Krauchenwies is a municipality in the district of Sigmaringen

Sigmaringen (district)

Sigmaringen is a district in the south of Baden-Württemberg, Germany. Neighboring districts are Reutlingen, Biberach, Ravensburg, Bodensee, Constance and Zollernalbkreis.-History:...

 in Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg

Baden-Württemberg is one of the 16 states of Germany. Baden-Württemberg is in the southwestern part of the country to the east of the Upper Rhine, and is the third largest in both area and population of Germany's sixteen states, with an area of and 10.7 million inhabitants...

 in Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

.

Geography

Krauchenwies lies about 10 km south of Sigmaringen

Sigmaringen

Sigmaringen is a town in southern Germany, in the state of Baden-Württemberg. Situated on the upper Danube, it is the capital of the Sigmaringen district....

 and 25 km north of Lake Constance

Lake Constance

Lake Constance is a lake on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps, and consists of three bodies of water: the Obersee , the Untersee , and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Seerhein.The lake is situated in Germany, Switzerland and Austria near the Alps...

. It is on the Oberschwäbischen Barockstraße (west route) and on the southern edge of the conservation area of Obere Donau.

The Ablach, which originates on the continental divide, flows through town and on to the Danube

Danube

The Danube is a river in the Central Europe and the Europe's second longest river after the Volga. It is classified as an international waterway....

. The landscape is hilly and wooded, sloping down to the Danube valley.

History

Krauchenwies is first mentioned in a document from the Reichenau

Reichenau Island

Reichenau Island lies in Lake Constance in southern Germany, at approximately . It lies between Gnadensee and Untersee, two parts of Lake Constance, almost due west of the city of Konstanz. The island is connected to the mainland by a causeway that was completed in 1838...

 monastery in 1202. The name appeared as Cruchinwis (meaining Cruchin meadow). By 1216, it had its own parish.

Later, the Lords of Leiterberg took over the village and sold it at the end of the 13th century to the Habsburgs. In 1595, Charles II

Charles II, Count of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen

Charles II, Count of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen became Count of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen in 1576 and remained so until his death....

 bought Krauchenwies, which has been closely tied to the county of Sigmaringen ever since. Because Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen

Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen

-Noble jurisdictions:Prince Karl Eitel of Hohenzollern-Sigmaringen, and descendants of his nephew Ferdinand ruled over the Kingdom of Romania, as Karl Eitel did not have children...

 lands became Prussia

Prussia

Prussia was a German kingdom and historic state originating out of the Duchy of Prussia and the Margraviate of Brandenburg. For centuries, the House of Hohenzollern ruled Prussia, successfully expanding its size by way of an unusually well-organized and effective army. Prussia shaped the history...

n, the town belonged to Prussia starting in 1850.

Since 1975, the town has incorporated six surrounding villages.