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ASCHAFFENBURG - GERMANY
Aschaffenburg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the right bank
of the Main and its confluence with the narrow Aschaff river, near the foot
of the Spessart. The city of Aschaffenburg is not included in the district
of Aschaffenburg, but is its administrative seat. Population: 66,800 (1999).
History
Aschaffenburg, called in the Middle Ages Aschafaburg, was originally a Roman
settlement. Roman legions had their station here, and on the ruins of their
castrum the Frankish mayors of the palace built a castle. Saint Boniface
erected a chapel to Saint Martin, and founded a Benedictine monastery. A
stone bridge over the Main was built by Archbishop Willigis in 989. Adalbert
increased the importance the town in various ways about 1122. In 1292 a
synod was held here, and in 1474 an imperial diet, preliminary to that of
Vienna, in which the concordat was decided which has therefore sometimes
called the Aschaffenburg Concordat.
The town suffered greatly during the Thirty Years' War, being held in
turn by the various belligerents. In 1842 - 1849, King Ludwig I of Bavaria
built himself to the west of the town a country house, Pompejanum, so called
from its being an imitation of the house of Castor and Pollux at Pompeii. In
1866 the Prussians inflicted a severe defeat on the Austrians in the
neighbourhood.
The principality of Aschaffenburg, deriving its name from the city,
comprehended an area of 1694 km². It formed part the electorate of Mainz,
and in 1803 was made over to the chancellor, Archbishop Charles of Dalberg.
In 1806 it was annexed to the grand duchy of Frankfurt; and in 1814 was
transferred to Bavaria, in virtue of a treaty concluded between that power
and Austria. Within Lower Franconia, it now forms a part of the Bundesland
of Bavaria.
Sights
Its chief buildings are the Schloss Johannisburg, built (1605 - 1614) by
Archbishop Schweikard von Kronberg, which contains a library with a number
of incunabula, a collection of engravings and paintings; the Stiftskirche,
or cathedral, founded in 974 by Otto of Bavaria, but dating in the main from
the early 12th century on, in which are preserved various monuments by e
Vischers, a sarcophagus with the relics of Saint Margaret, and a famous
painting by Matthias Grünewald; the Capuchin hospital; a theatre, which was
formerly a house of the Teutonic order; and several mansions of the nobility.
The graves of Clemens Brentano and his brother Christian Brentano (died
1851) and that of Wilhelm Heinse are on the Altstadtfriedhof.
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