Goldbach () is a market community in the Aschaffenburg district in the ''

Regierungsbezirk A ' (, 'governmental district') is a type of administrative division in Germany. Currently, four of sixteen ' (states of Germany) are split into '. Beneath these are rural and urban districts ' (plural, ) serve as regional mid-level local gov ...

'' of

Lower Franconia Lower Franconia (, ) is one of seven districts of Bavaria, Germany. The districts of Lower, Middle and Upper Franconia make up the region of Franconia. It consists of nine districts and 308 municipalities (including three cities). History After ...

(''Unterfranken'') in

Bavaria Bavaria, officially the Free State of Bavaria, is a States of Germany, state in the southeast of Germany. With an area of , it is the list of German states by area, largest German state by land area, comprising approximately 1/5 of the total l ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

Geography

Location

The market community is one of the most heavily populated communities in the Aschaffenburg district and is well known for the "housing" that encloses the

Autobahn The (; German , ) is the federal controlled-access highway system in Germany. The official term is (abbreviated ''BAB''), which translates as 'federal motorway'. The literal meaning of the word is 'Federal Auto(mobile) Track'. Much of t ...

A 3. It is believed that the name has its roots in the yellow

loess A loess (, ; from ) is a clastic rock, clastic, predominantly silt-sized sediment that is formed by the accumulation of wind-blown dust. Ten percent of Earth's land area is covered by loesses or similar deposition (geology), deposits. A loess ...

soil, which during heavy rainfalls colours the local brook, also called the Goldbach, with a somewhat golden tinge. ''Gold'' is also the

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

word for gold, and ''Bach'' means "brook". Supposedly, the place was first called ''Gelbbach'', ''gelb'' being the word for "yellow".

Constituent communities

On 1 July 1971, the formerly self-administering community of Unterafferbach was amalgamated with Goldbach.

History

In 1218, Goldbach had its first documentary mention. From the mid 15th century, Goldbach was under the authority of the

Archbishop of Mainz The Elector of Mainz was one of the seven Prince-electors of the Holy Roman Empire. As both the Archbishop of Mainz and the ruling prince of the Electorate of Mainz, the Elector of Mainz held a powerful position during the Middle Ages. The Archb ...

. In 1814, Goldbach was transferred to Bavaria. On 26 May 1995, Goldbach was granted the designation ''Markt'' ("Market").

Politics

Community council

The council is made up of 24 council members, not counting the mayor. (as at municipal election held on 2 March 2008)

Coat of arms

The community’s

arms Arms or ARMS may refer to: *Arm or arms, the upper limbs of the body Arm, Arms, or ARMS may also refer to: People * Ida A. T. Arms (1856–1931), American missionary-educator, temperance leader Coat of arms or weapons *Armaments or weapons **Fi ...

might be described thus: Gules a bend wavy Or, in chief a noble coronet argent set with colourful stones, in base a wheel spoked of six of the third. The German blazon describes the coronet as a ''Laubkrone'', or "leaf crown". The "bend wavy Or" – that is to say, wavy slanted golden stripe – is canting. As explained above, the community’s name means "Gold Brook", and this bend is a visual representation of just such a thing. From the 7th to the 11th century, Goldbach belonged to the area of the

Frankish Frankish may refer to: * Franks, a Germanic tribe and their culture ** Frankish language or its modern descendants, Franconian languages, a group of Low Germanic languages also commonly referred to as "Frankish" varieties * Francia, a post-Roman ...

royal estate, which is what the crown symbolizes. Until 1803, Goldbach found itself under

Electoral Mainz The Electorate of Mainz ( or '; ), previously known in English as Mentz and by its French name Mayence, was one of the most prestigious and influential states of the Holy Roman Empire. In the hierarchy of the Catholic Church, the Archbishop-Elec ...

hegemony, a fact recalled by the

Wheel of Mainz The Wheel of Mainz or , in German language, German, was the coat of arms of the Archbishopric of Mainz and thus also of the Electorate of Mainz (Kurmainz), in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It consists of a silver wheel with six spokes on a red ...

on the other side of the bend. The

tincture A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

s Or and gules (gold and red) are taken from the arms once borne by the Counts of Rieneck, who until they died out in 1559 held the ''

Vogt An , sometimes simply advocate, (German, ), or (French, ), was a type of medieval office holder, particularly important in the Holy Roman Empire, who was delegated some of the powers and functions of a major feudal lord, or for an institutio ...

ei'' as the vassals of the Archbishop of Mainz. The arms have been borne since 1965.

Town partnerships

* Courseulles-sur-Mer,

Calvados Calvados (, , ) is a brandy from Normandy in France, made from apples and/or pears. History In France Apple orchards and brewers are mentioned as far back as the 8th century by Charlemagne. The first known record of Norman distillation was ma ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

since 1994; the commune lies at

Juno Beach Juno and or Juno Beach was one of five beaches of the Allies (World War II), Allied invasion of German occupation of France during World War II, German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944 during the World War II, Second Wo ...

Culture and sightseeing

Churches

Goldbach has two

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

parish churches. The ''alte Kirche'' ("old church"), as Saint Nicholas’s Church (''St. Nikolaus-Kirche'') is called, is found in the old village centre. The sandstone

Romanesque Revival Romanesque Revival (or Neo-Romanesque) is a style of building employed beginning in the mid-19th century inspired by the 11th- and 12th-century Romanesque architecture. Unlike the historic Romanesque style, Romanesque Revival buildings tended t ...

church that exists today was built in 1894 and 1895 on the spot where once there was an older building that had become too small. The newer church was later enlarged by adding a modern annex. In the west of the community, which at the time was a new development area, the modern church St. Maria Immaculata was consecrated in 1961, as Saint Nicholas’s had itself become too small to accommodate the community’s growing numbers. The plain clinker-brick building with a 37 m-tall asymmetrical tower seats 600. The

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

is graced by a monumental painting by the artist Curd Lessig as well as by a modern octagonal altar lamp whose ornate glass panes depicts Biblical scenes. One peculiarity of the church is its

organ Organ and organs may refer to: Biology * Organ (biology), a group of tissues organized to serve a common function * Organ system, a collection of organs that function together to carry out specific functions within the body. Musical instruments ...

threesome. Besides the main organ with its 36 speaking stops, built in 1964 by the organ building firm Michael Weise, the church also has at its disposal a Baroque organ from 1782 that was thoroughly restored in the early 1980s and a

positive organ A positive organ (also positiv organ, positif organ, portable organ, chair organ, or simply positive, positiv, positif, or chair) (from the Latin verb ''ponere'', "to place") is a small, usually one-manual, pipe organ that is built to be more o ...

from Hartwig Späth’s workshop. At community limits with

Hösbach Hösbach is a market community and municipality in the Aschaffenburg (district), Aschaffenburg district in the ''Regierungsbezirk'' of Lower Franconia (''Unterfranken'') in Bavaria, Germany. As of 2023, It has a population of 13,323. Geography ...

, the

Evangelical Evangelicalism (), also called evangelical Christianity or evangelical Protestantism, is a worldwide, interdenominational movement within Protestantism, Protestant Christianity that emphasizes evangelism, or the preaching and spreading of th ...

''Johanneskirche'' ("Saint John’s Church") is situated.

Sport and clubs

In Goldbach there is a lively sport, culture and club life. Drawing attention from well beyond the region is the ''Winterlaufserie'' ("Winter Run Series"), carried on ''TV Goldbach'', which is said to cover 10 km on each of nine appointed times. Further clubs are VfR Goldbach, AC Bavaria Goldbach, Gesangverein Harmonie Goldbach (singing club), Gesangverein Sängerkranz Goldbach (singing club), KJG St. Nikolaus, KJG St. Maria Immaculata, DJK Goldbach 1985 e.V., MSC Goldbach, KKS Goldbach, BRK Goldbach, Freiwillige Feuerwehr Goldbach (volunteer fire brigade), RG Goldbach, F.W.V. Goldbach.

Economy and infrastructure

Transport

Goldbach lies right on the A 3 between Frankfurt (roughly 45 km away) and Würzburg (roughly 75 km away). Between Goldbach and

, when the

was being widened to six lanes, a "housing" was built over the roadway to reduce the noise pollution.

Public institutions

On the way out of the community, going towards Unterafferbach, is a forest

swimming pool A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming and associated activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built abo ...

. The indoor swimming pool at the

elementary school A primary school (in Ireland, India, the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Jamaica, South Africa, and Singapore), elementary school, or grade school (in North America and the Philippines) is a school for primary ...

is open to the public in the winter months. Throughout the community are 10 playgrounds, 3 football pitches and 2 sport halls. Image:Goldbach - Strassenzug mit St. Nikolaus-Kirche.jpg, Residential street with the Catholic parish church ''St. Nikolaus'' in Goldbach Image:Goldbach - Gasthaus Zum Adler.jpg, ''Zum Adler'' inn in Goldbach Image:Goldbach - Einhausung.jpg, "Housing" on Bundesautobahn 3 near Goldbach

References

{{Authority control Aschaffenburg (district)