The first recorded mention of Buch am Forst was in 1215, when its name was spelled as
Buoch. At that time, it was a part of the joint inheritance (
Ganerbschaft) of the
Banz Abbey, the district of Lichtenfels of the
Bishopric of Bamberg and the senior line of the von Redwitz family. In 1225 Hermann von Arnstein donated to the Banz Abbey a property in Buch, previously owned by Hugo von Merzebach, and a place, where the Gutenfels Castle was built. But the village still belonged partly to the Prince-Bishopric of Bamberg and partly to the
Saxon Duchies until the end of the
Holy Roman Empire. On 21 August 1811 the Duchy of
Saxe-Coburg and Gotha handed Buch am Forst completely over to the
Kingdom of Bavaria. The kingdom then assigned Buch am Forst to the
Mainkreis [District of the Main River], which later became
Obermainkreis [District of the Upper Main River] in 1817 and then
Oberfranken (
Upper Franconia) in 1838. Until the end of
World War I, Buch am Forst sat on the border between Saxe-Coburg and Bavaria and served as the customs office for Bavaria. It also had a Forestry Office for the nearby Forest of Lichtenfels. In 1818, it merged with the hamlets of Hammer, Seehof and Forsthub to form a single municipality. Throughout the 1830s, it had a manor, a brewery and 2 mills as well as the customs and forestry offices. By 1912, it had gained a post office but the nearest train station was 2.5 miles (4 km) away at Scherneck-Siemau at
Itz Valley Railway. Buch am Forst had 325 residents in 1818, 290 residents in 1831, 300 residents in 1840, 629 residents in 1898, 608 residents in 1912, 802 residents in 1950, 777 residents in 1961, 702 residents in 1970 and 557 residents in 2009. ==Religion==