Fischbach (Taunus)

Fischbach (fish brook) is a Stadtteil, one of six administrative subdivisions, of the town of Kelkheim in the Main-Taunus district of Germany. It is situated at the western border of Frankfurt am Main in the Taunus hills. Fischbach is a middle-class town and has about 5,900 inhabitants. The town lies in the valley of a stream with the same name in the Taunus hills. It is north-west of central Kelheim and adjoins Hornau to the east. The town of Eppstein is to the west and Königstein im Taunus is northeast of Fischbach. The source of the Fischbach stream is in Ruppertshain. It flows through Fischbach and the Fischbachtal (Fishbachl valley) to merge with the Schwarzbach stream in Eppstein. Hill peaks around Fischbach are the Fischbacher Kopf, Staufen and Rossert. Fischbach is a dormitory town for many working in Frankfurt am Main. Bundesstraße 455 (federal highway 455) heads from Königstein via Fischbach to Eppstein and Wiesbaden. The former through road was substituted by a bypass in the early 1980s. The new road does not bypass Fischbach but crosses the town on an artificial embankment, with a bridge over the central street Langstraße. Bus routes connect Fischbach with Kelkheim railway station and the Frankfurt Transit system. The old town centre is situated at the intersection of the main roads from Kelkheim to the suburb of Ruppertshain and from Königstein to Eppstein. The first road, Langstraße, is the main road of the old part of the village. In the 19th century Fischbach grew along both streets, especially Kelkheimer Straße and Eppsteiner Straße. Fischbach's population swelled after World War II with refugees from areas that were ceded to other countries, leading to street names such as Egerländer Straße and Königsberger Straße. Residential areas were built on both sides of Kelkheimer Straße and on the south-side of the town, around Staufenstraße and Sodener Straße. In the north, only a small residential estate was built on a former brickyard area (An der Ziegelei).