Miltenberg – District Town on the Main Quadrangle

Already in pre- and early history people used the strategic setting of the narrow pass at the bend of the Main, building ring ramparts on the Greinberg and the Bürgstadter Berg. Around 159/160 AD the Romans connected the Vorderer Limes to the Main, which from here northward formed the border with Germania. The remains of two forts lie between Miltenberg and Kleinheubach and between Miltenberg and Bürgstadt. After the fall of the Limes by 259/260 AD at the latest they lost their function; coin finds show the Miltenberg-Altstadt fort was still inhabited in the 4th century. From the 7th, possibly the 6th century the ruins were used again in the course of the Frankish eastern colonisation, and in the 12th century a residential tower was built there.

The Mildenburg, which gave the town its name, was built from 1144 on land of Amorbach Abbey, according to research by Wolfgang Hartmann. The settlement that grew under the castle's protection is first documented in 1226 on the occasion of a visit by the Mainz Archbishop Siegfried II. From about 1379 the Mainz Gate and the Würzburg Gate bounded the long, narrow old town. Miltenberg sandstone was already sought after in the Middle Ages; the Heunen columns intended for the construction of Mainz Cathedral also came from Miltenberg.

Until 1803 Miltenberg belonged to Electoral Mainz and was seat of the Miltenberg district, recalled today by the Mainz wheel in the town's coat of arms. After the Reichsdeputationshauptschluss the town passed to the Principality of Leiningen, in 1806 to the Grand Duchy of Baden, from 1810 to Hesse-Darmstadt and finally in 1816 by treaty to the Kingdom of Bavaria; the municipal edict of 1818 established the present town. Jews are recorded in Miltenberg from the mid-13th century; in 1933, 99 Jewish people lived in the town, the last being deported in 1942. South of the town wall lies the Old Jewish Cemetery.

On 22 February 1945 six American fighter-bombers attacked the town, killing 20 people; the Main bridge was blown up by German troops on 28 March 1945, and US troops entered on 31 March. The Mildenburg has been owned by the town since 1979; after renovations and restoration work completed in 2011 it now houses the Museum Burg Miltenberg. As of 31 December 2024 the town had 9,351 inhabitants.

The heritage landscape of the town ranges from the Mildenburg above the settlement over the historic old town with its market square, colloquially called the „Schnatterloch", to a number of religious buildings. The recorded architectural and archaeological monuments include the Old Town Hall, the Würzburg and Mainz gates, the parish church of St. Jakobus and the Franciscan church. The Johanneskirche was built between 1895 and 1897 to plans by the architect Ludwig Hofmann. The Laurentius chapel with the adjoining Laurentius cemetery dates from the 14th century. South of the town wall lies the Old Jewish Cemetery, whose origins reach back into the Middle Ages.

The Mildenburg has been owned by the town of Miltenberg since 1979. The outer sections were renovated in 1971, and a restoration project spread over several years was completed in 2011. Today its interior houses the Museum Burg Miltenberg, which displays art collections of the Diocese of Würzburg. In the castle courtyard once stood the Toutonenstein, a five-metre-high sandstone column whose inscription remains undeciphered; it is now kept in the Museum Stadt Miltenberg.

Alongside the Museum Burg Miltenberg and the Museum Stadt Miltenberg there is the Apothekenmuseum Miltenberg. A further attraction is the Route der Industriekultur Rhein-Main, which over the 160 kilometres between Miltenberg and Bingen am Rhein links industrial structures into a route about the industrial age in southern Germany. Around 700 structures have been scientifically documented, among them the old Miltenberg main station.

The calendar of events is spread across several fixed dates. On the first weekend in July the „Mainfest" takes place every two years, having replaced the earlier old-town festival. At the end of July the „Mildenburger Theatertage" follow. From the last weekend in August to the first weekend in September the Michaelismesse lasts ten days and is regarded as the largest folk festival on the Bavarian Lower Main. From late September to early October the „Miltenberger Weinherbst" is held. On the four Advent weekends from Friday to Sunday the Christmas market is open.

Miltenberg is the administrative seat of the district of the same name in the administrative region of Lower Franconia and thus its district capital. The present district was formed on 1 July 1972, when the former district of Miltenberg merged with the district of Obernburg am Main. The town has belonged to Bavaria since 1816; before that it was part of Electoral Mainz until 1803 and served there as the seat of the Amt Miltenberg. This past is still recalled today by the Mainz wheel in the town's coat of arms.

The municipal representative body is the town council, which was newly determined in the local election. In addition to the council elections, Miltenberg also records the results of supra-local ballots, namely the federal, state and European elections. In these evaluations it should be noted that one of the listed parties still ran under the designation PDS until 2007.

At the head of the town stands the mayor. The history of the office includes a continuous list of the office holders, documenting the continuity of municipal leadership across the various political periods.

The town's ties to municipalities abroad hold a firm place in public life. Since 1982 a partnership has existed with the French municipality of Arnouville in the Île de France region. A second partnership has linked Miltenberg since 16 November 2004 with the Czech town of Duchcov in Bohemia.

This connection to Bohemia has a longer background: as early as 1960, Miltenberg assumed the sponsorship for the expelled Sudeten Germans from the town and district of Dux. From this sponsorship the formal town partnership with Duchcov developed in 2004, so that a bond originally arising from post-war history was transferred into a lasting municipal cooperation.