The oldest Franconian wine city with vineyards given by Charlemagne to the Abbey of Fulda in 777, Hammelburg changed very early to the Lutheran teachings. Only by menace did 120 Lutheran families leave their hometown in 1604.
The oldest seals of this city show Boniface the patron saint of the Abbey Fulda. In the 15th century two small shields were added with the cross of Fulda and a canting castle on a mountain. At the same time the arms developed separate from the seals. The arms also show the cross of Fulda, but instead of a castle, the lilies of St. Simplicius were added. The latter is the second patron saint of Fulda and the city.
The Basel printer Johann Froben was born in Hammelburg. His younger brother, Volckmar Frobenius was the last Prior of the Abbey at Stadtilm, who married a god daughter of Martin Luther, a Jewish convert baptised with the name “Christine”.
One of the oldest Jewish communities in Lower Franconia was in Hammelburg. Since 1310 Jewish inhabitants of the city were under the protection of the Prince Abbot of Fulda. After the expulsion of the Jews from the Diocese of Würzburg in 1453, some of them settled in Hammelburg. The “Hammelburger Mahzor” prayer book written 1347-48 is located in the national library in Darmstadt. 42 Jewish families lived in Hammelburg in 1645, including many who had fled from villages due to the chaos of war. In 1671, almost all Jews were expelled by the Prince Abbot of Fulda. Former Hammelburger Jews took leading positions in other cities, including Isaak Brilin in Mannheim as Chief Rabbi of the Palatinate.