Niedernberg

Sister cities

• Santes

History

The oldest finds that indicate human habitation in Niedernberg's municipal area come from the New Stone Age. Far-reaching changes in the landscape came along with Roman rule about the time of the onset of the Christian Era: In the first century, the Roman Empire reached all the way to the Main. To secure their Imperial border, Roman troops built castra at strategic spots. Niedernberg's beginnings go back to one such castrum, built between 83 and 150, at the so-called “Wet Limes”, which stood as the Empire's eastern border. The castrum, which measured 144 by 135 m, was built facing the east, towards the Main. Although the castrum was later overbuilt, the way the core of the community is laid out still goes back to the street layout in the castrum; Hauptstraße (“Main Street”) and Kirchgasse (“Church Lane”) correspond with streets in the Roman camp. Niedernberg was the post of a 300-strong cohort, Cohors I Ligurum et Hispanorum, which drew its recruits from northern Italy and Spain. Interesting finds such as the “Marcellus Stone” or a burying ground discovered in 1963 have yielded information about the lives of the Romans stationed in Niedernberg. In 1964, during building work on Hauptstraße, a bronze fountain mask was unearthed, today the only original such thing north of the Alps. This mask is today the showpiece of the Stiftsmuseum in Aschaffenburg, and at Roman exhibitions is found on loan among the very rarest exhibits. In 1095, Niedernberg had its first documentary mention. It was then that “Diemar von Niderenburc” bequeathed half a Hube of land from his holdings at Pfungstadt to the Lorsch Abbey on the Bergstraße for the upkeep of its daughter monastery, Steinbach, in the Odenwald. As early as 1340 the Niedernberg Chapel, out of which it is generally…

Geography

Niedernberg is just under 10 km from Aschaffenburg to the north, which itself lies some 50 km southeast of Frankfurt am Main. Niedernberg is the Miltenberg district's northernmost municipality and is found right on the Main’s left bank. In both the east and the west, it is hilly. Distinguishing the natural areas is the gradual downward slope of the eastern part of the municipal area from the west to the east. Niedernberg belongs to the Lower Main Plain (Untermainebene) and to the peripheral mountain zone of the Odenwald. The soil composition is what one would expect from this: throughout the even areas it is overwhelmingly sands and loamy layers. In the west are also found layers of loam at the surface, although these quickly yield to bunter. Particularly as of the mid 20th century, there was an extensive gravel quarrying operation. Owing to its geographical location, Niedernberg has since yore had to deal repeatedly with wintertime floods in which, in particular, land near the Main has been involved. Since this especially great danger from rising floods came about from icejams, in 1559, for protection, a cutwater was built at the southeast end of the fortifications, which, however, did not work as had been hoped. The highest ever flood reached Niedernberg in February 1784 during spring runoff as the Main flowed almost 10 m higher than normal through the valley. The flood tore away whole ships, huts and stables, sometimes along with the animals in them. The municipal area stretches off mainly to the west, as in the north it is bounded by the water protection area (Wasserschutzgebiet), in the east by the Main and in the south by the lake plateau. Even its westward stretch, though, it is limited by Bundesstraße 469. The municipality is subdivided…

Most-observed species

• Great Tit

  Parus major Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  3,356
• Eurasian Blackbird

  Turdus merula Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,978
• Carrion Crow

  Corvus corone Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,699
• Eurasian Blue Tit

  Cyanistes caeruleus (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,638
• Common Wood-Pigeon

  Columba palumbus Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  2,621
• European Robin

  Erithacus rubecula (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,205
• Eurasian Magpie

  Pica pica (Linnaeus, 1758) · Aves
  2,170
• Common Chaffinch

  Fringilla coelebs Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  1,844

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 3 — 2007-11-20
  0 km SW of Miehlen, Germany
• M 2.8 — 2007-11-17
  7 km NNW of Bad Schwalbach, Germany