Höchstädt

Infobox German Location
Wappen = Wappen von Höchstädt a d Donau.pnglat_deg = 48 |lat_min = 36
lon_deg = 10 |lon_min = 33
Bundesland = Bayern
Regierungsbezirk = Schwaben
Landkreis = Dillingen
Höhe = 416
Fläche = 37.45
Einwohner = 6707
Stand = 2006-12-31
PLZ = 89420
Vorwahl = 09074
Kfz = DLG
Gemeindeschlüssel = 09 7 73 139
Bürgermeister = Hildegard Wanner
Partei =
Website = [http://www.hoechstaedt.de www.hoechstaedt.de]

Höchstädt an der Donau is a municipality in Dillingen County, Bavaria, Germany. It is situated near the banks of the River Danube.

In the fifteenth and sixteenth century, the wealthy mercantile family Höchstetter, which came from the town, was part of the mercantile patriciate of Augsburg.

In the early 18th century, the town was twice the site of a battles, each named in German even though the second was named after Blindheim abroad. The first Battle of Höchstädt on 20 September 1703 cost over 5000 lives.

A year later in 1704, the Battle of Blenheim (or "Second Battle of Höchstädt") between the Austrian and British forces (led by John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough and Prince Eugene of Savoy) on the one side, and Bavarian and French troops (commanded by Maximilian II Emanuel, Elector of Bavaria, and the Comte de Tallard) on the other side.

The carnage of that battle was so horrific (over 20,000 men had died at the end of the day) that farmers are said to still dig up skulls from the fields today, as described in the poem After Blenheim, written by Robert Southey, which tells about children finding the skull of one of the "... many thousand men, said he, Were slain in that great victory" [http://www.2020site.org/poetry/blenheim.html]

See also

*Höchstädt im Fichtelgebirge

External links

* [http://www.schloesser.bayern.de/deutsch/schloss/objekte/hoechst.htm The Renaissance castle of Höchstädt]