Miltenberg
Miltenberg – Youthful Middle Ages
Miltenberg not only delights with a medieval old city centre filled with half-timbered houses, romantic alleyways and hidden corners. It is also a place of vibrant urban culture and youthful Middle Ages.
Discover Germany’s oldest inn for nobility, the “Gasthaus zum Riesen” (“Giant’s Inn”) as well as the famous “Schnatterloch” which forms part of the old market square. This ensemble consisting of the market fountain and magnificent half-timbered houses is a highlight of romantic, historic townscapes. It is one of the most photographed places in Germany.
The award-winning Museum Stadt Miltenberg, counted among the most beautiful museums in Bavaria, presents the daily life of past centuries as well as art, history and our region. A fascinating interaction of ancient ikons and contemporary art can be seen within the historic castle walls of the Mildenburg, where you will find the Museum Burg Miltenberg overlooking the town.
We recommend Miltenberg as the starting point for your activities in Odenwald and Spessart. Discover the countless opportunities: No matter, if you want to play golf on the amazing courses around Miltenberg, if you want to go shopping or walking, go on bicycle or mountainbike tours, have a swim, play tennis, go horse-riding or visit museums or vintners – there is something for everyone!
All year long you can choose between many cultural events, be it guided tours, cabarets, concerts, theatre or kleinkunst, exhibitions, readings or presentations – you can find everything in our online event calendar. Regional festivals like the MainFest, the Michaelismesse (St. Michael’s Fair), the Miltenberger Weinherbst or Christmas markets add to our varied offer of spare time activities.
Miltenberg and its incorporated villages
Would you like to relax, enjoy some tranquility or escape daily routine?
Then our villages resting on top of the pictorial rolling hills of the Odenwald, only a few kilometres outside of Miltenberg will feel just right.
Mainbullau
Wenschdorf & Monbrunn
Schippach & Berndiel
Breitendiel
Sights
History
Citizens of Pre and Early History left vestiges all over the region. Approximately in 3000 BC and again in 1500 BC, mighty ringforts were erected on the mountains Bürgstadter Berg and Greinberg above Miltenberg. Both served as refuge castles of significant size.
The Romans inhabited the region from around 160 to 260 AD and constructed two forts (castra) during that period: South of where the river Erf flows into the Main was the Fort Numerus, holding about 120 men, and at the mouth of the river Mud, the Fort Cohort (see Kleinheubach), holding about 480 men, where later, on its ruins, the town Wallhausen evolved.
With a length of 550 km, some 900 sentries, and 120 forts and keeps, the Upper Germanic-Rhaetian Limes is the biggest archeological monument of Germany. While Emperor Antonius Pius ruled, the “Wet Limes” along the Main River was extended, connecting Großkrotzenburg and Wörth, stretching to Miltenberg/Bürgstadt. From here, the “Solid Limes” lead via Walldürn, Osterburken, and Lorch all the way to Regensburg.
First mentioned in a document of 1237, the town Miltenberg can proudly look back on a turbulent history. Making the best of its conveniently situated position along the busy escort road Nuremberg-Frankfurt next to the Main, Miltenberg grew to be a significant customs point and substantial trading venue. Its most important growth factors were viticulture, wine trade, shipping, timber and stone industry, alongside with trade and craftsmanship.
In 1367, Emperor Karl IV granted Miltenberg several privileges, e.g. arranging trade fairs, and implementing the staple right which helped Miltenberg at an early stage to become a thriving medieval trading center. In 1379, the city gates Würzburger and Mainzer Tor were mentioned for the first time and by then the town had already covered an area which was not surpassed before the 1800s.
In the Peasant’s War 1525, Miltenberg was not destroyed, but a few years later, in 1552, Miltenberg partly went up in flames during the Margrave War. After that war, Archbishop Daniel Brendel of Homburg initiated the re-erection of the castle.
In 1583, the sculptor Michael Juncker created one of the most beautiful renaissance monuments of Miltenberg: The Market Fountain. The Market Square, better known as “Schnatterloch”, is surrounded by magnificent half-timbered houses; e.g. the former Centgrafenhaus, the old Amtskellerei and the Gülden Cron. One of Germany’s oldest taverns, the Gasthaus zum Riesen (The Giant’s Inn), was altered in 1590 to present itself as seen today. Century after century, kings, princes, and other secular and clerical officials would stay in this “princely tavern”.
In the 1600s the witch-hunting started. The Mainz territory around Miltenberg was especially affected. Men and women were equally denounced, tortured and executed.
During the Thirty Years War (1618 – 1648), the convenient position along the so-called “Highway of the Middle Ages” which once had helped Miltenberg become a thriving trade center, turned into a disadvantage. The town lost more than half of its population to lootings, pillage, and epidemics, introduced by soldiers because all troops were using that road. The once splendid era was over.
After the electoral state of Mainz had been disestablished in 1803, Prince Leiningen became legal successor of the Archbishop of Mainz. Nevertheless, in 1806, Leiningen already lost its political sovereignty but not its property to the Grand Duchy Baden. In 1810, Miltenberg became Hessian and in 1816 Bavarian.
In 1818, the revocation of previous centuries-old customs and market rights by the Kingdom of Bavaria lead to substantial financial losses. The town lost its former central position and was now located at the outskirts of the Bavarian Kingdom. The main stages of urban development lay in the past but, as hopeless as it seemed then, this situation supported the preservation of the medieval townscape. The award-winning Museum Stadt Miltenberg shows how people used to live here in the course of centuries.
Miltenberg is a member of the “German Half-Timbered House Road”. Under the slogan “half-timbered unites”, the holiday route presents unique landscapes, historic sites, and carefully restored monuments.
Having such an eventful history, Miltenberg can display itself gloriously: A wide main street with marvelous half-timbered houses and medieval alleyways. The oldest, still preserved half-timbered house dates back to 1339.
Miltenberg not only offers a lively present and impressive history, it was also awarded the title Bayerischer GenussOrt („Bavarian place of culinary delight”). There are only few places in Bavaria (just 100) that can call themselves a “Genussort”.