Karlstadt am Main

Geschichte

Karlstadt is a town in the Main-Spessart district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken) in Bavaria, Germany. It is the Main-Spessart district seat (Kreisstadt).The locals often call the town, in their own dialect, Karscht or Karscht am Mee (Karlstadt am Main). The townsfolk are called Flaak or Karschter Flaak.GeographyLocationThe town lies roughly 25 km north of Würzburg in the Main-Franconian winegrowing region.Constituent communitiesSince the amalgamations in 1978, Karlstadt’s Stadtteile are Gambach, Heßlar, Karlburg, Klein Laudenbach, Laudenbach, Mühlbach, Rohrbach, Stadelhofen, Stetten and Wiesenfeld.HistoryFrom the late 6th to the mid 13th century, over on the other side of the Main, lay the unusually big valley settlement of Karlburg with its monastery and harbour. Its reason for being there was the Karlsburg, a castle perched high over the community that was destroyed only in the German Peasants' War in 1525. In 1202 came the founding of Karlstadt by Bishop Konrad von Querfurt. The exact founding date is unknown. However, given that the founder’s time in office was only four years, the time can be reckoned fairly easily.The town was methodically laid out with a nearly rectangular plan to defend Würzburg territory against the Counts of Rieneck. The plan is still well preserved today. The streets in the Old Town are laid out much like a chessboard, but for military reasons they are not quite straight.