Aschaffenburg

Aschaffenburg, city, Bavaria Land (state), south-central Germany. It lies on the right bank of the canalized Main River near the mouth of the Aschaff River and at the foot of the forested Spessart (mountains), 20 miles (30 km) southeast of Frankfurt. Originally a Roman settlement, it came under the jurisdiction of the electors of Mainz about 982 and was chartered in 1173. In 1292 a synod was held there, and in 1447 an imperial Diet (assembly) there prepared the Aschaffenburg Concordat, a treaty between the empire and the papacy, which was later concluded in Vienna. The city became Bavarian in 1814. The Renaissance-style castle of Johannisburg (1605–14), built on the site of an earlier castle and of a Roman castrum (fortification), was the summer residence of the electors of Mainz. The 12th-century abbey church of Saints Peter and Alexander contains the predella (altar platform) with the Lamentation of Christ by Matthias Grünewald, court painter to the electors, and a Romanesque crucifix. The municipal museum has a fine art collection, and there are many parks, of which Schönwald (“Beautiful Woods”) is particularly notable. Aschaffenburg’s industries include the manufacture of machinery and electronics. Pop. (2003 est.) 68,607.