Füssen

Aerial view of Füssen

Coat of arms

Füssen

Location of Füssen within Ostallgäu district

Coordinates: 47°34′N 10°42′E / 47.567°N 10.700°ECoordinates: 47°34′N 10°42′E / 47.567°N 10.700°E

Country

Government

• Mayor

Paul Iacob (SPD)

Area

• Total

43.52 km² (16.80 sq mi)

Elevation

808 m (2,651 ft)

Population (2015-12-31)

• Total

15,265

• Density

350/km² (910/sq mi)

CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)

87629

08362

OAL, FÜS, MOD

Website

stadt-fuessen.de

Füssen is a town in Bavaria, Germany, in the district of Ostallgäu, situated 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north from the Austrian border. It has a population of 15,265. The town is known for its violinmaking industry, and as the closest transportation hub for the castles Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau.

Füssen was settled in Roman times, on the Via Claudia Augusta, a road that leads southwards to northern Italy and northwards to Augusta Vindelicum (today's Augsburg), the former regional capital of the Roman province Raetia. The original name of Füssen was "Foetes", or "Foetibus" (inflected), which derives from Latin "Fauces", meaning "gorge", probably referring to the Lech gorge. In Late Antiquity Füssen was the home of a part of the Legio III Italica, which was stationed there to guard the important trade route over the Alps.

Füssen later became the site of the "Hohes Schloss" (High Castle), the former summer residence of the prince-bishops of Augsburg. Below the Hohes Schloss is the Baroque complex of the former Benedictine monastery of St. Mang, whose history goes back to the 9th century. Füssen has Saint Mang (Magnus of Füssen) as its patron saint. He and his Benedictine brother Theodor were two monks from the Abbey of Saint Gall and are considered to be its founders, in addition to the Monastery of Kempten. Magnus' original burial place was in the small chapel he built. His bones were transferred to the crypt of the church built in 850. Around the year 1100 all his bones disappeared.

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Wikipedia