Günzburg

Günzburg stands where the Günz joins the Danube. The Romans established a fort here, known as Guntia, beside which grew a civilian settlement; a bridge probably crossed the great river nearby. After the Roman withdrawal, the Alemanni settled in the district. The medieval town appears in a record of 1065 as Gunceburch and passed to the Habsburgs in 1301, becoming the centre of the Margraviate of Burgau.

The German Peasants' War reached the neighbourhood in 1525, when the Swabian army defeated the Leipheim peasant force near the town. In 1770 Marie Antoinette stopped at Günzburg on her journey to France and made a pilgrimage to a nearby church. The town briefly served as the capital of Further Austria from 1803 to 1805. In the latter year French troops assaulted Austrian positions here; Günzburg passed to Bavaria in 1806, ending five centuries of Habsburg rule.