Offenbach District

Offenbach is a Kreis (district) in the south of Hesse, Germany and is part of the Frankfurt/Rhine-Main Metropolitan Region. Neighbourhood districts are Main-Kinzig, Aschaffenburg, Darmstadt-Dieburg, Groß-Gerau and the cities of Darmstadt, Frankfurt and Offenbach.

History
The district Offenbach was first formed in 1832 when the previous Landratsbezirke Langen (partially), Seligenstadt and Offenbach were merged. In 1852 the district area was enlarged in western direction, while some of the southern part was moved into the district Dieburg. 1938 the area of the Frankfurt airport was added to the district, and the city Offenbach left the district to become a district-free city. However the seat of administration stayed in Offenbach.

After two minor changes in 1942 and 1974, 1977 gave the district its current borders, and also the municipalities in the district were merged to 10 cities and 3 municipalities. In 2002, the capital of the district was moved from Offenbach to Dietzenbach.

Geography
A large part of this very urbanised district is wooded. Most towns are part of the Frankfurt urban area. The river Main is a part of the northern border of the district.