Schöllkrippen is a market community in the Aschaffenburg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken) in Bavaria, Germany and seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft (municipal association) of Schöllkrippen. It has a total population of around 4,300 (2020).
Geography
Location
Schöllkrippen is the largest settlement of the Kahlgrund and lies on the river Kahl on the western edge of the Spessart (range). The main Ortsteil of Schöllkrippen lies at the foot of the Reuschberg.
Subdivisions
Schöllkrippen's Ortsteile are Schöllkrippen, and .
Schöllkrippen Ortsteil consists of the following Orte: , , , Röderhof, and Schöllkrippen proper.
Neighbouring communities
The neighbouring communities are from the north (clockwise): Westerngrund, Kleinkahl, (an unincorporated area), Sommerkahl, Blankenbach, Krombach and Geiselbach.
History
Schöllkrippen has long been the central settlement of the Upper Kahlgrund and a meeting point of roads at least since the Middle Ages. Old long distance trade routes such as the Birkenhainer Straße and the Eselsweg pass nearby.
What had in the past been considered a prehistoric Celtic circular rampart, the Alte Burg or Altenburg on the nearby Reuschberg, is now thought to date to medieval times.
The church St. Katharina is first mentioned in a document in 1184. In 1449, the Lukaskapelle is built.
Due to its location, the town served as seat of the local administration of the Archbishops of Mainz In 1338, it became the seat of one of six Forsthuben in the Spessart territory controlled by Mainz. For a long time, Schöllkrippen also was a border town, as the river Kahl was the border to the Krombacher Landgericht, which from 1666 until its integration into the Kingdom of Bavaria was owned by the Counts of Schönborn.
In 1814, Schöllkrippen came to the Kingdom of Bavaria and was granted town rights.
In 1898, the Kahlgrundbahn (railway) commenced service between Schöllkrippen and Kahl am Main, creating economic impetus for the region by linking it to the national railway system.
Economy
Schöllkrippen's central location in the Kahlgrund has led the market community to grow into a local shopping hub since the mid-1990s. The many discount retailers serve not only customers from the Spessart from Wiesen through Heigenbrücken to Heinrichsthal, but also from the upper Kahlgrund from Geiselbach to Blankenbach and the middle Kahlgrund from Königshofen through Mömbris to Niedersteinbach along with Eichenberg, Rottenberg and Feldkahl.
After the carwash manufacturer WashTec withdrew from its Schöllkrippen location at the Augsburg-based mother company’s behest, the sprawling halls and plots of land on the Ernstkirchen Gemarkung (traditional rural cadastral area, this one lying on the way out of the community towards Blankenbach) lay empty for nearly three years. In mid-2006, the community managed to sell the Industriepark Ernstkirchen to various firms. Roughly two thirds of the area went to the firm Ferratec from Hösbach, who then housed their production equipment here. The rest was shared among four smaller firms as well as the market community of Schöllkrippen, which built a new building yard there.
In late 2004, Schöllkrippen was chosen as the most livable place in the Bavarian Lower Main (Bayerischer Untermain).
Governance
The market community () is the administrative seat of the Verwaltungsgemeinschaft of Schöllkrippen, which, besides Schöllkrippen, includes the communities of Blankenbach, Kleinkahl, Krombach, Sommerkahl, Westerngrund and Wiesen. Schöllkrippen has held the status of "market" since 1963.
Town council
The council is made up of 16 council members, not counting the mayor.
(as at municipal election held on 2 March 2008)
Coat of arms
The community’s arms might be described thus: Per fess gules a wheel spoked of six argent, Or in base a mount of three vert issuant therefrom three morningstars sable, the dexter in bend, the middle in pale and the sinister in bend sinister.
The arms were designed sometime about 1950.