Jossgrund

Jossgrund lies among the wooded hills of the Spessart at the border between the German federal states of Hesse and Bavaria (Main-Spessart district).

To the south and southeast the territory of Jossgrund extends through the forest and touches the agricultural areas around Lohrhaupten and Flörsbach (Ortsteile of Flörsbachtal).

In 1451, the Counts of Hanau were named as owning half of the fief, shared with lords of Thüngen and the house of Hutten [de].

[5][7] In the 1570s, Archbishop Daniel Brendel von Homburg had the castle reconstructed and it was turned into a hunting lodge.

A lawsuit between Mainz and Hanau over the fief continued for centuries and only ended in 1803 with the disestablishment of the Electorate.

[7] After secularization the Amt eventually became a part of the Kingdom of Bavaria and was merged with the Bezirksamt Orb.

[6][10] Two important ancient trade routes, the Eselsweg and the Birkenhainer Strasse pass through the Lettgenbrunn area.

Lettgenbrunn was a small Gericht, owned by the family Hohenlohe-Brauneck but sold to the Electorate of Mainz in 1313.

[12] In the Thirty Years' War the village was almost completely destroyed and only two dwellings and the chapel St. Jakob (built 1400/50) remained.

[6] In 1911, the Prussian king issued a decree ordering the 327 inhabitants of Lettgenbrunn and Villbach to vacate their homes to make room for a military training area (Truppenübungsplatz Orb) between Lettgenbrunn and the Wegscheide to the northwest (totalling 4,750 hectares).

Property was also seized (with compensation) from people at Pfaffenhausen, Oberndorf, Flörsbach, Lohrhaupten, Orb and Burgjoss.

After the end of World War II, displaced Germans from the eastern territories especially Silesia and the Sudetenland were resettled here in 1947.

In 1952, the old church, heavily damaged by the military, was torn down and replaced by a new building which served both Protestants and Roman Catholics.

[3] On 31 December 1971, in the course of Gebietsreform [de] the independent municipalities of Burgjoss, Oberndorf and Pfaffenhausen were merged to "Jossatal".

The current structure was mostly built under Daniel Brendel von Homburg in the 16th century in Renaissance style but the castle retains Romanesque elements.

Niederdorfelden Schöneck Nidderau Maintal Hanau Großkrotzenburg Rodenbach Erlensee Bruchköbel Hammersbach Neuberg Ronneburg Langenselbold Hasselroth Freigericht Gründau Gelnhausen Linsengericht Biebergemünd Flörsbachtal Jossgrund Bad Orb Wächtersbach Brachttal Schlüchtern Birstein Sinntal Bad Soden-Salmünster Gutsbezirk Spessart Steinau an der Straße Steinau an der Straße Bad Soden-Salmünster Bad Soden-Salmünster Gutsbezirk Spessart Bavaria Offenbach (district) Offenbach am Main Frankfurt Fulda (district) Vogelsbergkreis Gießen (district) Wetteraukreis Hochtaunuskreis
Constituent communities
Upper valley of the Jossa between Lettgenbrunn and Pfaffenhausen
Remains of an observation bunker on the golf course near Lettgenbrunn
Church of St. Jakobus und Johannes, Lettgenbrunn
Burg Burgjoß
Wappen des Landkreises Main-Kinzig-Kreis
Wappen des Landkreises Main-Kinzig-Kreis