Erlenbach am Main

Erlenbach a.Main
Town
Coat of arms
Location of Erlenbach a.Main within Miltenberg district
Country	Germany
State	Bavaria
Admin. region	Unterfranken
District	Miltenberg
Subdivisions	3 Stadtteile
Government
• Mayor	Michael Berninger (CSU)
Area
• Total	16.33 km2 (6.31 sq mi)
Elevation	129 m (423 ft)
Population  (2023-12-31)
• Total	10,335
• Density	630/km2 (1,600/sq mi)
Time zone	UTC+01:00 (CET)
• Summer (DST)	UTC+02:00 (CEST)
Postal codes	63906
Dialling codes	09372
Vehicle registration	MIL
Website	www.stadt-erlenbach.de

Erlenbach am Main (officially: Erlenbach a.Main) is the biggest town in the Miltenberg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken) in Bavaria, Germany. It harbours one of the Miltenberg district’s two hospitals, and is well known for its good wine. Erlenbach was until 25 years ago Bavaria’s newest town.

Geography

Location

Erlenbach lies in Lower Franconia in Bavaria’s northwest, at the Mainviereck (“Main Square”), near Aschaffenburg.

Constituent communities

The formerly self-administering neighbouring communities of Mechenhard and Streit wer amalgamated with Erlenbach in 1976 and 1978 respectively.

History

When human beings first took ownership of the region is a matter shrouded in the mists of time. In 1876, four barrows from the Bronze Age (roughly 1550–1250 BC) were discovered. In 1981, two typical Urnfield culture graves from the time about 1000–800 BC were found.

In the first century AD, the Roman Empire reached all the way to the Main. This watery stretch of the Limes Germanicus was enforced with castra. To avoid the Romans, the Germanic peoples moved their settlements to the other side of the Main, the east side, or right bank. After the Roman Empire fell, it would still be many years before the Franks thrust into the Main region in 531 and founded settlements of their own.

The first farms in Erlenbach were likely only built sometime between 800 and 950.

About 1183, Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa granted Erlenbach market rights. The Imperial award was given visible expression with a market and freedom sign. It shows a great cross on whose top stands a cock. On the crossbeam a hand rises up on one side and on the other a sword. The upheld hand made clear that the Erlenbach dwellers stood under the Emperor’s special protection, and that any who set himself against it would have to reckon with the Sovereign’s upraised sword.

Religion

Besides the Catholic churches Saint Peter’s and Saint Paul’s, Saint Joseph’s (main town), Saint Joseph’s (outlying centre of Mechenhard) and Saint Charles Borromeo’s there is also the Evangelical Martin Luther Church.

Since January 2007 there has also been the Evangelical Free Church Erlenbach Congregation, which in April 2009 counted 61 steady members.

• 
  Town Hall
• 
  Frankenhalle
• 
  Saint Peter’s and Saint Paul’s Church
• 
  Vineyards on the banks of the Main

Politics

Town council

The council is made up of 24 council members, with seats apportioned thus:

• CSU 11
• SPD 7
• Bündnis 90/Die Grünen 2
• Freie Wähler 4

Mayors

The Chief Mayor is Michael Berninger (CSU), and the deputies are Anne Tulke (SPD; “Second Mayor”) and Wolfgang Großmann (Freie Wähler; “Third Mayor”).

Town partnerships

• Saint-Maurice, Val-de-Marne, France
• Erlenbach, Canton of Zürich, Switzerland
• Erlenbach im Simmental, Canton of Bern, Switzerland

Coat of arms

The town’s arms might be described thus: Or an eagle with two heads displayed sable crowned on each head gules with studs of the field, armed and beaked of the field holding in his talon dexter an orb of the third banded and ensigned with a cross of the field and in his talon sinister a sword of the third, in chief an Elector’s crown proper.

This coat of arms, newly conferred upon the market community of Erlenbach am Main in 1953 is based on two seals known to have been borne by the Erlenbach court in the time from 1722 to 1810 and whose images matched each other. Both seals showed a crowned two-headed eagle holding a monarch’s orb in the right talon and a sword in the left. Floating above the eagle’s heads was an Elector’s crown, and underneath their heads were the letters E and B (Erlenbach).

Culture and sightseeing

Theatre

Erlenbach cultural life has many faces. The renovated Frankenhalle offers its stage for theatre, musicals and concerts. Another place that enriches local culture is the Kino-Passage cinema, which since 1979 has been established as a repertory cinema. Lastly, not to be overlooked are the many festivals and markets that also belong to Erlenbach cultural life.

Culinary specialities

Even if, as is likely so, the Romans had already brought grapes to the Main valley, winegrowing is only confirmed to have begun in Erlenbach one thousand years later by a document from 2 January 1261. Since 1990, Erlenbach has lain on the Fränkischer Rotwein Wanderweg (“Franconian Red Wine Hiking Trail”)

Sport

The town's association football club SV Erlenbach, formed in 1919, experienced its greatest success in 2013 when it won promotion to the Bayernliga for the first time.

Famous people

Sons and daughters of the town

• Marliese Arold, children’s and youth book author
• Aloys Schmitt, German composer, pianist and musical educator
• Kurt Klühspieß, German handball world champion
• Dirk Hartmann, contemporary psychologist and philosopher

External links

• Town’s official webpage Template:De icon