Gunzenhausen

Sister cities

• Isle
• Frankenmuth

History

Numerous excavations within the city of Gunzenhausen document that the area was occupied and there was a settlement in pre-historic time. In the year 90 the Romans expelled the Celts, occupied the inhabited areas north of the Danube, and expanded into the Gunzenhausen area. In the year 241 the Alemanni invaded the area and destroyed the fortress. A document from the year 823 supplies the first reliable written reference to Gunzenhausen. Emperor Ludwig der Fromme conveyed the monastery "Gunzinhusir" to the High-monastery of Ellwangen. Later the "Truhendinger" and the "Oettinger" families became Lords of Gunzenhausen, and in 1368 Gunzenhausen came to the House of Hohenzollern. So the city received the right of holding fairs and was allowed to build city walls, towers and moat, as well as a large church. Gunzenhausen had a big Jewish community and a "Moorish" synagogue, built in 1882; the latter had its onion domes removed and was partially converted to "profane uses" during the Hitler regime, and by 1939 the town was declared Judenrein (free of Jews). In the 1970s eighteen municipalities were combined resulting in the city growing to about 17,000 inhabitants. Gunzenhausen is mentioned in W. G. Sebald's collection of literary stories entitled The Emigrants (1992).

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  880
• Graylag Goose

  Anser anser (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  874
• White Stork

  Ciconia ciconia (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  801
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  783
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  771
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  768
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  743
• Gray/Purple Heron

  Ardea cinerea Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  730

Most recent

• M 2.7 — 2008-06-14
  3 km S of Diedorf, Germany
• M 2.5 — 2002-08-22
  5 km SSE of Rain, Germany
• M 2.5 — 2001-08-30
  2 km SW of Breitenbrunn, Germany