Westerngrund is a community in the Aschaffenburg district in the ''

Regierungsbezirk A ' () means "governmental district" and is a type of administrative division in Germany. Four of sixteen ' ( states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts. Saxony has ' (directorate districts) with more res ...

'' of

Lower Franconia Lower Franconia (german: Unterfranken) is one of seven districts of Bavaria, Germany. The districts of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia make up the region of Franconia. History After the founding of the Kingdom of Bavaria the state was totally ...

(''Unterfranken'') in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total lan ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

, and a member of the ''Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'' (Administrative Community) of Schöllkrippen. From 2013 to 2020, the

geodetic Geodesy ( ) is the Earth science of accurately measuring and understanding Earth's figure (geometric shape and size), orientation in space, and gravity. The field also incorporates studies of how these properties change over time and equivale ...

centre of the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

was located within the community's boundaries.

Geography

The community lies in the Bavarian Lower Main (''Bayerischer Untermain''). With the accession of

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

to the

on 1 July 2013 the geodetic centre of the EU shifted to Westerngrund. It moved again on 1 January 2014 (when

Mayotte Mayotte (; french: Mayotte, ; Shimaore: ''Maore'', ; Kibushi: ''Maori'', ), officially the Department of Mayotte (french: Département de Mayotte), is an overseas department and region and single territorial collectivity of France. It is loca ...

joined the EU) but remained within the community's borders. A monument site has been set up. On 31 January 2020, as a result of the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union, the geodetic centre of the European Union moved from Westerngrund to

Gadheim Gadheim is a village in Lower Franconia, in northern Bavaria belonging to the municipality of Veitshöchheim. It is located about 10 kilometers (6.2 miles) north of Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconi ...

, approximately eighty kilometres (fifty miles) away. The community has the following ''Gemarkungen'' (traditional rural cadastral areas): Oberwestern, Unterwestern, Huckelheim.

History

Today's community of Westerngrund mainly comprises areas that belonged to the Schönborn '' Amt'' of Krombach, which in 1806 was

mediatized Mediatization or mediatisation may refer to: * German mediatisation German mediatisation (; german: deutsche Mediatisierung) was the major territorial restructuring that took place between 1802 and 1814 in Germany and the surrounding region by ...

with the newly formed

Principality of Aschaffenburg The Principality of Aschaffenburg (german: Fürstentum Aschaffenburg) was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire created in 1803 and, following the dissolution of the Empire in 1806, of the Confederation of the Rhine, which existed from 1806 to ...

, with which it passed in 1814 (by this time it had become a department of the

Grand Duchy of Frankfurt The Grand Duchy of Frankfurt was a German satellite state of Napoleonic creation. It came into existence in 1810 through the combination of the former territories of the Archbishopric of Mainz along with the Free City of Frankfurt itself. Hist ...

) to the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria (german: Königreich Bayern; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1805 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German ...

. In the course of administrative reform in Bavaria, the current community came into being with the ''Gemeindeedikt'' (“Municipal Edict”) of 1818.

Demographics

Within community limits in 1970, 1,454 inhabitants were counted, in 1987 1,584 and in 2000 1,918.

Governance

The mayor is Brigitte Heim (WIR).

Coat of arms

The community's arms might be described thus: Gules a demi-lion rampant armed, langued and crowned azure Or issuant from the base, in his gambes a shepherd's staff in pale of the second, in chief sinister two miner's hammers in saltire argent. Westerngrund has only existed as a community since 1972, having been assembled out of the formerly separate communities of Huckelheim, Oberwestern and Unterwestern, which all lie in the so-called Westerngrund, a steep-sided dale that became the community's namesake. The lion in the arms, and also the

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

s, were taken from the arms borne by the Counts of Schönborn, who held the area until the Old Empire's downfall in 1803. The staff held by the lion is a symbol of Saint Wendelin, the community's patron saint. The crossed miner's hammers stand for the former silver and copper mining in the centre of Huckelheim. The community has borne the arms since 24 March 1980.

Economy

Municipal tax revenue amounted in 1999 to €661,000 (converted), of which net business taxes accounted for €28,000. According to official statistics, there were 74 workers on the social welfare contribution rolls working in producing businesses in 1998. In trade and

transport Transport (in British English), or transportation (in American English), is the intentional movement of humans, animals, and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, land ( rail and road), water, cable, pipelin ...

this was 0. In other areas, 715 such workers worked from home. Three businesses were in processing. Two businesses were in construction, and furthermore, in 1999, there were 30 agricultural operations with a working area of 722 ha, of which 408 ha was cropland and 313 ha was meadowland.

Education

In 1999 the following institutions existed in Westerngrund: *

Kindergarten Kindergarten is a preschool educational approach based on playing, singing, practical activities such as drawing, and social interaction as part of the transition from home to school. Such institutions were originally made in the late 18th ce ...

s: 75 places with 72 children