Schweinfurt is a city in the district of Lower Franconia in Bavaria, Germany. It is the administrative centre of the surrounding district of Schweinfurt and a major industrial, cultural and educational hub. The urban agglomeration has 100,200 and the city's catchment area, including the Main-Rhön region and parts of South Thuringia, 759,000 inhabitants.
Schweinfurt was first documented in 791 and is one of the oldest cities in Bavaria. Around 1000 the Margraves of Schweinfurt controlled large parts of northern Bavaria. From the 12th century until 1802 Schweinfurt was a Free imperial city within the Holy Roman Empire, around 1700 a humanistic centre and in 1770 began the 250-year industrial history.
During the World War II, the Americans suffered their biggest air defeat over Schweinfurt in the Second Raid on Schweinfurt. On 11 April 1945, the US Army invaded the city. During the Cold War, the 1945 founded USAG Schweinfurt had the highest concentration of US combat units in the Federal Republic of Germany. In the northwest of Schweinfurt, an American town emerged, with a complete civil infrastructure including all kinds of shops for 12,000 Americans, soldiers and civilians.