Kahl am Main
Encyclopedia
Kahl am Main is a community in the Aschaffenburg district
in the Regierungsbezirk
of Lower Franconia
(Unterfranken) in Bavaria
, Germany
.
and includes at the mouth of the river Kahl
the lowest point in Bavaria. It also lies right on the boundary with Hesse
in a favourable location with regards to transport between Aschaffenburg
and Hanau
(Main-Kinzig-Kreis
).
The council is made up of 21 council members, counting the mayor.
(as at municipal election held on 2 March 2008)
might be described thus: Party per bend sinister wavy, the parting surmounted by a bend sinister wavy argent, azure a coney courant of the first in bend sinister, gules a demi-wheel spoked of six of the first couped in bend sinister.
The community of Kahl lies on a bow in the river Main, and this is referenced by the bend sinister wavy (slanted wavy stripe) in the arms. This also refers to the river Kahl
, which is part of the community’s name. The tincture
s argent and gules (silver and red) and the half-wheel refer to Electoral Mainz’s
former overlordship in the community. The silver hare recalls the Kahl dwellers’ nickname Sandhasen (“Sand Hares”) – sometimes also Sandbauern (“Sand Farmers”) – arising from the community’s lower crop yields than in other Main communities due to the sandy soil. Since 1806 the place has belonged to Bavaria, which is reflected in the tinctures argent and azure (blue).
The arms have been borne since 19 July 1960.
, Isère
, France
since 1981 Budakalász
, Pest County, Hungary
since 1998 St. Ingbert-Rohrbach, Saarland
, Germany
1968–1970 Leutasch
, Tyrol
, Austria
The last-named relationship is a “town friendship”.
Kahl. There is an umbrella group, the Vereinsgemeinschaft Kahl (“Kahl Club Community”), to which many of the local clubs belong, and which, among other things, stages the yearly Kerb.
The local scenery is characterized by forest and water, which make up 75% of the municipal area. The quarry lakes of the Kahl Lake Plateau (Kahler Seenplatte) with outdoor bathing at Waldseebad (former Emma-Nord stripmine) and Campingsee (Freigericht-Ost) with one of Bavaria’s biggest campsites as well as the angling ponds of the former Emma-Süd pit and the Vorspessartseen (lakes) offer opportunities for angling, boating, swimming and surfing. Five hiking trails and a fitness course (Vitaparcours) lead through the Kahl nature areas with their typical vegetation and sand flora. Many wild herbs, hogweed, wild carrot and malva
grow in the meadows alongside the Main, where there is also a small campsite.
The natural monument Hexeneiche (“Witches’ Oak”) on the B 8 was destroyed on 7 August 1970 by a lightning strike. The oak, known to have already been standing in the Thirty Years' War
, had to be felled on 8 June 1971. A newly planted oak and a memorial stone recall the witchhunts in the early 17th century, to which 69 women and 21 men fell victim here.
On holidays, especially when two fall one after the other, the railway line between Kahl am Main and Schöllkrippen is often used for “Historic Steam Locomotive Journeys”
In Kahl begins the Kahltal-Spessart cycling-hiking trail.
and Hanau
with good transport links to Autobahn A 45
(Gießen
- Aschaffenburg) as well as Autobahn A 3 (Frankfurt am Main
- Würzburg
- Nuremberg
- Munich
). Bundesstraße
n 8 (Aschaffenburg - Hanau), 43 and 43A link Kahl am Main to the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region.
The Frankfurt – Munich railway line through Würzburg and Nuremberg runs through the Kahl am Main Regionalexpress
railway station. Here the Kahlgrundbahn (to Schöllkrippen
) branches off. Kahl has no goods station. The nearest ones are in Hanau and Aschaffenburg.
The nearest airport is Frankfurt Airport
.
in Germany, the "Versuchsatomkraftwerk Kahl" (“Kahl Experimental Nuclear Power Station”) was not built in Kahl am Main but in the neighbouring municipality of Großwelzheim (now part of Karlstein am Main
). There were three reasons the plant was not named after Großwelzheim:
The power plant was shut down in 1985 and the reactors have been dismantled.
Aschaffenburg (district)
Aschaffenburg is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Darmstadt-Dieburg, Offenbach, Main-Kinzig , the districts Main-Spessart and Miltenberg, and the town of Aschaffenburg....
in the Regierungsbezirk
Regierungsbezirk
In Germany, a Government District, in German: Regierungsbezirk – is a subdivision of certain federal states .They are above the Kreise, Landkreise, and kreisfreie Städte...
of Lower Franconia
Lower Franconia
Lower Franconia is one of the three administrative regions of Franconia in Bavaria , Germany ....
(Unterfranken) in Bavaria
Bavaria
Bavaria, formally the Free State of Bavaria is a state of Germany, located in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the largest state by area, forming almost 20% of the total land area of Germany...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
.
Location
Kahl am Main lies 107 m above sea levelSea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
and includes at the mouth of the river Kahl
Kahl (river)
The Kahl is a river in the northern Spessart in Bavaria and Hesse, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Main and is 32 km long. The name Kahl comes from the Old High German word kaldaha, which means cool and clear. The Kahl rises from two sources left and right of the road in the Spessart...
the lowest point in Bavaria. It also lies right on the boundary with Hesse
Hesse
Hesse or Hessia is both a cultural region of Germany and the name of an individual German state.* The cultural region of Hesse includes both the State of Hesse and the area known as Rhenish Hesse in the neighbouring Rhineland-Palatinate state...
in a favourable location with regards to transport between Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg is a city in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not considered part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is the administrative seat.Aschaffenburg is known as the Tor zum Spessart or "gate to the Spessart"...
and Hanau
Hanau
Hanau is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main. Its station is a major railway junction.- Geography :...
(Main-Kinzig-Kreis
Main-Kinzig-Kreis
Main-Kinzig is a Kreis in the east of Hesse, Germany. Neighboring districts are Wetteraukreis, Vogelsbergkreis, Fulda, Bad Kissingen, Main-Spessart, Aschaffenburg, Offenbach and the district-free cities of Offenbach and Frankfurt.-History:...
).
Community council
| CSU Christian Social Union of Bavaria The Christian Social Union in Bavaria is a Christian democratic and conservative political party in Germany. It operates only in the state of Bavaria, while its sister party, the Christian Democratic Union , operates in the other 15 states of Germany... |
SPD Social Democratic Party of Germany The Social Democratic Party of Germany is a social-democratic political party in Germany... |
Wählergemeinschaft | GREENS | Total | |
| 2008 | 9 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 21 seats |
(as at municipal election held on 2 March 2008)
Coat of arms
The community’s armsCoat of arms
A coat of arms is a unique heraldic design on a shield or escutcheon or on a surcoat or tabard used to cover and protect armour and to identify the wearer. Thus the term is often stated as "coat-armour", because it was anciently displayed on the front of a coat of cloth...
might be described thus: Party per bend sinister wavy, the parting surmounted by a bend sinister wavy argent, azure a coney courant of the first in bend sinister, gules a demi-wheel spoked of six of the first couped in bend sinister.
The community of Kahl lies on a bow in the river Main, and this is referenced by the bend sinister wavy (slanted wavy stripe) in the arms. This also refers to the river Kahl
Kahl (river)
The Kahl is a river in the northern Spessart in Bavaria and Hesse, Germany. It is a right tributary of the Main and is 32 km long. The name Kahl comes from the Old High German word kaldaha, which means cool and clear. The Kahl rises from two sources left and right of the road in the Spessart...
, which is part of the community’s name. The tincture
Tincture (heraldry)
In heraldry, tinctures are the colours used to emblazon a coat of arms. These can be divided into several categories including light tinctures called metals, dark tinctures called colours, nonstandard colours called stains, furs, and "proper". A charge tinctured proper is coloured as it would be...
s argent and gules (silver and red) and the half-wheel refer to Electoral Mainz’s
Archbishopric of Mainz
The Archbishopric of Mainz or Electorate of Mainz was an influential ecclesiastic and secular prince-bishopric in the Holy Roman Empire between 780–82 and 1802. In the Roman Catholic Church hierarchy, the Archbishop of Mainz was the primas Germaniae, the substitute of the Pope north of the Alps...
former overlordship in the community. The silver hare recalls the Kahl dwellers’ nickname Sandhasen (“Sand Hares”) – sometimes also Sandbauern (“Sand Farmers”) – arising from the community’s lower crop yields than in other Main communities due to the sandy soil. Since 1806 the place has belonged to Bavaria, which is reflected in the tinctures argent and azure (blue).
The arms have been borne since 19 July 1960.
Town partnerships
VillefontaineVillefontaine
Villefontaine is a commune in the Isère department in south-eastern France....
, Isère
Isère
Isère is a department in the Rhône-Alpes region in the east of France named after the river Isère.- History :Isère is one of the original 83 departments created during the French Revolution on March 4, 1790. It was created from part of the former province of Dauphiné...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
since 1981 Budakalász
Budakalász
Budakalász is a town in Pest county, Budapest metropolitan area, Hungary.- External links :*...
, Pest County, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
since 1998 St. Ingbert-Rohrbach, Saarland
Saarland
Saarland is one of the sixteen states of Germany. The capital is Saarbrücken. It has an area of 2570 km² and 1,045,000 inhabitants. In both area and population, it is the smallest state in Germany other than the city-states...
, Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
1968–1970 Leutasch
Leutasch
Leutasch is a municipality in the northern part of the district Innsbruck-Land and is located approximately 30 km northwest of Innsbruck. The beautiful valley lies within a 16 km long high-lying valley and possesses 2073 inhabitants and 26 hamlets....
, Tyrol
Tyrol (state)
Tyrol is a state or Bundesland, located in the west of Austria. It comprises the Austrian part of the historical region of Tyrol.The state is split into two parts–called North Tyrol and East Tyrol–by a -wide strip of land where the state of Salzburg borders directly on the Italian province of...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
The last-named relationship is a “town friendship”.
Clubs
An extensive offering through local clubs gives young and old the opportunity to engage in the most varied forms of leisure activities, from church groups to music and singing clubs to sport clubs and aid organizations such as the Feuerwehr FF-Kahl (fire brigade) and the Rotes KreuzGerman Red Cross
The German Red Cross , or the DRK, is the national Red Cross Society in Germany.With over 4.5 million members, it is the third largest Red Cross society in the world. The German Red Cross offers a wide range of services within and outside Germany...
Kahl. There is an umbrella group, the Vereinsgemeinschaft Kahl (“Kahl Club Community”), to which many of the local clubs belong, and which, among other things, stages the yearly Kerb.
Buildings
- BaroqueBaroque architectureBaroque architecture is a term used to describe the building style of the Baroque era, begun in late sixteenth century Italy, that took the Roman vocabulary of Renaissance architecture and used it in a new rhetorical and theatrical fashion, often to express the triumph of the Catholic Church and...
Schloss Emmerichshofen at Staatsstraße 2305 towards SchöllkrippenSchöllkrippenSchöllkrippen is a market community in the Aschaffenburg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany and seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft of Schöllkrippen.-Location:...
, built in 1768 by Baron von Bentzel-Sternau. - Saint Margaret’s Catholic Parish Church (Katholische Pfarrkirche Sankt Margareta) in Neo-Baroque style of red quarried sandstone. A church was first mentioned as being at this site in 1330.
- EvangelicalEvangelical Church in GermanyThe Evangelical Church in Germany is a federation of 22 Lutheran, Unified and Reformed Protestant regional church bodies in Germany. The EKD is not a church in a theological understanding because of the denominational differences. However, the member churches share full pulpit and altar...
Cross Church (Evangelische Kreuzkirche) in BauhausBauhaus', commonly known simply as Bauhaus, was a school in Germany that combined crafts and the fine arts, and was famous for the approach to design that it publicized and taught. It operated from 1919 to 1933. At that time the German term stood for "School of Building".The Bauhaus school was founded by...
style. - Town Hall in the community’s centre on the B 8: former customs house, built in 1830 in ClassicistClassicismClassicism, in the arts, refers generally to a high regard for classical antiquity, as setting standards for taste which the classicists seek to emulate. The art of classicism typically seeks to be formal and restrained: of the Discobolus Sir Kenneth Clark observed, "if we object to his restraint...
style, after 1834 a match and cigarette factory, after that an inn, weather station and school, since 1939 the community administration’s seat. - Watertower, built in 1931, community’s centre on the B 8.
- Bakehouse (Backes) in the community’s old centre: public oven, in which until 1937 bread was baked for almost 300 years.
- Timber-frameTimber framingTimber framing , or half-timbering, also called in North America "post-and-beam" construction, is the method of creating structures using heavy squared off and carefully fitted and joined timbers with joints secured by large wooden pegs . It is commonplace in large barns...
house (former estate), known to have stood before the Thirty Years' WarThirty Years' WarThe Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
; later a house and an inn; damaged by improper drain restoration. - Sand Hare Monument (Sandhasendenkmal) on the B 8: Kahl landmark of the former sand quarrying in the region, built in 1952 by Hermann Kröckel. The Sand Hare is also a chargeCharge (heraldry)In heraldry, a charge is any emblem or device occupying the field of an escutcheon . This may be a geometric design or a symbolic representation of a person, animal, plant, object or other device...
in the community’s arms. - Mills on the Kahl: Once, 11 mills were running on the lower three kilometres of the KahlgrundKahlgrundThe Kahlgrund is an area in the northern Spessart in Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany, following the valley of the Kahl.It roughly corresponds to the former district of Alzenau, which was merged into the district of Aschaffenburg in 1972.- External links :...
upstream from where the Kahl empties into the Main; The first was named in 1358. Ground were grain, mustard seedMustard seedMustard seeds are the small round seeds of various mustard plants. The seeds are usually about 1 or 2 mm in diameter. Mustard seeds may be colored from yellowish white to black. They are important spices in many regional foods. The seeds can come from three different plants: black mustard , brown...
and oilseedVegetable fats and oilsVegetable fats and oils are lipid materials derived from plants. Physically, oils are liquid at room temperature, and fats are solid. Chemically, both fats and oils are composed of triglycerides, as contrasted with waxes which lack glycerin in their structure...
. “Sand mills” played a rôle beginning about 1900. In one of the fullingFullingFulling or tucking or walking is a step in woolen clothmaking which involves the cleansing of cloth to eliminate oils, dirt, and other impurities, and making it thicker. The worker who does the job is a fuller, tucker, or walker...
mills with 15 workers, Nikolaus Wahl brought the world’s first automatic feltFeltFelt is a non-woven cloth that is produced by matting, condensing and pressing woollen fibres. While some types of felt are very soft, some are tough enough to form construction materials. Felt can be of any colour, and made into any shape or size....
making machine into service in 1904. At the beginning of the 21st century, only a few mills bear witness to that time, and some have been converted to houses: Obere Fallersmühle, Untere Fallersmühle (rolling mill), Schäfereimühle, Lohmühle, Nassmühle. Since the millers often backed the water up too high, there were time and again floods. In particular, the Nassmühle (literally, “Wet Mill”) came to grief one day in the late 16th century when local farmers, angered at having their harvest wiped out by flooding, stormed the mill on 2 June 1573 and destroyed it. A hiking path with documentary plaques follows the historic mill route.
Parks
- The Vogelpark Kahl (“Bird Park”) was founded in 1971 and was a three-hectare non-profit aviary and open-air complex for domestic and exotic birds. On 30 June 2006 on consideration of the bird fluAvian fluAvian influenza, sometimes avian flu, and commonly bird flu, refers to "influenza caused by viruses adapted to birds." Of the greatest concern is highly pathogenic avian influenza ....
regulations, such as those requiring confinement, the bird park was dissolved.
Nature
Malva
Malva is a genus of about 25–30 species of herbaceous annual, biennial, and perennial plants in the family Malvaceae , one of several closely related genera in the family to bear the common English name mallow. The genus is widespread throughout the temperate, subtropical and tropical regions of...
grow in the meadows alongside the Main, where there is also a small campsite.
The natural monument Hexeneiche (“Witches’ Oak”) on the B 8 was destroyed on 7 August 1970 by a lightning strike. The oak, known to have already been standing in the Thirty Years' War
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War was fought primarily in what is now Germany, and at various points involved most countries in Europe. It was one of the most destructive conflicts in European history....
, had to be felled on 8 June 1971. A newly planted oak and a memorial stone recall the witchhunts in the early 17th century, to which 69 women and 21 men fell victim here.
On holidays, especially when two fall one after the other, the railway line between Kahl am Main and Schöllkrippen is often used for “Historic Steam Locomotive Journeys”
Transport
Kahl am Main lies in a favourable location with regards to transport between AschaffenburgAschaffenburg
Aschaffenburg is a city in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not considered part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is the administrative seat.Aschaffenburg is known as the Tor zum Spessart or "gate to the Spessart"...
and Hanau
Hanau
Hanau is a town in the Main-Kinzig-Kreis, in Hesse, Germany. It is located 25 km east of Frankfurt am Main. Its station is a major railway junction.- Geography :...
with good transport links to Autobahn A 45
Bundesautobahn 45
is an autobahn in Germany, connecting Dortmund in the west with Aschaffenburg in the southwest. It is colloquially known by its byname Sauerlandlinie, which derives from the Sauerland, the landscape which said autobahn is running through between the cities of Hagen and Siegen. Many people think of...
(Gießen
Gießen
Gießen, also spelt Giessen is a town in the German federal state of Hesse, capital of both the district of Gießen and the administrative region of Gießen...
- Aschaffenburg) as well as Autobahn A 3 (Frankfurt am Main
Frankfurt
Frankfurt am Main , commonly known simply as Frankfurt, is the largest city in the German state of Hesse and the fifth-largest city in Germany, with a 2010 population of 688,249. The urban area had an estimated population of 2,300,000 in 2010...
- Würzburg
Würzburg
Würzburg is a city in the region of Franconia which lies in the northern tip of Bavaria, Germany. Located at the Main River, it is the capital of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. The regional dialect is Franconian....
- Nuremberg
Nuremberg
Nuremberg[p] is a city in the German state of Bavaria, in the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Situated on the Pegnitz river and the Rhine–Main–Danube Canal, it is located about north of Munich and is Franconia's largest city. The population is 505,664...
- Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
). Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
n 8 (Aschaffenburg - Hanau), 43 and 43A link Kahl am Main to the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region.
The Frankfurt – Munich railway line through Würzburg and Nuremberg runs through the Kahl am Main Regionalexpress
RegionalExpress
The term Regional-Express denotes a type of regional train in Germany and Austria .It is best compared to a semi-fast train, as it calls at fewer stations than Regionalbahn or S-Bahn trains, but stops more often than InterCity services...
railway station. Here the Kahlgrundbahn (to Schöllkrippen
Schöllkrippen
Schöllkrippen is a market community in the Aschaffenburg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany and seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft of Schöllkrippen.-Location:...
) branches off. Kahl has no goods station. The nearest ones are in Hanau and Aschaffenburg.
The nearest airport is Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt Airport
Frankfurt Airport may refer to:Airports of Frankfurt, Germany:*Frankfurt Airport , the largest airport in Germany*Frankfurt Egelsbach Airport, a general aviation airport*Frankfurt-Hahn Airport , a converted U.S...
.
Nuclear power station
Despite the name, the first nuclear reactorNuclear reactor
A nuclear reactor is a device to initiate and control a sustained nuclear chain reaction. Most commonly they are used for generating electricity and for the propulsion of ships. Usually heat from nuclear fission is passed to a working fluid , which runs through turbines that power either ship's...
in Germany, the "Versuchsatomkraftwerk Kahl" (“Kahl Experimental Nuclear Power Station”) was not built in Kahl am Main but in the neighbouring municipality of Großwelzheim (now part of Karlstein am Main
Karlstein am Main
Karlstein am Main is a community in the Aschaffenburg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany.-Location:...
). There were three reasons the plant was not named after Großwelzheim:
- Kahl was easier to pronounce for the US personnel;
- Kahl had a railway station; Großwelzheim did not;
- the plant got its mail from the Kahl Post Office.
The power plant was shut down in 1985 and the reactors have been dismantled.