From
Palaeolithic times on the
Nördlinger Ries was a very attractive site for human settlement. The valley of the Danube was abounding with game, and many caves in the slopes of the crater provided shelter for
Neanderthals and their successors. The Ries was always densely populated. From 450 to 15 BC
Celtic peoples built their settlements on the tops of the hills. Remains of Celtic
circular forts and sanctuaries can be found all over the region. They were replaced about 90 AD by the
Romans, who secured the region by building forts and the
Limes (which was some km north of the present district). The Romans were driven away about 250 AD by the
Alamanni, which in turn were defeated by the
Franks in 496. In the early years of the
Holy Roman Empire new castles were erected, among them
Schloss Oettingen, which was the centre of the county of
Oettingen. This county was first mentioned in 1141, ruled over the villages of the Ries and managed to gain further territories around. In the 15th century the county was divided into the two states of
Oettingen-Oettingen and
Oettingen-Wallerstein. Later the former decided to become
Protestant, while the latter remained
Catholic. This was the reason for a bloody enmity resulting in decades of war. Even prior to the Thirty Years' War there were battles, mass executions and
witchhunts in both parts. In the
Thirty Years' War the Ries was almost completely devastated and depopulated. Two major battles of that war took place in the region: the
Battle of Nördlingen (1634) and the
Battle of Nördlingen (1645). After the war, the Counts of the mini-states (in the meantime a third county called
Oettingen-Spielberg had been founded) recruited settlers from
Austria to repopulate the land. The hostilities between the counties were revived. There was fighting in the
War of the Spanish Succession, with two major battles taking place in the Ries. All this came to an end, when the last Protestant ruler of Oettingen-Oettingen died without a successor. The remaining states of Oettingen-Wallerstein and Oettingen-Spielberg annexed his lands and turned them into a Catholic region. In 1806
Napoleon dissolved both Oettingen states and awarded them to
Bavaria. In the
Congress of Vienna the affiliation of the region with Bavaria was confirmed, and the sovereignty of the Ries ended. On January 1, 1939, as everywhere in the
German Reich, the designation "Landkreis" (district) was introduced. Thus, the district offices became the rural districts of Donauwörth and Nördlingen. The present district was established in 1972 by merging the former districts of Nördlingen and Donauwörth. ==Geography==