SCHWEINFURT  , a

town of Germany, in the kingdom of Bavaria, situated on the right bank of the Main, which is here spanned by several bridges, 27 M . N.E. of Wurzburg by rail, and at the junction of lines to Kissingen, Bamberg and Gemunden . Pop . (1905) 18,416 . The Renaissance town-hall in the spacious market-place dates from 1570; it contains a library and a collection of antiquities . St John's church is a Gothic edifice with a lofty tower; St Salvator's was built about 1720 . Schweinfurt is well furnished with benevolent and educational institutions, including a gymnasium originally founded by Gustavus Adolphus in 1631, and rebuilt in 1881 . The chief manufacture is paint (" Schweinfurt green " is a well-known brand in Germany), introduced in 1809; but beer, sugar, machinery, soap and other drysalteries, straw-paper and vinegar are also produced . Cotton-spinning and bell-founding are carried on, and the Main supplies water-power for numerous saw, flour and other mills . Schweinfurt carries on an active trade in the grain, fruit and wine produced in its neighbourhood, and it is the seat of an important sheep and cattle market . A monument was erected in 1900 to Friedrich Ruckert the poet (1788-1866) . Schweinfurt is mentioned in 790, and in the loth century was the seat of a margrave .

It

fell later to the counts of Henneberg; but, receiving civic rights in the 13th century, it maintained its independence as a free imperial city with few interruptions until 1803, when it passed to Bavaria . Assigned to the grand duke of Wurzburg in 1810, it was restored to Bavaria in 1814 . In the Thirty Years' War it was occupied by Gustavus Adolphus, who erected fortifications, remains of which are still extant . See Beck, Chronik ,der Stadt Schweinfurt (2 vols., Schweinfurt, 1836—1841) ; and Stein, Geschichte der Reichstadt Schweinfurt (2 vols., Schweinfurt, 190o) .