Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg, despite being its administrative seat, is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg.
Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric of Mainz for more than 800 years. The town is located at the westernmost border of Lower Franconia and separated from the central and eastern part of the Regierungsbezirk by the Spessart hills, whereas it opens towards the Rhine-Main plain in the west and the north-west. Therefore, the inhabitants speak neither Bavarian nor East Franconian but rather a local version of Rhine Franconian.
Geography
Location
The town is located on both sides of the Main in north-west Bavaria, bordering to Hesse. On a federal scale it is part of central Germany, just southeast of Frankfurt am Main. In the western part of the municipality, the smaller Aschaff flows into the Main. The region is also known as Bayerischer Untermain.Climate
The climate is continental, typically with warm, dry summers and cold, damp winters. Aschaffenburg usually receives less snowfall during the winter than the nearby Spessart.Subdivision
Aschaffenburg comprises 10 Stadtteile:- Damm
- Gailbach
- Leider
- Nilkheim
- Obernau
- Obernauer Kolonie
- Österreicher Kolonie
- Schweinheim
- Stadtmitte
- Strietwald
Neighbouring communities
The following municipalities border Aschaffenburg : Johannesberg, Glattbach, Goldbach, Haibach, Bessenbach, Sulzbach am Main, Niedernberg, Großostheim, Stockstadt am Main and Mainaschaff.History
Etymology
The name Aschaffenburg originally meant "castle at the ash tree river" deriving from the river Aschaff that runs through parts of the town.Pre-history to Middle Ages
The earliest remains of settlements in the area of Aschaffenburg date from the Stone Age.Aschaffenburg was originally a settlement of the Alamanni. Roman legions were stationed here. In c. 700 AD, the Ravenna Cosmography names two settlements in region: Uburzis and Ascapha.
Around 550, the area had been conquered by the Franks, and their Hausmeier built a castle here. In the 8th century, a Benedictine monastery was founded, dedicated to St. Michael, reportedly by Saint Boniface. This became the Kollegiatstift St. Peter und Alexander in the second half of the 10th century. In 869, King Louis the Younger married Liutgard of Saxony at Aschaffenburg. She also died here in 885 and was later laid to rest with her daughter Hildegard in the Stiftskirche. Ascaffinburg is mentioned first in 974 in a gift document by Otto II, in which he gave several villages including Wertheim am Main and a stretch of forest in the Spessart to the collegiate church.
In the Middle Ages the town was known as Ascaffaburc, Ascapha or Ascaphaburg. A stone bridge over the Main was reportedly built by Archbishop Willigis in 989, who also made the town his second residence. The town was part of the Archbishopric of Mainz from 982, when Duke Otto died. A Vizedom is mentioned for the first time in 1122 as the top local representative of the Archbishop. In 1292 a synod was held here, and in 1447 an imperial diet, preliminary to that of Vienna, approved a concordat. In the German Peasants' War, the town backed the losing side.
Modern times through 19th century
In 1552, the late-Gothic castle of Johannisburg was destroyed. It was replaced in 1605-14 by the Renaissance Schloss Johannisburg. The town suffered greatly during the Thirty Years' War, being held in turn by the various belligerents. During the Battle of Dettingen, which took place to the north, the town was occupied by French troops. It formed part of the electorate of the Archbishop of Mainz, and in 1803 was made over to Archbishop Karl Theodor von Dalberg as the Principality of Aschaffenburg.Aschaffenburg was the site of the "", established in 1807, "made famous by the researches of Professor Dr Ernst Ebermayer." The academy was "dissolved in 1832, but re-organized under the Ministry of Finance in 1874"; and, as "of 30th March, 1874, united to the University of Munich."
In 1810, the Principality of Aschaffenburg was merged into the new Grand Duchy of Frankfurt although Dalberg retained Aschaffenburg as his residence. In 1814, the town was transferred to the Kingdom of Bavaria by an Austrian-Bavarian treaty. In 1817 it was included within Bavarian Lower Franconia. From 1840 to 1848, King Ludwig I of Bavaria had a Roman villa built to the west of town. It was named Pompejanum after its model, the house of Castor and Pollux at Pompeii.
During the Austro-Prussian War, the Prussian Army inflicted a severe defeat on the Grand Duchy of Hesse near Aschaffenburg in the Battle of Frohnhofen on 13 July 1866.
World War II
In World War II, Aschaffenburg was heavily damaged by Allied area bombing, including Schloss Johannisburg, which was completely restored several years later. The German military chose to defend Aschaffenburg strongly during the last weeks of the war, which resulted in the Battle of Aschaffenburg fought 28 March – 3 April 1945. The U.S. 45th Infantry Division was forced to take the fortified town against stiff German resistance in a series of frontal assaults that involved house-to-house fighting and vicious close combat. The resulting widespread urban destruction was quite severe, as cannon fire was used point-blank to blast through structures.Aschaffenburg displaced persons camps
At the end of World War II, the United States Army occupied military facilities that had been used and controlled by the Wehrmacht. These were converted for use by U.S. military personnel as processing centres for displaced persons at the end of the war. From 1945, 7,000 Ukrainians were accommodated in four displaced persons camps:- Artillerie Kaserne – approx. 2,000 people
- Bois Brulé Kaserne – 1,500 people
- LaGarde Kaserne – 1,700 people
- Pionier Kaserne – 2,000 people
Post-war development
In the decades following the war, Aschaffenburg and the surrounding region experienced robust economic prosperity, partially due to its close proximity to Frankfurt am Main.According to an online 2002 survey in Stern magazine, , 82 percent of residents living in the Bayerischer Untermain region where Aschaffenburg is located were satisfied with the place where they lived. This was the highest level recorded in the survey, making the region the #1 place to live in Germany, based on several factors including employment opportunities in the region, educational facilities, public services, transportation, recreational options, shopping, cultural facilities/events, climate, etc.
Another survey taken in 2006 by McKinsey, Stern magazine, ZDF, and web.de again showed that Aschaffenburg has one of the highest ratings for quality of life in Germany.
In January 2025, two people were killed in the 2025 Aschaffenburg stabbing, a knife attack by an Afghan asylum seeker in the Schöntal park.
U.S. military presence (1945–2007)
Aschaffenburg was the location of several United States Army installations throughout the Cold War. After initially taking over the administration of the ex-Wehrmacht installations, which were then used as displaced persons camps, the American presence in the Aschaffenburg military community began after general renovations in 1948. The installation sites were known as Ready Kaserne, Smith Kaserne, Graves Kaserne, Fiori Kaserne, and Jaeger Kaserne. These housed armour, infantry, engineer, maintenance and artillery elements of the U.S. Army 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division and various VII Corps elements including the 9th Engineer Battalion, the 3rd Bn 21st Field Artillery, and the 1st Bn 80th Field Artillery. Much of the U.S. Army presence in Aschaffenburg ended in 1992 with the ending of the Cold War. The last buildings, which were primarily used for housing, were handed back to the local government in 2007.Demographics
Population
Age distribution of the population (as of 2007)
Governance
Lord Mayors
- Wilhelm Matt
- Wilhelm Wohlgemuth
- Jean Stock
- Vinzenz Schwind
- Willi Reiland
- Klaus Herzog
- Jürgen Herzing
Economy
Well-known companies in Aschaffenburg are :, Linde Hydraulics, Joyson Safety Systems and part of as well as DPDgroup.
Shopping
The City Galerie, opened in 1974 and located in the central part of the city, is the largest shopping mall in northern Bavaria. It was one of the first indoor shopping malls in Germany. Aschaffenburg also has a pedestrian shopping zone closed to motor vehicles, except for deliveries.Politics
Aschaffenburg is part of the Aschaffenburg constituency for elections to the Bundestag.Arts and culture
Cultural events
Aschaffenburg hosts numerous festivals, fairs, exhibitions, markets and concerts throughout the year including the annual Stadtfest, held on the last weekend in August.Theaters and entertainment venues
- Colos-Saal, a live-music club
- Erthaltheater
- f.a.n. Frankenstolz Arena
- Kabarett im Hofgarten
- Ludwigstheater
- Stadthalle am Schloss
- Stadttheater
- Zimmertheater.
Museums and galleries
- Stiftsmuseum
- Naturwissenschaftliches Museum Aschaffenburg
- Gentilhaus
- KunstLANDing
- Städtische Galerie "Kunsthalle Jesuitenkirche"
- Neuer Kunstverein Aschaffenburg
- Künstlerhaus Walter Helm
- ''Christian Schad Museum''