Nr. on the small map: 1 (Kleinheubach)
The historic Town Centre of Kleinheubach is formed by a street quadrangle which at first sight appears to be a standardized and planned layout, but where each of the four streets actually emerged in different centuries.
The slightly bent Marktstraße forms the original part. It used to be part of the ancient Via Imperii (Imperial Road), which led from Frankfurt upstream towards the Miltenberger Main-Knie (river- “knee”-curve), forking into two paths, one leading to Nuremberg and the other to Augsburg. In its centre the church complex with the Lutheran Church (see #3) is located; right next to it is the Fahrgasse leading towards the Main-River (see #2).
Kleinheubach may have had many local lords, but has never belonged to the Archbishopric Mainz; the Reformation had been introduced by the Counts of Rieneck in 1556 and afterwards has remained in the village.
Around 1600, a new street was added at a right angle to the Marktstraße, when Count Georg III of Erbach was building his renaissance castle Georgenburg. It offered plots for new estates, formerly referred to as the Castle Square with some retained archways. Later, the classicist servants’ quarter was constructed on the opposite side giving the street its name ‘Baugasse’ (Construction alley).
Due to the construction of Georgenburg, the Via Imperii was slightly rerouted outside of Kleinheubach. This brought some benefits to the village, now being right next to the frequented road. The current Hauptstraße (Mainroad) has its origins there and has only been used for buildings after 1800.
The quadrangle was finally completed around 1835, when the Bachgasse was laid out. A well-conceived plan enabled similar, yet different sized houses for a growing number of families. In the centre of this street quadrangle, a remarkable site for different kinds of garden plots remained (see #5). The Hirschplatz (named after a former restaurant), located between the Hauptstraße and Baugasse, forms a traffic junction also leading to the palace (see #12) and the park (see #13).
