Niedernberg - History

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 believed grew today’s parish church, Saint Cyriacus’s, was conceived with small bequests. Both the tower and the “old quire” from 1461 are still preserved today. Extensive conversion and expansion measures were undertaken in 1897 and 1931 under Father Seubert. On the churchtower’s south side is found Michael Groß’s tomb slab, placed there in 1822. Groß was a jurist on the County bench. According to legend, he supposedly kept Niedernberg from destruction by the Swedes in the Thirty Years' War with his courage.

Northwest of what is today the village area – at the so-called Tannenwäldchen (roughly “Fir Grove”) – was, in the Late Middle Ages, the hanging place of the tithing area of Bachgau, to which Niedernberg belonged. The tithe court itself sat in Großostheim, whence the delinquents took their last walk along the gallows path to the hanging place.

On into the 19th century, Niedernberg was ringed by a defensive wall, parts of which, along Turmgasse and Hintermauer – whose name means “Behind Wall” – are still standing today. It could not, however, shield the inhabitants from passing troops. In the wake of the Thirty Years' War alone, the population figure was reduced almost to a tenth of what it had been.

Many citizens left their homeland in the 19th century because of limited living space, various bad harvests and social upheavals and emigrated to the United States. Only towards the end of the century, when industrialized men’s outerwear manufacture took hold in Aschaffenburg and the surrounding area was there a certain upswing in the level of wealth. To prepare for times of need, agriculture was also kept. This situation lasted until the 1970s.

From an ecclesiastical point of view, Niedernberg belonged from the early 8th century until Secularization in 1803 to the Archbishopric of Mainz. Thereafter, until 1820, Niedernberg was part of the Bishopric of Regensburg with its Archbishop Karl Theodor von Dalberg. Only in 1821 did Niedernberg become part of the Bishopric of Würzburg.

For many centuries, Niedernberg lay far from any main trade road and led a rather sheltered life. The only link between the Spessart and the Odenwald was the Main ferry, which was withdrawn in 1994. In the meantime, however, Niedernberg has undergone sweeping structural development and of the original pastoral idyll almost nothing is left. With the direct link to the Autobahn to the Frankfurt Rhine Main Region, the completion of a great industrial-commercial area and the Main Bridge, finished in 2001, the environment became conducive to attracting various employers to the municipality. Leaders among these are currently the electronics and computer field, and also concrete processing.

Niedernberg took a blow in 2002 from M+S Elektronik AG’s bankruptcy; this company was listed on the stock exchange and for a long time was said to be a showcase company. Out of 1,800 laid-off workers, 600 at the Niedernberg location alone lost their jobs. The firm’s downfall due to a business loan suddenly being withdrawn despite positive financial reports and high demand drew much attention from the news media with various reports. This led to one episode of the WDR series producing “the story” under the name Bankgeheimnisse (“Bank Secrets”), which is still being broadcast often on German television today.

Currently, the Tafeläcker building area is being developed in Niedernberg in four sections. There are to be sites for 200 dwellings. The first section has been completed; the demand has been unexpectedly high.