Early history In the year 861, a document from the
Abbey of St. Gall first mentions the hamlet of Kehrenberg, which belonged to that monastery and is now part of present-day Schlier. During the
High Middle Ages, the area was part of the
Duchy of Swabia. By the mid-13th century, a significant portion of what is now the municipality of Schlier belonged to the
Abbey of Weingarten through donations and purchases.
Peasants’ War In 1525, rebellious peasants who became known as the Seehaufen or Allgäuer Haufen camped in Schlier during the
German Peasants' War.
Georg, Truchsess von Waldburg, better known as Bauernjörg, concluded the Treaty of Weingarten with them, thereby avoiding an open battle. However, the de facto surrender of the peasants gave him the opportunity to brutally suppress other uprisings in the region, such as in
Böblingen.
Thirty Years’ War During the
Thirty Years’ War, the area around Schlier was not only plundered by the Swedes but also devastated by several
plague epidemics and famines. A 1637 inventory by the Abbey of Weingarten listed only 130 surviving inhabitants by name — about 80% of the previous population had disappeared. To repopulate the farms, farmers from Switzerland,
Tyrol, and
Vorarlberg were recruited. Their family names still reflect their origins today. These new settlers proved to be prolific: from 1690 onwards, many residents of Schlier emigrated as
Danube Swabians, mainly to
Hungary and the
Banatregion.
Napoleonic and Modern Era Between 1791 and 1800, the area experienced looting by French and Russian troops. The "Russian Cemetery" in the forest along the road from Weingarten to Unterankenreute still testifies to the many
Cossack and
Tatar soldiers who died in the Weingarten field hospital. In 1806, the region was annexed by Emperor
Napoleon to the (Protestant)
Kingdom of Württemberg — an unpopular decision in the predominantly Catholic Upper Swabia region.
World War I claimed 61 lives from Schlier among the conscripted soldiers, and
World War II claimed 90. After World War II, the village became part of the
French occupation zone and was subsequently assigned to the newly founded state of
Württemberg-Hohenzollern, which was merged into the state of Baden-Württemberg in 1952. ==Population Development==