History of Riedenburg in the national park Altmuehl valley


History

of the city of Riedenburg in the national park Altmuehl valley



In the lower Altmuehl valley Flagge there are some of the oldest European settlements dating back to the Old Stone Age, as is proved by numerous excavations.
The oldest document with the name of Riedenburg, "Rito´s Castle", was written in A.D. 1111. In 1231 the place is mentioned as a market, in 1329 as a town.
When fiefs became hereditary in the 12th century and when the margraviate of the northern-most parts of Bavaria ceased, the counts of this part of the country became territorial lords. They chose their name after the castle where they resided - Riedenburg. They were if not founders, at least the oldest protectors and promotors of this place. After the extinction of the family, the House of Wittelsbach was heir to the county and the town of Riedenburg.
In the 14th century fortifications were built; only slight traces of the wall and turrets are to be seen today. In the Peasants´ War of the 16th century, the guardian of Riedenburg acted bravely; he was taken prisoner when the uprising was crushed. Swedes besieged and looted Riedenburg in the Thirty Years´ War (in 1632, 1634, and 1648). In the War of the Spanish Succession, Austrians occupied and looted the town. In the Revolutionary War, 1796, Archduke Charles of Austria crossed the valley with his army near Tachenstein.
Trade and craft were thriving in Riedenburg. There were tanners, clothiers, dyers, weavers, ropemakers, and brewers. The old Danube-Main-Canal, built under King Ludwig I, passes through Riedenburg. The wooden lighters were towed by horses, until after World War II all traffic stopped.
An iron arched bridge crossing the river was blasted in the last week of the war when the US Army advanced.
When the boundaries of the Bavarian districts were redrawn, the district of Riedenburg became part of the district of Kelheim Flagge (in 1972), and a number of villages became part of Riedenburg (e. g. Eggersberg, Prunn, Hattenhausen).



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Zuletzt aktualisiert am 10.02.2017