| Höchstädt an der Donau | |
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Höchstädt an der Donau
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Location of the town of Höchstädt an der Donau within Dillingen district
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| Coordinates | |
| Administration | |
| Country | Germany |
| State | Bavaria |
| Admin. region | Swabia |
| District | Dillingen |
| Mayor | Hildegard Wanner |
| Basic statistics | |
| Area | 37.45 km2 (14.46 sq mi) |
| Elevation | 416 m (1365 ft) |
| Population | 6,550 (31 December 2010)[1] |
| - Density | 175 /km2 (453 /sq mi) |
| Other information | |
| Time zone | CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2) |
| Licence plate | DLG |
| Postal code | 89420 |
| Area code | 09074 |
| Website | www.hoechstaedt.de |
Höchstädt an der Donau is a town in the district of Dillingen, Bavaria, Germany. It is situated near the banks of the River Danube. It consists of the following neighborhoods: Höchstädt an der Donau, Deisenhofen, Oberglauheim, Schwennenbach and Sonderheim.
In the fifteenth and sixteenth century, the wealthy mercantile family Höchstetter, which came from the town, was part of the mercantile patriciate of Augsburg.
In the early 18th century, the town was the site of a battle twice. The first Battle of Höchstädt (German: Schlacht von Höchstädt) on 20 September 1703 cost over 5000 lives. A year later in 1704, the Battle of Blenheim (or Second Battle of Höchstädt also German: Schlacht von Höchstädt) between the Austrian and British forces (led by John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy) on the one side, and Bavarian and French troops (commanded by Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria, and the Comte de Tallard) on the other side.
The carnage of that battle was so horrific (over 20,000 men had died at the end of the day) that farmers are said to still dig up skulls from the fields today, as described in the poem After Blenheim, written by Robert Southey, which tells about children finding the skull of one of the "... many thousand men, said he, Were slain in that great victory"
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