Aschaffenburg

Aschaffenburg's riverfront is dominated by Schloss Johannisburg, built between 1605 and 1614 as a residence of the archbishops and electors of Mainz. The four-winged Renaissance palace incorporates the keep of an earlier castle. Its collections include paintings by Lucas Cranach the Elder, historic furnishings and detailed cork models of ancient Roman buildings. The palace suffered extensive wartime damage, and its first restored display rooms reopened in 1964.

Nearby, the Pompejanum offers a different encounter with architectural history. King Ludwig I commissioned Friedrich von Gärtner to construct this idealised Roman house between 1840 and 1848, allowing visitors to study ancient domestic culture without travelling to Italy. Its decorated rooms and courtyards were reconstructed after wartime destruction; original Roman artworks have been displayed there since 1994. Together, the two buildings give the Main riverbank a distinctive concentration of art and architectural history.