The Spessart region has had a chequered history. It was initially a royal forest, intended for hunting. It was then ruled for many centuries by the archbishops of Mainz. It was only in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries that they permitted settlement of the forest area. The Spessart region was always governed from outside – after the Archbishopric of Mainz, it was governed by the Bishopric of Würzburg and then by a number of minor regimes, such as the Counts of Rieneck.
This state of political fragmentation, with no cross-border law enforcement, favoured the emergence of bands of robbers. The Spessart Robbers are documented at the beginning of the nineteenth century, and they have been immortalised by Wilhelm Hauff in his 1828 tale ‘The inn in the Spessart’ and by Kurt Hoffmann in his 1958 movie of the same name. The bandit nuisance in the Spessart region had its final heyday during the collapse of the German empire. With the rearrangement of the territories and more effective administrative procedures that this brought with it, the bandit problem was quickly eradicated.
The Electorate of Mainz was dissolved by the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss (Final Recess of the Imperial Deputation), and the Spessart region became part of the principality of Aschaffenburg, later the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt. Finally, large tracts of the forest were given over to the Kingdom of Bavaria. Today, the territory of the Spessart region still covers four administrative districts in two federal states.
The historical and actual background to the Brothers Grimm fairytale of Snow White is also rooted in the Spessart region.
In addition to sparse agriculture, the Spessart region also had resources such as timber, hydropower, salt, ores and minerals. These provided the basis for charcoal burning, potteries, ironworks and mining industries.
Glass products and mirrors from Spessart glassworks were sold all over Europe. There is a glassworks still in operation today in Lohr.
The Spessart region was criss-crossed by numerous trade routes, from which the rulers exacted tariff revenues. The many churches and monasteries, fortresses and castles bear witness to a very prosperous history.
From here, Frammersbach traders travelled the length and breadth of Europe. With the building of the railway and improved river navigation, however, their livelihood was increasingly eroded during the nineteenth century.
With the Industrial Revolution, the Spessart region, like most of Germany’s low-mountainous Mittelgebirge country, suffered economically. Better and cheaper transport routes meant that merchandise from the major centres could be sold in the farthest- flung markets at more favourable prices. The Spessart region became visibly impoverished.
The Spessart Museum in Lohr gives a good depiction of the area and an informative overview of its history and life in the Spessart region over the centuries.
The exhibits are very informative and well thought-out, and the Museum is good to visit with children as well. But make sure you do not underestimate the length of time a visit will take. The historic trading town of Lohr am Main, with its picturesque Old Town lanes, is also worth taking a long stroll around. And Marktheidenfeld, Wertheim, Miltenberg, Klingenberg and Aschaffenburg, the old seat of royal power, are also recommended as attractive destinations for a day out.
The most famous building in the Spessart region is Schloss Mespelbrunn, a fairytale moated castle. It was the residence of the Echter family, who carried out the administrative duties of the Archbishopric of Mainz in the Aschaffenburg district.
Mespelbrunn is so isolated that it has never been touched by the many wars that have been waged in and around the region.
Also worth seeing are the Gothic pilgrim church in Hessenthal, with it nave and two side aisles, and also an important collection of crucifixes by Hans Backoffen, a Riemenschneider altar and the burial chapel of the Echters of Mespelbrunn, the Carolingian Vierungskirche in Neustadt am Main, and Schloss Luitpoldshöhe, built in the Rohrbrunner forest in 1889 by Prince Regent Luitpold of Bavaria as a lodge for his hunting trips in the Spessart. The Schloss has been unused since 1996, and its future is uncertain.
Finally, in Sommerkahl, you can visit Grube Wilhelmine, an old copper mine. Between Würzburg and Schweinfurt is the Schloss Werneck castle, one of Baltasar Neumann’s famous buildings.
