0000203142 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006094Member 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006094Member ddmt:C000016734Member 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006094Member ddmt:C000016737Member 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006094Member ddmt:C000016739Member 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006094Member ddmt:C000016738Member 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006094Member ddmt:C000016734Member ddmt:beforetaxMember 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006094Member ddmt:C000016734Member ddmt:AftertaxondistributionsMember 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006094Member ddmt:C000016734Member ddmt:AftertaxondistributionswithsaleMember 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006094Member ddmt:C000016737Member ddmt:beforetaxMember 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006094Member ddmt:C000016739Member ddmt:beforetaxMember 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006094Member ddmt:C000016738Member ddmt:beforetaxMember 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006094Member ddmt:BloombergBarclaysMunicipalBondIndexMember 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006095Member 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006095Member ddmt:C000016740Member 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006095Member ddmt:C000016743Member 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006095Member ddmt:C000016745Member 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006095Member ddmt:C000016744Member 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006095Member ddmt:C000016740Member ddmt:beforetaxMember 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006095Member ddmt:C000016740Member ddmt:AftertaxondistributionsMember 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006095Member ddmt:C000016740Member ddmt:AftertaxondistributionswithsaleMember 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006095Member ddmt:C000016743Member ddmt:beforetaxMember 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006095Member ddmt:C000016744Member ddmt:beforetaxMember 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006095Member ddmt:C000016745Member ddmt:beforetaxMember 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassACISMember ddmt:S000006095Member ddmt:BloombergBarclaysMunicipalBondIndexMember 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassTMember ddmt:S000006094Member 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassTMember ddmt:S000006094Member ddmt:C000188522Member 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassTMember ddmt:S000006094Member ddmt:C000188522Member ddmt:beforetaxMember 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassTMember ddmt:S000006094Member ddmt:C000188522Member ddmt:AftertaxondistributionsMember 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassTMember ddmt:S000006094Member ddmt:C000188522Member ddmt:AftertaxondistributionsandsaleoffundsharesMember 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassTMember ddmt:S000006094Member ddmt:BloombergBarclaysMunicipalBondIndexMember 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassTMember ddmt:S000006095Member 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassTMember ddmt:S000006095Member ddmt:C000188523Member 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassTMember ddmt:S000006095Member ddmt:C000188523Member ddmt:beforetaxMember 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassTMember ddmt:S000006095Member ddmt:C000188523Member ddmt:AftertaxondistributionsMember 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassTMember ddmt:S000006095Member ddmt:C000188523Member ddmt:AftertaxondistributionsandsaleoffundsharesMember 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 0000203142 ddmt:ClassTMember ddmt:S000006095Member ddmt:BloombergBarclaysMunicipalBondIndexMember 2018-10-01 2018-10-01 pure iso4217:USD 2018-10-01 2018-05-31 DEUTSCHE DWS MUNICIPAL TRUST 0000203142 false 2018-09-27 2018-10-01 485BPOS DWS Strategic High Yield Tax-Free Fund(formerly Deutsche Strategic High Yield Tax-Free Fund) Investment Objective The fund seeks to provide a high level of income exempt from regular federal income tax. Fees and Expenses of the Fund These are the fees and expenses you may pay when you buy and hold shares. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in DWS funds. More information about these and other discounts and waivers is available from your financial advisor and in Choosing a Share Class (p. 29), Sales Charge Waivers and Discounts Available Through Intermediaries (Appendix B, p. 65) and Purchase and Redemption of Shares in the fund's Statement of Additional Information (SAI) (p. II-15). You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in DWS funds. SHAREHOLDER FEES (paid directly from your investment) ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment) The Advisor has contractually agreed through September 30, 2019 to waive its fees and/or reimburse fund expenses to the extent necessary to maintain the fund's total annual operating expenses (excluding certain expenses such as extraordinary expenses, taxes, brokerage, interest expense and acquired fund fees and expenses) at 0.87%, 1.62%, 0.62% and 0.62% for Class A, Class C, Institutional Class and Class S, respectively. The agreement may only be terminated with the consent of the fund's Board. September 30, 2019 EXAMPLE This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses (including one year of capped expenses in each period) remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be: You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares: PORTFOLIO TURNOVER  The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may mean higher taxes if you are investing in a taxable account. These costs are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the expense example, and can affect the fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund's portfolio turnover rate was 34% of the average value of its portfolio. Principal Investment Strategy Main investments. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of net assets in securities issued by municipalities across the United States and in other securities whose income is free from regular federal income tax. The fund may invest up to 20% of net assets in securities whose income is subject to the federal alternative minimum tax (AMT).The fund can buy many types of municipal securities of all maturities. These may include revenue bonds (which are backed by revenues from a particular source) and general obligation bonds (which are typically backed by the issuer's ability to levy taxes). They may also include municipal lease obligations and investments representing an interest therein.The fund normally invests at least 50% of total assets in municipal securities rated in the four highest credit rating categories. The fund may invest up to 50% of total assets in high yield debt securities (commonly referred to as junk bonds), which are those below the fourth highest credit rating category (i.e., grade BB/Ba and below) and may include debt securities not currently paying interest and debt securities in default. Compared to investment-grade debt securities, junk bonds generally pay higher yields, have higher volatility and higher risk of default on payments of interest or principal.The fund may also invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The fund's investments in ETFs will be limited to 5% of total assets in any one ETF and 10% of total assets in the aggregate in ETFs. Management process. Portfolio management looks for securities that appear to offer the best opportunity to meet the fund's objective. In making its buy and sell decisions, portfolio management typically weighs a number of factors against each other, from economic outlooks and possible interest rate movements to characteristics of specific securities, such as coupon, maturity date and call date, and changes in supply and demand within the municipal bond market.Although portfolio management may adjust the fund's duration (a measure of sensitivity to interest rates) over a wider range, they generally intend to keep the fund's duration similar to that of the Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Bond Index, which is generally between five and nine years. Main Risks There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. The fund may not achieve its investment objective, and is not intended to be a complete investment program. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. Interest rate risk. When interest rates rise, prices of debt securities generally decline. The longer the duration of the fund's debt securities, the more sensitive the fund will be to interest rate changes. (As a general rule, a 1% rise in interest rates means a 1% fall in value for every year of duration.) Recent and potential future changes in monetary policy made by central banks or governments are likely to affect the level of interest rates. Rising interest rates may prompt redemptions from the fund, which may force the fund to sell investments at a time when it is not advantageous to do so, which could result in losses. The fund may be subject to a greater risk of rising interest rates due to the current period of historically low rates. Credit risk. The fund's performance could be hurt if an issuer of a debt security suffers an adverse change in financial condition that results in the issuer not making timely payments of interest or principal, a security downgrade or an inability to meet a financial obligation. Credit risk is greater for lower-rated securities.Because the issuers of high yield debt securities or junk bonds (debt securities rated below the fourth highest credit rating category) may be in uncertain financial health, the prices of their debt securities can be more vulnerable to bad economic news, or even the expectation of bad news, than investment-grade debt securities. Credit risk for high yield securities is greater than for higher-rated securities.Because securities in default generally have missed one or more payments of interest and/or principal, an investment in such securities has an increased risk of loss. Issuers of securities in default have an increased likelihood of entering bankruptcy or beginning liquidation procedures which could impact the fund's ability to recoup its investment. Securities in default may be illiquid or trade in low volumes and thus may be difficult to value. For securities that rely on third-party guarantors to support their credit quality, the same risks may apply if the financial condition of the guarantor deteriorates or the guarantor ceases to insure securities. Because guarantors may insure many types of securities, including subprime mortgage bonds and other high-risk bonds, their financial condition could deteriorate as a result of events that have little or no connection to securities owned by the fund. High yield debt securities risk. High yield debt securities or junk bonds are generally regarded as speculative with respect to the issuer's continuing ability to meet principal and interest payments. High yield debt securities' total return and yield may generally be expected to fluctuate more than the total return and yield of investment-grade debt securities. A real or perceived economic downturn or an increase in market interest rates could cause a decline in the value of high yield debt securities, result in increased redemptions and/or result in increased portfolio turnover, which could result in a decline in net asset value of the fund, reduce liquidity for certain investments and/or increase costs. High yield debt securities are often thinly traded and can be more difficult to sell and value accurately than investment-grade debt securities as there may be no established secondary market. Investments in high yield debt securities could increase liquidity risk for the fund. In addition, the market for high yield debt securities can experience sudden and sharp volatility which is generally associated more with investments in stocks. Focus risk. To the extent that the fund focuses on investments from a single state, region or sector of the municipal securities market, its performance can be more volatile than that of a fund that invests more broadly. As an example, factors affecting a state, region or sector such as severe fiscal difficulties, an economic downturn, court rulings, increased expenditures on domestic security or reduced monetary support from the federal government could over time impair a state, region or sector's ability to repay its obligations. Municipal securities risk. The fund could be impacted by events in the municipal securities market, including the supply and demand for municipal securities. Negative events, such as severe fiscal difficulties, bankruptcy of one or more issuers, an economic downturn, unfavorable legislation, court rulings or political developments, or reduced monetary support from the federal government could hurt fund performance. The value of municipal securities is strongly influenced by the value of tax-exempt income to investors and changes in tax and other laws, including changes to individual or corporate tax rates, could alter the attractiveness and overall demand for municipal securities. Market risk. Deteriorating market conditions might cause a general weakness in the market that reduces the prices of securities in that market. Developments in a particular class of debt securities or the stock market could also adversely affect the fund by reducing the relative attractiveness of debt securities as an investment. Security selection risk. The securities in the fund's portfolio may decline in value. Portfolio management could be wrong in its analysis of municipalities, industries, companies, economic trends, the relative attractiveness of different securities or other matters. Counterparty risk. A financial institution or other counterparty with whom the fund does business, or that underwrites, distributes or guarantees any investments or contracts that the fund owns or is otherwise exposed to, may decline in financial health and become unable to honor its commitments. This could cause losses for the fund or could delay the return or delivery of collateral or other assets to the fund. Tax risk. Income from municipal securities held by the fund could be declared taxable because of unfavorable changes in tax laws, adverse interpretations by the Internal Revenue Service or state tax authorities, or noncompliant conduct of a securities issuer. In such event, the value of such securities would likely fall hurting fund performance and shareholders may be required to pay additional taxes. In addition, a portion of the fund's otherwise exempt-interest distributions may be taxable to those shareholders subject to the federal AMT. Liquidity risk. In certain situations, it may be difficult or impossible to sell an investment and/or the fund may sell certain investments at a price or time that is not advantageous in order to meet redemption requests or other cash needs. Unusual market conditions, such as an unusually high volume of redemptions or other similar conditions could increase liquidity risk for the fund, and in extreme conditions, the fund could have difficulty meeting redemption requests. Prepayment and extension risk. When interest rates fall, issuers of high interest debt obligations may pay off the debts earlier than expected (prepayment risk), and the fund may have to reinvest the proceeds at lower yields. When interest rates rise, issuers of lower interest debt obligations may pay off the debts later than expected (extension risk), thus keeping the fund's assets tied up in lower interest debt obligations. Ultimately, any unexpected behavior in interest rates could increase the volatility of the fund's share price and yield and could hurt fund performance. Prepayments could also create capital gains tax liability in some instances. Pricing risk. If market conditions make it difficult to value some investments, the fund may value these investments using more subjective methods, such as fair value pricing. In such cases, the value determined for an investment could be different from the value realized upon such investment's sale. As a result, you could pay more than the market value when buying fund shares or receive less than the market value when selling fund shares. ETF risk. Because ETFs trade on a securities exchange, their shares may trade at a premium or discount to their net asset value. An ETF is subject to the risks of the assets in which it invests as well as those of the investment strategy it follows. The fund incurs brokerage costs when it buys and sells shares of an ETF and also bears its proportionate share of the ETF's fees and expenses, which are passed through to ETF shareholders.Fees and expenses incurred by an ETF may include trading costs, operating expenses, licensing fees, trustee fees and marketing expenses. With an index ETF, these costs may contribute to the ETF not fully matching the performance of the index it is designed to track. Operational and technology risk. Cyber-attacks, disruptions, or failures that affect the fund's service providers or counterparties, issuers of securities held by the fund, or other market participants may adversely affect the fund and its shareholders, including by causing losses for the fund or impairing fund operations. There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. Past Performance How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. All performance figures below assume that dividends and distributions were reinvested. For more recent performance figures, go to dws.com (the Web site does not form a part of this prospectus) or call the phone number included in this prospectus. dws.com How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. CALENDAR YEAR TOTAL RETURNS (%) (Class A) These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. Returns for other classes were different and are not shown here. <table> <tr> <td valign="top" align="left" /> <td valign="top" align="left">Returns</td> <td valign="top" align="left">Period ending</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" align="left">Best Quarter</td> <td valign="top" align="left">13.52%</td> <td valign="top" align="left">September 30, 2009</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" align="left">Worst Quarter</td> <td valign="top" align="left">-15.52%</td> <td valign="top" align="left">December 31, 2008</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" align="left">Year-to-Date</td> <td valign="top" align="left">-0.18%</td> <td valign="top" align="left">June 30, 2018</td> </tr> </table> Average Annual Total Returns (For periods ended 12/31/2017 expressed as a %) After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns may be different. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. 100000 0.0275 0 0 0 0 0.01 0 0 20 20 0 20 0.0044 0.0044 0.0044 0.0044 0.0025 0.01 0 0 0.0004 0.0004 0.0004 0.0004 0.0022 0.0023 0.0022 0.0033 0.0026 0.0027 0.0026 0.0037 0.0095 0.0171 0.007 0.0081 -0.0004 -0.0005 -0.0004 -0.0015 0.0091 0.0166 0.0066 0.0066 365 269 67 67 566 534 220 244 782 923 386 435 1406 2015 867 988 365 169 67 67 566 534 220 244 782 923 386 435 1406 2015 867 988 0.34 -0.2207 0.354 0.0232 0.0978 0.1218 -0.0584 0.1157 0.0335 0.0101 0.0626 Best Quarter 0.1352 2009-09-30 Worst Quarter -0.1552 2008-12-31 Year-to-Date -0.0018 2018-06-30 2000-05-01 0.0334 0.0253 0.0419 0.033 0.0252 0.0417 0.0317 0.0283 0.0423 2000-05-01 0.0547 0.0234 0.037 2002-08-19 0.0644 0.0337 0.0475 1987-01-22 0.0644 0.0337 0.0474 0.0545 0.0302 0.0446 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws.com/role/ScheduleAnnualFundOperatingExpenses000013 column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws.com/role/ScheduleAnnualTotalReturnsTransposedBarChart000016 column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleNoRedemption000015 column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExample000014 column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws.com/role/ScheduleAverageAnnualTotalReturnsTransposed000017 column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws.com/role/ScheduleShareholderFees000012 column period compact * ~</div> DWS Managed Municipal Bond Fund(formerly Deutsche Managed Municipal Bond Fund) Investment Objective The fund seeks to provide income exempt from regular federal income tax. Fees and Expenses of the Fund These are the fees and expenses you may pay when you buy and hold shares. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in DWS funds. More information about these and other discounts and waivers is available from your financial advisor and in Choosing a Share Class (p. 29), Sales Charge Waivers and Discounts Available Through Intermediaries (Appendix B, p. 65) and Purchase and Redemption of Shares in the fund's Statement of Additional Information (SAI) (p. II-15). You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you and your immediate family invest, or agree to invest in the future, at least $100,000 in DWS funds. SHAREHOLDER FEES (paid directly from your investment) ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment) The Advisor has contractually agreed through September 30, 2019 to waive its fees and/or reimburse fund expenses to the extent necessary to maintain the fund's total annual operating expenses (excluding certain expenses such as extraordinary expenses, taxes, brokerage, interest expense and acquired fund fees and expenses) at 0.56% for Class S. The agreement may only be terminated with the consent of the fund's Board. September 30, 2019 EXAMPLE This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses (including one year of capped expenses in each period for Class S) remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be: You would pay the following expenses if you did not redeem your shares: PORTFOLIO TURNOVER  The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may mean higher taxes if you are investing in a taxable account. These costs are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the expense example, and can affect the fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund's portfolio turnover rate was 42% of the average value of its portfolio. Principal Investment Strategy Main investments. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in securities issued by municipalities across the United States and in other securities whose income is free from regular federal income tax. The fund may invest up to 20% of net assets in securities whose income is subject to the federal alternative minimum tax (AMT).The fund can buy many types of municipal securities of all maturities. These may include revenue bonds (which are backed by revenues from a particular source) and general obligation bonds (which are typically backed by the issuer's ability to levy taxes). They may also include municipal lease obligations and investments representing an interest therein.The fund normally invests at least 65% of total assets in municipal securities rated in the three highest credit rating categories. The fund may invest up to 10% of total assets in high yield debt securities (commonly referred to as junk bonds) of the fifth and sixth highest credit rating categories (i.e., as low as grade B). Compared to investment-grade debt securities, junk bonds generally pay higher yields, have higher volatility and higher risk of default on payments of interest or principal.The fund may also invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The fund's investments in ETFs will be limited to 5% of total assets in any one ETF and 10% of total assets in the aggregate in ETFs. Management process. Portfolio management looks for securities that appear to offer the best opportunity to meet the fund's objective. In making its buy and sell decisions, portfolio management typically weighs a number of factors against each other, from economic outlooks and possible interest rate movements to characteristics of specific securities, such as coupon, maturity date and call date, and changes in supply and demand within the municipal bond market.Although portfolio management may adjust the fund's duration (a measure of sensitivity to interest rates) over a wider range, they generally intend to keep the fund's duration similar to that of the Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Bond Index, which is generally between five and nine years. Main Risks There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. The fund may not achieve its investment objective, and is not intended to be a complete investment program. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. Interest rate risk. When interest rates rise, prices of debt securities generally decline. The longer the duration of the fund's debt securities, the more sensitive the fund will be to interest rate changes. (As a general rule, a 1% rise in interest rates means a 1% fall in value for every year of duration.) Recent and potential future changes in monetary policy made by central banks or governments are likely to affect the level of interest rates. Rising interest rates may prompt redemptions from the fund, which may force the fund to sell investments at a time when it is not advantageous to do so, which could result in losses. The fund may be subject to a greater risk of rising interest rates due to the current period of historically low rates. Credit risk. The fund's performance could be hurt if an issuer of a debt security suffers an adverse change in financial condition that results in the issuer not making timely payments of interest or principal, a security downgrade or an inability to meet a financial obligation. Credit risk is greater for lower-rated securities.Because the issuers of high yield debt securities, or junk bonds (debt securities rated below the fourth highest credit rating category), may be in uncertain financial health, the prices of their debt securities can be more vulnerable to bad economic news, or even the expectation of bad news, than investment-grade debt securities. Credit risk for high yield securities is greater than for higher-rated securities.For securities that rely on third-party guarantors to support their credit quality, the same risks may apply if the financial condition of the guarantor deteriorates or the guarantor ceases to insure securities. Because guarantors may insure many types of securities, including subprime mortgage bonds and other high-risk bonds, their financial condition could deteriorate as a result of events that have little or no connection to securities owned by the fund. Focus risk. To the extent that the fund focuses on investments from a single state, region or sector of the municipal securities market, its performance can be more volatile than that of a fund that invests more broadly. As an example, factors affecting a state, region or sector such as severe fiscal difficulties, an economic downturn, court rulings, increased expenditures on domestic security or reduced monetary support from the federal government could over time impair a state, region or sector's ability to repay its obligations. Municipal securities risk. The fund could be impacted by events in the municipal securities market, including the supply and demand for municipal securities. Negative events, such as severe fiscal difficulties, bankruptcy of one or more issuers, an economic downturn, unfavorable legislation, court rulings or political developments, or reduced monetary support from the federal government could hurt fund performance. The value of municipal securities is strongly influenced by the value of tax-exempt income to investors and changes in tax and other laws, including changes to individual or corporate tax rates, could alter the attractiveness and overall demand for municipal securities. Market risk. Deteriorating market conditions might cause a general weakness in the market that reduces the prices of securities in that market. Developments in a particular class of debt securities or the stock market could also adversely affect the fund by reducing the relative attractiveness of debt securities as an investment. Security selection risk. The securities in the fund's portfolio may decline in value. Portfolio management could be wrong in its analysis of municipalities, industries, companies, economic trends, the relative attractiveness of different securities or other matters. Counterparty risk. A financial institution or other counterparty with whom the fund does business, or that underwrites, distributes or guarantees any investments or contracts that the fund owns or is otherwise exposed to, may decline in financial health and become unable to honor its commitments. This could cause losses for the fund or could delay the return or delivery of collateral or other assets to the fund. Tax risk. Income from municipal securities held by the fund could be declared taxable because of unfavorable changes in tax laws, adverse interpretations by the Internal Revenue Service or state tax authorities, or noncompliant conduct of a securities issuer. In such event, the value of such securities would likely fall hurting fund performance and shareholders may be required to pay additional taxes. In addition, a portion of the fund's otherwise exempt-interest distributions may be taxable to those shareholders subject to the federal AMT. Liquidity risk. In certain situations, it may be difficult or impossible to sell an investment and/or the fund may sell certain investments at a price or time that is not advantageous in order to meet redemption requests or other cash needs. Unusual market conditions, such as an unusually high volume of redemptions or other similar conditions could increase liquidity risk for the fund, and in extreme conditions, the fund could have difficulty meeting redemption requests. Prepayment and extension risk. When interest rates fall, issuers of high interest debt obligations may pay off the debts earlier than expected (prepayment risk), and the fund may have to reinvest the proceeds at lower yields. When interest rates rise, issuers of lower interest debt obligations may pay off the debts later than expected (extension risk), thus keeping the fund's assets tied up in lower interest debt obligations. Ultimately, any unexpected behavior in interest rates could increase the volatility of the fund's share price and yield and could hurt fund performance. Prepayments could also create capital gains tax liability in some instances. Pricing risk. If market conditions make it difficult to value some investments, the fund may value these investments using more subjective methods, such as fair value pricing. In such cases, the value determined for an investment could be different from the value realized upon such investment's sale. As a result, you could pay more than the market value when buying fund shares or receive less than the market value when selling fund shares. ETF risk. Because ETFs trade on a securities exchange, their shares may trade at a premium or discount to their net asset value. An ETF is subject to the risks of the assets in which it invests as well as those of the investment strategy it follows. The fund incurs brokerage costs when it buys and sells shares of an ETF and also bears its proportionate share of the ETF's fees and expenses, which are passed through to ETF shareholders.Fees and expenses incurred by an ETF may include trading costs, operating expenses, licensing fees, trustee fees and marketing expenses. With an index ETF, these costs may contribute to the ETF not fully matching the performance of the index it is designed to track. Operational and technology risk. Cyber-attacks, disruptions, or failures that affect the fund's service providers or counterparties, issuers of securities held by the fund, or other market participants may adversely affect the fund and its shareholders, including by causing losses for the fund or impairing fund operations. There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. Past Performance How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. All performance figures below assume that dividends and distributions were reinvested. For more recent performance figures, go to dws.com (the Web site does not form a part of this prospectus) or call the phone number included in this prospectus. dws.com How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. CALENDAR YEAR TOTAL RETURNS (%) (Class A) These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. Returns for other classes were different and are not shown here. <table> <tr> <td valign="top" align="left" /> <td valign="top" align="left">Returns</td> <td valign="top" align="left">Period ending</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" align="left">Best Quarter</td> <td valign="top" align="left">9.03%</td> <td valign="top" align="left">September 30, 2009</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" align="left">Worst Quarter</td> <td valign="top" align="left">-4.74%</td> <td valign="top" align="left">December 31, 2010</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" align="left">Year-to-Date</td> <td valign="top" align="left">-0.78%</td> <td valign="top" align="left">June 30, 2018</td> </tr> </table> Average Annual Total Returns (For periods ended 12/31/2017 expressed as a %) After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. After-tax returns (which are shown only for Class A and would be different for other classes) reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns may be different. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. 100000 0.0275 0 0 0 0 0.01 0 0 20 20 0 20 0.0033 0.0033 0.0033 0.0033 0.0024 0.01 0 0 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0001 0.0019 0.0022 0.0022 0.0028 0.002 0.0023 0.0023 0.0029 0.0077 0.0156 0.0056 0.0062 0 0 0 -0.0005 0.0077 0.0156 0.0056 0.0057 351 259 57 58 514 493 179 193 691 850 313 341 1203 1856 701 769 351 159 57 58 514 493 179 193 691 850 313 341 1203 1856 701 769 0.42 -0.0593 0.1731 0.0131 0.097 0.0952 -0.0394 0.1118 0.0294 -0.0008 0.0531 Best Quarter 0.0903 2009-09-30 Worst Quarter -0.0474 2010-12-31 Year-to-Date -0.0078 2018-06-30 2001-06-11 0.0242 0.0239 0.0422 0.024 0.0237 0.042 0.0249 0.0261 0.0418 2001-06-11 0.0448 0.0215 0.037 1976-10-14 0.0564 0.0318 0.0472 2002-08-19 0.0566 0.0322 0.0477 0.0545 0.0302 0.0446 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws.com/role/ScheduleAnnualFundOperatingExpenses000023 column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws.com/role/ScheduleAnnualTotalReturnsTransposedBarChart000026 column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleNoRedemption000025 column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExample000024 column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws.com/role/ScheduleAverageAnnualTotalReturnsTransposed000027 column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws.com/role/ScheduleShareholderFees000022 column period compact * ~</div> DWS Strategic High Yield Tax-Free Fund(formerly Deutsche Strategic High Yield Tax-Free Fund) Investment Objective The fund seeks to provide a high level of income exempt from regular federal income tax. Fees and Expenses of the Fund These are the fees and expenses you may pay when you buy and hold shares. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you invest at least $250,000 in Class T shares in the fund. More information about these discounts is available from your financial advisor and in the Investing in the Funds section (p. 27) and in Purchase and Redemption of Shares in the fund's Statement of Additional Information (SAI) (p. II-15). SHAREHOLDER FEES (paid directly from your investment) ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment) 1 "Other expenses" for Class T are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year. The Advisor has contractually agreed through September 30, 2019 to waive its fees and/or reimburse fund expenses to the extent necessary to maintain the fund's total annual operating expenses (excluding certain expenses such as extraordinary expenses, taxes, brokerage, interest expense and acquired fund fees and expenses) at 0.87% for Class T shares. The agreement may only be terminated with the consent of the fund's Board. September 30, 2019 EXAMPLE This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses (including one year of capped expenses in each period) remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be: PORTFOLIO TURNOVER  The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may mean higher taxes if you are investing in a taxable account. These costs are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the expense example, and can affect the fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund's portfolio turnover rate was 34% of the average value of its portfolio. Principal Investment Strategy Main investments. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of net assets in securities issued by municipalities across the United States and in other securities whose income is free from regular federal income tax. The fund may invest up to 20% of net assets in securities whose income is subject to the federal alternative minimum tax (AMT).The fund can buy many types of municipal securities of all maturities. These may include revenue bonds (which are backed by revenues from a particular source) and general obligation bonds (which are typically backed by the issuer's ability to levy taxes). They may also include municipal lease obligations and investments representing an interest therein.The fund normally invests at least 50% of total assets in municipal securities rated in the four highest credit rating categories. The fund may invest up to 50% of total assets in high yield debt securities (commonly referred to as junk bonds), which are those below the fourth highest credit rating category (i.e., grade BB/Ba and below) and may include debt securities not currently paying interest and debt securities in default. Compared to investment-grade debt securities, junk bonds generally pay higher yields, have higher volatility and higher risk of default on payments of interest or principal.The fund may also invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The fund's investments in ETFs will be limited to 5% of total assets in any one ETF and 10% of total assets in the aggregate in ETFs. Management process. Portfolio management looks for securities that appear to offer the best opportunity to meet the fund's objective. In making its buy and sell decisions, portfolio management typically weighs a number of factors against each other, from economic outlooks and possible interest rate movements to characteristics of specific securities, such as coupon, maturity date and call date, and changes in supply and demand within the municipal bond market.Although portfolio management may adjust the fund's duration (a measure of sensitivity to interest rates) over a wider range, they generally intend to keep the fund's duration similar to that of the Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Bond Index, which is generally between five and nine years. Main Risks There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. The fund may not achieve its investment objective, and is not intended to be a complete investment program. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. Interest rate risk. When interest rates rise, prices of debt securities generally decline. The longer the duration of the fund's debt securities, the more sensitive the fund will be to interest rate changes. (As a general rule, a 1% rise in interest rates means a 1% fall in value for every year of duration.) Recent and potential future changes in monetary policy made by central banks or governments are likely to affect the level of interest rates. Rising interest rates may prompt redemptions from the fund, which may force the fund to sell investments at a time when it is not advantageous to do so, which could result in losses. The fund may be subject to a greater risk of rising interest rates due to the current period of historically low rates. Credit risk. The fund's performance could be hurt if an issuer of a debt security suffers an adverse change in financial condition that results in the issuer not making timely payments of interest or principal, a security downgrade or an inability to meet a financial obligation. Credit risk is greater for lower-rated securities.Because the issuers of high yield debt securities or junk bonds (debt securities rated below the fourth highest credit rating category) may be in uncertain financial health, the prices of their debt securities can be more vulnerable to bad economic news, or even the expectation of bad news, than investment-grade debt securities. Credit risk for high yield securities is greater than for higher-rated securities.Because securities in default generally have missed one or more payments of interest and/or principal, an investment in such securities has an increased risk of loss. Issuers of securities in default have an increased likelihood of entering bankruptcy or beginning liquidation procedures which could impact the fund's ability to recoup its investment. Securities in default may be illiquid or trade in low volumes and thus may be difficult to value. For securities that rely on third-party guarantors to support their credit quality, the same risks may apply if the financial condition of the guarantor deteriorates or the guarantor ceases to insure securities. Because guarantors may insure many types of securities, including subprime mortgage bonds and other high-risk bonds, their financial condition could deteriorate as a result of events that have little or no connection to securities owned by the fund. High yield debt securities risk. High yield debt securities or junk bonds are generally regarded as speculative with respect to the issuer's continuing ability to meet principal and interest payments. High yield debt securities' total return and yield may generally be expected to fluctuate more than the total return and yield of investment-grade debt securities. A real or perceived economic downturn or an increase in market interest rates could cause a decline in the value of high yield debt securities, result in increased redemptions and/or result in increased portfolio turnover, which could result in a decline in net asset value of the fund, reduce liquidity for certain investments and/or increase costs. High yield debt securities are often thinly traded and can be more difficult to sell and value accurately than investment-grade debt securities as there may be no established secondary market. Investments in high yield debt securities could increase liquidity risk for the fund. In addition, the market for high yield debt securities can experience sudden and sharp volatility which is generally associated more with investments in stocks. Focus risk. To the extent that the fund focuses on investments from a single state, region or sector of the municipal securities market, its performance can be more volatile than that of a fund that invests more broadly. As an example, factors affecting a state, region or sector such as severe fiscal difficulties, an economic downturn, court rulings, increased expenditures on domestic security or reduced monetary support from the federal government could over time impair a state, region or sector's ability to repay its obligations. Municipal securities risk. The fund could be impacted by events in the municipal securities market, including the supply and demand for municipal securities. Negative events, such as severe fiscal difficulties, bankruptcy of one or more issuers, an economic downturn, unfavorable legislation, court rulings or political developments, or reduced monetary support from the federal government could hurt fund performance. The value of municipal securities is strongly influenced by the value of tax-exempt income to investors and changes in tax and other laws, including changes to individual or corporate tax rates, could alter the attractiveness and overall demand for municipal securities. Market risk. Deteriorating market conditions might cause a general weakness in the market that reduces the prices of securities in that market. Developments in a particular class of debt securities or the stock market could also adversely affect the fund by reducing the relative attractiveness of debt securities as an investment. Security selection risk. The securities in the fund's portfolio may decline in value. Portfolio management could be wrong in its analysis of municipalities, industries, companies, economic trends, the relative attractiveness of different securities or other matters. Counterparty risk. A financial institution or other counterparty with whom the fund does business, or that underwrites, distributes or guarantees any investments or contracts that the fund owns or is otherwise exposed to, may decline in financial health and become unable to honor its commitments. This could cause losses for the fund or could delay the return or delivery of collateral or other assets to the fund. Tax risk. Income from municipal securities held by the fund could be declared taxable because of unfavorable changes in tax laws, adverse interpretations by the Internal Revenue Service or state tax authorities, or noncompliant conduct of a securities issuer. In such event, the value of such securities would likely fall hurting fund performance and shareholders may be required to pay additional taxes. In addition, a portion of the fund's otherwise exempt-interest distributions may be taxable to those shareholders subject to the federal AMT. Liquidity risk. In certain situations, it may be difficult or impossible to sell an investment and/or the fund may sell certain investments at a price or time that is not advantageous in order to meet redemption requests or other cash needs. Unusual market conditions, such as an unusually high volume of redemptions or other similar conditions could increase liquidity risk for the fund, and in extreme conditions, the fund could have difficulty meeting redemption requests. Prepayment and extension risk. When interest rates fall, issuers of high interest debt obligations may pay off the debts earlier than expected (prepayment risk), and the fund may have to reinvest the proceeds at lower yields. When interest rates rise, issuers of lower interest debt obligations may pay off the debts later than expected (extension risk), thus keeping the fund's assets tied up in lower interest debt obligations. Ultimately, any unexpected behavior in interest rates could increase the volatility of the fund's share price and yield and could hurt fund performance. Prepayments could also create capital gains tax liability in some instances. Pricing risk. If market conditions make it difficult to value some investments, the fund may value these investments using more subjective methods, such as fair value pricing. In such cases, the value determined for an investment could be different from the value realized upon such investment's sale. As a result, you could pay more than the market value when buying fund shares or receive less than the market value when selling fund shares. ETF risk. Because ETFs trade on a securities exchange, their shares may trade at a premium or discount to their net asset value. An ETF is subject to the risks of the assets in which it invests as well as those of the investment strategy it follows. The fund incurs brokerage costs when it buys and sells shares of an ETF and also bears its proportionate share of the ETF's fees and expenses, which are passed through to ETF shareholders.Fees and expenses incurred by an ETF may include trading costs, operating expenses, licensing fees, trustee fees and marketing expenses. With an index ETF, these costs may contribute to the ETF not fully matching the performance of the index it is designed to track. Operational and technology risk. Cyber-attacks, disruptions, or failures that affect the fund's service providers or counterparties, issuers of securities held by the fund, or other market participants may adversely affect the fund and its shareholders, including by causing losses for the fund or impairing fund operations. There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. Past Performance How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. All performance figures below assume that dividends and distributions were reinvested. For more recent performance figures, go to dws.com (the Web site does not form a part of this prospectus) or call the phone number included in this prospectus.Class T is a new class of shares and as of the date of this prospectus had not commenced investment operations. The performance figures for Class T shares are based on the historical performance of the fund's Institutional Class shares adjusted to reflect the higher expenses and applicable sales charges of Class T. Institutional Class shares are offered in a separate prospectus. dws.com How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. CALENDAR YEAR TOTAL RETURNS (%) (Class T) These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. Returns for other classes were different and are not shown here. <table> <tr> <td valign="top" align="left" /> <td valign="top" align="left">Returns</td> <td valign="top" align="left">Period ending</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" align="left">Best Quarter</td> <td valign="top" align="left">13.50%</td> <td valign="top" align="left">September 30, 2009</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" align="left">Worst Quarter</td> <td valign="top" align="left">-15.57%</td> <td valign="top" align="left">December 31, 2008</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" align="left">Year-to-Date</td> <td valign="top" align="left">-0.09%</td> <td valign="top" align="left">June 30, 2018</td> </tr> </table> Average Annual Total Returns (For periods ended 12/31/2017 expressed as a %) After-tax returns After-tax returns reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. After-tax returns reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns may be different. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. 0.025 0.0044 0.0025 0.0004 0.003 0.0034 0.0103 -0.0012 0.0091 341 558 793 1467 0.34 -0.2208 0.3556 0.0228 0.0981 0.1218 -0.0582 0.1165 0.0332 0.0103 0.0618 Best Quarter 0.135 2009-09-30 Worst Quarter -0.1557 2008-12-31 Year-to-Date -0.0009 2018-06-30 2017-03-31 0.0352 0.0259 0.0422 0.0372 0.0182 0.0353 0.0284 0.0213 0.0363 0.0545 0.0302 0.0446 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws.com/role/ScheduleAnnualFundOperatingExpenses000033 column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws.com/role/ScheduleAnnualTotalReturnsTransposedBarChart000036 column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleTransposed000034 column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws.com/role/ScheduleAverageAnnualTotalReturnsTransposed000037 column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws.com/role/ScheduleShareholderFees000032 column period compact * ~</div> DWS Managed Municipal Bond Fund(formerly Deutsche Managed Municipal Bond Fund) Investment Objective The fund seeks to provide income exempt from regular federal income tax. Fees and Expenses of the Fund These are the fees and expenses you may pay when you buy and hold shares. You may qualify for sales charge discounts if you invest at least $250,000 in Class T shares in the fund. More information about these discounts is available from your financial advisor and in the Investing in the Funds section (p. 27) and in Purchase and Redemption of Shares in the fund's Statement of Additional Information (SAI) (p. II-15). SHAREHOLDER FEES (paid directly from your investment) ANNUAL FUND OPERATING EXPENSES (expenses that you pay each year as a % of the value of your investment) 1 "Other expenses" for Class T are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year. The Advisor has contractually agreed through September 30, 2019 to waive its fees and/or reimburse fund expenses to the extent necessary to maintain the fund's total annual operating expenses (excluding certain expenses such as extraordinary expenses, taxes, brokerage, interest expense and acquired fund fees and expenses) at 0.81% for Class T shares. The agreement may only be terminated with the consent of the fund's Board. September 30, 2019 EXAMPLE This Example is intended to help you compare the cost of investing in the fund with the cost of investing in other mutual funds. The Example assumes that you invest $10,000 in the fund for the time periods indicated and then redeem all of your shares at the end of those periods. The Example also assumes that your investment has a 5% return each year and that the fund's operating expenses (including one year of capped expenses in each period) remain the same. Although your actual costs may be higher or lower, based on these assumptions your costs would be: PORTFOLIO TURNOVER  The fund pays transaction costs, such as commissions, when it buys and sells securities (or "turns over" its portfolio). A higher portfolio turnover may indicate higher transaction costs and may mean higher taxes if you are investing in a taxable account. These costs are not reflected in annual fund operating expenses or in the expense example, and can affect the fund's performance. During the most recent fiscal year, the fund's portfolio turnover rate was 42% of the average value of its portfolio. Principal Investment Strategy Main investments. Under normal circumstances, the fund invests at least 80% of net assets, plus the amount of any borrowings for investment purposes, in securities issued by municipalities across the United States and in other securities whose income is free from regular federal income tax. The fund may invest up to 20% of net assets in securities whose income is subject to the federal alternative minimum tax (AMT).The fund can buy many types of municipal securities of all maturities. These may include revenue bonds (which are backed by revenues from a particular source) and general obligation bonds (which are typically backed by the issuer's ability to levy taxes). They may also include municipal lease obligations and investments representing an interest therein.The fund normally invests at least 65% of total assets in municipal securities rated in the three highest credit rating categories. The fund may invest up to 10% of total assets in high yield debt securities (commonly referred to as junk bonds) of the fifth and sixth highest credit rating categories (i.e., as low as grade B). Compared to investment-grade debt securities, junk bonds generally pay higher yields, have higher volatility and higher risk of default on payments of interest or principal.The fund may also invest in exchange-traded funds (ETFs). The fund's investments in ETFs will be limited to 5% of total assets in any one ETF and 10% of total assets in the aggregate in ETFs. Management process. Portfolio management looks for securities that appear to offer the best opportunity to meet the fund's objective. In making its buy and sell decisions, portfolio management typically weighs a number of factors against each other, from economic outlooks and possible interest rate movements to characteristics of specific securities, such as coupon, maturity date and call date, and changes in supply and demand within the municipal bond market.Although portfolio management may adjust the fund's duration (a measure of sensitivity to interest rates) over a wider range, they generally intend to keep the fund's duration similar to that of the Bloomberg Barclays Municipal Bond Index, which is generally between five and nine years. Main Risks There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. The fund may not achieve its investment objective, and is not intended to be a complete investment program. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. Interest rate risk. When interest rates rise, prices of debt securities generally decline. The longer the duration of the fund's debt securities, the more sensitive the fund will be to interest rate changes. (As a general rule, a 1% rise in interest rates means a 1% fall in value for every year of duration.) Recent and potential future changes in monetary policy made by central banks or governments are likely to affect the level of interest rates. Rising interest rates may prompt redemptions from the fund, which may force the fund to sell investments at a time when it is not advantageous to do so, which could result in losses. The fund may be subject to a greater risk of rising interest rates due to the current period of historically low rates. Credit risk. The fund's performance could be hurt if an issuer of a debt security suffers an adverse change in financial condition that results in the issuer not making timely payments of interest or principal, a security downgrade or an inability to meet a financial obligation. Credit risk is greater for lower-rated securities.Because the issuers of high yield debt securities, or junk bonds (debt securities rated below the fourth highest credit rating category), may be in uncertain financial health, the prices of their debt securities can be more vulnerable to bad economic news, or even the expectation of bad news, than investment-grade debt securities. Credit risk for high yield securities is greater than for higher-rated securities.For securities that rely on third-party guarantors to support their credit quality, the same risks may apply if the financial condition of the guarantor deteriorates or the guarantor ceases to insure securities. Because guarantors may insure many types of securities, including subprime mortgage bonds and other high-risk bonds, their financial condition could deteriorate as a result of events that have little or no connection to securities owned by the fund. Focus risk. To the extent that the fund focuses on investments from a single state, region or sector of the municipal securities market, its performance can be more volatile than that of a fund that invests more broadly. As an example, factors affecting a state, region or sector such as severe fiscal difficulties, an economic downturn, court rulings, increased expenditures on domestic security or reduced monetary support from the federal government could over time impair a state, region or sector's ability to repay its obligations. Municipal securities risk. The fund could be impacted by events in the municipal securities market, including the supply and demand for municipal securities. Negative events, such as severe fiscal difficulties, bankruptcy of one or more issuers, an economic downturn, unfavorable legislation, court rulings or political developments, or reduced monetary support from the federal government could hurt fund performance. The value of municipal securities is strongly influenced by the value of tax-exempt income to investors and changes in tax and other laws, including changes to individual or corporate tax rates, could alter the attractiveness and overall demand for municipal securities. Market risk. Deteriorating market conditions might cause a general weakness in the market that reduces the prices of securities in that market. Developments in a particular class of debt securities or the stock market could also adversely affect the fund by reducing the relative attractiveness of debt securities as an investment. Security selection risk. The securities in the fund's portfolio may decline in value. Portfolio management could be wrong in its analysis of municipalities, industries, companies, economic trends, the relative attractiveness of different securities or other matters. Counterparty risk. A financial institution or other counterparty with whom the fund does business, or that underwrites, distributes or guarantees any investments or contracts that the fund owns or is otherwise exposed to, may decline in financial health and become unable to honor its commitments. This could cause losses for the fund or could delay the return or delivery of collateral or other assets to the fund. Tax risk. Income from municipal securities held by the fund could be declared taxable because of unfavorable changes in tax laws, adverse interpretations by the Internal Revenue Service or state tax authorities, or noncompliant conduct of a securities issuer. In such event, the value of such securities would likely fall hurting fund performance and shareholders may be required to pay additional taxes. In addition, a portion of the fund's otherwise exempt-interest distributions may be taxable to those shareholders subject to the federal AMT. Liquidity risk. In certain situations, it may be difficult or impossible to sell an investment and/or the fund may sell certain investments at a price or time that is not advantageous in order to meet redemption requests or other cash needs. Unusual market conditions, such as an unusually high volume of redemptions or other similar conditions could increase liquidity risk for the fund, and in extreme conditions, the fund could have difficulty meeting redemption requests. Prepayment and extension risk. When interest rates fall, issuers of high interest debt obligations may pay off the debts earlier than expected (prepayment risk), and the fund may have to reinvest the proceeds at lower yields. When interest rates rise, issuers of lower interest debt obligations may pay off the debts later than expected (extension risk), thus keeping the fund's assets tied up in lower interest debt obligations. Ultimately, any unexpected behavior in interest rates could increase the volatility of the fund's share price and yield and could hurt fund performance. Prepayments could also create capital gains tax liability in some instances. Pricing risk. If market conditions make it difficult to value some investments, the fund may value these investments using more subjective methods, such as fair value pricing. In such cases, the value determined for an investment could be different from the value realized upon such investment's sale. As a result, you could pay more than the market value when buying fund shares or receive less than the market value when selling fund shares. ETF risk. Because ETFs trade on a securities exchange, their shares may trade at a premium or discount to their net asset value. An ETF is subject to the risks of the assets in which it invests as well as those of the investment strategy it follows. The fund incurs brokerage costs when it buys and sells shares of an ETF and also bears its proportionate share of the ETF's fees and expenses, which are passed through to ETF shareholders.Fees and expenses incurred by an ETF may include trading costs, operating expenses, licensing fees, trustee fees and marketing expenses. With an index ETF, these costs may contribute to the ETF not fully matching the performance of the index it is designed to track. Operational and technology risk. Cyber-attacks, disruptions, or failures that affect the fund's service providers or counterparties, issuers of securities held by the fund, or other market participants may adversely affect the fund and its shareholders, including by causing losses for the fund or impairing fund operations. There are several risk factors that could hurt the fund's performance, cause you to lose money or cause the fund's performance to trail that of other investments. An investment in the fund is not a deposit of a bank and is not insured or guaranteed by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or any other governmental agency. Past Performance How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. All performance figures below assume that dividends and distributions were reinvested. For more recent performance figures, go to dws.com (the Web site does not form a part of this prospectus) or call the phone number included in this prospectus.Class T is a new class of shares and as of the date of this prospectus had not commenced investment operations. The performance figures for Class T shares are based on the historical performance of the fund's Institutional Class shares adjusted to reflect the higher expenses and applicable sales charges of Class T. Institutional Class shares are offered in a separate prospectus. dws.com How a fund's returns vary from year to year can give an idea of its risk; so can comparing fund performance to overall market performance (as measured by an appropriate market index). Past performance may not indicate future results. CALENDAR YEAR TOTAL RETURNS (%) (Class T) These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. These year-by-year returns do not include sales charges, if any, and would be lower if they did. Returns for other classes were different and are not shown here. <table> <tr> <td valign="top" align="left" /> <td valign="top" align="left">Returns</td> <td valign="top" align="left">Period ending</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" align="left">Best Quarter</td> <td valign="top" align="left">9.02%</td> <td valign="top" align="left">September 30, 2009</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" align="left">Worst Quarter</td> <td valign="top" align="left">-4.75%</td> <td valign="top" align="left">December 31, 2010</td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" align="left">Year-to-Date</td> <td valign="top" align="left">-0.83%</td> <td valign="top" align="left">June 30, 2018</td> </tr> </table> Average Annual Total Returns (For periods ended 12/31/2017 expressed as a %) After-tax returns After-tax returns reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. After-tax returns reflect the historical highest individual federal income tax rates, but do not reflect any state or local taxes. Your actual after-tax returns may be different. After-tax returns are not relevant to shares held in an IRA, 401(k) or other tax-advantaged investment plan. 0.025 0.0033 0.0025 0.0001 0.0029 0.003 0.0088 -0.0006 0.0082 332 518 720 1302 0.42 -0.0597 0.1722 0.0126 0.0967 0.0945 -0.0398 0.1107 0.0286 -0.0014 0.0535 Best Quarter 0.0902 2009-09-30 Worst Quarter -0.0475 2010-12-31 Year-to-Date -0.0083 2018-06-30 2017-03-31 0.0271 0.0239 0.0419 0.0302 0.0165 0.0353 0.0225 0.0187 0.0355 0.0545 0.0302 0.0446 <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws.com/role/ScheduleAnnualFundOperatingExpenses000043 column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws.com/role/ScheduleAnnualTotalReturnsTransposedBarChart000046 column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws.com/role/ScheduleExpenseExampleTransposed000044 column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws.com/role/ScheduleAverageAnnualTotalReturnsTransposed000047 column period compact * ~</div> <div style="display:none">~ http://www.dws.com/role/ScheduleShareholderFees000042 column period compact * ~</div> "Other expenses" for Class T are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year. "Other expenses" for Class T are based on estimated amounts for the current fiscal year.