Ravensburg

Ravensburg lies in Upper Swabia at a crossing of the Schussen, on a route between the Danube and Lake Constance. A town developed beneath the Welf family's castle, and in 1276 Emperor Rudolf I granted it the status of a free imperial city.

Around 1380 merchant families from Ravensburg and Constance founded the Great Ravensburg Trading Society. Linen and fustian were early products, and paper became another commodity after a mill opened in 1402. Its trade reached distant markets, but the society was liquidated in 1530. The Thirty Years' War brought a severe decline in population, and Swedish troops destroyed the old castle.