Markt Bibart is a town at the southern edge of the Steiger Forest, on the main railway line between Würzburg and Nürnberg.

Sculpture in Markt Bibart

The first known mention of Bibart in any document was in the year 816, but it has only been a “Markt” (= market) since the fourteenth century, when the emperor Karl IV (1316-1378) granted the town the privilege of holding regular markets.

Today, because of a quaint Bavarian peculiarity, the official name of Markt Bibart is actually “Markt Markt Bibart”, with the word Markt appearing twice.

There are 386 towns in Bavaria which bear the official (modern) designation of Markt, meaning that they have some slight degree of regional importance, but Markt Bibart is one of a select group of eighteen Bavarian towns (like nearby Markt Taschendorf) that have the word Markt twice in their name. These are towns that were already called Markt in the Middle Ages, by decree of the emperor, and have since also acquired the modern designation of Markt as defined in Article 3 of the Municipal Code of the Free State of Bavaria.

In everyday conversation, the first (or second) Markt is often omitted.

All clear? If not, perhaps you can find some nice Bavarian person who can explain this to you.

Regional Express train at Markt Bibart station

The Regional Express trains between Würzburg and Nürnberg all stop in Markt Bibart. Generally there is one train per hour in each direction.

These trains take bicycles in limited numbers, but in this part of Germany you have to buy a separate ticket for your bike. (Unlike the southern half of Hessen, where bike transport is free.)

As of 2011, the cost of a one-day bicycle ticket for all of Bavaria was five Euros, but it has since gone up to € 6.50.

My bike on the platform at Markt Bibart

The reason I went to Markt Bibart is that this is the closest train station to Frankfurt in the Steiger Forest.

ICE going through Markt Bibart

Numerous long-distance passenger and freight trains pass through Markt Bibart station without stopping. The InterCityExpress train in my photo is ICE 628 on its way from Munich to Essen. This is a third generation ICE train (actually two of them coupled together) which can reach a top speed of 280 kilometers per hour on the high-speed tracks between Frankfurt am Main and Cologne.

Car-free pedestrian and bicycle route to Scheinfeld

From Markt Bibart there are well-marked hiking and bicycle routes in all directions. I took this car-free bicycle route to Scheinfeld, and continued on from there to Frankfurt and Markt Taschendorf. The round blue sign indicates that both pedestrians and cyclists are allowed to use this path, but that pedestrians have priority.

Regional bike route sign

GPS  49°38’55.80″ North; 10°25’27.76″ East
Location of Markt Bibart on Google Maps.

My photos in this post are from 2011. I revised the text in 2020.

Nearby towns in the Steiger Forest:
Scheinfeld, 4 km northeast of Markt Bibart
Frankfurt, 9 km northeast of Markt Bibart
Markt Taschendorf, 12 km northeast of Markt Bibart