Main-Taunus is a ''Kreis'' (

district A district is a type of administrative division that in some countries is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or county, counties, several municipality, municip ...

) in the middle of

Hessen Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt, which is also the country's principal financial centre. Two other major historic cities are Da ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and is part of the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region as well as the Frankfurt urban area. Neighboring districts are Hochtaunuskreis, district-free

Frankfurt Frankfurt am Main () is the most populous city in the States of Germany, German state of Hesse. Its 773,068 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the List of cities in Germany by population, fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located in the forela ...

, Groß-Gerau, district-free

Wiesbaden Wiesbaden (; ) is the capital of the German state of Hesse, and the second-largest Hessian city after Frankfurt am Main. With around 283,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 24th-largest city. Wiesbaden form ...

, Rheingau-Taunus. It is the second most densely populated rural district in Germany.

History

Before the era of

Napoleon Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

, the area was divided into many small bits and pieces of independent states. The most prominent of these were the Archbishopric of Mainz and the territory ruled by the Lords of Eppstein, who were later succeeded by the Landgraves of Hesse-Darmstadt. In 1806 the area became united for the first time as part of the

Duchy A duchy, also called a dukedom, is a country, territory, fiefdom, fief, or domain ruled by a duke or duchess, a ruler hierarchically second to the king or Queen regnant, queen in Western European tradition. There once existed an important differe ...

of Nassau, which was annexed to

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

in 1866. In 1928 the Main-Taunus district was formed when the cities of

and

annexed adjoining areas, leaving the remaining unincorporated areas in the former districts of Wiesbaden and Höchst too small to survive on their own. Together with some adjoining area in the north, these bits and pieces were merged into the Main-Taunus district. In 1972 the northern part of the district was transferred to the Hochtaunus district, and in 1977 the westernmost parts became parts of the city Wiesbaden and the newly formed district Rheingau-Taunus. In 1980 the administrative seat was moved from

-Höchst to Hofheim.

Geography

The district covers the southern part of the Taunus mountains, with the Main river forming part of the district's border in the south. The district covers the smallest area of any rural district in Germany.

Coat of arms

The upper part of the coat of arms shows the

wheel A wheel is a rotating component (typically circular in shape) that is intended to turn on an axle Bearing (mechanical), bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the Simple machine, six simple machin ...

of the Archbishopric of Mainz, the bottom part shows the bars of the Lords of Eppstein.

Towns and municipalities

References

External links

Official website
(German) {{Coord, 50.079723 , 8.449307 , display=title, format=dms Districts of Prussia Darmstadt (region)