Middle Ages and early modern times Castro et villae Schälkalingen (castle and village of Schelklingen) were first mentioned in an 1127 deed. The first owners were the
Swabian edelfrei Lords of Schelklingen, three brothers: Rüdiger, Adalbert and Walter, who donated property to the newly established
Benedicitne abbey of Urspring nearby. In the early 13th century, by the way of purchase, marriage or inheritance, the Schelklingen territory was acquired by the Swabian counts of Berg (
Grafen von Berg, not to be confused with the Rhenish
Berg dynasty). Descending from Berg Castle near
Ehingen, Count Henry III (d. 1242), also Margrave of
Burgau, appeared as the holder of Schelklingen from 1234 onwards, at the time when for the first time the settlement was called a
town (
civitas, according to municipal law). His son and heir Ulrich II adopted the title of a Count of Berg-Schelklingen in 1248. In 1343, the last Count of Berg-Schelklingen, Conrad, sold the estates to the
Habsburg dukes of
Austria and received it back as fief. When he died three years later, the territory of Schelklingen fell to the Austrian dukes as a reverted fief. Schelklingen was later administered within
Further Austria (
Vorderösterreich) and remained with the
Habsburg monarchy until 1806. The
Peace of Pressburg (
Frieden von Pressburg) of 1805 brought Schelklingen to the
Electorate of Württemberg as reward for the military help given to Napoleon by the Württemberg rulers. The permanent shortage of money on the side of the Dukes of Austria and the high prestige connected with an own dominion on the side of the landed gentry were the reasons why the territory of Schelklingen (together with Ehingen and Berg) most of the time was mortgaged and given away as a fief. While during the period from 1346 to the end of the 15th century the masters of the mortgage changed fast, the situation became more stable afterwards. Up to 1568 the territories of Ehingen, Schelklingen and Berg were possessed by the following persons respectively families: • John the Rich of
Stadion (
Hans der Reiche von Stadion) and his inheritants (from the beginning of the 15th century to 1507) •
Ludwig of Freyberg, residing in
Öpfingen (1507–1530) •
Konrad of Boyneburg (or Bemelberg) (1530–1568) In 1568, the town of
Ehingen was able to free herself from a new mortgage, while paying a large sum of money to the Austrian rulers residing in
Innsbruck. This way, the direct aristocratic rule ended, and the territories of Ehingen, Schelklingen and Berg in future were administered by Austrian governors, most of the time noblemen. In 1680 the Count of the Empire (
Reichsgraf) and bishop of
Eichstätt Marquard Schenk von Castell reminded the German Emperor of his merits and services. Thus, thanks to his efforts, the family Schenk von Castell first received the territories of Schelklingen and Berg (without Ehingen) first as a mortgage and finally in 1732 as a personal fief. The feudal rule of this family over Schelklingen and Berg lasted until the middle of the 19th century when the last obligations were abolished.
Franz Ludwig Schenk von Castell (1736–1821), a prosecutor of criminals, was the most influential owner of the two territories during the 18th century. In 1806, Schelkingen was acquired by Württemberg, and the King of Württemberg was busy to end feudal rule in his new Kingdom.
Mediatization ended the rule of the Schenk von Castell family in Schelklingen, and the counts step-by-step sold their properties there.
19th and 20th century During the 19th century Schelklingen evolved from a town of artisans and peasants towards an industrial town. In 1806 the monastery of Urspring was secularized. High costs of maintaining the many buildings finally caused Württemberg to sell the former monastery. In 1832 most of the buildings were bought by the cotton manufacturer Georg Reichenbach with the intention to build up a cotton weaving factory. This factory later adopted the name of Mechanical Weaving Factory Urspring (
Mechanische Weberei Urspring, MWU). In 1907, the factory was transferred to Schelklingen into a new building along the Ehingerstraße. In Urspring, most of the factory buildings were removed. Caused by international competition from low-wage countries, the MWU in the 1950s got financial problems and was closed. In Urspring in 1912, after the grain mill (
Dreikönigsmühle) at the Ach spring (
Achtopf) was changed into the municipal electricity and water factory, a new grain mill was built which is today used as a school building. From 1907 to 1930 the buildings in Urspring were not inhabited except for a tavern. Only in 1930 the former monastery found a new utilization by the foundation of the Urspring School (
Urspringschule), a Protestant country boarding school and gymnasium. A second industry branch which developed during the 1830s, was the production of matches. This innovation was based on the invention of the phosphor match. Three factories were founded employing many women and children in home work. These factories were closed at the beginning of the 20th century. During the late 19th century in the valleys of the rivers Blau, Ach and Schmiech evolved the cement industry, based on the invention of the Portland cement. In 1889, the first
Barbey factory was built, later called
Hammerstein cement factory, and shortly after 1900 the large plant of the
Stuttgarter Immobilien- und Baugeschäft. The Hammerstein factory was closed and changed into dwellings for cement workers. This new factory attracted many external workers, especially also many Italian migrant workers: some of them remained in Schelklingen. Later, this cement factory was bought by the
Portland-Cement-Fabrik AG Heidelberg und Mannheim AG, today
HeidelbergCement. During the 1870s a Catholic institution for boys living in bad social conditions (
Katholische Rettungsanstalt für Knaben) was founded, the St.-Konradihaus. During
World War II the town was a place of internment for
POWs from
Poland. In 1941 the St.-Konradihaus was requisitioned by the government and until 1945 was used as a relocation camp (
Umsiedlungslager (
SS-Lager)) in order to reeducate people from
Alsace. After the end of the World War II, Schelklingen was being part of the French occupation zone and in 1947, it was assigned to the newly founded state of Württemberg-Hohenzollern, which was incorporated in the state of Baden-Württemberg in 1952.
Territorial development of the town According to the administrative reorganization of the municipalities (
Gemeindegebietsreform in Baden-Württemberg) the following communes have been incorporated into (or merged with) the town of Schelklingen: • 1 March 1972: Hausen ob Urspring and Justingen • 1 April 1972: Ingstetten and Hütten • 1 July 1974: Schmiechen (unification with Schelklingen forming the new borough of Schelklingen) • 1 January 1975: Gundershofen and Sondernach Before the district reform, Schelklingen, Hausen ob Urspring and Schmiechen belonged to the district of Ehingen, the other municipalities to the district of Münsingen. During the Baden-Württemberg district reform in 1973, all of Schelklingen's towns came to the Alb-Donau district.
Religions Schelklingen is predominantly Catholic. The territory of the former dominion of Schelklingen (
Herrschaft Schelklingen), conististing of the town of Schelklingen, Hausen ob Urspring and Schmiechen and the territory of the former Urspring monastery until 1806 belonged to
Further Austria (
Vorderösterreich). During the 16th century until the end of the 30 Years War, the villages of the former territory of Justingen (
Reichsherrschaft Justingen, Justingen, Ingstetten, Gundershofen and Hütten) adhered to the belief of
Caspar Schwenckfeld, promoted by the lords of Freyberg (
Freiherren von Freyberg). When the territory of Justingen was newly acquired again by the prince bishop (
Fürstbischof) of Augsburg
Johann Christoph von Freyberg (1665–1690), Catholicism was reintroduced. The village of Sondernach was part of the territory of Neusteußlingen; under the rule of the lords of Freyberg residing in the castle Neusteußlingen (not identical with the former, but related) it was Catholic. When this territory went back to the Dukes of
Württemberg in the late 16th century, the
Reformation was introduced there. In Schelklingen at the moment exist each one Roman Catholic (
Römisch-Katholische Kirche), Lutheran Protestant (
Evangelische Kirche) and New-Apostolic (
Neuapostolische Kirche) community. In addition, Muslim inhabitants (primarily Sunni) live in Schelklingen. The Islamic citizens came to Schelklingen since the early 1960s by the way of labour migration, mainly from the
Republic of Turkey. Some years ago, the Muslim inhabitants built a small mosque (
Gebetsstätte) at the outskirts of the town. == Politics ==