Lohr
Encyclopedia
Lohr am Main is a town in the Main-Spessart district
in the Regierungsbezirk
of Lower Franconia
(Unterfranken) in Bavaria
, Germany
and the seat (but not a member) of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft (Administrative Community) of Lohr am Main.
(range) about halfway between Würzburg
and Aschaffenburg
in Lower Franconia. Lohr lies on the eastern slope of the Spessart at a bend in the river Main, which swings here towards the south, forming the beginning of the Mainviereck (“Main Square” – the southern part of the Spessart). In Lohr, the river Lohr empties into the Main. Perhaps for its geographical location or the fact that two major valleys lead into the interior of the range, the town is known as the “Gateway to the Spessart”.
The Main river valley is steep with an elevation change from 160 m above sea level
at Gemünden dropping to 100 m above sea level at Hanau. The river Main in its natural state is a fast-moving stream unsuitable for shipping. In the 19th century the river was tamed and a system of dams and locks is now part of the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal
connecting the North Sea
with the Black Sea
.
minerals. In the Spessart is found a great deal of bunter
. This geological plain with a slight slope to the southeast is the product of a large continental sea that drained owing to a tectonic shift. In the east the range is abutted by the Fränkische Platte (a flat, mostly agricultural region), whose geology is mainly Muschelkalk
-based.
The sandstone bedrock with strata of loess
and clay
in conjunction with an extensive forest provide for excellent water quality of the springs and ground water of the region. The people of Lohr enjoy excellent drinking water. Currently large amounts of this water are pumped to areas as far away as Würzburg.
The town has the following Gemarkungen (traditional rural cadastral areas): Halsbach, Lohr a.Main, Pflochsbach, Rodenbach, Ruppertshütten, Sackenbach, Sendelbach, Steinbach, Wombach.
Moreover, the town of Lohr am Main also owns plots of land within other municipalities, namely Partenstein, Gemünden and Rechtenbach.
, Frammersbach
, Flörsbachtal
, Fellen
, Burgsinn
, Rieneck
, Neuendorf, Gemünden am Main
, Karlstadt
, Steinfeld
, Neustadt am Main
and Rechtenbach
.
. In 1333 Lohr was granted town rights, which can be explained by the disagreement about the inheritance of the Counts of Rieneck-Rothenfels, which had died out. Indeed, Lohr had been a “town” for quite some time already. The town lords were the Counts of Rieneck, who had been enfeoffed by the Archbishop of Mainz (evidence of this is only available beginning in 1366). In 1559, after the last Count of Rieneck, Philipp III’s death, the fief passed to the Archbishopric of Mainz
. From 1603 to 1618, many townsfolk fell victim during the “Recatholization” to persecution as witches. The former Oberamt of the Princely Electorate (Hochstift) of Würzburg was in favour of Prince Primate
von Dalberg’s
Principality of Aschaffenburg
secularized
and passed along with this state in 1814 (by this time it had become a department of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt) to Bavaria. In the course of administrative reform in Bavaria, the current town-level municipality came into being with the Gemeindeedikt (“Municipal Edict”) of 1818. In 1875, the Old Main Bridge (Alte Mainbrücke) was built. In 1936 came the new Lindig neighbourhood. In 1939, Sendelbach was amalgamated with the town.
In National Socialist times between 1940 and 1945, more than 600 children, women and men were deported to the Nazi killing centres of Sonnenstein
and Grafeneck
, as well as to the Auschwitz
and Mauthausen
concentration camps from the then Health and Care Institute (now the Regional Hospital for Psychiatry) in the framework of the “Euthanasia
” killing programme, Action T4
. Since 1993, a bronze relief in the street by artist Rainer Stoltz has been a memorial to these victims of the National Socialist régime.
On 2 April 1945, Lohr citizen Dr. Karl Brand was murdered, because he wanted to surrender the town to American
troops without a fight. Since 1979, a memorial stone has recalled this.
From 1972 to 1978, the surrounding communities of Halsbach, Rodenbach, Ruppertshütten, Sackenbach, Steinbach, Wombach and Pflochsbach were amalgamated with the town. On 1 July 1972, the greater part of the District of Lohr (Landkreis Lohr) became part of the new District of Mittelmain (Landkreis Mittelmain), which in 1973 was given its current name, Main-Spessart. At first, Lohr am Main was chosen as the district seat (Kreisstadt), but in October 1972 it was decided that Karlstadt would be the new district seat, and the Landratsamt (district head’s office) was moved from Lohr to Karlstadt.
In the outlying centre of Sendelbach is an informative school museum with the foci “Imperial Germany” (1871-1918) and “Third Reich” (1933-1945).
Germany’s smallest museum is to be found on Haaggasse in a former transformer hut under monumental protection: Lothar Vormwald displays there all kinds of insulators.
palatial castle, 15th to 17th century), the Bayersturm (old town watchtower, 1330-1385), the parish church (12th to 15th century), remnants of the town’s fortifications, the historic Fischerviertel (“Fishermen’s Quarter”), the Franconian Old Town with many timber-frame
buildings, the Mariabuchen Monastery and the Baroque
Schloss and church in Steinbach.
Since 1875, the Alte Mainbrücke Lohr (“Lohr Old Main Bridge”) has spanned the river Main. One hundred years later, the 417 m-long Neue Mainbrücke Lohr (“Lohr New Main Bridge”), a prestressed-concrete
structure, followed the old arch bridge
.
. The earliest confirmed mention in the church records kept by Saint Michael’s parish comes from 1656.
Going back to a solemn vow made during the Plague in 1666 is the Lohr custom of holding a procession each year on Saint Roch’s Day (16 August) to the Valentinusberg (mountain) above the town and holding festive church services there in honour of the Holy Trinity.
Under the banner of Spessartsommer is grouped an array of summertime events such as Lohrer Tanzfest (dance festival), Altstadtfest (Old Town festival), City-Festival and Klingendes Lohr (“Ringing Lohr”).
Of particular importance is the Spessartfestwoche (“Spessart festival week”), which lasts ten days around 1 August. A Bavarian beer tent with seating for 4,500 and live music and a beergarden right on the Main with seating for a further 2,000 form the event’s centrepiece, while a midway with rides and closing fireworks round the event out. In 2008, the 63rd Spessartfestwoche was held. The Festwochen-Express bus service’s 12 special lines to and from the festival saw a ridership of 23,416.
There are also cabaret and amateur theatre events in Lohr and the outlying centres.
In 1956 the town undertook the sponsorship arrangement for Sudeten Germans driven out
of their homeland in the town and district known in German
as Preßnitz. The town itself no longer exists. In 1974, its former site became the bed of a new reservoir.
might be described thus: Barry of ten gules and Or a bend wavy azure.
The town’s arms are essentially those borne by the Counts of Rieneck, who were the local lords from the 13th century until 1559. The wavy bend most likely refers to the Lohrbach, a local stream. The town’s oldest known seal, from 1408, already shows this design. Over time, the number of bars in the escutcheon has varied, as has the tincture
of the bend (a version published in the 1920s, for instance, showed “Barry of nine gules and Or a bend wavy vert” – with nine bars and a green bend), for there was no proper blazon for the arms until 1957, when they were officially conferred on the town.
, Lohr’s importance stands out even more sharply. Although both towns have roughly the same population, Lohr am Main has a per-capita debt of only some €160 and about three times as many jobs. The great number of jobs and the big businesses in town are also reflected in the per-capita tax revenue. In 2005, this was about €1,000 for each inhabitant.
The town of Lohr am Main is, with its more than 4 000 ha of woodland, one of Bavaria’s biggest municipal forest owners. The town’s forest is a mixed broadleaf forest managed under the precepts of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Naturgemäße Waldwirtschaft (ANW, “Natural Forest Management Working Group”). Since 2000, the town’s forest has been certified according to the Forest Stewardship Council
’s (FSC) criteria.
(Main-Spessart-Bahn) from Würzburg
and Gemünden leaves the Main valley on the way to Aschaffenburg
–Frankfurt am Main and crosses through the Spessart.
The Lohr–Wertheim line from Lohr station through the town was a single-track, unelectrified, standard-gauge line to Wertheim
; passenger transport between Lohr-Town station and Wertheim was discontinued on 30 May 1976. The same happened on the rest of the line through town on 22 May 1977, although there is still goods transport. The former Lohr-Town station is now a pub beside the multi-storey parking garage and the bus station. It is called Stattbahnhof (a pun on its old name Stadtbahnhof, or “Town Station”; Stattbahnhof is pronounced the same way, but means “instead of station”).
A direct early InterCity
service to Munich
was replaced with a Regionalbahn
to Würzburg when the Nuremberg–Munich high-speed railway came into service in 2006. The nearest InterCityExpress
stops are Aschaffenburg and Würzburg.
On the eastern edge of town runs a short stretch of the Mühlbergtunnel on the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line running north-south. Also within town limits runs a part of the Nantenbach Curve with the Schönraintunnel.
26, Bundesstraße 276, Staatsstraße (State Road) 2435 and Staatsstraße 2315. The nearest Autobahnen are the A 3 (Munich - Würzburg – Frankfurt) through the Weibersbrunn
, Hösbach
and Marktheidenfeld
interchange
s, and the A 7 (Würzburg - Kassel
) through the Hammelburg
interchange.
Water and Ship Transport Office (Wasser- und Schifffahrtsamt Schweinfurt) is responsible.
, internal medicine
, anaesthesiology
, neurology
, gynaecology
, urology
, ophthalmology
and otolaryngology
, and also the Bezirkskrankenhaus (Regional Hospital) for psychiatry
, psychotherapy
, psychosomatic medicine and forensic medicine for the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken).
Main-Spessart
Main-Spessart is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Bad Kissingen, Schweinfurt and Würzburg, the state of Baden-Württemberg , the districts of Miltenberg and Aschaffenburg, and the state of Hesse .-History:The district was established in 1972 by merging the former...
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...
and the seat (but not a member) of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft (Administrative Community) of Lohr am Main.
Location
The town lies on the Main in the SpessartSpessart
The Spessart is a low mountain range in northwestern Bavaria and southern Hesse, Germany. It is bordered on three sides by the Main River. The two most important towns located at the foot of the Spessart are Aschaffenburg and Würzburg....
(range) about halfway between 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....
and 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"...
in Lower Franconia. Lohr lies on the eastern slope of the Spessart at a bend in the river Main, which swings here towards the south, forming the beginning of the Mainviereck (“Main Square” – the southern part of the Spessart). In Lohr, the river Lohr empties into the Main. Perhaps for its geographical location or the fact that two major valleys lead into the interior of the range, the town is known as the “Gateway to the Spessart”.
The Main river valley is steep with an elevation change from 160 m above sea level
Sea level
Mean sea level is a measure of the average height of the ocean's surface ; used as a standard in reckoning land elevation...
at Gemünden dropping to 100 m above sea level at Hanau. The river Main in its natural state is a fast-moving stream unsuitable for shipping. In the 19th century the river was tamed and a system of dams and locks is now part of the Rhine-Main-Danube Canal
Rhine-Main-Danube Canal
The Rhine–Main–Danube Canal , located in Bavaria, Germany, connects the Main and the Danube rivers across the European Watershed, running from Bamberg via Nuremberg to Kelheim...
connecting the North Sea
North Sea
In the southwest, beyond the Straits of Dover, the North Sea becomes the English Channel connecting to the Atlantic Ocean. In the east, it connects to the Baltic Sea via the Skagerrak and Kattegat, narrow straits that separate Denmark from Norway and Sweden respectively...
with the Black Sea
Black Sea
The Black Sea is bounded by Europe, Anatolia and the Caucasus and is ultimately connected to the Atlantic Ocean via the Mediterranean and the Aegean seas and various straits. The Bosphorus strait connects it to the Sea of Marmara, and the strait of the Dardanelles connects that sea to the Aegean...
.
Geology
The bedrock, with a depth of about 400 m, is made up mainly of sedimentarySedimentary rock
Sedimentary rock are types of rock that are formed by the deposition of material at the Earth's surface and within bodies of water. Sedimentation is the collective name for processes that cause mineral and/or organic particles to settle and accumulate or minerals to precipitate from a solution....
minerals. In the Spessart is found a great deal of bunter
Bunter (geology)
Bunter beds are sandstone deposits containing rounded pebbles, such as can notably be found in Warwickshire, Cheshire, Staffordshire, Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire, Devon and Dorset in England...
. This geological plain with a slight slope to the southeast is the product of a large continental sea that drained owing to a tectonic shift. In the east the range is abutted by the Fränkische Platte (a flat, mostly agricultural region), whose geology is mainly Muschelkalk
Muschelkalk
The Muschelkalk is a sequence of sedimentary rock strata in the geology of central and western Europe. It has a Middle Triassic age and forms the middle part of the Germanic Trias, that further consists of the Buntsandstein and Keuper...
-based.
The sandstone bedrock with strata of loess
Loess
Loess is an aeolian sediment formed by the accumulation of wind-blown silt, typically in the 20–50 micrometre size range, twenty percent or less clay and the balance equal parts sand and silt that are loosely cemented by calcium carbonate...
and clay
Clay
Clay is a general term including many combinations of one or more clay minerals with traces of metal oxides and organic matter. Geologic clay deposits are mostly composed of phyllosilicate minerals containing variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure.- Formation :Clay minerals...
in conjunction with an extensive forest provide for excellent water quality of the springs and ground water of the region. The people of Lohr enjoy excellent drinking water. Currently large amounts of this water are pumped to areas as far away as Würzburg.
Constituent communities
Lohr am Main’s Stadtteile are Halsbach, Lindig, Pflochsbach, Rodenbach, Ruppertshütten, Sackenbach, Sendelbach, Steinbach and Wombach.The town has the following Gemarkungen (traditional rural cadastral areas): Halsbach, Lohr a.Main, Pflochsbach, Rodenbach, Ruppertshütten, Sackenbach, Sendelbach, Steinbach, Wombach.
Moreover, the town of Lohr am Main also owns plots of land within other municipalities, namely Partenstein, Gemünden and Rechtenbach.
Neighbouring communities
Clockwise from the north, these are PartensteinPartenstein
Partenstein is a community in the Main-Spessart district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany and the seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft of Partenstein...
, Frammersbach
Frammersbach
Frammersbach is a market community in the Main-Spessart district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany.- Location :...
, Flörsbachtal
Flörsbachtal
Flörsbachtal is a municipality in the Main-Kinzig district, in Hesse, Germany....
, Fellen
Fellen
Fellen is a community in the Main-Spessart district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany and a member of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft of Burgsinn.-Location:...
, Burgsinn
Burgsinn
Burgsinn is a market community in the Main-Spessart district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany and the seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft of Burgsinn.- Geography :...
, Rieneck
Rieneck
Rieneck is a town in the Main-Spessart district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany.- Location :...
, Neuendorf, Gemünden am Main
Gemünden am Main
Gemünden am Main is a town in the Main-Spessart district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany and lies roughly 40 km down the Main from Würzburg.- Location :...
, Karlstadt
Karlstadt
Karlstadt can refer to places:* Karlstadt am Main, Germany* Karlovac, Croatia * Karlstad, Swedenor to:* Andreas Karlstadt, a contemporary of Martin Luther during the Reformation....
, Steinfeld
Steinfeld, Bavaria
Steinfeld is a community in the Main-Spessart district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany and a member of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft of Lohr am Main....
, Neustadt am Main
Neustadt am Main
Neustadt am Main is a community in the Main-Spessart district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany and a member of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft of Lohr am Main.- Location :Neustadt am Main lies in the Würzburg Region.The community has the following Gemarkungen...
and Rechtenbach
Rechtenbach
Rechtenbach is a community in the Main-Spessart district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany and a member of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft of Lohr am Main.- Location :...
.
History
The town of Lohr am Main was settled no later than the 8th century, and by the time of its first documentary mention in 1295 it was already the main centre of the County of RieneckCounty of Rieneck
The County of Rieneck was a comital domain within the Holy Roman Empire that lay in what is now northwestern Bavaria...
. In 1333 Lohr was granted town rights, which can be explained by the disagreement about the inheritance of the Counts of Rieneck-Rothenfels, which had died out. Indeed, Lohr had been a “town” for quite some time already. The town lords were the Counts of Rieneck, who had been enfeoffed by the Archbishop of Mainz (evidence of this is only available beginning in 1366). In 1559, after the last Count of Rieneck, Philipp III’s death, the fief passed to the Archbishopric of Mainz
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...
. From 1603 to 1618, many townsfolk fell victim during the “Recatholization” to persecution as witches. The former Oberamt of the Princely Electorate (Hochstift) of Würzburg was in favour of Prince Primate
Prince primate
Prince-Primate is a rare princely title held by individual archbishops of specific sees in a presiding capacity in an august assembly of mainly secular princes, notably the following:-Germany - Confederation of the Rhine:The Rheinbund or 'Confederation of the Rhine' was founded in 1806, when several...
von Dalberg’s
Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg
Karl Theodor Anton Maria von Dalberg was Archbishop-Elector of Mainz, Arch-Chancellor of the Holy Roman Empire, Prince of Regensburg, primate of the Confederation of the Rhine and Grand-Duke of Frankfurt.-Biography:...
Principality of Aschaffenburg
Principality of Aschaffenburg
The Principality of Aschaffenburg was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire and the Confederation of the Rhine from 1803–10. Its capital was Aschaffenburg....
secularized
Secularization
Secularization is the transformation of a society from close identification with religious values and institutions toward non-religious values and secular institutions...
and passed along with this state in 1814 (by this time it had become a department of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt) to Bavaria. In the course of administrative reform in Bavaria, the current town-level municipality came into being with the Gemeindeedikt (“Municipal Edict”) of 1818. In 1875, the Old Main Bridge (Alte Mainbrücke) was built. In 1936 came the new Lindig neighbourhood. In 1939, Sendelbach was amalgamated with the town.
In National Socialist times between 1940 and 1945, more than 600 children, women and men were deported to the Nazi killing centres of Sonnenstein
Sonnenstein castle
The Sonnenstein castle is a castle in Pirna, near Dresden, Germany. It housed a mental hospital, which operated from 1811 to the end of World War II in 1945. During the War, it functioned as an extermination centre for the Third Reich Action T4 program...
and Grafeneck
Grafeneck
Grafeneck is a small rural village in Germany, near the town of Münsingen, south-west of Stuttgart. Grafeneck Castle, which had previously been an asylum for crippled people, was turned by the Nazis into an extermination facility....
, as well as to the Auschwitz
Auschwitz concentration camp
Concentration camp Auschwitz was a network of Nazi concentration and extermination camps built and operated by the Third Reich in Polish areas annexed by Nazi Germany during World War II...
and Mauthausen
Mauthausen-Gusen concentration camp
Mauthausen Concentration Camp grew to become a large group of Nazi concentration camps that was built around the villages of Mauthausen and Gusen in Upper Austria, roughly east of the city of Linz.Initially a single camp at Mauthausen, it expanded over time and by the summer of 1940, the...
concentration camps from the then Health and Care Institute (now the Regional Hospital for Psychiatry) in the framework of the “Euthanasia
Euthanasia
Euthanasia refers to the practice of intentionally ending a life in order to relieve pain and suffering....
” killing programme, Action T4
Action T4
Action T4 was the name used after World War II for Nazi Germany's eugenics-based "euthanasia" program during which physicians killed thousands of people who were "judged incurably sick, by critical medical examination"...
. Since 1993, a bronze relief in the street by artist Rainer Stoltz has been a memorial to these victims of the National Socialist régime.
On 2 April 1945, Lohr citizen Dr. Karl Brand was murdered, because he wanted to surrender the town to American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
troops without a fight. Since 1979, a memorial stone has recalled this.
From 1972 to 1978, the surrounding communities of Halsbach, Rodenbach, Ruppertshütten, Sackenbach, Steinbach, Wombach and Pflochsbach were amalgamated with the town. On 1 July 1972, the greater part of the District of Lohr (Landkreis Lohr) became part of the new District of Mittelmain (Landkreis Mittelmain), which in 1973 was given its current name, Main-Spessart. At first, Lohr am Main was chosen as the district seat (Kreisstadt), but in October 1972 it was decided that Karlstadt would be the new district seat, and the Landratsamt (district head’s office) was moved from Lohr to Karlstadt.
Museums
Housing the Spessartmuseum is the Lohrer Schloss. It deals mainly with economics and handicrafts, but also with the Spessart region’s history.In the outlying centre of Sendelbach is an informative school museum with the foci “Imperial Germany” (1871-1918) and “Third Reich” (1933-1945).
Germany’s smallest museum is to be found on Haaggasse in a former transformer hut under monumental protection: Lothar Vormwald displays there all kinds of insulators.
Buildings
The most important sights are the Old Town Hall (1599-1602), the Lohrer Schloss (an Electoral MainzArchbishopric 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...
palatial castle, 15th to 17th century), the Bayersturm (old town watchtower, 1330-1385), the parish church (12th to 15th century), remnants of the town’s fortifications, the historic Fischerviertel (“Fishermen’s Quarter”), the Franconian Old Town with many timber-frame
Timber framing
Timber 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...
buildings, the Mariabuchen Monastery and the Baroque
Baroque architecture
Baroque 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 and church in Steinbach.
Since 1875, the Alte Mainbrücke Lohr (“Lohr Old Main Bridge”) has spanned the river Main. One hundred years later, the 417 m-long Neue Mainbrücke Lohr (“Lohr New Main Bridge”), a prestressed-concrete
Prestressed concrete
Prestressed concrete is a method for overcoming concrete's natural weakness in tension. It can be used to produce beams, floors or bridges with a longer span than is practical with ordinary reinforced concrete...
structure, followed the old arch bridge
Arch bridge
An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side...
.
Regular events
The Lohr Good Friday Procession each year draws thousands of visitors. Thirteen life-size figures mark the Way of the Cross. The figures are borne and overseen by members of the various craftsmen’s guilds. The Procession is actually a remnant of a once much greater, Baroque figure procession. It likely arose in the years after the Thirty Years' WarThirty 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....
. The earliest confirmed mention in the church records kept by Saint Michael’s parish comes from 1656.
Going back to a solemn vow made during the Plague in 1666 is the Lohr custom of holding a procession each year on Saint Roch’s Day (16 August) to the Valentinusberg (mountain) above the town and holding festive church services there in honour of the Holy Trinity.
Under the banner of Spessartsommer is grouped an array of summertime events such as Lohrer Tanzfest (dance festival), Altstadtfest (Old Town festival), City-Festival and Klingendes Lohr (“Ringing Lohr”).
Of particular importance is the Spessartfestwoche (“Spessart festival week”), which lasts ten days around 1 August. A Bavarian beer tent with seating for 4,500 and live music and a beergarden right on the Main with seating for a further 2,000 form the event’s centrepiece, while a midway with rides and closing fireworks round the event out. In 2008, the 63rd Spessartfestwoche was held. The Festwochen-Express bus service’s 12 special lines to and from the festival saw a ridership of 23,416.
There are also cabaret and amateur theatre events in Lohr and the outlying centres.
Town partnerships
The town of Lohr maintains partnerships with the following towns:- BurgeisBurgeisthumb|250px|Burgeis and the Marienberg AbbeyBurgeis is the largest frazione of the commune of Mals and sits at an altitude of 1216m in Vinschgau in South Tyrol beneath the mountain Watles on the upper reaches of the Adige. The name goes all the way back to a Roman founding, as a fort on the "Via...
, South TyrolSouth TyrolSouth Tyrol , also known by its Italian name Alto Adige, is an autonomous province in northern Italy. It is one of the two autonomous provinces that make up the autonomous region of Trentino-Alto Adige/Südtirol. The province has an area of and a total population of more than 500,000 inhabitants...
, Italy - OuistrehamOuistrehamOuistreham is a commune in the Calvados department' in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry-harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town is about the mouth of the Canal de Caen à la...
, CalvadosCalvadosThe French department of Calvados is part of the region of Basse-Normandie in Normandy. It takes its name from a cluster of rocks off the English Channel coast...
, France - MiliczMiliczMilicz is a town in Lower Silesian Voivodeship, in south-western Poland. It is the seat of Milicz County, and of the smaller administrative district called Gmina Milicz...
, Lower SilesiaLower Silesian VoivodeshipLower Silesian Voivodeship, or Lower Silesia Province , is one of the 16 voivodeships into which Poland is currently divided. It lies in southwestern Poland...
, Poland
Sponsorship
Přísečnice, Czech RepublicCzech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
In 1956 the town undertook the sponsorship arrangement for Sudeten Germans driven out
Expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia
The expulsion of Germans from Czechoslovakia after World War II was part of a series of evacuations and expulsions of Germans from Central and Eastern Europe during and after World War II....
of their homeland in the town and district known in German
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
as Preßnitz. The town itself no longer exists. In 1974, its former site became the bed of a new reservoir.
Coat of arms
The town’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: Barry of ten gules and Or a bend wavy azure.
The town’s arms are essentially those borne by the Counts of Rieneck, who were the local lords from the 13th century until 1559. The wavy bend most likely refers to the Lohrbach, a local stream. The town’s oldest known seal, from 1408, already shows this design. Over time, the number of bars in the escutcheon has varied, as has 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...
of the bend (a version published in the 1920s, for instance, showed “Barry of nine gules and Or a bend wavy vert” – with nine bars and a green bend), for there was no proper blazon for the arms until 1957, when they were officially conferred on the town.
Economy and infrastructure
Lohr am Main is economically the most important centre in the Main-Spessart district. Out of some 12,000 workers on the social welfare contribution rolls working in town, only some 5,500 actually live in Lohr. The greater number of roughly 6,200 workers commute each day to Lohr. If one compares Lohr am Main with the district seat of KarlstadtKarlstadt
Karlstadt can refer to places:* Karlstadt am Main, Germany* Karlovac, Croatia * Karlstad, Swedenor to:* Andreas Karlstadt, a contemporary of Martin Luther during the Reformation....
, Lohr’s importance stands out even more sharply. Although both towns have roughly the same population, Lohr am Main has a per-capita debt of only some €160 and about three times as many jobs. The great number of jobs and the big businesses in town are also reflected in the per-capita tax revenue. In 2005, this was about €1,000 for each inhabitant.
Established businesses
Important employers in Lohr are:- Bosch RexrothBosch RexrothBosch Rexroth is an engineering firm based in Lohr am Main in Germany. It is the result of a merger on 1 May 2001 between Mannesmann Rexroth AG and the Automation Technology Business Unit of Robert Bosch GmbH, and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Robert Bosch GmbH. Rexroth in turn consisted of a...
AG (hydraulics, engine building and automation technology) with 6,620 employees, including the former IndramatIndramatIndramat GmbH was an industrial control firm founded in 1958, based in Neuwied , Germany. Its name is a German abbreviation meaning “Gesellschaft zur INDustrialisierung-RAtionalisierung und AutoMATisierung“ .The core business was the production of industrial servo drives and motion controls... - Bezirkskrankenhaus Lohr (hospital for psychiatry, psychotherapy and psychosomatic medicine) with 607 employees
- GerresheimerGerresheimerGerresheimer is a German packaging company headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany. It is a leading manufacturer of speciality products made of glass and plastic for the pharmaceutical and life science industry...
Lohr GmbH (specialty glass and plastics) with 350 employees - ATY Automotive & Industrial Components GmbH with 250 employees
- Nikolaus Sorg GmbH & Co KG (glass processing) with 165 employees
- Walter Hunger KG (hydraulic components) with 160 employees
- OWI Oskar Winkler GmbH & Co.KG (wooden and plastic mouldings) with 120 employees
- various wood-processing businesses
The town of Lohr am Main is, with its more than 4 000 ha of woodland, one of Bavaria’s biggest municipal forest owners. The town’s forest is a mixed broadleaf forest managed under the precepts of the Arbeitsgemeinschaft Naturgemäße Waldwirtschaft (ANW, “Natural Forest Management Working Group”). Since 2000, the town’s forest has been certified according to the Forest Stewardship Council
Forest Stewardship Council
The Forest Stewardship Council is an international not-for-profit, multi-stakeholder organization established in 1993 to promote responsible management of the world’s forests. Its main tools for achieving this are standard setting, independent certification and labeling of forest products...
’s (FSC) criteria.
Rail
The Main-Spessart RailwayMain-Spessart Railway
The Main-Spessart Railway is a 110 kilometre long railway line in the Bavarian province of Lower Franconia and the neighbouring state of Hesse in south central Germany. It runs from Würzburg via Gemünden and Aschaffenburg to Hanau...
(Main-Spessart-Bahn) from 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....
and Gemünden leaves the Main valley on the way to 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"...
–Frankfurt am Main and crosses through the Spessart.
The Lohr–Wertheim line from Lohr station through the town was a single-track, unelectrified, standard-gauge line to Wertheim
Wertheim
Wertheim may refer to:* Wertheim vacuum cleaner, a brand of vacuum cleaner* Wertheim am Main, Baden-Württemberg, Germany* Wertheim , a chain of German department stores...
; passenger transport between Lohr-Town station and Wertheim was discontinued on 30 May 1976. The same happened on the rest of the line through town on 22 May 1977, although there is still goods transport. The former Lohr-Town station is now a pub beside the multi-storey parking garage and the bus station. It is called Stattbahnhof (a pun on its old name Stadtbahnhof, or “Town Station”; Stattbahnhof is pronounced the same way, but means “instead of station”).
A direct early InterCity
InterCity
InterCity is the classification applied to certain long-distance passenger train services in Europe...
service to 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...
was replaced with a Regionalbahn
RegionalBahn
The Regionalbahn is a type of local passenger train in Germany.-Service:Regionalbahn trains usually call at all stations on a given line, with the exception of RB trains within S-Bahn networks, these may only call at selected stations...
to Würzburg when the Nuremberg–Munich high-speed railway came into service in 2006. The nearest InterCityExpress
InterCityExpress
The Intercity-Express or ICE is a system of high-speed trains predominantly running in Germany and neighbouring countries. It is the highest service category offered by DB Fernverkehr and is the flagship of Deutsche Bahn...
stops are Aschaffenburg and Würzburg.
On the eastern edge of town runs a short stretch of the Mühlbergtunnel on the Hanover-Würzburg high-speed rail line running north-south. Also within town limits runs a part of the Nantenbach Curve with the Schönraintunnel.
Road
Lohr lies on BundesstraßeBundesstraße
Bundesstraße , abbreviated B, is the denotation for German and Austrian national highways.-Germany:...
26, Bundesstraße 276, Staatsstraße (State Road) 2435 and Staatsstraße 2315. The nearest Autobahnen are the A 3 (Munich - Würzburg – Frankfurt) through the Weibersbrunn
Weibersbrunn
Weibersbrunn is a community in the Aschaffenburg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany.-Location:The community lies in the Bavarian Lower Main ....
, Hösbach
Hösbach
Hösbach is a market community in the Aschaffenburg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany.-Location:...
and Marktheidenfeld
Marktheidenfeld
Marktheidenfeld is a town in the Main-Spessart district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany and the seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft of Marktheidenfeld....
interchange
Interchange (road)
In the field of road transport, an interchange is a road junction that typically uses grade separation, and one or more ramps, to permit traffic on at least one highway to pass through the junction without directly crossing any other traffic stream. It differs from a standard intersection, at which...
s, and the A 7 (Würzburg - Kassel
Kassel
Kassel is a town located on the Fulda River in northern Hesse, Germany. It is the administrative seat of the Kassel Regierungsbezirk and the Kreis of the same name and has approximately 195,000 inhabitants.- History :...
) through the Hammelburg
Hammelburg
Hammelburg is a town in the district of Bad Kissingen, in Lower Franconia, Bavaria, Germany. It is situated on the river Franconian Saale, 25 km west of Schweinfurt...
interchange.
Waterway
The river Main is a Federal Waterway (Bundeswasserstraße) of the first order for which the SchweinfurtSchweinfurt
Schweinfurt is a city in the Lower Franconia region of Bavaria in Germany on the right bank of the canalized Main, which is here spanned by several bridges, 27 km northeast of Würzburg.- History :...
Water and Ship Transport Office (Wasser- und Schifffahrtsamt Schweinfurt) is responsible.
Public institutions
Lohr has at its disposal a Kreiskrankenhaus (District Hospital) with the disciplines of surgerySurgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
, internal medicine
Internal medicine
Internal medicine is the medical specialty dealing with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of adult diseases. Physicians specializing in internal medicine are called internists. They are especially skilled in the management of patients who have undifferentiated or multi-system disease processes...
, anaesthesiology
Anesthesia
Anesthesia, or anaesthesia , traditionally meant the condition of having sensation blocked or temporarily taken away...
, neurology
Neurology
Neurology is a medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Specifically, it deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of disease involving the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue,...
, gynaecology
Gynaecology
Gynaecology or gynecology is the medical practice dealing with the health of the female reproductive system . Literally, outside medicine, it means "the science of women"...
, urology
Urology
Urology is the medical and surgical specialty that focuses on the urinary tracts of males and females, and on the reproductive system of males. Medical professionals specializing in the field of urology are called urologists and are trained to diagnose, treat, and manage patients with urological...
, ophthalmology
Ophthalmology
Ophthalmology is the branch of medicine that deals with the anatomy, physiology and diseases of the eye. An ophthalmologist is a specialist in medical and surgical eye problems...
and otolaryngology
Otolaryngology
Otolaryngology or ENT is the branch of medicine and surgery that specializes in the diagnosis and treatment of ear, nose, throat, and head and neck disorders....
, and also the Bezirkskrankenhaus (Regional Hospital) for psychiatry
Psychiatry
Psychiatry is the medical specialty devoted to the study and treatment of mental disorders. These mental disorders include various affective, behavioural, cognitive and perceptual abnormalities...
, psychotherapy
Psychotherapy
Psychotherapy is a general term referring to any form of therapeutic interaction or treatment contracted between a trained professional and a client or patient; family, couple or group...
, psychosomatic medicine and forensic medicine for the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken).
Education
- Primary schools: Lohr am Main, Rodenbach, Sackenbach, Sendelbach, Wombach
- Special educationSpecial educationSpecial education is the education of students with special needs in a way that addresses the students' individual differences and needs. Ideally, this process involves the individually planned and systematically monitored arrangement of teaching procedures, adapted equipment and materials,...
schools: St. Kilian-Schule Sonderpädagogisches Förderzentrum Marktheidenfeld – Lohr; St. Nikolaus-Schule with emphasis on mental development - HauptschuleHauptschuleA Hauptschule is a secondary school in Germany and Austria, starting after 4 years of elementary schooling, which offers Lower Secondary Education according to the International Standard Classification of Education...
: Gustav-Woehrnitz-Volksschule Lohr am Main - RealschuleRealschuleThe Realschule is a type of secondary school in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein. It has also existed in Croatia , Denmark , Sweden , Hungary and in the Russian Empire .-History:The Realschule was an outgrowth of the rationalism and empiricism of the seventeenth and...
: Georg-Ludwig-Rexroth-Realschule - GymnasiumGymnasium (school)A gymnasium is a type of school providing secondary education in some parts of Europe, comparable to English grammar schools or sixth form colleges and U.S. college preparatory high schools. The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, meaning a locality for both physical and intellectual...
: Franz-Ludwig-von-Erthal-Gymnasium - Vocational schoolVocational schoolA vocational school , providing vocational education, is a school in which students are taught the skills needed to perform a particular job...
: Staatliche Berufsschule Main-Spessart with professional school and training centre - Professional school - Berufsfachschule für Krankenpflege (nursingNursingNursing is a healthcare profession focused on the care of individuals, families, and communities so they may attain, maintain, or recover optimal health and quality of life from conception to death....
) - Forest school: Bayerische Forstschule
- Forest management school: Bayerische Technikerschule für Waldwirtschaft
- IGMIG MetallIG Metall is the dominant metalworkers' union in Germany. Analysts of German labor relations consider it a major trend-setter in national bargaining. As a metalworkers' union, it represents workers in the motor vehicle industry...
education centre - music school: municipal singing and music school
- Folk high schoolFolk high schoolFolk high schools are institutions for adult education that generally do not grant academic degrees, though certain courses might exist leading to that goal...
: Volkshochschule der Stadt Lohr am Main
Sons and daughters of the town
- Franz Christoph von Hutten (1706–1770), BishopBishopA bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Catholic Church, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of SpeyerSpeyerSpeyer is a city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany with approximately 50,000 inhabitants. Located beside the river Rhine, Speyer is 25 km south of Ludwigshafen and Mannheim. Founded by the Romans, it is one of Germany's oldest cities...
(born in Steinbach) - Franz Ludwig von ErthalFranz Ludwig von ErthalFranz Ludwig von Erthal was the prince-bishop of Würzburg and Bamberg from 1779 until his death. He was buried at the Würzburg Cathedral.-External links:*...
(1730–1795), Bishop of BambergBambergBamberg is a city in Bavaria, Germany. It is located in Upper Franconia on the river Regnitz, close to its confluence with the river Main. Bamberg is one of the few cities in Germany that was not destroyed by World War II bombings because of a nearby Artillery Factory that prevented planes from...
and WürzburgWürzburgWürzburg 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.... - Franz Anton Brendel (4 October 1735 – 23 May 1799 in Strasbourg), constitutional (not authorized by the Church) Bishop of StrasbourgStrasbourgStrasbourg is the capital and principal city of the Alsace region in eastern France and is the official seat of the European Parliament. Located close to the border with Germany, it is the capital of the Bas-Rhin département. The city and the region of Alsace are historically German-speaking,...
during the French RevolutionFrench RevolutionThe French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years... - Franz Jakob Kreuter (1813–1899), German architect and building engineer.
- Joseph Koeth (1870–1936), politician and Imperial Economics Minister
- Georg Ludwig Rexroth (1902–1992), entrepreneur and benefactor
- Katrine von Hutten (1944– ), writer and translator
- Hermann Joha (1960– ), stuntmanStuntmanA stuntman or stunt performer is someone who performs dangerous stunts.Stuntman may also refer to:*The Stunt Man, a 1980 film starring Peter O'Toole*Stuntman , a 2002 video game**Stuntman: Ignition, its sequel...
and director of the stunt production firm action concept (Der ClownDer ClownDer Clown was a German television series that ran between 1998-04-21 and 2001-10-11. It ran for 46 episodes, and starred Sven Martinek, Diana Frank, Thomas Anzenhofer and Volkmar Kleinert.Der Clown was also a 2005 film.-Story:...
and Alarm für Cobra 11) - Achim Greser (1961– ), caricaturist
- Nadine Angerer (1978– ), football world champion 2007
Other
- Lohr is said to be Snow WhiteSnow White"Snow White" is a fairy tale known from many countries in Europe, the best known version being the German one collected by the Brothers Grimm...
’s possible birthplace. - In Lohr the club Bürgernetz Mainspessart e. V. is operating its technology for Europe’s biggest interconnected WaveLanIEEE 802.11IEEE 802.11 is a set of standards for implementing wireless local area network computer communication in the 2.4, 3.6 and 5 GHz frequency bands. They are created and maintained by the IEEE LAN/MAN Standards Committee . The base version of the standard IEEE 802.11-2007 has had subsequent...
network. The so-called Wavelink broadcast network will be offered all club members living between Gemünden and Erlach. - Native-born Lohrers are known as Mopper, while those who have come to live in town are Schnüdel.
Further reading
- Ruf, Theodor: Die Grafen von Rieneck. Genealogie und Territorienbildung. Würzburg 1984 (town history)