Mönchberg

Mönchberg

Coat of arms
Mönchberg

Coordinates: 49°47′N 09°14′E / 49.783°N 9.233°ECoordinates: 49°47′N 09°14′E / 49.783°N 9.233°E
Country Germany
State Bavaria
Admin. region Unterfranken
District Miltenberg
Municipal assoc. Mönchberg
Government
 • Mayor Dieter Berninger (CSU)
Area
 • Total 24.15 km2 (9.32 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)[1]
 • Total 2,592
 • Density 110/km2 (280/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 63933
Dialling codes 09374
Vehicle registration MIL
Website www.moenchberg.de

Mönchberg is a market community in the Miltenberg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken) in Bavaria, Germany, of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft (Administrative Community) of Mönchberg and a state-recognized open-air resort (Luftkurort).

Geography

Location

Mönchberg lies in the Bavarian part of the Spessart (range), 13 km from the district seat of Miltenberg, 30 km from Aschaffenburg, 69 km from Frankfurt am Main and 76 km from Würzburg.

Neighbouring communities

Mönchberg borders in the west on Klingenberg and Erlenbach (with the outlying centres of Mechenhard and Streit), in the north on Eschau, in the east on Collenberg (on the Main) and in the south on Röllbach.

Constituent communities

The outlying centre, or Ortsteil, of Schmachtenberg, was amalgamated in 1978.

History

The community was originally a postal station on the way from Würzburg by way of Wertheim to Aschaffenburg. Its original name was Manno Gebur, meaning “Manno’s Building”, after the station’s first owner. In the Middle Ages, Mönchberg was granted town rights along with its own jurisdiction by Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor. The settlement in the Spessart earned its livelihood through forestry and handicrafts. Because the town lay far off the trade routes and so far from the settled areas on the Main, however, Mönchberg could develop no further in the end and therefore had to give up its town rights, which today are granted strictly to communities with a population of 5,000 or more. Market rights, however, the community got to keep.

The old town wall is still preserved, and can be seen, for instance, at the music pavilion in the rosegarden. Furthermore, the community has many mediaeval buildings and timber-frame houses, as well as a big Baroque parish church.

Schmachtenberg

The village of Schmachtenberg had its first documentary mention in 1298. The stately Baroque church was built between 1759 and 1761. Until after the Second World War, Schmachtenberg was wholly agriculturally based, and in 1978, the formerly self-administering community was amalgamated with Mönchberg. In 1997, Schmachtenberg was enlarged by a new building area. The place features a lively club life and currently has roughly 450 inhabitants.

Politics

Community council

The council is made up of 14 council members with seats apportioned thus:

Coat of arms

The community’s arms might be described thus: Per pale, dexter argent a pikestaff issuant from base sable bladed azure and tasselled Or, sinister gules in chief a crown Or, in base a wheel spoked of six of the first.

The pikestaff and the crown both refer to the Carolingian king’s soldier-farmers (Wehrbauern) who settled the community. The community’s overlords changed several times throughout its history, and several times it belonged to the Archbishopric of Mainz, ending up in Mainz’s hands for good, or at least until the Old Empire’s 1803 downfall, in 1720. The so-called Wheel of Mainz refers to this state.

The arms have been borne since 1965.[2]

Landscape near Mönchberg

Leisure and tourism

The market community’s main draw is the Spessartbad (swimming pool). Further leisure facilities on offer are tennis courts, a music pavilion and a Kneipp pool facility.

Because it has been recognized as an open-air resort (Luftkurort) and because of its location in the Spessart, Mönchberg is a popular destination for hikers and tourists. In and around Mönchberg, 90 km of hiking trails have been laid out.

Furthermore, there are many outing destinations nearby, such as the moated castle of Mespelbrunn, the district seat of Miltenberg, and the winemaking centre of Klingenberg.

References

  1. ↑ "Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes". Bayerisches Landesamt für Statistik und Datenverarbeitung (in German). 31 December 2013.
  2. ↑ Description and explanation of Mönchberg’s arms

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Mönchberg.