Rhön-Grabfeld is a ''Landkreis'' (district) in

Bavaria Bavaria ( ; ), officially the Free State of Bavaria (german: Freistaat Bayern, link=no ), is a state in the south-east of Germany. With an area of , Bavaria is the largest German state by land area, comprising roughly a fifth of the total l ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwee ...

. It is bounded by (from the southeast and clockwise) the districts of Hassberge,

Schweinfurt Schweinfurt ( , ; ) is a city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding district (''Landkreis'') of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultural and educational hub. The urban ag ...

and

Bad Kissingen Bad Kissingen is a German spa town in the Bavarian region of Lower Franconia and seat of the district Bad Kissingen. Situated to the south of the Rhön Mountains on the Franconian Saale river, it is one of the health resorts, which beca ...

, and the states of

Hesse Hesse (, , ) or Hessia (, ; german: Hessen ), officially the State of Hessen (german: links=no, Land Hessen), is a state in Germany. Its capital city is Wiesbaden, and the largest urban area is Frankfurt. Two other major historic cities are ...

(district

Fulda Fulda () (historically in English called Fuld) is a town in Hesse, Germany; it is located on the river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the Fulda district (''Kreis''). In 1990, the town hosted the 30th Hessentag state festival. Histor ...

) and

Thuringia Thuringia (; german: Thüringen ), officially the Free State of Thuringia ( ), is a state of central Germany, covering , the sixth smallest of the sixteen German states. It has a population of about 2.1 million. Erfurt is the capital and lar ...

(districts Schmalkalden-Meiningen and

Hildburghausen Hildburghausen ( IPA adapted from: ) is a town in Thuringia in central Germany, capital of the district Hildburghausen. Geography It is situated in the Franconian part of Thuringia south of the Thuringian Forest, in the valley of the Werra riv ...

History

In medieval times the region was a part of the

Bishopric of Würzburg In church governance, a diocese or bishopric is the ecclesiastical district under the jurisdiction of a bishop. History In the later organization of the Roman Empire, the increasingly subdivided provinces were administratively associat ...

. When the clerical states of Germany were dissolved in 1803, it fell to

. The district of Rhön-Grabfeld was established in 1972, when the former districts of Bad Neustadt, Königshofen and Mellrichstadt were merged.

Geography

The district consists of two distinct areas: The eastern parts of the Rhön mountains and the Bavarian portion of Grabfeld. Grabfeld is a fertile region south of the Rhön mountains. Literally it means "digfield". According to local legend a queen once lost her beloved ring in the Grabfeld. She ordered her servants to dig up the whole area. When the ring was found, she was relieved and ordered a royal estate to be built where it was found. Later this estate became the city of Königshofen. The source of the Fränkische Saale is located in the district. The river runs through the district from north to south.

Coat of arms

The coat of arms displays: * a crown representing the Grabfeld legend * a wavy line representing the Saale River * three

summit cross A summit cross (german: Gipfelkreuz) is a cross on the summit of a mountain or hill that marks the top. Often there will be a summit register (''Gipfelbuch'') at the cross, either in a container or at least a weatherproof case. Various other fo ...

es representing the mountains of the Rhön

Towns and municipalities

References

External links

Official website
(German) {{DEFAULTSORT:Rhon-Grabfeld Districts of Bavaria Rhön Mountains