were amalgamated. In the end, Alzenau took its current shape when the market community of Hörstein and the community of Michelbach were amalgamated in 1975. Politics Landräte (“Chief District Administrators”) of the former Alzenau district 1946–1949 Friedrich Huth 1950–1970 Heinrich Degen 1970–1972 Karl Lautenschläger Town council Alzenau's town council has 24 seats. Coat of arms The town's arms might be described thus: Gules a wheel spoked of six argent, in base two twigs Or per saltire. The German blazon reads “In Rot über zwei gekreuzten goldenen Zweigen ein sechsspeichiges silbernes Rad”. This describes the twigs as “golden”, although they are rendered here in silver. In 1401, King Ruprecht raised Alzenau to town, but the town never exercised its rights (until 1951) and remained a market community. From 1309 comes the first documentary record. The contents of this document deal with the Freigericht (“Free Court”) with four court regions, the so-called Hohe Mark. Since the first half of the 13th century the royal hunting forest had been owned by the Archbishopric of Mainz. In 1395, the whole market community passed to the Archbishopric. This part of Alzenau's history is recalled by the six-spoked wheel – the so-called Wheel of Mainz – which was a charge borne by the Archbishops in their arms. The two twigs refer to the court officials who were chosen from among the townsmen to be on the court. The arms have been borne since 1926. Town partnerships Sint-Oedenrode, North Brabant, Netherlands Pfaffstätten, Lower Austria, Austria Thaon-les-Vosges, Vosges, France Economy and infrastructure The town also distinguishes itself with an unusually high number of resident businesses, most of which stem from high technology fields. In 1999, Alzenau was recognized as an “Economy-Friendly Community” with a special award from the Bavarian Minister of State for Economy, Transport and Technology. Agriculture, forestry, winegrowing In 1998 there were 62 people contributors to the social welfare funds employed in agriculture and forestry. In 1999 there were 82 agricultural businesses with a cultivated area of 1 429 ha, of which 1 096 ha was cropland and 257 ha was meadowland. In the outlying centres of Michelbach, Wasserlos and Hörstein, Frankenwein (Franconian wine) is grown. In Albstadt, too, there was winegrowing until the late 19th century, as witnessed by the Gemarkung (traditional rural cadastral area) of Wingertsberg. Winegrowing was brought to Alzenau by the monks from the monastery in Seligenstadt. All in all, though, agriculture