Pre-BCE History Traces of settlement as early as 7500 years ago can be detected on today's urban area at various places. The first settlement of the historic Schweinfurt
(Village Old Town) was also on the Main, between the two streams
Höllenbach and
Marienbach, 1 km east of the later founded imperial city, which corresponds to the old town today. The
Village Old Town is in its origins at least 2100 years old.
8th–13th centuries The first documentary mention Schweinfurts (village old town) took place in the year 791. He occupied an important position in the central Reich territory, the
Duchy of Franconia. Berthold gave the king of
East Francia Otto I. (936–973), who in 962 became
Roman-German Emperor, valuable weapons aid against rebellious tribal dukes. As thanks Berthold of Otto I received the counties for the Folkfeld- and the Radenzgau and the Margraviate for the Nordgau, about the present-day Upper Palatinate. Thus he was and from 980 his son Henry the most powerful secular nobility in the area of today's northern Bavaria. Later supported Count
Henry of Schweinfurt (called:
Hezilo) the East Frankish
Henry II (1002–1024, from 1014 Roman-German Emperor) in the royal election of 1002 and was awarded the Duke dignity of Bavarians. After the election, however, Henry II did not fulfill the promise. Thereupon it came to the
Schweinfurt Feud in 1003.
13th–15th centuries The (inner) city fortification of the new city was built and first documented in 1258, it is still largely preserved on Marienbach today. A document from 1282 signed by
Rudolf I of Habsburg states that Schweinfurt was a
free city within the
Holy Roman Empire. In a confession change had to be expected military assault. The patron of the city, Count Wilhelm von Henneberg, did not offer sufficient support. In the course of the
Second Margrave War, the city was looted in 1554 and set on fire. This went as the
Second City Spoilage in the city history (
First City Spoilage see:
8th–13th centuries). The reconstruction dragged on until 1615. In this form, the old town, with the exception of later modernized fortifications, remained almost unchanged until the early 19th century. In 1609 the city joined the
Protestant Union. The imperial city territory was supplemented 1620 also still around Madenhausen, Schweinfurt joined the Protestant Union in 1609. In the
Thirty Years' War it was occupied by
Gustavus Adolphus, who erected fortifications, the remains of which are still extant. In 1652 the four doctors Johann Laurentius Bausch,
Johann Michael Fehr, Georg Balthasar Wolfahrt and Balthasar Metzger founded the
Academia Curiosorum in Schweinfurt, which is known today as the German Academy of Life Scientists, "
Leopoldina". Schweinfurt remained a free imperial city until 1802, when it passed to the
Electorate of Bavaria. Assigned to the
grand duke of Würzburg in 1810, it was granted to the
Kingdom of Bavaria four years later. The first railway junction was opened in 1852. In the following years Schweinfurt became a world leading centre for the production of
ball bearings. This was to lead to grievous consequences for the city during
World War II. Schweinfurt-1648-Merian.jpg|Imperial City of Schweinfurt 1648
Matthäus Merian, Frankfurt a. M. De Merian Frankoniae 128.jpg|Imperial City of Schweinfurtin
Topographia Franconiae 1656 1 Mühltor vor 1876.jpg|Mühltor (Mill gate) at the end of Mühlgasse(today Rückertstraße)(photo before 1876) 1 Ultsch1 äußeres Spitaltor Wachturm von 1555 vor 1896 S. 13.jpg|Outer Spitaltor (Spital gate, right)and Inner Spitaltower (watchtower)(photo before 1896) 1 Ultsch1 Spitaltor Heilig Geist Zuckerfabrik Steinweg Spitalgasse vor 1896 S. 11.jpg|Spitalstrasse, on the horizon Spitaltor (Spital gate) and Spital Church(photo before 1896) 1 Ultsch1 Rothsches Haus Schopperhaus um 1891 S. 37.jpg|''Roth'sches Haus''in the Obere Straße(photo around 1891)
18th–20th centuries The year 1770 marked the beginning of the industrialization of the city, with its 250-year-old industrial history. In the first century of industrialization, the chemical and paint industry started in Schweinfurt, with the construction of the Wolf's lead white mill at the Bleiweißmühlenwehr. According to Dr. Ferdinand Gademann (1880–1969), it was the oldest German lead white factory. In 1780 the factory was taken over by Johann Martin Schmidt. Further factory-similar plants of this kind originated at the Bellevue and in the neighboring suburb
Niederwerrn. Following the
Reichsdeputationshauptschluss, Schweinfurt came to Bavaria in 1803, two years before the
Kingdom of Bavaria was founded. 4000 people demonstrated against the Anschluss at the Rossmarkt. After the interim membership of the Grand Duchy of Würzburg (1810–1814), Schweinfurt fell in 1814 to the Kingdom of Bavaria. The villages belonging to the imperial city territory were spun off. As a result, Schweinfurt lost about two-thirds of its territory. 1852 took place with the opening of the
Ludwigs-Westbahn from
Bamberg to the new
Schweinfurt Stadt station the connection to the railway network. With the construction of the line to
Bad Kissingen (1871) and the
Schweinfurt–Meiningen railway (1874) Schweinfurt became a railway junction. In 1874, a large marshalling and central station was built 3 km west of the city station, at that time on Oberndorf district, the so-called
Central Station and today's
Schweinfurt Hauptbahnhof at the
Bamberg–Rottendorf railway. It was created in a far-sighted manner amidst fields as a passenger and goods main station, with the aim of leaving as much room for the expected industrialization of the station, which also took place here until the end of the 1930s was. The Schweinfurt tram was the first municipal tram in Bavaria from 1895 to 1921 to connect the Schweinfurt Hauptbahnhof with the city centre. Straßenbahn Schweinfurt.png|Schweinfurt tram near the
Schweinfurt Hauptbahnhof (central station) (1913) SCHWEINFURT Fichtel & Sachs Abb.2.jpg|
Fichtel & Sachs AG 1913 1 Ultsch2 Spitalstraße mit Pferdebahn nach 1896 S. 44.jpg|Spitalstraße after 1894 with tram Schweinfurt, Luitpoldstraße 21-crop.jpg|District of the Gründerzeit 1 Ultsch1 Leinritt am Fischerrain Pumpwerk Maxbrücke um 1902 S. 34.jpg|Main mills Unlike many other cities, the 1930s were one of the most important epochs of urban development in Schweinfurt. The number of employees of major metalworking companies rose to 20,700 by 1939. This led to a construction boom and set the course for modern urban development.
World War II raid on ball-bearing works in Schweinfurt in 1943 with combined bomber offensive June 1944: Schweinfurt (checkered hatching in the German centre) was the only primary target of the Allies in Bavaria. In 1939, Schweinfurt produced most of
Nazi Germany's
ball bearings, and factories such as the Schweinfurter Kugellagerwerke became a target of
Allied strategic bombing during World War II to cripple
tank and aircraft production. Schweinfurt was bombed 22 times during
Operation Pointblank by a total of 2,285 aircraft. The
Schweinfurt–Regensburg mission caused an immediate 34% loss of production and all plants but the largest were devastated by fire. Efforts to disperse the surviving machinery began immediately and the
Luftwaffe deployed large numbers of interceptors along the corridor to Schweinfurt. Bombing also included the
Second Raid on Schweinfurt on 14 October 1943 ("called Black Thursday because of the enormous loss of aircraft (60) and lives (600+)") and
Big Week in February 1944. Although losses of production bearings and machinery were high and much of the industrial and residential areas of the city were destroyed, killing more than a thousand civilians, the factories were restored to production and the industry dispersed. Although German planners initially thought it essential to purchase the entire output of the Swedish ball-bearing industry, losses in the production of bearings were actually made up from surpluses found within Germany in the aftermath of the first raid. The decentralized industry was able to restore output to 85% of its pre-bombing level.
Hitler made restoration of ball bearing production a high priority and massive efforts were undertaken to repair and rebuild the factories, partly in bomb-proof underground facilities. The
42nd Infantry Division (United States) entered Schweinfurt on 11 April 1945 and engaged in
house-to-house fighting.
U.S. Army Garrison Schweinfurt After the war Schweinfurt became a stronghold of the U.S. military and their dependents. Thus Schweinfurt recovered relatively quickly from its third period of destruction. The tank barracks renamed Ledward Barracks in 1946, became the headquarters of the newly founded U.S. Army Garrison Schweinfurt (USAG Schweinfurt). The U.S. Army took over the
Luftwaffe Airfield as
Schweinfurt Army Heliport and renamed the air base to
Conn Barracks. In the course of time, until 2014, they were expanded into large barracks with many hangars, administration buildings, a large event hall, church and sports facilities. From the 1950s to the late 1990s, a civilian infrastructure similar to that of a small American town was successively built in the northwest of Schweinfurt. As a result of the closure of many other German U.S. sites, Schweinfurt eventually became one of Europe's largest U.S. locations. Including the
Brönnhof training area the USAG Schweinfurt covered a total area of 29 km2. Schweinfurt formerly hosted the U.S. Army Garrison Schweinfurt, which the U.S. Army closed on 19 September 2014 due to an ongoing effort to concentrate the U.S. military's footprint in Germany to fewer communities.
Reconstruction and postwar period A quick, scheduled rebuilding of the city was not necessary due to the degree of destruction of 40 to 45% (see:
Cityscape). Like many other West German cities and communities, Schweinfurt also experienced an unprecedented economic miracle in the 1950s and 1960s, and large-scale industry boomed. To counteract the labor shortage, guest workers were recruited from 1960 onwards. Most of the postwar construction projects were realized under the aegis of Mayor Georg Wichtermann (SPD, 1965–1974), in the city governed by the
SPD by an absolute majority. Numerous new residential districts were created. By the
Jump over the River Main (starting from 1963) developed south of the Main River the commercial park
Port East and the new industrial area
Port West. The infrastructure was expanded, with the Main Port (1963) and today's
University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt (1971). After successful reconstruction and the boom years, the time of Mayor Kurt Petzold (SPD, 1974–1992) was marked by consolidation, but also by the
oil crisis and recessions, with job cuts in the local large-scale industry. The old town renovation began in 1979, as the starting point of a 40-year-long transformation of the city that has continued to this day, with a change in image, from the gray mouse industrial city to a city with a high quality of life. In 1991, the large
Leopoldina Hospital was opened.
The era Grieser 1992–2010 In the city dominated by the
SPD, the
CSU succeeded in 1992 for the first time to make the Lord Mayor, with the political cross-starter
Gudrun Grieser. The Bavarian state government under the then Prime Minister
Edmund Stoiber (CSU) sympathetically accompanied the historical change of power and parts of the Bavarian State Social Court and the Bavarian State Statistics Office were relocated from
Munich to Schweinfurt. During Grieser's term of office, the economic situation stabilized starting in the mid-1990s, with 4,500 new industrial jobs and around 6,000 jobs in the service sector. Trade tax revenue rose to a record high. In the Grieser era, the city's new motto,
Industry and Art, was developed. A large number of projects, in cooperation with the construction officer Jochen Müller (SPD) gave the city a new face, set new, nationally recognized symbols in architecture and were honored with numerous architecture prizes. Among the many realized projects are the new Industrial Park
Gewerbepark Maintal (since 1995), the
Museum Georg Schäfer (2000), the
Maininsel Conference Center (2004), the
Stadtbücherei Ebracher Hof (2007), the
Kunsthalle Schweinfurt (art gallery, 2009), the
Stadtgalerie Schweinfurt, a shopping mall 2009) with redesign of the Weststadt (westend) and the new
Schweinfurt Mitte station, the Youth Hostel (2009), the
Health Park Schweinfurt (2009) and the Campus 2 of the
University of Applied Sciences Würzburg-Schweinfurt. The era of Grieser remains to this day shaping the city, like no other epoch after the reconstruction and it changed the city's image lasting positive. In 1998, German and American veterans and survivors of the bombing raids came together to erect a
war memorial to the fallen. 2004 startet the
Unterfrankenshuttle (Lower Franconia Shuttle) of the
Erfurter Bahn (EB)
regional railway with lines from Schweinfurt to other parts of
Lower Franconia and to
South Thuringia.
Present The
New Hadergasse Project was implemented under the current mayor Sebastian Remelé (CSU, since 2010). Trade tax receipts continued to rise and the city was able to save reserves. These are currently being used for the mammoth U.S. conversion project, which is currently one of the five largest military conversion projects in Germany. The
i-Campus Schweinfurt in the former Ledward Barracks and the new district of Bellevue in the former Askren Manor Housing Area deserve special mention. ==Geography==