Donauwörth

Town in Bavaria, Germany, at the confluence of the rivers Danube (Donau) and Wörnitz, 40 km/25 mi north of Augsburg; population (1994) 17,700. Machinery and aircraft parts are manufactured. Donauwörth was one of the city-states of the Holy Roman Empire. A former Benedictine abbey in the baroque style stands in the town.

The offer of the town (at that time Protestant) to Bavaria (Catholic) by Emperor Rudolf II was one of the contributory causes of the Thirty Years' War. English troops under the Duke of Marlborough defeated a combined French and Bavarian army at the battle of Blenheim fought near the town in 1704. In 1805, a Napoleonic army under the command of Marshal Soult defeated the Austrians at Donauwörth.