Main-Spessart is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in the northwest of

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 l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...

. It is located in Lower Franconia and derives its name from the river Main and the wooded hills of the

Spessart Spessart is a '' Mittelgebirge'', a range of low wooded mountains, in the States of Bavaria and Hesse in Germany. It is bordered by the Vogelsberg, Rhön and Odenwald. The highest elevation is the Geiersberg at 586 metres above sea level. Et ...

Geography

The district is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Bad Kissingen,

Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultural and educational hub. The urban a ...

and

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is a city in the region of Franconia in the north of the German state of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the '' Regierungsbezirk'' Lower Franconia. It spans the banks of the Main River. Würzbur ...

, the state of

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg (; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million inhabitants across a ...

(district of Main-Tauber), the districts of Miltenberg and

Aschaffenburg Aschaffenburg (; South Franconian: ''Aschebersch'') is a town in northwest Bavaria, Germany. The town of Aschaffenburg is not part of the district of Aschaffenburg, but is its administrative seat. Aschaffenburg belonged to the Archbishopric ...

, and the state of

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are Da ...

(district of Main-Kinzig). The river Main forms a large horse-shoe bend in the district, entering in the southeast near Thüngersheim and leaving to the southwest near

Hasloch Hasloch is a community in the Main-Spessart district in the '' Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany and a member of the '' Verwaltungsgemeinschaft'' of Kreuzwertheim. Hasloch has a population close to 1, ...

. In the north it is joined by the

Franconian Saale The Franconian Saale (german: Fränkische Saale) is a 140 km long river in Bavaria, Germany. It is a right-bank tributary of the Main, in Lower Franconia. It should not be confused with the larger Saxon Saale (german: Sächsische Saale) ...

river at Gemünden. The Spessart hills cover most of the area of the district west and north of the Main. To the northeast, the district borders on the Rhön hills.

History

The district was established in 1972 by merging the former districts of Gemünden, Karlstadt, Lohr and Marktheidenfeld. Although Lohr is the largest town, the seat of the administration is located in Karlstadt.

Politics

Main-Spessart (electoral district) Main-Spessart is an electoral constituency ( German: ''Wahlkreis'') represented in the Bundestag. It elects one member via first-past-the-post voting. Under the current constituency numbering system, it is designated as constituency 249. It is lo ...

Economy

In 2017 (latest data available) the GDP per inhabitant was €36,264. This places the district 44th out of 96 districts (rural and urban) in Bavaria (overall average: €46,698).

Coat of arms

The coat of arms displays: * a

wheel A wheel is a circular component that is intended to rotate on an axle bearing. The wheel is one of the key components of the wheel and axle which is one of the six simple machines. Wheels, in conjunction with axles, allow heavy objects to be ...

symbolising the clerical state of

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

* the arms of the bishopric of

* an oak leaf representing the forests of the area * a bunch of

grape A grape is a fruit, botanically a berry (botany), berry, of the deciduous woody vines of the flowering plant genus ''Vitis''. Grapes are a non-Climacteric (botany), climacteric type of fruit, generally occurring in clusters. The cultivation of ...

s symbolising

viticulture Viticulture (from the Latin word for ''vine'') or winegrowing (wine growing) is the cultivation and harvesting of grapes. It is a branch of the science of horticulture. While the native territory of ''Vitis vinifera'', the common grape vine, ran ...

Geography

History

Politics

Economy

Coat of arms

Towns and municipalities

References

External links