The Weilheim-Schongau district consists of 34 communities.
It belongs to the administrative district of Upper Bavaria and has the city of Weilheim as its administrative seat.
The
Weilheim-Schongau district
was not founded until the 1970s.
The
economy
in the Weilheim-Schongau district benefits from a balanced mix of industries.
The Upper Bavarian region of Weilheim-Schongau has numerous nature and landscape protection areas.
Weilheim in Upper Bavaria - On July 1, 1972, the new district of Weilheim-Schongau was established.
It was founded as part of the great Bavarian regional reform, which aimed to improve the efficiency of the municipal administration.
Among other things, this should be achieved by enlarging the counties.
For this purpose, the former districts of Weilheim and Schongau and the municipality of Ingenried, which had previously been part of the Marktoberdorf district of Upper Bavaria, were merged.
The city of Weilheim in Upper Bavaria was appointed as the administrative seat.
The district of Weilheim-Schongau: location and geography
Three larger rivers flow through the area of the Weilheim-Schongau district.
These are the Lech, a tributary of the Danube, the Ammer and the Loisach, which flows into the Isar at Wolfratshausen.
In addition, the Ammersee and the Starnberger See are in this district.
Part of the Ammergau Alps belongs to the Weilheim-Schongau district.
The highest mountain in this region rises here, the Niederbleick at almost 1,600 meters.
The relief structure is typical for the location in the foothills of the Alps and is characterized by a large hilly landscape.
The Weilheim-Schongau district extends over an area of 966 square kilometers.
Weilheim-Schongau: The history of the former district of Weilheim
Archaeological finds suggest that the region was inhabited as early as the Bronze Age.
Later the Romans set up a station here on the "Via Raetia".
This important ancient military and trade route led from Augsburg over the Brenner Pass to northern Italy.
The Romans left Bavaria in the 5th century.
Subsequently, Bavarian tribes settled in what is now the Weilheim-Schongau district.
The first, secured documentary mention of Weilheim comes from the year 1010. At that time the city was called "Wilhain".
In the first three decades of the new millennium, feudal lords of the Andechs-Meranians ruled the region.
In the 14th century the first city fortifications were built in the form of a palisade fence and a hospital was built.
In the further course of history, numerous renowned artisans established themselves in the city and its surroundings.
These include:
Hans Krumpper
Hans Degler
Christo Angermair
Johann Sebastian Degler
Several major fires broke out in the city in the 19th century.
Bombing during World War II also caused destruction.
Weilheim-Schongau: The history of the former district of Schongau
Like Weilheim, Schongau was an ancient Roman settlement and was on an important road.
The "Via Claudia Augusta" was built around the middle of the 1st century and led from today's Mertingen over the Alps to northern Italy.
From the early to the high Middle Ages, Schongau formed part of Lechrain, which was ruled by the Swabian Guelphs.
At the end of the 12th century the Hohenstaufen took over this region.
Two centuries later, the Wittelsbach family came into possession of Schongau.
At the end of the Middle Ages there was a devastating fire in Schongau and the invasion of enemy troops.
From 1589 to 1592 one of the largest witch trials in Bavaria was carried out in the city, which killed 63 citizens.
Schongau received a railway connection in 1886, which subsequently led to an economic upswing.
Due to industrialization and the associated creation of new jobs, the population grew rapidly.
The same development took place after the Second World War, when many displaced persons from the former eastern territories of the German Reich settled in the region.
The district of Weilheim-Schongau: The emergence of the new district
The independent districts of Weilheim and Schongau emerged from the district offices that had been founded in the Kingdom of Bavaria in 1862.
In the Third Reich, with effect from January 1, 1939, all German district offices were converted into rural districts.
The Free State of Bavaria carried out a comprehensive regional reform in the 1970s in order to form larger municipal administrative units.
This measure should make the new municipalities, cities and districts more efficient and more efficient.
As part of this reform, the two former districts of Weilheim and Schongau were merged.
However, some communities in northern Schongau were excluded from this, they were assigned to the new Landsberg am Lech district.
Bayersoien and some communities in the south of the former district of Schongau did not come to the new district of Weilheim-Schongau, but to the districts of Bad Tölz-Wolfratshausen and Garmisch-Partenkirchen.
In addition, the Ingenried community became part of the new Weilheim-Schongau district.
It previously belonged to the district of Marktoberndorf in Upper Bavaria.
Weilheim in Upper Bavaria became the district town of the new district.
This reorganization came into effect on July 1, 1972.
This Upper Bavarian district received its current name on May 1, 1973.
The district of Weilheim-Schongau: residents and administration
Around 135,000 people live in the Weilheim-Schongau district (as of December 2019).
From the late 1980s to 2019, the population grew by more than 20 percent.
The population density is 140 inhabitants per square kilometer.
The district area consists of 34 municipalities.
These include the cities of Weilheim in Upper Bavaria, Penzberg and Schongau as well as the two markets of Peißenberg and Peiting.
In addition, the following seven administrative communities belong to the district:
Altenstadt
Bernbeuren
Harbach
Hugfingen
Rothenbuch
Seeshaupt
Steingaden
The district of Weilheim-Schongau: economy and politics
The economy in the Weilheim-Schongau district has been flourishing for many decades.
Unemployment in this region is correspondingly low, well below the national and Bavarian averages.
The district owes its economic stability and prosperity above all to a balanced branch structure.
Unlike many districts in Bavaria, Weilheim-Schongau is home to a large number of medium-sized companies, including many craft businesses.
For this reason, there is no dependency on a few large corporations.
In addition, the region is also strongly characterized by agriculture.
Traditionally, the Bavarian CSU party largely determines politics in the Weilheim-Schongau district.
It also emerged as the strongest force in the 2020 local elections, with 34 percent of the votes cast.
This result secured the CSU 20 of the total of 60 seats in the district council.
The Greens received ten seats as the second-placed party, the SPD seven and the Citizens' Association for the Weilheim-Schongau district had six seats.
The turnout was just under 66 percent.
Andrea Jochner-Weiß from the CSU has held the office of district administrator since May 1, 2014.
Weilheim-Schongau: Tourism and sights in the district
The district of Weilheim-Schongau offers extensive nature reserves and recreational areas, such as:
the Ammerschlucht at the Echeslbacher bridge
the Bernried felt
the Flachtenbergmoor
the barley felt
the Karpfenwinkel at Lake Starnberg
In the small town of Penzberg, which belongs to the district, there is a museum that provides information about the history of the region.
In addition, the Penzberg Museum presents the Campendonk collection.
These are works by Heinrich Campendonk, a Dutch expressionist painter who was a member of the artists' association “Der Blaue Reiter”.
The district town of Schongau attracts numerous visitors with its well-preserved historic old town.
The town parish church Mariae Himmelfahrt, built in Rococo style, is particularly worth seeing.
The city wall, which was built in the 14th century, has also largely been preserved.
In the town of Weilheim in Upper Bavaria, the city museum, one of the oldest local museums in Bavaria, has been presenting exhibits that illustrate the everyday life of earlier generations since 1882.
Hirschberg Castle on the Haarsee is also one of the city's worthwhile sights.
It is an important architectural monument and was built at the beginning of the 20th century in the so-called Art Nouveau-Baroque style.
