Obernburg

Obernburg a.Main

Coat of arms
Obernburg a.Main

Coordinates: 49°50′24″N 09°8′29″E / 49.84000°N 9.14139°ECoordinates: 49°50′24″N 09°8′29″E / 49.84000°N 9.14139°E
Country Germany
State Bavaria
Admin. region Unterfranken
District Miltenberg
Government
  Mayor Walter Berninger (CSU)
Area
  Total 24.83 km2 (9.59 sq mi)
Population (2013-12-31)[1]
  Total 8,458
  Density 340/km2 (880/sq mi)
Time zone CET/CEST (UTC+1/+2)
Postal codes 63785
Dialling codes 06022
Vehicle registration MIL
Website www.obernburg.de

Obernburg am Main (officially Obernburg a.Main) is a town in the Miltenberg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken) in Bavaria, Germany.

Geography

Location

Obernburg lies at the mouth of the river Mömling, where it empties into the Main, at the foot of the Odenwald (range).

History

Between 83 and 85, the Romans built the Obernburg Castrum, in the local speech also known as Nemaninga.[2] Obernburg’s Old Town still somewhat corresponds the castrum’s grounds. In the Alamannic Storm (invasion) in 259 and 260, the castrum foundered, but was further settled later on.

The castrum was the garrison of the Cohors IIII Aquitanorum equitata. The stone fort, with an area of 2.9 ha and a nearly rectangular ground plan of roughly 185/188 × 160 m was oriented to the river Main. A beneficiarii station has been shown to have existed on the Limes road south of the fort, from which numerous dedication stones have been secured, which are to be exhibited in a newly established museum.

On 25 March 1313, Obernburg was raised to town by Archbishop of Mainz Peter of Aspelt. The confirmation of town rights by Louis the Bavarian came on 27 July 1317 in a document issued in Aschaffenburg.

Until the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss in 1803, Obernburg belonged to Electoral Mainz. Thereafter it belonged to the newly formed Principality of Aschaffenburg, with which it passed in 1814 (by this time it had become a department of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt) to Bavaria. Until 1 July 1972, Obernburg was the seat of a like-named district. This was abolished in the course of municipal reform. On 1 May 1978, the neighbouring municipality of Eisenbach was amalgamated with Obernburg.

Public institutions

State institutions

The Obernburg District Court (Amtsgericht Obernburg) is the court holding jurisdiction over the Miltenberg district.

Educational institutions

Schools of general education (Allgemeinbildende Schulen) in Obernburg are the Johannes-Obernburger-Volksschule (primary school and Hauptschule), the Eisenbach primary school and the Main-Limes-Realschule. Vocational training schools are the Staatliche Berufsschule Miltenberg-Obernburg, the Berufsfachschule für Kaufmännische Assistenten (for sales assistants) and the Staatliche Fachoberschule und Berufsoberschule Obernburg. Furthermore there are the municipal music school and the Dr.-Albert-Liebmann-Schule in Obernburg.

Offices

In Obernburg there are a branch office of the Miltenberg district head’s office (Landratsamtes), the Obernburg Financial Office responsible for the district and a branch office of the Aschaffenburg Employment Office.

Sport and leisure

There are many sport facilities: the Valentin-Ballmann-Halle, the Eisenbach Sport and Cultural Hall, a tennis hall and courts, a ninepin bowling alley, the Town of Obernburg sporting grounds at the school and sport centre, those of the Olympia gymnastic and sport club in the outlying centre of Eisenbach and the riding facility at the Neustädter Hof.

The sport club TUSPO Obernburg is above all known for its team handball department in the Men’s Second Handball Bundesliga.

Town partnerships

Culture and sightseeing

Buildings

Almosenturm in Obernburg

Worth seeing are the remnants of the town fortifications, particularly the Upper Gate (Oberes Tor), the Alms Tower (Almosenturm) and the Round Tower (Runder Turm). Also worth a visit are the Town Hall, the Annakapelle (chapel) and in Eisenbach the Baroque church.

Theatre

Museums

The Römermuseum (“Roman Museum”) gives itself over to the traces of Roman settlement in Obernburg and the surrounding area. The Eisenbacher Heimatmuseum (local history) is housed in the outlying centre’s former New Town Hall.

Hiking paths

Since 1990, Obernburg has lain on the Fränkischer Rotwein Wanderweg (“Franconian Red Wine Hiking Trail”). Through Obernburg runs European walking route E8, which reaches from County Kerry in Ireland to İstanbul in Turkey.

Regular events

Coat of arms

The town’s arms might be described thus: Argent on a mount vert a buck attired statant gules, in his mouth a bunch of grapes Or stalked of the second, in sinister a demi-tree of the second.

The town once bore different arms showing the Wheel of Mainz, but this charge was dropped when the town became part of Bavaria in 1814. The new arms were introduced on the Mayor’s Medal in 1819. It has appeared in all official seals ever since.[3]

Industry

Obernburg’s industrial area lies near the outlying centre of Eisenbach in the town’s south. The biggest company is the firm Reis Robotics.

On the other side of the Main is found a further industrial area called the Industrie Center Obernburg (ICO). There, in line with tradition, various kinds of chemical fibres are produced. Moreover, the industrial park is home to many other, smaller businesses in various fields. Although the industrial park bears the name Obernburg, and this is also the postal address, it lies exclusively within the communities of Erlenbach am Main and Elsenfeld.

Famous people

Sons and daughters of the town

References

  1. "Fortschreibung des Bevölkerungsstandes". Bayerisches Landesamt für Statistik und Datenverarbeitung (in German). 31 December 2013.
  2. That the castrum’s name was Nemaninga is speculation on the part of local researchers. The assumption is based merely on the circumstance of a supposition that the Numerus Brittonum Nemaningensium was in the Obernburg region in addition to the occupation at the cohort castrum. The Nemaningensium part refers to the local brook, the Mömling, but might have been misconstrued as the castrum’s name. Of the castrum’s actual ancient name nothing is known. In current publications (somewhat later than 2000) no name for the castrum is given.
  3. Description and explanation of Obernburg’s arms

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Obernburg am Main.