Niedernberg is a municipality in the Miltenberg district in the Regierungsbezirk of Lower Franconia (Unterfranken) in Bavaria, Germany.
Geography
Location
Niedernberg is just under 10 km from Aschaffenburg to the north, which itself lies some 50 km southeast of Frankfurt am Main. Niedernberg is the Miltenberg district's northernmost municipality and is found right on the Main’s left bank. In both the east and the west, it is hilly.
Geology
Distinguishing the natural areas is the gradual downward slope of the eastern part of the municipal area from the west to the east. Niedernberg belongs to the Lower Main Plain (Untermainebene) and to the peripheral mountain zone of the Odenwald. The soil composition is what one would expect from this: throughout the even areas it is overwhelmingly sands and loamy layers. In the west are also found layers of loam at the surface, although these quickly yield to bunter.
Particularly as of the mid 20th century, there was an extensive gravel quarrying operation.
Natural events
Owing to its geographical location, Niedernberg has since yore had to deal repeatedly with wintertime floods in which, in particular, land near the Main has been involved. Since this especially great danger from rising floods came about from icejams, in 1559, for protection, a cutwater was built at the southeast end of the fortifications, which, however, did not work as had been hoped.
The highest ever flood reached Niedernberg in February 1784 during spring runoff as the Main flowed almost 10 m higher than normal through the valley. The flood tore away whole ships, huts and stables, sometimes along with the animals in them.
Municipal area’s extent
The municipal area stretches off mainly to the west, as in the north it is bounded by the water protection area (Wasserschutzgebiet), in the east by the Main and in the south by the lake plateau. Even its westward stretch, though, it is limited by Bundesstraße 469.
Constituent communities
The municipality is subdivided into four parts.
In the Ortskern, or municipal core, many old, and sometimes lovingly restored timber-frame houses are to be found. Moreover, this part of the municipality also contains the Catholic church, Saint Cyriacus’s, the Town Hall, two banks, a 15th-century fortification renovated in 2004, the Hauptschule and the Saint Cyriacus kindergarten.
The nördliche Neubaugebiet (“Northern New Building Area”) offers many Niedernberg dwellers a place for living and playing. North of the New Building Area are found the graveyard, the railway station and the sewage treatment plant.
In the so-called Gebiet Tafel are found the Tafel commercial area, the Tafeläcker New Building Area, which at this time is being built in four sections, and the watertower. Furthermore, the primary school is also here, as are the second kindergarten (Sonnenschein) and the Niedernberg Musical Corps's clubhouse, the so-called “Musicum”.
The Seengebiet (“Lake Area”) stretches south of the Hans-Herrmann-Halle, a multipurpose hall named after a former mayor. Here are the Seehotel, the HonischBeach – a bathing beach officially opened in 2005 – and a building area for holiday dwellings. Furthermore, there are three lakes adding to the area's makeup: the Silbersee (“Silver Lake”), the former surfing lake and the angling lake.
Climate
With a yearly mean temperature of more than 9 °C, Niedernberg belongs to one of Germany's warmest regions. It is favoured by the sheltering afforded by the Spessart and Odenwald wooded ranges.
History
The oldest finds that indicate human habitation in Niedernberg's municipal area come from the New Stone Age. Far-reaching changes in the landscape came along with Roman rule about the time of the onset of the Christian Era: In the first century, the Roman Empire reached all the way to the Main. To secure their Imperial border, Roman troops built castra at strategic spots.
Niedernberg's beginnings go back to one such castrum, built between 83 and 150, at the so-called “Wet Limes”, which stood as the Empire's eastern border. The castrum, which measured 144 by 135 m, was built facing the east, towards the Main. Although the castrum was later overbuilt, the way the core of the community is laid out still goes back to the street layout in the castrum; Hauptstraße (“Main Street”) and Kirchgasse (“Church Lane”) correspond with streets in the Roman camp. Niedernberg was the post of a 300-strong cohort, Cohors I Ligurum et Hispanorum, which drew its recruits from northern Italy and Spain.