Mainz-Kastel () is a district of the city

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 ...

, which is the capital of the German state

Hesse Hesse or Hessen ( ), officially the State of Hesse (), is a States of Germany, 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 hist ...

in western

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 ...

. Kastel is the historical bridgehead of

Mainz Mainz (; #Names and etymology, see below) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, and with around 223,000 inhabitants, it is List of cities in Germany by population, Germany's 35th-largest city. It lies in ...

, the capital of the German state

Rhineland-Palatinate Rhineland-Palatinate ( , ; ; ; ) is a western state of Germany. It covers and has about 4.05 million residents. It is the ninth largest and sixth most populous of the sixteen states. Mainz is the capital and largest city. Other cities are ...

and is located on the right side of the

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

river. Kastel faces the historical center of Mainz and the two cities are connected by a road bridge. Kastel is located about one kilometer below the mouth of the river Main, where it flows into the Rhine. In its long history Kastel repeatedly belonged to Mainz and was formally incorporated into that city on 1 April 1908. Since Mainz was part of the French occupation zone (formed after World War II) and Kastel was part of the American occupation zone, the Americans ordered that Kastel be brought within the administration of Wiesbaden. On 25 July 1945, Kastel was incorporated into Wiesbaden, the Hessian state capital, and has been part of it ever since. The newly formed German federal states adapted the boundaries of the occupation zones. Therefore, Kastel is a district of Wiesbaden and part of the German state Hesse. Kastel is one of six districts of Mainz on the right-hand side of the Rhine which were separated from Mainz in this way. The separation from Mainz is the issue of intense debates by local patriots in three districts (Kastel, Amöneburg and Kostheim). Many Kastel residents feel like they belong to Mainz which reflects, apart from the administrative affiliation, the reality of everyday life. The city center of Wiesbaden is about ten kilometers from Kastel whereas the city center of Mainz is just on the opposite side of the Rhine. The three mentioned districts of Wiesbaden still bear the designation "Mainz- ..." because until today no closed formal legal act has been made up. The signs, when entering the districts, are a curiosity because they say "Federal State Capital Wiesbaden District Mainz-Kastel". On the other hand, many inhabitants of Kastel feel like they belong to the German state Hesse (Mainz was a part of the Grand Duchy of Hesse from 1815-World War II) and do not identify with Rhineland-Palatinate whatsoever.

Adolphus Busch Adolphus Busch (10 July 1839 – 10 October 1913) was the German-born co-founder of Anheuser-Busch with his father-in-law, Eberhard Anheuser. He introduced numerous innovations, building the success of the company in the late 19th and early 2 ...

, founder of

Anheuser-Busch Anheuser-Busch Companies, LLC ( ) is an American brewing company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri. Since 2008, it has been wholly owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev SA/NV (AB InBev), now the world's largest brewing company, which owns multiple ...

, was born in Kastel (now Mainz-Kastel) in 1839. CB&I Lummus operated an office in Mainz-Kastel which has been bought by

Alstom Alstom SA () is a French multinational rolling stock manufacturer which operates worldwide in rail transport markets. It is active in the fields of passenger transportation, signaling, and locomotives, producing high-speed, suburban, regional ...

as of 30 October 2009.
" ''

''. Retrieved on 7 October 2011. The Briefzentrum (Deutsche Post), letter processing center for

Deutsche Post (, ) is a brand of the DHL Group (listed as ), used for its domestic mail services in Germany. The services offered under the brand are those of a traditional mail service, making the brand the successor of the former state-owned mail monopoly ...

in the greater Wiesbaden area is located in Mainz-Kastel.

History

Mainz-Kastel was founded about 11 BC. At that time, the Romans built a wooden bridge across the Rhine connecting Moguntiacum (Mainz) with a castle on the right bank of the river. The wooden construction was replaced by a stone bridge in 71, which lasted until about 406. From this time the remains of a Roman triumphal arch were found in Mainz-Kastel, built around 19 A.D. In his ''Vita Karoli Magni''

Einhard Einhard (also Eginhard or Einhart; ; 775 – 14 March 840) was a Franks, Frankish scholar and courtier. Einhard was a dedicated servant of Charlemagne and his son Louis the Pious; his main work is a biography of Charlemagne, the ''Vita Karoli M ...

counts the new Mainz-Kastel Rhine Bridge among

Charlemagne Charlemagne ( ; 2 April 748 – 28 January 814) was List of Frankish kings, King of the Franks from 768, List of kings of the Lombards, King of the Lombards from 774, and Holy Roman Emperor, Emperor of what is now known as the Carolingian ...

's most important building achievements, along with the

Palatine Chapel, Aachen The Palatine Chapel in Aachen is an early medieval chapel and remaining component of Charlemagne's Palace of Aachen in what is now Germany. Although the palace itself no longer exists, the chapel was preserved and now forms the central part of Aa ...

, the Ingelheim Imperial Palace and the palace of

Nijmegen Nijmegen ( , ; Nijmeegs: ) is the largest city in the Dutch province of Gelderland and the ninth largest of the Netherlands as a whole. Located on the Waal River close to the German border, Nijmegen is one of the oldest cities in the ...

. In the cause of the

bombing of Mainz in World War II The German city of Mainz was bombed in multiple air raids by the Allies during World War II by the Royal Air Force (RAF), as well as the United States Army Air Forces. These led to numerous victims and heavy damage throughout the cityscape. ...

Mainz-Kastel was subject to air raids.

References

{{Authority control Boroughs of Wiesbaden Divided cities Former boroughs of Mainz