Aschaffenburg's cheekiest attraction

The city of Aschaffenburg is proud of its many attractions, but there's one hidden away that is not so well-known. It's been there for about 400 years, possibly because one mason didn't like the Archbishop of Mainz.

Music:
"Hot Swing"
Creative Commons Attribution licence

---------

Support me on Patreon for access to bonus content and more:

Send letters and postcards to:

Rewboss
Postfach 10 06 29
63704 Aschaffenburg
Germany

Please don't send parcels or packages, or anything that has to be signed for.

---------

My website:

My blog:

My Twitter feed:

My Facebook profile:

[derschmiddie]

The "Asch" comes from the ash-trees (Eschen) the "af /*apa" just means water. (Like in Aue -> Ahwa - > Water) So it literally means "Ash-tree-water-castle"

[guyr.]

Well.. I guess that builder really wanted people to remember who was BEHIND this masterpiece of castle.

[pelegsap]

There are not enough Rs in Aschaffenburg for the silly sounding name, but about 35 km west of the city is Darmstadt, which definitely has both an R and a silly sounding name.

[Automatik]

This video has some strong Tom Scott vibes. I really like this style!

[yunzhang]

There's also a butt sculpture on the right side of the Freiburg minster which face the direction of the old town hall. And legend has it, that it was built, also because the maisons weren't paid enough. 😂

[kevgoeswandering]

Thank you Andrew,
i am happy you are out and about doing destination videos again, i hope you are all well.

[DeannaAllison]

I'm glad that you got to the bottom of this.

[pannazsargo]

Im on holidays but I live in AB, it's so interesting to watch this video

[witerabid]

Hehe, the mason didn't like the Arsch-bishop... 😅

[bit]

For Japanese tourists it would be a very homelike logo. Since Japan has all kinds of mascots and logos including poop.

[TheWolvesCurse]

i used to live in aschaffenburg for 10 years. when my mother told me about the arse, me and some other guys from my class went looking for it. we were quiter disappointed when we found it, because we imagined it to be a bit more spectacular. on another wall down at the spice garden of the castle, there was a "arschgeige" (arseviolin, a common insult) for a while, but it was a rather modern piece of art.

[agn]

Rhein-Main-Metropolionisch "ein Aschaffenburger" translates to "en Aschebe[r]scher" AKA 'an ash tray'. Nuf said.

[ZiggyTheHamster]

I love hearing British people make fun of American accents. It's somehow an amalgamation of all of our different accents.

[blacksabbath]

Some Years ago there was a little Rock Festival called 'Assmonkey Castle Hellnight' in a local youth club.

[eltfell]

My first encounter with the place name "Aschaffenburg" took place on my model railway, when I was less than ten years old. It was hte destination written on the destinations sign on a silver railroad car (scale 1:87). From then to now, for me it's A(r)sch-Affen-Burg.

[HerrGausF]

Well, Frankfurt does have an Affentor (Monkey Gate), which is theorized to have once been the Aschaffenburger Tor. Presumably the shift was aided by the special fondness the protestant Frankfurters had for their catholic neighours.

[panzwes]

Haha, this is something to look out for after seeing the castle!

Since watching your videos and visiting some nearby cities, I have wanted to see more of the Franconia region. Maybe in a few years!

[michaelca]

The name Aschaffenburg comes from the old germanic terms Askafa and Burc. The first mentioned name in documents was Ascafaburc (981). Askafa is an ancient german word that means ash. Before the city was built german tribes settled there and used the slash-and-burn method to cultivate the land for their crops and livestock. This gave the name to the new city as well as to the small river and also the nearby village Mainaschaff.

[CrowArchLane]

A video on the differences between Burg, Schloss, and Residenz would be interesting

[dario]

Yooo im from this town its sooo crazy to see you visit my small home town hahhaha.