Saulgau

Saulgau lies in the lowlands of the Schwarzach valley in Upper Swabia. First recorded as Sulaga in 819, its name is associated with a word for pig enclosures. Emperor Frederick II granted it town rights in 1239, and King Rudolf I granted market rights in 1288. Saulgau passed to the Habsburgs in 1299 and became an administrative town in their Danubian possessions of Further Austria.

A house of Beguines founded around 1390 developed into a Franciscan convent. Emperor Joseph II dissolved the convent in 1782, after which the town purchased its buildings for a new town hall. Saulgau also witnessed witch persecutions: from 1518 to 1684, forty-six trials led to twenty-nine executions. The Peace of Pressburg brought the town under Württemberg rule in 1805, ending its long Austrian connection.