Heiningen

Heiningen is a municipality in the Göppingen district in Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany at the base of the Swabian Alps.HistoryThe town first emerges in an archive of the Abbey of St. Gall on parchment dated 29 March 1228, in which a "F. Plebanus de Huningen," the priest of Huningen, is mentioned.The most important document of the history of Heiningen, however, is the 27 Aug 1284 "Freedom Letter", to the King Rudolph von Habsburg at the request of Duke Konrad von Teck, to whose sovereignty Heiningen belonged and who was a solid supporter of the King Rudolph. The letter bestowed to the town of Heiningen the same rights of Freiburg in Briesgau.In possessing the same city rights as Freiburg, Heiningen had in principle all the privileges of a medieval town: city walls, moat, free citizens, market rights, jurisdiction over its laws, and coat of arms and official seal. Unfortunately, Heiningen's legal status as a city was fleeting, although its city rights were never technically revoked. Duke Konrad Von Teck, as a result of hostilities with his neighbors, was not in the position to expand and complete his young city plans. In 1291 King Rudolf died and in 1292 Duke Konrad died. The Teck sovereignty decayed appreciably, and Heiningen lost its claim. In 1321 the impoverished sons of Konrad sold their holdings "below the Egge" (Fuchseck Mountain), to which Heiningen and Boll belonged, to Count Eberhard I von Württemberg.