The Stuttgart Formation (Schilfsandstein, Middle Keuper) near Iphofen (Unterfranken/Lower Franconia) is some 15 m thick and consists of fluvial and estuarine sediments, which are unconformably entrenched in the underlying shales of the Grabfeld Formation. An approximately 8 m thick sand body in the lower part exhibits bipolar herringbone cross-bedding, sigmoidal bedding with double mudstone drapes, tidal bundles and polymodal paleocurrents. These structures suggest intertidal bars and tidal channels dominated by microtidal activity towards an estuary mouth beyond the zone of turbidity maxima. Appreciable wave effect and wave induced currents were instrumental for sedimentation, too. The succession represents a transgressive systems tract generated during relative sea-level rise in a drowned river valley system.