HW 33: Großheubach - Mudau - Mosbach

Engelberg Monastery: You visit the Franciscan monastery of Engelberg with the pilgrimage church of St. Michael. From here you have a wonderful panoramic view of the Main valley with Großheubach, Miltenberg and Bürgstadt. Around 1300, a simple wooden chapel was built on the Rulesberg and dedicated to St. Michael the Archangel. This is how Rulesberg became Engelsberg. A statue of the Virgin Mary was erected around 1300. The history of pilgrimages began with the veneration of St. Michael the Archangel. As the number of pilgrims grew, the Archbishop of Mainz appointed Capuchin monks to the Engelberg in 1630 and had a monastery built. In 1828, the Franciscans took over the monastery and the pastoral care of the pilgrims. In 1916, they built a pilgrims‘ tavern to cater for the pilgrims. Today‘s monastery tavern seats over 300 people.

Kleinheubach: In 1229, Count Ludwig II von Rieneck donated part of his property in Heidebach to the Teutonic Knights. In 1559, the village came into the possession of the Counts of Erbach. Due to large debts after the Thirty Years‘ War, the Counts of Erbach sold Kleinheubach to the Princes of Löwenstein-Wertheim-Rosenberg in 1721. The Princes of Löwenstein were the lords of the village until 1806, after which the village changed hands several times. Worth seeing is the castle, built in 1723-1732 on the site of the demolished Georgenburg.

Heunesäulen: Originally there were 14 columns, today there are still 8 (the longest is 7.35 m long) made of sandstone. They were probably quarried and carved in the 10th century for the construction of the old Mainz Cathedral. In 1880, two columns were taken to museums in Nuremberg and Munich.

Weilbach: Owned by the Lords of Dürn from around 1170, sold by them to Mainz in 1272, later changed hands several times. The church was built in 1789 on the site of a predecessor dating back to around 1450. At the end of the village you will find the mill with its Renaissance gable, rebuilt in its current form in 1585.

Gotthardsberg: In the 12th/13th century, there was a small castle here belonging to the bailiffs of Amorbach Monastery. As they acted as robber barons, Emperor Friedrich Rotbart had the castle destroyed in 1168. A nunnery was soon built in its place. Conrad von Dürn closed the convent in 1244. Following a complaint to the Pope, the nuns were allowed to return, but the convent was finally dissolved in 1439. Devastation by peasants in 1525 and the Swedes in 1631 left the church, a Romanesque pillar basilica, in ruins. You have a magnificent panoramic view from the tower.

Amorbach: owned by the Lords of Dürn since 1170, who made it a town in 1253. Sold to Archbishop Werner of Mainz in 1272, later changed hands several times. Amorbach was probably the seat of a Benedictine abbey from the 8th century onwards. The abbey church was built between 1742 and 1747 according to plans by the Electorate of Mainz court architect Maximilian von Welsch. Here you will find a magnificent rococo building with beautiful ceiling paintings, ornate latticework, a magnificent pulpit and a sonorous baroque organ. In the former convent building, you can visit the library hall, which is well worth seeing. Also worth seeing: the town hall (around 1500), the palace of the Prince of Leiningen, the castle mill and numerous half-timbered houses.

Mudau: Old market town from the time of the Electorate of Mainz. The town hall, a late Gothic building, was built in 1434 by Archbishop Dietrich, Schenk zu Erbach.

Mosbach: The town originated as a settlement around a Benedictine abbey founded in the 8th century. In 976 it came to the cathedral monastery of Worms, was granted town rights in the 13th century and later changed hands several times. In 1723, a major fire destroyed many houses. In 1803 Mosbach became part of Leiningen and in 1806 Baden. Today, Mosbach is a town of half-timbered houses: the Palmsche Haus from 1610, the market fountain, the late Gothic town church from the 15th century and the old hospital from 1521 are particularly worth seeing.