Günzburg is capital of the district of Günzburg in Swabia, Bavaria. This district was constituted in 1972 by combining the city of Günzburg—which had not previously been assigned to a Kreis (district)—with the district of Günzburg and the district of Krumbach .
Günzburg lies where the river Günz enters the Danube, and has a population of about 19,800.
History
Günzburg was founded in about 70 B.C. by the Romans to defend the borders of their land along the Danube; it was known as Castellum Guntia, Gontia or Contia. The name comes from that of a Celtic moon goddess (Góntia). It consisted of a fort, later replaced by at least one other on the same site, a fairly large civilian settlement and most likely an important bridge over the Danube.
After the Romans left in the 5th century, the Alamanni tribe settled there. In around 700 the nearby castle of Ricinis was mentioned by the Cartographer of Ravenna as one of the five most important castles of Alemannia. In 1065 first documentary evidence appears of the town itself as Gunceburch.
In 1301 the town became part of the Habsburg house and was developed into the centre of the margraviate of Burgau ; for a time it was even the capital of all Further Austria. In 1806 the town became part of Bavaria.
Very near Günzburg is the site where the "Leipheim Horde" was defeated by the Swabian army in 1525 during the German Peasants' Revolt. The same site saw the first flight by a Messerschmitt Me 262 in 1942.
Attractions
The attractions of Günzburg include the Church of Our Lady (Frauenkirche) built by Dominikus Zimmermann, the margraves' castle (the only Habsburg castle built in Germany), the Reisensburg fort, today the congress centre of the University of Ulm and the nearly-intact old town centre. In 2002 Legoland built a theme park near the town.
Genealogy
The Günzburg family originated in the town of Günzburg. It is believed that the family went there from the city of Ulm, Württemberg, and that for this reason the best-known progenitor of the family and some of his immediate descendants, as well as certain others, called themselves "Ulma-Günzburg". The "Ulm, Ulma, Ullman, Ulmann, and Ulam" families are supposed to be branches of the Günzburg family. Kaufmann ("Rabbi Jair Chajim Bacharach und Seine Ahnen", p. 45, Treves, 1894) proves that "Gunz" and "Gaunz" are simply variants of "Günzburg."
When, early in the emancipation period, the Jews of Russia and of Austria were ordered by their governments to adopt family names, it was natural that many of them should choose a name so respected and pleasing as that of Günzburg. There is on record a lawsuit instituted by Baer Günzburg of Grodno against a Jewish family of that city who had adopted the same name under the decree of 1804 (Maggid, "Toledot Mishpechoth Gintzburg," p. 239, St. Petersburg, 1899). The court sustained the right of Jewish families to adopt any name they chose, and the number of Günzburg families accordingly increased.
- See also Ginsburg, Ginsberg, Gensburg , Gensberg , Ginzburg , Ginzberg , Genzburg , Genzberg
Sons and daughters of the town
- Johann Eberlin von Günzburg , the reformist preacher and author, was born in the town around 1470.
- Josef Mengele, the Nazi war criminal was born in Günzburg; on 8 March 2005 a monument to his victims was erected in the town.
References
- Bibliography: Eisenstadt-Wiener, Da‘at Qedošim, pp. 198-212, St. Petersburg, 1897-98;
- Belinsohn, Shillume Emune Yisrael, Odessa, 1898;
- Ein Wort über die Familie Guenzburg, St. Petersburg, 1858. The chief source is Maggid's work, quoted above.
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