Günzburg

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.HistoryGünzburg 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 the Celtic goddess Gontia. 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 fifth 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 (1803-1805) it was even the capital of all Further Austria.