Aschaffenburg is a German city in the west of Franconia. It has a population of about 68,000. It is a part of the European metropolitan area of Frankfurt am Main. Aschaffenburg is an electoral constituency (German: Wahlkreis) represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 247. It is located in northwestern Bavaria, comprising the city of Aschaffenburg and the district of Landkreis. Types of Things to Do in Aschaffenburg Fun & Games (8) Sights & Landmarks (6) Nightlife (5) Spas & Wellness (3) Shopping (2) Tours (2) Museums (2) Nature & Parks (2) Outdoor Activities (2) Water & Amusement Parks (1) Casinos & Gambling (1) Boat Tours & Water Sports (1) Concerts & Shows (1) Traveler Resources (1) Events (1).
Aschaffenburg History- USAREUR Units & Kasernes, 1945 - 1989.
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In 1806 Aschaffenburgt was annexed to the grand-duchy of Frankfort.In 1814 it was transferred to Bavaria to which it still belongs.
See Aschaffenburg and Aschaffenburgfor more history.
Aschaffenburg was heavily bombed in a 10 day battle in March 1945. In trying to determine why Aschaffenburg was bombedI discovered that the United Stateshad a policy of strategic precision bombing that was intended to avoid civilian populations.However, the United States Army Air Force bombed several cities in Germany including: Aschaffenburg, Frankfurt, Berlin, Kassek, Pfozheim, Darmstadt, Swinemuende, Leipzig, Mainz, Hamburg, Dresden and Wurzburg resulting in hundreds of thousands of civilian deaths and the destruction of multiple cultural landmarks.One of the most controversial bombing raids was the destruction of Dresden in February 1945 when it is estimated that more than 25,000 people died within a 14 hour period. Dresden was known as a cultural center and had no military value, it had been spared ealier during the war because it was designated an 'open city' (Cities, such as Paris, Rome and Florence, had such designations because of theircultural value. They were more or less spared being bombed.)
I was not able to determine why Aschaffenburg was targeted. However it appears that the city was strongly defended by the Germans.
'The fighting around Aschaffenburg was a very small part ofthe mosaic that was World War II in March and April 1945.'
The character of the fighting was such that it made an impression on even those with a broad view of the war. Secretary of War Stimson made this comment at his weekly news conference on 7 April 1945:
'There is a lesson with respect to fighting to the end in Aschaffenburg. There Nazi fanatics used the visible threat of two hangings to compel German solders and civilians to fight for a week. After a week of fighting, during which the city was reduced to rubble and many Germans lost their lives, the inevitable took place and the Nazi fanatics ran up the white flag and surrendered to our veteran 45th Infantry Division.'From: THE BATTLE OF ASCHAFFENBURG: AN EXAMPLE OF LATE WORLD WAR I1 URBAN COMBAT IN EUROPE A thesis presented to the Faculty of the U. S. Army Command and General Staff College In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree MASTER OF MILITARY ART AND SCIENCE, QUENTIN W. SCHILLARE. MAJ, USA B.S.. University of Connecticut, 1967 B.A., University of Connecticut. 1974 M.B.A., University of Connecticut, 1977, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas 1989
Note: I found his thesis on line but for some reason couldn't get back to it. In September Dave Kerr emailed me a link to the site that worked for a while. Terry Calhoun informed me in November 2010 that the link I had was broken again. The Battle of Aschaffenburg was working April 2011.
Major Schillare made the following points about the strategic significance of Aschaffenberg:
- A transportation hub
- An industrial center: coal, stone, cellulose, paper, furniture, chemicals and breweries
- A market town
Major Schillare estimates that about 70% of the city was destroyed and about 60% of the population(including military) were killed.
July 2008, Jack Power wrote:
'I was stationed in Aschaffenburg 1967-1969. Great city.It was my understanding that the city was destroyed during WWII by three US army tanks placed atop 'Three Cross Hill' in or near Schweinheim.The reason for destruction, as I came to understand it, was uniforms were manufactured there.Ate and drank in Schalpessipple (sp?) near Schloss Johannisburg.Also spent much time at a guesthaus in Goldbach.'In January 2011 Utah Rogers wrote
'You may be aware that Gen Patton's son-in Law (Captain Waters)had been captured by the Germans and so much of the battlesin the area was brought about by the General wanting to free his Son-in-Law. Lot of denials to that story!'Note:John K. Walters married Patton's daughter Beatrice in 1934. During WWII he wascaptured in Tunisia and sent to a German POW camp at Hammelburg not far from Aschaffenburg.Patton ordered a Task Force under Capt Abraham Baumto liberate the camp. The mission was a failure, 32 men were killed, 35 made it back to the Allied Lines and the rest were taken prisoner.Waters was wounded during the liberation attempt.
See Google Books City Fights: Selected histories of urban combat from World War II to Vietnam By John F. AntalSee Task Force Baum
In March 2011 Anthony R. Varda wrote:
Aschaffenburg Bahnhof
'My father, then Captain John Varda, was in the military government in Aschaffenburg during WWII. You asked why the Allies destroyed the town. As my father explained it years ago, it was relatively simple. Patton's tanks went through Aschaffenburg at night with little resistance, putting it behind allied lines. There was an SS detachment in barracks on the outskirts of Aschaffenburg at the time, but they missed Paton's tanks as the tanks blew through the town, well ahead of the American troops. The next morning, the mayor wanted to surrender, but the SS were having nothing to do with any surrender. The SS hung mayor from a lamp pole and started fighting the troops following behind the American tanks. The troops retreated back from the town.At this stage in the war, no one wanted to be the last casualty, and the supply lines had more than enough munitions to allow for endless bombardment of the town, from a safe distance. So that is what they did. My father was not entirely pleased because it made for not much left to govern, and a lot of problems to deal with, but he saw it as a reasonable way to approach the intransigent enemy.'
The magazineAschaffenburg Hochschule
WWII HISTORY, January 2011, contains an article
Ten Days at Aschaffenburgby Christopher Miskimon which describes the fighting at Aschaffenburg in March 1945. Miskimon states that Aschaffenburg was a 'major hub for water and rail transport, and the city also boasted extensive industry' in addition to having a 'substantial military presence' as the 'home of the 106th Infinity Regiment'. However, he does not specifically state why Aschaffenburg was targeted. He does mention the 'raid' of the POW camp at Hammelburg under Captain Abraham Baum.
'Baum's force reached the camp where there were far too many POWs to evacuate, tried to fight its way backwith a portion of them, was essentially hunted down and all its men killed or captured.'
Aschaffenburg University Of Applied Sciences
Miskimon says:'The fate of Aschaffenburg was the destruction of some 70 percent of the city, lost in adetermined by ultimately wasted struggle. Of 8,500 defenders 1,600 were wounded or killedand 3,500 more became prisoners of war. The Americas suffered around 300wounded and 20 killed.'On April 9, 2011 Wayne Lutz who was stationed in Asscahffenburg for 6 years and married a local girlwrote in regards to 3 Cross Hill:'In my time, the story was that Patton's army sat on that hill, which overlooksthe Schloss across the river, and sent three officers down to the castle with a surrender demand.The three officers never returned, having been killed, so the US destroyed the castle and much of the city. The three crosses were then erected in memory of those officers.
That is not true, and neither is Mr. Power's version. I got the true story from the Aschaffenburgcity hall department of historical records.
First, the hill is called 'Erbig Berg.' It is directly across the Main river from the Schloss Johannisburg and provides a commanding view of the entire city, which made it a strategic high ground, and the best place from which to both observe the city and to launch a frontal assault. Major (Now Lt. Colonel, Retired) Quentin Schillere's magnificent Master's Theses, The Battle of Aschaffenburg,' talks about the Erbig in Chapter 2:
'The area from the river east through Hill 240 (the Judenberg) and Hill 285 (the Erbig) to Schweinheim offers the best approach into the town. It is flat near the river and, although steep on the saddle between Hill 188 (the Bischberg) to Hill 285, it is open agricultural land and offers excellent observation and fields of fires........The Bischberg and the Erbig are the key terrain in this sector, occupation of them provides observation of the city and the movementcorridors into the area.'
So, the Erbig is the hill that we American GI's referred to as '3 Cross Hill' in our Cold-War era.
The truth about the three crosses is this, sent to me by Matthias Klotz, Archivamtsinspektor, Stadt-und Stiftsarchiv Aschaffenburg, on July 30, 2009. Herr Klotz wrote:
'The three crosses were built in 1948, and they should remember three things:- memorial for the victims of the world war II
- gratitude for the men who came back from world war II
- reminder on the religious passion-performances in Schweinheim
| Country | Germany |
|---|---|
| State | Bavaria |
| Adm. region | Lower Franconia |
| Capital | Aschaffenburg (extraterritorial) |
| Area | |
| • Total | 699 km2 (270 sq mi) |
| Population (31 December 2019)[1] | |
| • Total | 174,200 |
| • Density | 250/km2 (650/sq mi) |
| Time zone | UTC+01:00 (CET) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC+02:00 (CEST) |
| Vehicle registration | AB, ALZ |
| Website | www.landkreis-aschaffenburg.de |
Aschaffenburg is a Landkreis (district) in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by (from the west and clockwise) the districts of Darmstadt-Dieburg, Offenbach, Main-Kinzig (all in the state of Hesse), the districts Main-Spessart and Miltenberg, and the town of Aschaffenburg.
History[edit]
Remains of Roman settlements were found on the river Main. There was a Roman military camp in what is today the municipality of Stockstadt am Main. After the Roman retreat the region became subject to Alemanni and Franks before eventually being a part of the Electorate of Mainz. While the banks of the Main were populated all these centuries, the hills of the Spessart were virtually unsettled until the 13th century.
The districts of Aschaffenburg and Alzenau were established in 1862, half a century after the region was annexed by the state of Bavaria. These districts were merged in 1972 in order to form the present district.
Geography[edit]
The district is located in the extreme northwest of Bavaria and bounded by Hesse on two sides. The Main river forms the western border, though southwest of the town of Aschaffenburg there are also parts on the western river banks incorporated in the district. The south and east of the district extends into the Mittelgebirge Spessart.
The town of Aschaffenburg is not included in the district ( kreisfrei ), but is nonetheless its administrative seat.
The geographic centre of the European Union is located in the District of Aschaffenburg.
Economy[edit]
In 2017 (latest data available) the GDP per inhabitant was €33,109. This places the district 60th out of 96 districts (rural and urban) in Bavaria (overall average: €46,698).[2]
Coat of arms[edit]
The coat of arms displays:
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Towns and municipalities[edit]
Towns:
Municipalities:
References[edit]
- ^'Tabellenblatt 'Daten 2', Statistischer Bericht A1200C 202041 Einwohnerzahlen der Gemeinden, Kreise und Regierungsbezirke'. Bayerisches Landesamt für Statistik und Datenverarbeitung (in German). July 2020.
- ^'VGR der Länder, Kreisergebnisse für Deutschland - Bruttoinlandsprodukt, Bruttowertschöpfung in den kreisfreien Städten und Landkreisen der Bundesrepublik Deutschland 2000 bis 2017 (German)'. Statistische Ämter der Länder und des Bundes. Retrieved 4 February 2020.
External links[edit]
| Wikimedia Commons has media related to Landkreis Aschaffenburg. |
- Official website(in German)
Coordinates: 50°05′N9°10′E / 50.08°N 9.17°E