In 1189, Hösbach had its first documented mention as
Hostebach: a
Hermann de Hostebach and his son Conrad were named in a document from Archbishop Konrad of Mainz as witnesses. In 1218, the
Schmerlenbach convent (in today's constituent municipality of Winzenhohl) was endowed by the Von Kugelberg family and granted
the right of patronage over the Hösbach church. In the 13th century, the noble family of Hostebach died out, but the name Hösbach remained. Beginning in the 14th century,
Forsthuben – a kind of woodland estate – were set up in Hösbach, which over the course of time further grew into large farms. In 1781, there were only 120 houses with 591 inhabitants. These figures rose only very slowly over the following decades. Only in 1895 did the population figure surpass 2,000. In the years thereafter, Hösbach's growth came about more quickly through
industrialization, especially in nearby
Aschaffenburg, so that in 1905 there were already 2,518 people registered in the municipality, and by 1933 this had reached 3,388. War refugees during and after the
Second World War swelled the population to 4,517 by 1946. Steady growth continued for many years. Through municipal reforms in 1972 and 1978 the municipality of Hösbach expanded its land area by 1,981ha and its population by 4,500. At this time, the formerly self-administering small municipalities of Wenighösbach (1 January 1972), Feldkahl (1 July 1972), Rottenberg (1 May 1978) and Winzenhohl (1 May 1978) were amalgamated. In the 1980s, Hösbach gained fame as the founding place of the rock band
Böhse Onkelz. On the occasion of its 800th jubilee, Hösbach was awarded the status of
Markt (market municipality) on 29 September 1989. Image:HoesbachRathausplatz.jpg|Town hall square Image:HoesbachBrunnenaufdemMarktplatz.JPG|Fountain on the marketplace ==Governance==