Wallerstein

Wallerstein is a municipality in the district of Neuburg-Schrobenhausen, in Bavaria, Germany. It lies in Upper Bavaria and forms part of the rural landscape north of Augsburg. The town has historical associations with the Wallerstein family, a noble lineage that gave its name to the locality and to estates associated with the area.

The surname Wallerstein is of German origin and is toponymic, typically indicating descent from or association with the place Wallerstein. The best-known bearer of the name is Immanuel Wallerstein (1930–2019), an American sociologist and world-systems theorist whose work on the capitalist world-economy has influenced sociology, history, and political science.

In broader usage, Wallerstein can refer either to the geographic place in Bavaria or to people who carry the surname. The exact meaning is usually clear from context, particularly in discussions of geography, history, or academic theory.