Ravensburg

Sister cities

• Montélimar
• Byerastsye
• Mollet del Vallès
• Rivoli
• Coswig
• Varaždin

History

The city of Ravensburg is situated at a ford in the river Schussen along the trade route between the Danube and Lake Constance. A castle known by the Franconian name Rauenspurg was founded on a spur overlooking the valley by the Welfs, a Frankish dynasty in Swabia at some point in the first half of the eleventh century. In the middle of the century, the Welfs relocated their court to the Ravensburg castle, making it their ancestoral seat, and a town had developed in its shadow. The town is first mentioned in writing in 1088. After raising the town of Augsburg to the ground, the Historia Welforum records that Welf IV took its bishop captive, transporting him to Ravensburg where he held him for ransom. A fire in 1131 burned the town the ground during the campaign of Frederick II Duke of Swabia. However, it was quickly rebuilt and by 1138, it is described as being enclosed by a wall. A market is mentioned as being part of the town for the first time in 1152. The male Welf line expired with the death of Welf VI, Duke of Spoleto in 1191. By means of a contract of inheritance, the castle and town passed into the possession of the Hohenstaufen, Frederick Barbarossa. But with the death of Conradin in 1268 in Naples, the Hohenstaufen line became extinct, and their former estates became the imperial property of the Holy Roman Empire. In June 1276, Emperor Rudolf I issued the town a privilege granting it the status of an Imperial Free City. Ten years later, the emperor confirmed the privilege, adding the right for the city to hold a grain market every Saturday. The "Great Ravensburg Trading Society" (Große Ravensburger Handelsgesellschaft) was founded at Ravensburg and Konstanz around 1380 by the merchant families of Humpis (from Ravensburg), Mötteli (from Buchhorn,…

Most-observed species

• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  958
• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  866
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  777
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  776
• Red Kite

  Milvus milvus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  765
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  715
• House Sparrow

  Passer domesticus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  683
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  634

Most recent

• M 4.2 — 2026-04-26
  4 km NNW of Quarten, Switzerland
• M 4.2 — 2024-06-04
  2 km NNW of Unteriberg, Switzerland
• M 3.4 — 2022-10-16
  Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany
• M 3.8 — 2022-09-01
  2 km WSW of Sevelen, Switzerland
• M 4 — 2022-07-09
  2 km NNE of Grosselfingen, Germany
• M 4 — 2020-10-25
  5 km ESE of Ennenda, Switzerland