Erlenbach am Main

Sister cities

• Saint-Maurice
• Erlenbach
• Erlenbach im Simmental

History

The local area has been inhabited at least since the late Bronze Age, based on archaeological findings. In 1876, four barrows from the Bronze Age (roughly 1550–1250 BC) were discovered. In 1981, two typical Urnfield culture graves from the time about 1000–800 BC were found. In the 1st century AD, the Roman Empire reached all the way to the Main. This watery stretch of the Limes Germanicus was enforced with castra. To avoid the Romans, the Germanic peoples moved their settlements to the other side of the Main, the east side, or right bank. After the Roman Empire fell, it took many years for the Franks to move into the Main region in 531 and found settlements of their own. The first farms in Erlenbach were likely only built sometime between 800 and 950. About 1183, Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa granted Erlenbach market rights. The Imperial award was given visible expression with a market and freedom sign. It shows a large cross on whose top stands a cock. On the crossbeam a hand rises up on one side and on the other a sword. The upheld hand made clear that the Erlenbach dwellers stood under the Emperor's special protection, and that any who set himself against it would have to reckon with the sovereign's upraised sword.

Geography

Erlenbach lies in Lower Franconia in Bavaria's northwest, at the Mainviereck (“Main Square”), near Aschaffenburg. The formerly self-administering neighbouring communities of Mechenhard and Streit were amalgamated with Erlenbach in 1976 and 1978, respectively.

Most-observed species

• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,433
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,378
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,291
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,973
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,940
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,326
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,306
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,898

Most recent

• M 3.6 — 2014-05-17
  2 km ESE of Pfungstadt, Germany
• M 3.4 — 2010-12-23
  4 km WNW of Mainz, Germany
• M 3.4 — 2010-06-29
  3 km NW of Hochheim am Main, Germany
• M 3 — 2007-12-13
  2 km NE of Monsheim, Germany
• M 2.8 — 2007-11-17
  7 km NNW of Bad Schwalbach, Germany
• M 2.5 — 2007-06-20
  5 km NE of Trechtingshausen, Germany