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Schweinfurt
 

Schweinfurt is a city in the Unterfranken region of Bavaria in Germany on the right bank of the canalized Main, which is here spanned by several bridges, 27 km North-East of Würzburg.

A famous native of Schweinfurt is Friedrich Rückert, a notable poet and translator. The Museum Georg Schäfer, founded by Georg Schäfer, shows among others important pieces of Altdeutsche Malerei.

History

The city is first proved by documents in the year 792, though as early as 740 a settlement called Villa Suinfurde is mentioned. In the 10th century Schweinfurt was the seat of a margravate.

In the first half of 13th century Schweinfurt was expanded to a real city with city wall, towers and city gates . At that time the Nikolaus hospital was founded, a mint was established and construction work on the Saint Johannis church began.

Around 1250 Schweinfurt was totally destroyed during a feud between the Earl of Henneberg and the Prince-Bishop of Würzburg. In the following years it was reconstructed. A document from 1282 signed by King Rudolf I of Habsburg states that Schweinfurt was a free city within the Holy Roman Empire. Since then the coat of arms of Schweinfurt has borne the imperial eagle. In 1309 the city was given to the Earl of Henneberg, but in the 1360s the city regained its independence and joined the Swabian-Franconian Confederation. In 1397 King Wenzel entitled the town to utilize the river Main, and in 1436-1437 Schweinfurt acquired the village of Oberndorf, as well as the Teutonic Order Fort on the Peterstirn and a small piece of land-including the villages of Zell and Weipoltshausen. Some year later there was the first uprising of Schweinfurt's people against the Town-council, followed by a second one in 1513-1514. This time the issuing of a constitution was allowed.

The city joined the Luther's Reformation in 1542. Schweinfurt was again destroyed in the course of the Margravaian War, in 1554. The years up to 1615 were spent by the citizens for its reconstruction.

Schweinfurt joined the Protestant Union in 1609. In the Thirty Years' War it was occupied by Gustavus Adolphus, who erected fortifications, remains of which are still extant. In 1652 the four doctors Johann Laurentius Bausch, Johann Michael Fehr, Georg Balthasar Wolfahrt and Balthasar Metzger founded the Academia Curiosorum in Schweinfurt, which is known today as the German Academy of Life Scientists, "Leopoldina".

In 1777 Johann Martin Schmidt commenced with the production of white lead (ceruse). Schweinfurt suffered from heavy casualties during the Napoleonic Wars of 1796-1801.

Schweinfurt remained a free imperial city until 1802, when it passed to the Kingdom of Bavaria. Assigned to the grand duke of Würzburg in 1810, it was restored to Bavaria four years later. The first railway junction was opened in 1852. In the following years Schweinfurt became a world leader centre for the production of ball bearings. This was to lead to grievous consequences for the city during World War II.

World War II

Schweinfurt was the location of most of the ball bearing production in Nazi Germany at the onset of World War II, and was eventually devastated following a series of Allied strategic bombing raids. It was hoped that the destruction of the factories located in the city would cripple the production of new tanks and aircraft.

Two of these raids were particularly costly for the United States Army Air Forces. On August 17 1943, 230 B-17s of the USAAF 8th Air Force, intended to be the second wave of bombers behind a force attacking Regensburg, encountered intense anti-aircraft artillery and over 300 defending fighter aircraft, with the result that only 184 aircraft bombed their targets and 36 aircraft did not return to their bases in England. Production suffered an immediate 34% cutback, and all plants but the largest were devasted by fire, but the existing industrial infrastructure had not been conducive to destruction by a single raid. Efforts to disperse the surviving machinery began immediately and the Luftwaffe, recognizing the threat, began redeploying large numbers of interceptors along the corridor to Schweinfurt.*

After rebuilding its strength the 8th Air Force mounted a second attack on October 14, 1943, which proved to be more costly than the first and became known as "Black Thursday". In this raid by 291 B-17s, 229 bombed the target and 60 were lost. Such very heavy losses could not be sustained and unescorted bomber raids deep into Germany were suspended until 1944. Raids on Schweinfurt resumed in February, 1944 during what came to be known as "Big Week."

Although losses of production bearings and machinery were high, and much of the industrial and residential areas of the city were destroyed, killing more than a thousand civilians, the factories were restored to production and the industry dispersed. Although German planners initially thought it essential to purchase the entire output of the Swedish ball-bearing industry, losses in production bearings were actually made up from surpluses found within Germany in the aftermath of the first raid.

The Allies, according to Albert Speer, were remiss in mounting a decisive bombing campaign against the bearing industry while it was still centrally located. Once de-centralized, the Nazis were able to rebuild output to 85% of its pre-bombing output. Hitler made restoration of ball bearing production a high priority, and massive efforts were undertaken to repair and rebuild the factories partially in bomb-proof underground facilities

Schweinfurt was bombed 22 times by the USAAF and RAF, by a total of 2285 aircraft, until it was captured by the U.S. 42nd Infantry Division in house-to-house fighting in April 1945.

Recent years

After the war Schweinfurt quickly recovered from its third period of destruction, and the new suburbs of Bergl, Hochfeld and Steinberg were developed to settle the increasing population. In 1954 the city laid the first stone for the new town hall and commemorated the 700th and 500th anniversaries of the two earlier respective destructions, as well as the ongoing reconstruction following World War II.

In 1998 German and American veterans and survivors of the bombing raids came together to erect a war memorial to the fallen.

Economy

Schweinfurt is known for its metal industry, especially ball-bearing plants and bicycle manufacturing (See also FAG Kugelfischer, ZF Sachs AG and SKF). The pigment Schweinfurter Green, which is extremely toxic, was manufactured here.

Places of interest

Schweinfurt's main landmarks include:

Communal facilities

Information

Historical population

Year Population
1939 49,302
1950 46,128
1961 56,923
1970 58,446
1987 51,962
2002 54,670
2004 54,467

External links

Towns in Bavaria

Schweinfurt | Schweinfurt | Schweinfurt | Schweinfurt | Schweinfurt (stad) | Schweinfurt | Schweinfurt | Schweinfurt

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Schweinfurt".

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