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Spessart () is a Mittelgebirge, a range of low wooded mountains, in the States of Bavaria and Hesse in Germany. It is bordered by the Vogelsberg, Rhön and Odenwald. The highest elevation is the Geiersberg at 586 metres above sea level.
The highest elevation is the Geiersberg at 586 metres above sea level. The highest elevation in the Hessian part of the Spessart is Hermannskoppe at 567 metres.
Since the admission of Croatia to the European Union (EU), the geographical centre of the EU is located in the village of Westerngrund, near Schöllkrippen, according to the Institut de Géographie in Paris. Previously, the centre was located west of Gelnhausen.
The major making up the Spessart are known as Sandstein-Spessart and Vorspessart.
Parts of the Spessart lie within the Main-Kinzig district (Hesse) and the Bavarian districts Main-Spessart, Aschaffenburg (city), Landkreis Aschaffenburg and Miltenberg.
According to a strictly geological definition, a small region south of the Main near Wertheim and another south of Gemünden can be considered part of the Spessart. That definition would mean that part of the Spessart lies in the state of Baden-Württemberg.
The area within the triangle Würzburg-Wertheim-Gemünden is sometimes referred to as Würzburger Spessart.
The top layer of most of the Hochspessart and southern Spessart is made up of a slab of Buntsandstein or red sandstone, of up to 400 metres thickness. It dates back about 250 million years and is prevalent especially around Miltenberg. This is the best-known stone of the area, as it has been used in the past for many public buildings including the cathedrals of the Rhine valley, like Mainz Cathedral. On the western edge of the range there is also loess, a wind-deposited sediment.
The area of the Würzburger Spessart is made up of Muschelkalk, which provides better conditions for agriculture than the sandstone predominating in most of the Spessart proper. However, the north-south rift that follows the river Main along the western leg of the Maindreieck does not match exactly the geological divide between the sandstone and the Muschelkalk. For around 60 kilometres the rift parallels the Main from Gemünden to Triefenstein. The hills east of the river thus resemble those of the Spessart geologically.
The Bavarian Spessart Nature Park ( Naturpark Bayerischer Spessart) measures 171,000 hectares in area and includes part of the southern Rhön (north of Gemünden and east of the Sinn river) and extends to the southern side of the Main river between Marktheidenfeld and Karlstadt. It features the largest continuous mixed forest in Germany. The Hessian Spessart Nature Park ( Naturpark Hessischer Spessart) covers 72,900 hectares and is bordered in the north by the valley of the Kinzig.
For the current national park controversy, see below.
In the Hochspessart, around 85% of which is covered by forests, and beeches are most numerous. The oldest trees are found in the nature preserves of Rohrberg (near Rohrbrunn) and Metzgergraben.
Like the Vorspessart, the Nordspessart also sports more evergreens, because the original tree cover there was largely gone by the 15th century as a result of the substantial fuel needs of the local glass foundry industry.
The Spessart provides a habitat for numerous species of animals. Deer, and foxes are quite common. There are also European badger, raccoons, , Eurasian lynx and marten. The beaver, although hunted to extinction in the region, has been successfully re-established since the 1980s along several river valleys (Hafenlohr, Sinn).
Several species of woodpecker are found in the Spessart: black, great spotted, middle spotted, green and grey-faced.
Since the Spessart proper was not part of the Ancient Rome territory, the Romans left traces only in the northwest of the region. The Limes Germanicus met the Main river near Großkrotzenburg and the border then followed the river south all the way to Miltenberg. Large castra were located at Seligenstadt, Stockstadt am Main, Niedernberg, Obernburg, Wörth, Trennfurt (near Klingenberg) and near Miltenberg. The northern part of the Vorspessart was kept uninhabited by the Romans as a "no man's land" and buffer zone between their border and the local tribes.
As the Roman empire collapsed, the Burgundians came to the Main valley from the northeast in the late 3rd century. In the 5th century they were in turn ousted by the Allemanni, coming from the south. Aschaffenburg, Lohr and Gemünden were likely founded by them. The Alemanni were then absorbed by the Franks moving into the region from the Rhine. Graves dating to the 6th to 8th century were found near Obernburg, Mömlingen, Obernau and Aschaffenburg.
Subsequent efforts to settle the uplands were made by the inhabitants of villages around the periphery like Klingenberg, Miltenberg, Kreuzwertheim, Lohr or Gemünden. From the valley of the Sinn, the Counts of Rieneck and the Knights of the Thüngen family (at Burgsinn) also attempted to expand into the Spessart. However, their efforts were hindered by their insular position, sandwiched between the substantial holdings of the great ecclesial powers of Fulda monastery, Würzburg and Mainz. The latter acquired local influence not least via the Kollegiatsstift Aschaffenburg, which had been gifted much of the previous royal hunting preserve in 974 by Emperor Otto II. In 982, Otto I, Duke of Swabia and Bavaria died and left his regional territories to Mainz, which eventually turned Aschaffenburg into a second princely residence. Settlement efforts also originated from the Kinzig valley, in particular from the Kaiserpfalz at Gelnhausen (built under Emperor Friedrich Barbarossa in the 12th century). Abbeys also continued to expand into the forest. Apart from Kloster Neustadt, there was an Augustinians priory at Triefenstein (), founded in 1102. (2025). 9783831310753, Wartberg Verlag. ISBN 9783831310753
Much of the medieval activity inside the Spessart centred on hunting by nobles, however, including notably the Prince-Electors/Archbishops of Mainz. Between the 12th and the 15th century several Jagdschloss (Schöllkrippen, Wiesen, Rothenbuch, Bartelstein, Rohrbrunn) and moated castles (Burgsinn, Sommerau, Mespelbrunn) were constructed. To attract staff, the rulers provided land and cattle as well as forestry and fishing rights. In the 13th and 14th century, the Archbishops of Mainz expanded their influence and territory in the region. In the 14th century, they set up a system of local representatives ( Forst- and Bachhuben) who were in charge of supervising hunting and forestry ( Forsthuben) or fishing and organising the rafting of logs downriver ( Bachhuben). These positions were mostly filled with lesser nobles who built fortified houses (e.g. at Oberaulenbach near Eschau and at Sommerau). In total there were 18 to 22 of these Huben (or Hufen, so called after an area of land that could be circuited on horseback in a given amount of time), located inter alia in Hösbach, Goldbach, Krausenbach, Obernau, Kleinostheim, Sailauf, Waldaschaff, Wintersbach and Heimbuchenthal. The commoners employed by the absentee feudal lords lived in villages that took the typical form of stretching along a single main street which followed the valleys of little streams ( Streifendörfer, today still visible at Hessenthal, Mespelbrunn, Heimbuchenthal or Wintersbach). Settlers were granted a plot of land of around 100 metres width stretching from the road or stream in the middle of the valley up to the top of the ridges on either side of the valley. However, since the territory ruled by Mainz used an inheritance law that required the property to be split between all the sons of the deceased, the size of the holdings soon began to dwindle and often became too small to support families.
The Counts of Rieneck, originally in the service of the Archbishops of Mainz, later became their rivals in the struggle for the Spessart's resources. Until the family died out in 1543, the rivalry between Mainz and Rieneck dominated the area's history.
Although sparsely populated in the Middle Ages, the Spessart at the time was crossed by two important trading routes. One, known as the Eselsweg ("donkey path") was used to transport salt (on the back of donkeys) from what is today Bad Orb to the Main near Großheubach where it was loaded on ships. The other, the Birkenhainer Strasse, connected Hanau in the west to Gemünden in the east, cutting across the wide loop of the Main known as Mainviereck. This route seems to have been in use as early as Neolithic times and was heavily frequented. The name probably derived from a grove of birch trees near Geiselbach.
A major regional industry in medieval and early modern times were glass foundries that made use of the abundant local supply of firewood (e.g. at Wiesthal, Weibersbrunn, Neuhütten, Heigenbrücken, Einsiedel and Heinrichsthal). Glass production then required an annual amount of wood roughly translating to 20 to 30 hectares of forest per foundry. By the early 15th century, the four foundries located in the territory controlled by Mainz produced around 230,000 pieces of blown glass and 3,000 zentner of flat glass each year. Most of these enterprises were discontinued by the 18th and 19th century, however, having become uneconomical. (2025). 9783831310753, Wartberg Verlag. ISBN 9783831310753
After the 17th century, ("iron hammers") were set up, using water power to create wrought iron. These early industrial establishments were at Laufach, Waldaschaff, Schafsteg, Höllhammer, Lichtenau and Wintersbach. The last of these still in operation is in the Haslochtal.
The French invasion during the War of the First Coalition again brought war to the Spessart in 1796. In 1803, the ecclesial princedoms were abolished in the Secularization. The northern part of the Spessart, part of the Grafschaft Hanau, became part of Kurhessen, with the exception of Alzenau. After the Congress of Vienna of 1814/15, the former territories of Mainz and Würzburg became part of the Kingdom of Bavaria. In 1866, the Kurfürstentum Hessen and with it the northern Spessart became . In 1854 the railway between Würzburg and Aschaffenburg was opened, replacing the post route in use since 1615 as the main thoroughfare through the hills.
In World War II, Aschaffenburg was severely hit by Allied air raids and further damaged by a siege.
In the 1950s the Spessart section of the Bundesautobahn 3 (or A3) was built, linking Würzburg and Aschaffenburg.
Other popular characters from German folklore also appear prominently in legends from the region. In stark contrast to the Grimm brothers' version, the more rural, precarious lives of Spessart folks made Mother Hulda, generally a regular staple in middle German tales, a much more brutal and unfathomable figure, at times even resorting to killing people. (in German) A similar female appearance is the Aaleborgfraale (regional dialect for "Altenburg lady"), who is especially feared and revered by locals. The most popular story is about her guarding a buried treasure chest in legendary "Altenburg" castle, that can only be retrieved by being absolutely silent during the process. If one fails to do so, by opening the wooden crate, he or she will not find treasures, but will face the harrowing image of the Aaleborgfraale stepping out of the crate. As with Mother Hulda, the character is said to go back to pre-Christian times in the Bronze Age.
Many of the lesser-known Spessart tales that were passed down till today have been collected by local teacher and ethnologist Valentin Pfeiffer (1886–1964). His book Spessart-Sagen ("Spessart legends") has been reprinted 17 times.
However, a controversy soon erupted about the plan. Critics argued that they would lose the right to access water sources on public land, that the zones of strict environmental protection would result in the uncontrolled spread of pests such as the Bark beetle or of wild boars and wolves. In addition, many local property owners currently enjoy rights, sometimes dating back to the Middle Ages, to harvest wood in state-owned forests. This sideline in forestry business has long been a source of fuel, timber and income for many.
CSU Member of the Landtag founded the association Wir im Spessart to oppose the plan. In a short time he was able to collect over 7,000 signatures against the national park. Local farmer associations and hunting groups joined the cause. Residents have protested against the plan by posting signs, attending demonstrations and organizing local referendums.
Support for the plan came from environmentalists, as well as from many forestry workers, who argued that many of the concerns advanced by the critics were misplaced or exaggerated.
The protests by local property owners/residents against the plan were ultimately successful. In July 2017, the Bavarian state government officially announced that plans for a national park in the Spessart would not be pursued further. The reason given was that no private property rights should be infringed in creating a national park.
The Bundesautobahn 3 (or A3), a major west-east route, crosses the Spessart between Aschaffenburg and a point to the northeast of Wertheim. The other major roads are the 26 (Aschaffenburg-Lohr) and 276 (Wächtersbach-Lohr). In the Spessart, the B8 today follows the route of the A3.
The main asset of the Spessart region remain its forests. Besides attracting tourists to the area, there are substantial forestry businesses, for example at Burgsinn and the , a privately owned woodland. The forests of the Spessart are known for the quality of their wood. The brown "Spessart Oak", in particular, is renowned for its tight, straight grain; it is used for fine furniture, millwork, and flooring. The forests also provide game/hunting, wild berries and mushrooms. However, shipbuilding which used to be a major industry in some towns along the Main, lost its local importance with the advent of ships built from metal rather than wood. One shipyard is still active at Erlenbach am Main.
Quarrying of sandstone, a major industry in medieval and early modern times concentrated on Miltenberg, Fechenbach and Reistenhausen, has largely been ended.
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