Buchen - a mediaeval town
Firstly mentioned in the Codex of the Lorsch Abbey in 773 under the name of Buchheim, Buchen got the status of a town in 1280. In 1382 the town walls - built a century before - were on trial and withstood the enemy.
In 1309 Buchen became a part of the archbishopric of Mainz. Since then it has been the seat of important offices and institutions.
A lot of new buildings arose, particularly under the archbishop Berthold von Henneberg, whose coat of arms can be admired at the stone building in the so-called Amtskellerei. In 1493 the old town castle was made the bishop's summer residence. At the same time the parish church of St. Oswald was newly erected and the town walls were fortified.
Because of artisans and merchants, who came in large numbers Buchen became a rich town. This is the origin of the legend of the so-called Thalerstädtchen.
It was in the court of the Amtskellerei where Götz von Berlichingen, the famous knight with the iron hand, took over the region's main division in the Peasant War in 1525. Not until 1930 had Buchen grown beyond its city walls, which had been besieged by Swedish troups in 1631. The city walls, however, were finally destroyed by the French only about fifty years later.
During the Thirty Years' War, Buchen and its surroundings were terribly affected by a horrible epidemic, the great pestilence. In 1635 about 1200 inhabitants died.
Another important historical event was the great fire in 1717, when parts of the church, the city hall and 124 houses and stables were struck by lightning. In 1812 Buchen was given a post station, and it was connected to the railway network in 1887.
