| Günzburg | |
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Günzburg
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Location of the town of Günzburg within Günzburg district
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| Coordinates | |
| Administration | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Bavaria |
| Admin. region | Swabia |
| District | Günzburg |
| Lord Mayor | Gerhard Jauernig (SPD) |
| Basic statistics | |
| Area | 55.40 km2 (21.39 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 478 m (1568 ft) |
| Population | 19,561 (31 December 2010)[1] |
| - Density | 353 /km2 (914 /sq mi) |
| Other information | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
| Licence plate | GZ |
| Postal code | 89312 |
| Area code | 08221 |
| Website | www.guenzburg.de |
Günzburg is a Große Kreisstadt and 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.
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Günzburg was founded in about 70 BC 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.
Günzburg is the birthplace of Dr. Josef Mengele, the chief medical officer of the Auschwitz concentration camp, alleged to be personally responsible for almost a million deaths as well as torture during the Holocaust. In the 1970s, the townspeople of Günzburg earned the attention of the Chief Public Prosecutor of the Federal Republic of Germany and that of the world community when Mengele (at that time the most wanted Nazi war criminal in the world) returned there from Paraguay in order to attend his father's funeral and stayed in the town for six weeks without having been reported to authorities. Despite a televised public statement by the nation's Chief Prosecutor expressing his firm belief that hundreds of citizens of Günzburg had knowingly and willingly contributed to a criminal conspiracy aiming to conceal evidence from local and federal police as well as to United Nations authorities while actively harbouring and abetting a Nazi war criminal, Günzburg has since bounced back from criticism and flourished, boasting a thriving downtown shopping area, scenic views of the nearby historic castle, and one of the top five Legoland theme parks in Germany. It is also home of the soccer player Stefano Celozzi.
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.
Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:G%C3%BCnzburg Günzburg] at Wikimedia Commons
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