Memmingen (German: [ˈmɛmɪŋən] ⓘ; Swabian: Memmenge) is a town in Swabia, Bavaria, Germany.

The old town, with its many courtyards, castles and patricians' houses, palaces and fortifications is one of the best preserved in southern Germany.

This alludes to the Twelve Articles, considered to be the first written set of human rights in Europe, which were penned in Memmingen in 1525.

It is believed that on the site of present-day Memmingen in Roman times there was a small military town, probably called Cassiliacum.

Another important route through Memmingen was the Italian road from Northern Germany to Switzerland and Italy.

In the Middle Ages, the place was known as Mammingin; in 1158 the Welfian Duke Welf VI founded the town of Memmingen.

Christoph Schappeler, the preacher at St. Martin's in Memmingen during the early 16th century, was an important figure during the Protestant Reformation and the German Peasants' War.

In the 1630s Memmingen was at centre stage during the Thirty Years' War, and the Imperial generalissimo Wallenstein was quartered in the town when he was dramatically dismissed from service.

In September 1647 the Imperialists under Adrian von Enkevort besieged the Swedish garrison, under Colonel Sigismund Przyemski.

The 19th century saw the slow economic deterioration of the town, which was halted only with the building of a railway following the course of the River Iller.

Since World War II Memmingen has been a developing town, with a rate of economic growth above the average for Bavaria.

The Ecological Democratic Party and the Greens initiated a referendum to inhibit financial support for the airport, but this vote met with no success.

Blazon: Split from gold and silver, in front a half, reinforced in red, black eagle.

The town brook is fished out to be completely drained and cleaned, and at the same time a "Fisherman's King" (the one that caught the heaviest trout) is appointed among almost 1,200 fishermen.

In 1945, after World War II, the LTS was one of the first theatres in West Germany to begin putting on performances again.

There is also a section covering the history of the Jewish community in Memmingen, whose members were killed or forced into exile in 1939.

The Strigel- and Antoniter-Museum at the Antonierkloster present wood carvings and paintings by the Strigel family of artists as well as a permanent exhibition on the work of the Hospital Brothers of St.

The museum holds the estates of the Memmingen artists Max Unold and Josef Madlener and presents a wide selection of contemporary art exhibitions.

The cultural centre Kaminwerk (Chimney factory) is for concerts, theatre, program cinema, readings and special parties.

Memmingen has considerable tourist interest, mainly because large areas of the medieval old town survived World War II.

The medieval market place, surrounded by the town hall, which is built in renaissance style, the Großzunft (Guildhouse) and the painted Steuerhaus (tax house).

Also famous is St. Martin's church, built in gothic style with its more-than-500-year-old Choir and the 1996 restored Hospital Brothers of St. Anthony monastery (Antonierkloster), the oldest, best conserved and biggest of these kind.

Also the Seven Roof House, the baroque Kreuzherren monastery, the renovated whorehouse of the town, the Salzstadel (salt barn), the Kramerzunft (shopkeepers guild, also called the Twelve-Article-House are sights in Memmingen).

The name of the parks are (starting clockwise at the Ulmer Gate): Hubergarten, Zollergarten, Ratzengraben/Zollergraben, Kohlschanze, Reichshain, Kaisergraben, Hohe Wacht, Westertorplatz, Grimmelschanze.