Marktsteft harbour, historic river port in Marktsteft, Bavaria, Germany

Marktsteft harbour is a former river landing on the Main in Lower Franconia, branching off the river and curving north as a masonry basin. The stone crane of 1764 survives only as its foundation; it was built by carpenter Köberlein and mason Wolz of Sickershausen with stone from the Hohenfeld quarry and 4,000 bricks from the Obernbreit brickworks. The site forms part of the Ortskern Marktsteft ensemble with its harbour settlement.

The harbor was established around 1700 on orders from the Margraves of Ansbach and grew into a significant trading center along the Main. After 1814 it declined as new transportation routes like railways developed and political borders shifted.

The name Marktsteft, granted with market rights on 4 November 1726, recalls the margravial widow Christiane Charlotte's privilege; the harbour itself was long called simply Kanal. The site is now a listed monument and since 2024 houses the Kitzingen district environmental station and a restaurant.

The harbour lies just off the old town centre of Marktsteft, where the basin branches from the Main and curves north. The site was conserved and restored between 2021 and summer 2024; since then it has housed the Kitzingen district environmental station and a restaurant. The stone crane foundation of 1764 can be seen next to the basin.

The stone crane of 1764 survives only as its foundation; the crane itself was built by carpenter Köberlein and mason Wolz of Sickershausen, using stone from the Hohenfeld quarry and 4,000 bricks from the Obernbreit brickworks. Between 1777 and 1782 more than 1,000 soldiers embarked here for America to fight for the English in the American Revolutionary War.