Aschaffenburg is a city in north west Bavaria, Germany. It is located on the right bank of the Main near the foot of the Spessart. The city of Aschaffenburg is not included in the district of Aschaffenburg, but is its administrative seat. It is also known as the Tor zum Spessart or "gate to the Spessart mountain range." Although it is within Bavaria, the city's inhabitants claim to be Franconians, not Bavarians. This can be doubted as well as the city never was part of historical Franconia, but belonged to the archbishop of Mainz. Population: 66,800 (1999). Its chief buildings are the Schloss Johannisburg, built (1605-1614) by Archbishop Schweikard von Kronberg, which contains a library with a number of incunabula, a collection of engravings and paintings; the Stiftskirche, or cathedral, founded in 974 by Otto of Swabia, duke of Bavaria, but dating in the main from the early 12th century on, in which are preserved various monuments by the Vischers, a sarcophagus with the relics of Saint Margaret, and a famous painting by Matthias Grünewald; the Capuchin hospital; a theatre, which was formerly a house of the Teutonic Order; and several mansions of the nobility.
Aschaffenburg was the location of several United States Army installations throughout the cold war. The US Army occupied facilities formerly used and controlled by the Wehrmacht. The installation sites were known as Ready Kaserne,Smith Kaserne,Graves Kaserne, Fiori Kaserne, Engineer Kaserne and Jaeger Kasern, housing armor, infantry, engineer, maintenance and artillery elements of the US Army 3rd Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division and various VII Corps elements including the 9th Engineer Brigade. Much of the US Army presence in Aschaffenburg ended in 1992 with the end of the cold war. The last bases will be given back in 2007.
