Sonthofen

Sonthofen lies near the northern edge of the Allgäu Alps, where the Iller and Ostrach rivers meet. In 1429 King Sigismund granted it the right to hold a weekly market and an annual fair, strengthening its role among the surrounding communities. In February 1525 rebellious peasants from the Allgäu gathered here at the beginning of the German Peasants' War. Sonthofen belonged to the prince-bishopric of Augsburg until the territorial changes of 1803 brought it to Bavaria. From 1812 it developed as a centre of cattle trading, drawing buyers and sellers from the Alpine countries.