Marktbreit am Main () is a town in the district of

Kitzingen Kitzingen () is a town in the Germany, German state of Bavaria, capital of the Kitzingen (district), district Kitzingen. It is part of the Franconia geographical region and has around 21,000 inhabitants. Surrounded by vineyards, Kitzingen County i ...

in the

Regierungsbezirk A ' (, 'governmental district') is a type of administrative division in Germany. Currently, four of sixteen ' (states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts ' (plural, ) serve as regional mid-level local gov ...

Unterfranken in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

, Germany. It is situated at the most southern point of the Main river. Marktbreit is the birthplace of

Alois Alzheimer Alois Alzheimer ( , , ; 14 June 1864 – 19 December 1915) was a German psychiatrist, neuropathologist and colleague of Emil Kraepelin. He is credited with identifying the first published case of "presenile dementia", which Kraepelin later ide ...

who first identified the symptoms of what is now known as

Alzheimer's disease Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease and the cause of 60–70% of cases of dementia. The most common early symptom is difficulty in remembering recent events. As the disease advances, symptoms can include problems wit ...

. With its suburb , Marktbreit has around 3,700 inhabitants.

Geography

Location

The town of Marktbreit is located in the district of Kitzingen, in the Lower Franconia region of Bavaria. Its territory lies on the left bank of the Main river, at the river's southernmost bend. The town of

lies upriver, while downriver are

Ochsenfurt Ochsenfurt () is a town in the district of Würzburg, in Bavaria, Germany. Ochsenfurt is located on the left bank of the River Main and has around 11,000 inhabitants. This makes it the largest town in Würzburg district. Name Like Oxford, the ...

and

Würzburg Würzburg (; Main-Franconian: ) is, after Nuremberg and Fürth, the Franconia#Towns and cities, third-largest city in Franconia located in the north of Bavaria. Würzburg is the administrative seat of the Regierungsbezirk Lower Franconia. It sp ...

. Marktbreit is located on the southwestern edge of the district, where it borders on the districts of Neustadt (Aisch)-Bad Windsheim and

Subdivisions

The town has two ''

Stadtteil A quarter is a part of an urban area, urban settlement. A quarter can be administratively defined and its borders officially designated, and it may have its own administrative structure (subordinate to that of the city, town or other urban area ...

e'': Marktbreit and Gnodstadt.

Neighbouring communities

The municipality borders on (from the north clockwise): Marktsteft,

Obernbreit Obernbreit is a municipality in the district of Kitzingen in Bavaria in 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 Alp ...

Martinsheim Martinsheim is a municipality in the district of Kitzingen in Bavaria in 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 Alp ...

, Oberickelsheim,

, Frickenhausen am Main and Segnitz.

History

Roman settlement

Near Markbreit, the site of a large Roman legionary fortress (or ''

castrum ''Castra'' () is a Latin language, Latin term used during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire for a military 'camp', and ''castrum'' () for a 'Fortification, fort'. Either could refer to a building or plot of land, used as a fortified milita ...

legionarium'') known locally as the ''Römerlager Marktbreit'', was discovered in 1985 and celebrated as a minor scientific sensation because it was never suspected that a legionary fortress was built so far northeast in enemy territory. It was built in Augustan times in enemy territory beyond the "Limes" frontier in preparation for an invasion of the rest of Germany. It was identified on aerial photos in 1985, and archaeologists were active in 1986-1992. The palisade (2¼ km long, using 21,000 trees) appeared to be finished and several buildings were complete. The surface area of 37 ha suggested that the base was built for two legions or one legion and many auxiliary troops. There were no traces of actual occupation and it took some time to conclude that this was not the result of erosion, but from the fact that the base had been prepared but was never used. The headquarters (''praetorium''), the residences of three centurions, store rooms (''horrea''), and kilns had already been finished before the settlement was abandoned. There are no traces of violence, and precious objects appear to have been taken away, which suggests that the Marktbreit ''castrum'' was evacuated when strategic realities had changed and made it unnecessary. However, a rebellion in Pannonia delayed the execution of the invasion plan, and the defeat of Varus in the Teutoburg Forest put an end to all Roman ambitions east of the Rhine, and the base was never used.

Later history

Gnodstadt was first mentioned in a document in 1124. Marktbreit was first mentioned as "broite inferior" in a document of the Count of Castell in 1258. From 1351 Gnodstadt was ruled by Hohenlohe-Brauneck. In 1557, King Ferdinand granted Marktbreit the right to hold markets, thus the name "Markt"breit that has since been used. In the 17th and 18th century Marktbreit was an important marketplace because the shortest way to the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

from the Main (which flows into 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 ...

) starts in Marktbreit. In 1806, Marktbreit came to the

Kingdom of Bavaria The Kingdom of Bavaria ( ; ; spelled ''Baiern'' until 1825) was a German state that succeeded the former Electorate of Bavaria in 1806 and continued to exist until 1918. With the unification of Germany into the German Empire in 1871, the kingd ...

. Gnodstadt became a part of Marktbreit on 1 May 1978.

Government

The town is a member of and the seat of the municipal association . The town's mayor is Harald Kopp (SPD), elected in March 2020.

Attractions

See also List of Marktbreit monuments (German) * Town hall, built after 1579 in

Renaissance style Renaissance architecture is the European architecture of the period between the early 15th and early 16th centuries in different regions, demonstrating a conscious revival and development of certain elements of Ancient Greece, ancient Greek and ...

* ', castle built after 1581 * , Protestant church, originally from the 14th century * , Catholic church, 19th century * ', Gothic chapel that today serves as a memorial to the fallen soldiers from Kitzingen district * ', historic crane on the Main river built in 1750 * Historic town wall with towers and one extant gate (''Maintor'') * Historic half-timbered and

Baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

buildings * Museum ''Malerwinkelhaus'' * ''Alois-Alzheimer-Gedenk- und Tagungsstätte'', memorial to

with exhibition * ', obelisk * , memorial to the Jewish soldiers from Marktbreit killed in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

and to the 90 members of the Marktbreit synagogue murdered in the

Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...

Infrastructure

Transport

The ''

Bundesautobahn 7 is the longest German Autobahn and the longest national motorway in Europe at 963 km (598 mi). It bisects the country almost evenly between east and west. In the north, it starts at the border with Denmark as an extension of the Danish part of ...

'' passes through the municipal territory, as does '. Marktbreit has a station on the railway line Treuchtlingen–Würzburg. In the summer, it is also a stop for tourist ships travelling on the Main.

Education

Marktbreit has three kindergartens, a ''Grundschule'', ''Mittelschule'', ''Realschule'' and a ''Gymnasium''.

Notable people

(1864–1915), neurologist and psychiatrist * Rudolf Buttmann (1885–1947), jurist, librarian, NSDAP politician *

Ludwig Friedrich Barthel Ludwig Friedrich Barthel (12 June 1898, in Marktbreit – 14 February 1962, in Munich) was a German writer. Barthel served in the First World War and was a student in Munich. He was later an archivist () there. His poems, for example "Ta ...

(1898–1962), Germanist, archivist, poet, narrator and essayist

References

External links

* {{Authority control Kitzingen (district) Holocaust locations in Germany Populated places on the Main basin Populated riverside places in Germany