Landsberg

Landsberg grew where a salt road crossed the Lech, on the boundary between Bavaria and Swabia. Duke Heinrich the Lion ordered a castle built to guard the bridge, and the settlement gained town rights in the thirteenth century. A fire destroyed the town in 1315, but it was rebuilt. From 1320 Landsberg could collect duties on salt, bringing considerable wealth; a tax on river traffic added another source of revenue in 1419.