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Donau-Ries ( Danube-Ries) is a Landkreis (district) in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Ansbach, Weißenburg-Gunzenhausen, Eichstätt, Neuburg-Schrobenhausen, Aichach-Friedberg, Augsburg and Dillingen, and by the state of Baden-Württemberg (districts of Heidenheim and Ostalbkreis).
The Ries was always densely populated. From 450 to 15 BC peoples built their settlements on the tops of the hills. Remains of Celtic and sanctuaries can be found all over the region. They were replaced about 90 AD by the Roman Empire, who secured the region by building forts and the Germanic 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 Protestantism, while the latter remained Catholicism. 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 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 Nazi Germany, 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.
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