Bad Königshofen

Sister cities

• Arlington
• Römhild

History

First mention of the town was in 741, although it had been settled way before then. Graves marked from as early as the 6th century have been found. There are Christian and pagan burials in this Festung Road cemetery. Artifacts found in the graves included a longsword and pottery. An even older cemetery found on Bamberger Road shows evidence of settlement in the 4th century. During the Middle Ages, the town was ruled by tribal duchies as the Duchy of Franconia. The town was granted a city charter in 1235. Königshofen was owned by the House of Henneberg in 1200. In 1353, the heiress Elisabeth of Henneberg married Eberhard II, Count of Württemberg and he sold the town in 1354 to the bishops of Würzburg. They subsequently expanded the town into a fortress. The House of Henneberg acquired the castle in 1400 and in 1412 they bought the entire town back from the Würzburg monastery. Later, the town became home to an episcopal bailiff. In 1603, there was a Leper colony called the Siechhaus in the town. Bad Königshofen was the terminus of the 23.2 km Bad Neustadt–Bad Königshofen railway line (:de:Bahnstrecke Bad Neustadt–Bad Königshofen) that followed the Franconian Saale River from Bad Neustadt an der Saale. The railway, also known as the Grabfeld Railway (Grabfeldbahn), opened in 1873. Passenger services ended in 1976, freight service ended in 1994, and the track was dismantled in 1997. On 8 April 1945 the 3rd Battalion of the U.S. 180th Regiment, 45th Infantry Division captured several towns from Volkershausen to Königshofen.

Geography

There are 17 town districts: * Althausen * Aub * Aumühle * Bad Königshofen i.Grabfeld * Eyershausen * Gabolshausen * Göckesmühle * Haumühle * Ipthausen * Lustmühle * Merkershausen * Riedmühle * Sambachshof * Spitalmühle * Untereßfeld * Veitsmühle * Zänkersmühle (untere Mühle) It is only from the state of Thuringia. The city is twinned with Arlington, Texas, USA. Bad Königshofen has a downtown recreational park named "Arlington" in honor of the city of Arlington. In 2006, the City of Arlington opened a water park named "Bad Königshofen Family Aquatic Center" in honor of the city of Bad Königshofen.

Most-observed species

• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  630
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  546
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  455
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  411
• Great Spotted Woodpecker

  Dendrocopos major (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  409
• Common Buzzard

  Buteo buteo (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  393
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  393
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  391

Most recent

• M 2.6 — 2008-05-06
  3 km SSW of Völkershausen, Germany
• M 3.2 — 2005-09-22
  2 km SSW of Völkershausen, Germany
• M 3.4 — 2001-07-02
  3 km E of Bad Bocklet, Germany