Place:Aschaffenburg, Aschaffenburg, Unterfranken, Bayern, Germany

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Aschaffenburg is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is its administrative seat.

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 (administrative region) by the Spessart hills, whereas it opens towards the Rhine-Main plain in the west and north-west. Therefore, the inhabitants speak neither Bavarian nor East Franconian but rather a local version of Rhine Franconian.

History

the text in this section is copied from an article in Wikipedia

Etymology

The name Aschaffenburg (Ascaffaburc, Ascapha or Ascaphaburg in the Middle Ages) 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 (Würzburg) and Ascapha (Aschaffenburg).

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 (957). 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.^[1]

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 (referred to in 975 as a civitas) 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 (sometimes called the Aschaffenburg Concordat). In the German Peasants' War (1525), the town backed the losing side.^[2]

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.^[2] The town suffered greatly during the Thirty Years' War, being held in turn by the various belligerents. During the Battle of Dettingen (1743), 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 "" ( Königlich Bayerische Centralforstlehranstalt ), 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.

In 1866, the Prussian Army inflicted a severe defeat on the Austrians in the vicinity during the Austro-Prussian War.

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 strongly defend Aschaffenburg 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 formerly 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 (1945–1949)
• Bois Brulé Kaserne — 1,500 people (1946–1949)
• LaGarde Kaserne — 1,700 people (1945–1949)
• Pionier Kaserne — 2,000 people (1946–1949)

Two other camps, Alte (old) Kaserne and Jäger Kaserne housed mainly Poles and Lithuanians.

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, [Stern 14/2002], 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.

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.^[3] The installation sites were known as Ready Kaserne (previously Artillerie Kaserne), Smith Kaserne (previously LaGarde Kaserne), Graves Kaserne (previously Bois Brulé Kaserne), Fiori Kaserne (previously Pionier Kaserne), and Jaeger Kaserne (previously Jäger 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 (Honest John), and the 1st Bn 80th Field Artillery (LANCE). 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.

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