The earliest reference to Rain is in a document of the
monastery at
Niederschönenfeld dated 4 July 1257, wherein it is described as a
civitas nostra or ducal town. It is most probable that Rain was founded during the reign of
Otto II Wittelsbach, Duke of Bavaria (1248–1253) or at the latest in the reign of
Louis II, Duke of Bavaria (1253–1294) before 1257. Rain was founded for economic and strategic reasons. The town protected Bavaria from the northwest and collected
customs from its
bridge over the river Lech. On 15 April 1632, during the
Thirty Years War, the
Battle of Rain took place. The
Protestant army of
Gustavus Adolphus of
Sweden defeated the army of the
Catholic League commanded by
Johann Tserclaes von Tilly. Tilly withdrew his troops to
Ingolstadt, where he died from
tetanus from an infected gunshot wound in his thigh. In 1914 a
monument commemorating Tilly was erected in front of Rain's
Rococo town hall. Rain's architectural heritage also includes the
Roman Catholic parish church of
St John the Baptist, which features late
Gothic frescoes dating from about 1480. There is also the Swabian Gate, the historic Spital with its All Saints' chapel and the former
castle. Rain has three museums: the Lachner Brothers Museum, Homeland Museum and Jean-Duprai-Museum. The four Lachner brothers, Theodor,
Franz,
Ignaz and
Vinzenz, were nineteenth-century German
composers, all of whom were born in the town. Other historic figures from Rain include lawyer and astronomer
Johann Bayer (1562–1625), humanist
Georg Tannstetter (1482–1535) and pianist
Michael Raucheisen (1889–1984). ==Economy==