Mainbernheim
Encyclopedia
Mainbernheim is a municipality 4 kilometers to the south of Kitzingen
Kitzingen
Kitzingen is a town in the German state of Bavaria, capital of the district Kitzingen. It is part of Franconia geographical region and has around 21,000 inhabitants.Surrounded by vineyards, Kitzingen County is the largest wine producer in Bavaria...

 (Landkreis, district of Kitzingen
Kitzingen (district)
Kitzingen is a district in Bavaria, Germany. It is bounded by the districts of Schweinfurt, Bamberg, Neustadt -Bad Windsheim and Würzburg.-History:...

) in the direction of Nürnberg, was first recorded in the chronicles of 889, during the reign of King Arnulf
Arnulf
Arnulf , a Germanic name common in the Middle Ages and rare at present, may refer to:*Arnulf of Metz, saint *Arnulf of Eynesbury, saint*Arnulf of Carinthia...

, the church being recognized by the influential bishopric of nearby 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....

. The town was the site of a tariff house of the dukes of Ansbach
Ansbach
Ansbach, originally Onolzbach, is a town in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of the administrative region of Middle Franconia. Ansbach is situated southwest of Nuremberg and north of Munich, on the Fränkische Rezat, a tributary of the Main river. As of 2004, its population was 40,723.Ansbach...

 and in thrall until 1397 to the duchy in the south, during the reign of King Wenceslaus
Wenceslaus, King of the Romans
Wenceslaus ) was, by election, German King from 1376 and, by inheritance, King of Bohemia from 1378. He was the third Bohemian and second German monarch of the Luxembourg dynasty...

. Mainbernheim was granted full rights as a city, although taxation privileges for Ansbach were extended until 1795.
Today, Mainbernheim has a population of approximately 2400, the town having grown significantly due to new developments outside the city walls. The gummi-bear factory, Bären Schmidt, is the major industry there. Some extant points of interest include the 400-year-old farmhouses along Herrnstraße, which transverses the city from gate to gate and hosts several historic hotels and restaurants. Also along the main street are the Rathaus (city hall, 1548) and the adjacent Lutheran parish church, built on the foundations of an earlier cathedral (1498) after the Protestant Reformation
Protestant Reformation
The Protestant Reformation was a 16th-century split within Western Christianity initiated by Martin Luther, John Calvin and other early Protestants. The efforts of the self-described "reformers", who objected to the doctrines, rituals and ecclesiastical structure of the Roman Catholic Church, led...

(1750–1778). Just outside the main gate is the cemetery and arcade, dating from 1546 and containing fine examples of funerary flourishes. Off the main street, there is a recessed portal, which served as a hiding place for the Jews during the purges of World War II. The appearance of the inner city is little changed since Renaissance times.

This article incorporates documents from the Würzburg and Mainbernheim Stadt Archives and the guide Kunst- und Kulturführer durch den Landkreis Kitzingen ©1983 Dr. Hans Bauer, Kitzingen.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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