Etymology The name
Aschaffenburg (
Ascaffaburc,
Ascapha or
Ascaphaburg in the Middle Ages) originally meant "castle at the ash tree river" deriving from the river
Aschaff that runs through parts of the town.
Pre-history to Middle Ages '' The earliest remains of settlements in the area of Aschaffenburg date from the
Stone Age. Aschaffenburg was originally a settlement of the
Alamanni.
Roman legions were stationed here. In c. 700 AD, the
Ravenna Cosmography names two settlements in region:
Uburzis (
Würzburg) and
Ascapha (Aschaffenburg). Around 550, the area had been conquered by the
Franks, and their
Hausmeier built a castle here. In the 8th century, a
Benedictine monastery was founded, dedicated to St. Michael, reportedly by
Saint Boniface. This became the
Kollegiatstift St. Peter und Alexander in the second half of the 10th century (957). In 869, King
Louis the Younger married
Liutgard of Saxony at Aschaffenburg. She also died here in 885 and was later laid to rest with her daughter Hildegard in the
Stiftskirche.
Ascaffinburg is mentioned first in 974 in a gift document by
Otto II, in which he gave several villages including
Wertheim am Main and a stretch of forest in the Spessart to the collegiate church. In the
Middle Ages the town was known as
Ascaffaburc,
Ascapha or
Ascaphaburg. A stone bridge over the Main was reportedly built by Archbishop
Willigis in 989, who also made the town his second residence. The town (referred to in 975 as a
civitas) was part of the
Archbishopric of Mainz from 982, when
Duke Otto died. A
Vizedom is mentioned for the first time in 1122 as the top local representative of the Archbishop. In 1292 a synod was held here, and in 1447 an
imperial diet, preliminary to that of
Vienna, approved a concordat (sometimes called the
Aschaffenburg Concordat). In the
German Peasants' War (1525), the town backed the losing side. In 1810, the Principality of Aschaffenburg was merged into the new
Grand Duchy of Frankfurt although Dalberg retained Aschaffenburg as his residence. In 1814, the town was transferred to the
Kingdom of Bavaria by an Austrian-Bavarian treaty. In 1817 it was included within Bavarian
Lower Franconia. From 1840 to 1848, King
Ludwig I of Bavaria had a Roman villa built to the west of town. It was named
Pompejanum after its model, the house of
Castor and Pollux at
Pompeii. During the
Austro-Prussian War, the
Prussian Army inflicted a severe defeat on the
Grand Duchy of Hesse near Aschaffenburg in the
Battle of Frohnhofen on 13 July 1866.
World War II In
World War II, Aschaffenburg was heavily damaged by Allied
area bombing, including
Schloss Johannisburg, which was completely restored several years later. The German military chose to defend Aschaffenburg strongly during the last weeks of the war, which resulted in the
Battle of Aschaffenburg fought 28 March – 3 April 1945. The U.S.
45th Infantry Division was forced to take the fortified town against stiff German resistance in a series of frontal assaults that involved house-to-house fighting and vicious close combat. The resulting widespread urban destruction was quite severe, as cannon fire was used point-blank to blast through structures.
Aschaffenburg displaced persons camps At the end of World War II, the
United States Army occupied military facilities that had been used and controlled by the
Wehrmacht. These were converted for use by U.S. military personnel as processing centres for
displaced persons at the end of the war. From 1945, 7,000
Ukrainians were accommodated in four
displaced persons camps: •
Artillerie Kaserne – approx. 2,000 people (1945–1949) •
Bois Brulé Kaserne – 1,500 people (1946–1949) •
LaGarde Kaserne – 1,700 people (1945–1949) •
Pionier Kaserne – 2,000 people (1946–1949) Two other camps,
Alte (old) Kaserne and
Jäger Kaserne housed mainly
Poles and
Lithuanians.
Post-war development In the decades following the war, Aschaffenburg and the surrounding region experienced robust economic prosperity, partially due to its close proximity to
Frankfurt am Main. According to an online 2002 survey in
Stern magazine, [Stern 14/2002], 82 percent of residents living in the
Bayerischer Untermain region where Aschaffenburg is located were satisfied with the place where they lived. This was the highest level recorded in the survey, making the region the #1 place to live in Germany, based on several factors including employment opportunities in the region, educational facilities, public services, transportation, recreational options, shopping, cultural facilities/events, climate, etc. Another survey taken in 2006 by McKinsey,
Stern magazine,
ZDF, and web.de again showed that Aschaffenburg has one of the highest ratings for quality of life in Germany. In January 2025, two people were killed in the
2025 Aschaffenburg stabbing, a knife attack by an Afghan asylum seeker in the Schöntal park.
U.S. military presence (1945–2007) Aschaffenburg was the location of several United States Army installations throughout the
Cold War. After initially taking over the administration of the ex-Wehrmacht installations, which were then used as displaced persons camps, the American presence in the Aschaffenburg military community began after general renovations in 1948. The installation sites were known as
Ready Kaserne (previously
Artillerie Kaserne),
Smith Kaserne (previously
LaGarde Kaserne),
Graves Kaserne (previously
Bois Brulé Kaserne),
Fiori Kaserne (previously
Pionier Kaserne), and
Jaeger Kaserne (previously
Jäger Kaserne). These housed armour, infantry, engineer, maintenance and artillery elements of the U.S. Army 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division and various VII Corps elements including the 9th Engineer Battalion, the 3rd Bn 21st Field Artillery (Honest John), and the 1st Bn 80th Field Artillery (LANCE). Much of the U.S. Army presence in Aschaffenburg ended in 1992 with the ending of the Cold War. The last buildings, which were primarily used for housing, were handed back to the local government in 2007. == Demographics ==