Swabia
Swabia (
German:
Schwaben or
Schwabenland) is both a historic and
linguistic (see
Swabian German) region in
Germany. Swabia consists of most of the present-day state of
Baden-Württemberg (specifically, historical
Württemberg and the
Hohenzollerische Lande), as well as the
Bavarian administrative district of
Swabia. In the
Middle Ages,
Baden,
Vorarlberg, the modern principality of
Liechtenstein, modern German-speaking
Switzerland, and
Alsace (nowadays belonging to
France) were also considered to be a part of Swabia.
Suebi
2000 years ago, the
Suebi or
Suevi were
Elbe-
Germanics whose origin was near the
Baltic Sea which was thus known to the Romans as the
Mare Suebicum (today, the term
Swabian Sea is appled to
Lake Constance). They moved further to the south west, becoming part of the
Alamannic confederacy. The Alamanni were ruled by independent kings throughout the 4th and 5th centuries.
Duchy of Svebia
Swabia became a duchy under the
Frankish Empire in 496, following the
Battle of Tolbiac. Swabia was one of the original
stem duchies of
East Francia, the later
Holy Roman Empire, as it developed in the
9th and
10th centuries. The
Hohenstaufen Dynasty (the dynasty of
Frederick Barbarossa), which ruled the
Holy Roman Empire in the
12th and
13th centuries, arose out of Swabia, but following the execution of
Conradin, the last Hohenstaufen, on
October 29,
1268, the original duchy gradually broke up into many smaller units.
Holy Roman Empire
The major dynasty which arose out of the region were the
Habsburgs, but also the
Hohenzollerns who rose to prominence in Northern Germany, stem from Swabia, as well as actual Swabian states became established by the Dukes of
Württemberg and the
Margraves of
Baden. Smaller feudal dynasties disappeared sooner or later, however for example branches of the
Montforts and
Hohenems lived until modern age and the
Furstenberg survive still. The region proved to be one of the most divided in the Empire, containing, in addition to these principalities, numerous
free cities, ecclesiastical territories, and fiefdoms of lesser
counts and
knights.
The
Old Swiss Confederacy was
de facto independent from Swabia from 1499 as a result of the
Swabian war.
Fearing the power of the greater princes, the cities and smaller secular rulers of Swabia joined together to form the
Swabian League in the
15th century. The League was quite successful, notably expelling the
Duke of Württemberg in
1519 and putting in his place a Habsburg governor, but the league broke up a few years later over religious differences inspired by the
Reformation, and the Duke of Württemberg was soon restored. The region was quite divided by the Reformation. While secular princes like the Duke of Württemberg and the Margrave of
Baden-Durlach, as well as most of the Free Cities, became
Protestant, the ecclesiastical territories (including the
bishoprics of
Augsburg,
Constance, and others) remained
Catholic, as did the territories belonging to the Habsburgs, Hohenzollerns and the Margrave of
Baden-Baden.
Modern history
In the wake of the territorial reorganization of the Empire of
1803, the shape of Swabia was entirely changed. All the ecclesiastical estates were secularized, and most of the smaller secular states, and all of the free cities, were
mediatized, leaving only Württemberg, Baden and Hohenzollern as souvereign states. Much of Eastern Swabia became part of
Bavaria, forming what is now the Bavarian administrative region of Swabia.
From 1939 to 1945, Germany claimed sovereignty over an area of
Antarctica, which was named
Neu-Schwabenland in honour of Swabia.
There are many Swabian settlements outside of the European continent, found in
Brazil,
Canada, and the
United States.
Historical
*
Johann Georg Faust (
protagonist of tales and dramas)
*
Johannes Kepler (
astronomer and
mathematician)
*
Friedrich Schiller (historian and writer, "Wilhelm Tell", "Die Räuber", "Maria Stuart", "Ode an die Freude")
*
Konrad von Jungingen (Grand Master of the Teutonic Order)
*
Ulrich von Jungingen (Grand Master of the Teutonic Order)
*
Friedrich Hölderlin (poet)
*
Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (philosopher)
*
Justinus Kerner (poet)
*
Ludwig Uhland (poet)
*
Eduard Mörike (poet)
*
Annette von Droste-Hülshoff (writer)
*
Gottlieb Daimler (developer of the first modern car, founder of
Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, today:
Daimler-Chrysler)
*
Rudolf Diesel (
inventor)
*
Robert Bosch (
inventor,
industrialist and
philanthropist)
*
Carl Laemmle (founder of
Hollywood)
*
Karl Friedrich Benz (
inventor of the first gas-powered
automobile)
*
Nikolaus August Otto (
inventor of the
internal-combustion engine)
*
Felix Heinrich Wankel (
inventor of the
Wankel engine or
pistonless rotary engine)
Modern Era
*
Theodor Heuss (former
German president)
*
Richard von Weizsäcker (former
German president)
*
Kurt Georg Kiesinger (former
German chancellor)
*
Sophie Scholl (member of the
White Rose resistance against the
Nazis)
*
Georg Elser (member of the resistance against the
Nazis)
*
Claus von Stauffenberg (Leader of the
July 20 Plot to
assassinate Adolf Hitler)
*
Erwin Rommel (
World War II general)
*
Roland Emmerich (
Hollywood director)
*
Harald Schmidt (late-night talk show host)
*
Jürgen Klinsmann (
football (soccer) player and current coach of the
German national team)
*
Albert Einstein (physicist)
*
Hermann Hesse (poet, writer, 1946 Nobel Laureate for Literature)
*
Roland Asch race driver
* Suevica. Beiträge zur schwäbischen Literatur- und Geistesgeschichte. Edited by Reinhard Breymayer. Stuttgart: Hans-Dieter Heinz, Akademischer Verlag (Stuttgarter Arbeiten zur Germanistik. Editors: Ulrich Müller (
Salzburg), Franz Hundsnurscher (
Münster in Westfalen), Cornelius Sommer (
Berlin)).
Many Swabian surnames end with the suffixes -le, -el, -ehl, and -lin.
The popular surname "Schwab" is derived from this area, meaning literally "One who hails from Swabia."
In
Switzerland, "Sauschwab" is a derogatory term for Germans, derived from the
Swabian War of 1499.
In the
Polish language and
Bulgarian language "Szwab" is a semi-abusive term for any German, not just one from Swabia.
*
Danube Swabians (
Donauschwaben)
*
Neu-Schwabenland*
Alamannia
