Waldsee

Waldsee lies between lakes in Upper Swabia. An Augustinian canons' community was established here in the twelfth century, and the settlement received town status in 1298. Its lords sold Waldsee to the Austrian Habsburg dukes in 1331. In 1386 the Habsburgs pledged the town and castle to the Truchsesses of Waldburg, provoking resistance from townspeople who sought to defend their privileges. The town hall, built in the fifteenth century, expressed the continuing importance of civic government under a noble pledge-holder.

The German Peasants' War of 1525 reached Upper Swabia. Georg III of Waldburg, born in Waldsee castle, commanded the Swabian League's forces against the insurgents. After a long period under the Waldburg pledge, the town itself returned to Austrian control in 1680, while the castle and lordship remained with the family. The Augustinian canons' foundation was dissolved in 1788; after the upheavals of the Napoleonic era, Waldsee became an administrative centre in Württemberg in 1806–07.