Gemünden am Main

Gemünden a.Main

Scherenburg above Gemünden

Coat of arms
Gemünden a.Main

Coordinates: 50°2′59″N 9°42′20″E / 50.04972°N 9.70556°E / 50.04972; 9.70556Coordinates: 50°2′59″N 9°42′20″E / 50.04972°N 9.70556°E / 50.04972; 9.70556
Country Germany
State Bavaria
Admin. region Unterfranken
District Main-Spessart
Government
 • Mayor Thomas Schiebel (FW)
Area
 • Total 75.09 km2 (28.99 sq mi)
Population (2015-12-31)[1]
 • Total 10,069
 • Density 130/km2 (350/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 97737
Dialling codes 09351
Vehicle registration MSP
Website www.stadt-gemuenden.de
Old and new bridges in Gemünden

Gemünden am Main (officially Gemünden a.Main) is a town in the Main-Spessart district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken) in Bavaria, Germany and lies roughly 40 km down the Main from Würzburg.

Geography

Location

Gemünden is located in the Main-Spessart district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken) in Bavaria, on the Main, around 40 km downriver from Würzburg. Within the town, the River Sinn flows into the Franconian Saale, which itself then discharges into the Main. The Main river changes its direction at Gemünden, from northwest to west, marking the northeastern end of the Mainviereck ("Main Square") near Lohr am Main.

Gemünden lies on the Birkenhainer Strasse, an ancient trade road from Lower Franconia to today's Frankfurt Rhine Main Region.

Subdivisions

Gemünden's Stadtteile are Adelsberg, Aschenroth, Harrbach, Hofstetten, Hohenroth, Kleinwernfeld, Langenprozelten, Neutzenbrunn, Reichenbuch, Schaippach, Schönau, Seifriedsburg, Wernfeld and Massenbuch.

History

Old Town Hall
Scherenburg Castle ruins

The local Schönau Monastery (Kloster Schönau) was founded in 1189 by Philipp von Thüngen. A Conventual Franciscan monastery since 1699, the monks' main job is to take care of the monastery and pilgrimage church.

The town had its first documentary mention in 1243 in an agreement between Prince-Bishop of Würzburg Hermann I of Lobdeburg and Countess Adelheid of Rieneck. It is thought, however, that Gemünden had already been raised to town by the Counts of Rieneck sometime before 1243. As of 1469, Gemünden belonged definitively to the Prince-Bishopric of Würzburg, which was eventually annexed by Bavaria in 1802. Gemünden became a Bavarian district seat (Kreisstadt); a railway link followed in 1854, Ludwig's Western Railway, nowadays the Main–Spessart railway. Gemünden became a railway hub. In 1872 came the opening of the Flieden–Gemünden line, in 1879 the Gemünden–Schweinfurt line and in 1884 the Gemünden – Hammelburg line.

During the time of the National Socialist régime, the Jewish community's synagogue was destroyed on Kristallnacht (9 November 1938) by SA men. During the Second World War, many Soviet prisoners of war had to perform forced labour in operations that were important to the war effort.

Owing to the town's strategically important location as a railway hub, two thirds of it was destroyed by Allied bombing raids towards the end of the Second World War.

In 1972, the Gemünden am Main district was abolished. With the amalgamation of 14 new Ortsteile between 1971 and 1978, the town’s land area swelled sevenfold.

Arts and culture

Museums

Film-Photo-Ton (“Film-Photo-Sound”) Museum in the Huttenschloss in Gemünden

Regular events

There are the Scherenburgfestspiele (festival) in July and August in the inner courtyard at the Scherenburg ruins. This is run by Festspielverein der Stadt Gemünden e.V..

Heimatfest is a local festival held every year on the fairgrounds on the opposite side of the Fränkische Saale from the town's pedestrian precinct. It is always held during the summer months (usually either in June or July). It is very much a scaled-down version of the Oktoberfest (held at the end of September every year in Munich) with a beer tent, rides, and games. It is always one week in length (from Saturday to the following Sunday) concluding in a fireworks display from the Scherenburg castle ruins.

Gemünden was well known as the venue for the heavy metal festival Up From The Ground (so called even in German); however, the festival was last held in 2007, and owing to a number of factors, including fears for safety and poor service access at the venue, the promoters have no plans to continue the festival in Gemünden.

Attractions

Over Gemünden's town centre rise the ruins of Scherenburg, a castle also known as Schloss Scherenberg, which once belonged to the Counts of Rieneck. Farther up the hill are found the ruins of the Slorburg, another castle.

The Elias Hügel Column from 1740 was built based on the design of the mostly destroyed original in Kaisersteinbruch. The master mason was Friedrich Opferkuh and the sculptor was Ferenc Gyurcsek. It also stands as a token of good collaboration between the Gemünden am Main Historical Society and the Kaisersteinbruch Museum and Cultural Club. Hügel was a sculptor born in Gemünden; he died in Kaisersteinbruch.

A plaque recalls the old synagogue that was heavily damaged on Kristallnacht (9 November 1938) and torn down in 1945. A memorial to those Soviet prisoners who lost their lives during forced labour, can be found in the direction of Rieneck.[2]

At the far south of the municipal territory is the Ruine Schönrain, the ruins of a former priory and castle. Beneath the ruins, the Schönraintunnel railway tunnel enters the hill.

Sports

Government

Town partnerships

Coat of arms

The town's arms might be described thus: Azure a castle argent with wall embattled flanked by towers, rising behind the wall a greater tower, itself with two flanking turrets braced underneath against the tower, in the wall a gate Or, the leaves open showing a portcullis raised of the same, the opening sable, all tower and turret roofs and tops of merlons gules, all roofs conical, and on top of each a roundle of the third.

Infrastructure

Transport

Main valley bridge on the newly built line
The great Hügel Epitaph, 1601
wie ir seid warn wir auff erdn - wie wir sind werdet ir auch werden – “as you are, so shall we also become - as we are, so shall you also become”

Gemünden station is an important railway junction. The North-South railway from Fulda to Würzburg forms a junction here with the east-west line from Aschaffenburg to Würzburg. West of town, the newly built Hanover–Würzburg high-speed railway crosses the Main on the Gemünden Main Valley Bridge. Furthermore, the Franconian Saale Valley Railway (Fränkische Saaletalbahn) branches off at Gemünden, running to the spa town of Bad Kissingen. Gemünden is an important goods handling hub, and also running here are the Deutsche Bahn's Regionalbahn trains linking Gemünden with Würzburg and Aschaffenburg.

Gemünden lies on Bundesstraße 26.

Notable people

Further reading

References

  1. ↑ "Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes". Bayerisches Landesamt für Statistik und Datenverarbeitung (in German). June 2016.
  2. ↑ Gedenkstätten für die Opfer des Nationalsozialismus. Eine Dokumentation, Band 1. Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, Bonn 1995, ISBN 3-89331-208-0, S. 141f.
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