeputationshauptschlu in 1803, a bill which included the secularization and mediatization - the first meaning the confiscation of the estates belonging to the church, the second the incorporation of the imperial estates and Imperial Free Cities into larger regional states. Weingarten was first alloted to the house of Nassau, Altdorf to the dukedom of Wrttemberg. In 1806 Weingarten, too, was incorporated to Wrttemberg. During the 19th century several barracks were placed in Altdorf-Weingarten, making the city an important military site. Like in neighboring Ravensburg a significant engineering industry evolved during the second half of the century. 1922 a new Benedictine abbey was founded from monks of the arch abbey Beuro and Erdington (in Birmingham, which leased some of the rooms of the old abbey. During Nazi Germany Weingarten was incorporated into Ravensburg; after the end of the war the both rivaling cities were separated again. Since 1949 the bigger part of the former abbey buildings are occupied by a teachers college. A smaller part of the main building is leased to the catholic diocese of Rottenburg-Stuttgart, which is running a "Catholic Academy" for adult education in there. New buildings were erected in the neighboorhood by the University of Applied Sciences Ravensburg-Weingarten. During the "communal reforms" during the 1970s a renewed attempt to fusion Ravensburg and Weingarten failed due to the massive resistance of the citizens of Weingarten. City Partnerships Places of interest - The Abbey Church of Weingarten, named Mnster or Basilika, is known as largest Baroque church northern of the alps. It's approximately half as long as St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and sometimes referred to as "swabian St. Peter".
- The surrounding buildings of the abbey itself are built in the baroque style, too.
- The Alemans Museum is housing the archaelogical finds of the alemanian burial place dating from the Early Middle Ages. It is one the largest museums specialized to the history of the Alemans.
- The "Schlssle" ("small chateau") was erected around 1550 as administrative seat of the austrian bailiwick of Swabia. In the 18th century it was used as residence of the imperial judge, in the 19th and 20th century as domicile of higher-ranking military officers. Since 2001 the city museum is situated there.
Noteworthy events and feasts Fasnet The tradition of the "Swabian-Alemannic carnival" called Fasnet can be traced back to 1348. At that time "town-hall dances" are reported, celebrating the end of a pest epidemy. The Fasnet season starts with the Gumpige Donnerstag (Jumpy Thursday) a week before Ash Wednesday. At the evening the Hemedglonkerumzug takes place, "Hemed" meaning nightgown. So everybody runs in pyjamas or nightshirts through the streets of the city center. This custom is symbolizing the awaking of the carnival fools. The main pageant takes place at Sunday. The typical carnival characters of Weingarten are the Pltzler (first pictured in 1868), the Lauratal ghosts and the Bockstallnarren ("buck stable fools"); many other groups of the region take part in the pageant. Blutritt At Friday following the Ascension feast Weingarten is home of the Blutritt, a huge equestrian procession, honoring an holy relic of the blood of Jesus Christ. The procession, consisting of about 3.000 riders, leads through the fields around the city, to bless the houses, farms and acres. Weblinks
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