Mainz fortress

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Map of the federal fortress of Mainz from 1844
The Mainz Citadel
The 16 bastions of Johann Philipp von Schönborn in: Siège de Mayence en l'année 1689. Copper engraving, Paris, 1756
The provisions magazine of the Mainz fortress
The Reduit of the Mainz fortress in Mainz-Kastel
The outside of the Gautor of Mainz Fortress around 1890.
City map of Mainz 1890, including the third fortress ring
War memorial at Fort Joseph

A series of fortress works around the garrison town of Mainz between 1619 and 1918 are called fortress Mainz . The presence of the military and the extensive fortifications shaped the life of the people of Mainz, especially at the time as a federal fortress and imperial fortress. Many fortifications and barracks in Mainz are still preserved today. Numerous street names refer to the past as a fortress city. The Mainz Citadel , the most important remnant of the fortress period, is one of the most important historical buildings in Mainz.

The fortress in the early modern period

The first modern fortifications were built around 1619 by the Elector of Mainz, Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg . The medieval city ​​wall of Mainz was fortified and reinforced at the most important points with ramparts; In addition, the elector has the strategically extremely important Jakobsberg, located on the outskirts of the city, expanded into the “Schweickhardtsburg”. However, the electoral state did not have the means to raise the necessary number of soldiers to provide adequate defense. Therefore, on December 23, 1631, the Swedish King Gustav Adolf was able to move into the city unhindered. During the Swedish era, which lasted until January 1636, the existing fortifications were reinforced. At the mouth of the Main , a fortress with the name Gustavsburg was even built .

After the end of the Thirty Years' War , Elector Johann Philipp von Schönborn expanded Mainz into a fortress. The 16 bastions that formed a star-shaped belt around Mainz were built between 1655 and 1675 , including the Alexander bastion . The citadel , which was built on the Jakobsberg and replaced the “Schweickhardtsburg”, served as the fortress headquarters.

During the War of the Palatinate Succession , the fortress , which was occupied by the French under Louis-François de Boufflers in 1688 , was besieged and recaptured by troops of the Augsburg Alliance from June to September 1689 .

From 1710 to 1730, Elector Lothar Franz von Schönborn had the fortress builder Johann Maximilian von Welsch build a second fortress ring around the city, which consisted of five forts (also called entrenchments ) that were far forward . Including Fort Hauptstein in front of the Münstertor, the Karlsschanze in front of the Neutor and the Josephsschanze on the Linsenberg. These were connected by another wall and in the event of war they could be occupied by soldiers through an underground passage from the first fortress ring.

In 1733 and 1734, Elector Philipp Karl von Eltz-Kempenich had the forts Welsch, Elisabeth and Philipp built in the same line for these three large outlying works, as well as a double tenaille , the entire envelope , connecting routes to the forts and one Curtain wall between the batteries and roundabouts on the banks of the Rhine. Welsch was supported by Lieutenant Colonel Luttig, Colonel Engineer Gerhard Cornelius von Walrave and other engineering officers.

Because there was not enough money for a sufficient garrison , the Mainz fortress was handed over to the French without a fight in the First Coalition War in 1792 . With the siege of Mainz in 1793 , the fortress was initially recaptured and expanded by the Prussian and Austrian troops . Since autumn 1794 Andreas von Neu was governor of the fortress, which he was able to hold successfully during the siege of 1795 . Mainz was handed over to the French on December 30, 1797. Mayence , as Mainz was called from 1798, later became the most important fortress on the Rhine, France's new eastern border, under Napoleon . For this purpose, the Fort Montebello was built by the French genius management . In the final days of Napoleon, the city felt its importance as a safe retreat in a particularly bad way: When the Grande Armée withdrew in autumn 1813, Mainz was the first stop on French soil. Many soldiers were already infected with typhus at this point and the "Typhus de Mayence" could quickly spread in the narrow streets of Mainz. Russian and Prussian troops, later the German Federal Corps under Duke Ernst von Sachsen-Coburg, had blocked the fortress since the beginning of January 1814 . When she surrendered on May 4, 1814, only half of the 30,000 trapped soldiers were still alive.

Federal fortress and imperial fortress

When Germany was reorganized by the Congress of Vienna , the city ​​of Mainz and the surrounding area became part of the Grand Duchy of Hesse as a federal fortress . On June 30, 1816, the corresponding contract was signed. The peace garrison of the armed forces in Mainz was about 7,000 men, which should be raised to 20,000 men in the defense level. Equal parts of Austrians and Prussians were stationed here, as well as a grand-ducal-Hessian infantry regiment. In the event of war, almost the entire Kurhessian army was assigned to garrison the fortress, a position that it also occupied in 1866.

The German states saw the Mainz fortress as an important bulwark against France in the west. Large sums were made available to expand the fortress and modernize existing fortifications. Claudius Franz Le Bauld de Nans was appointed brigadier (inspector) from 1814 to 1817 . Franz Scholl was appointed head of the genius department . Together with other engineers, he drafted the plans, which were examined and approved by the military commission assembled at the Bundestag of the German Confederation in Frankfurt. A six-year renovation and expansion period began, after which the fortress corresponded to the latest feasible level of fortification technology in the polygonal system . The entire southern and western part of the Paleo was surrounded by works with solid casemating, which corresponded to the principle of the French génie officer Marc-René de Montalembert ( "Defense is stronger than the attack" ). The requirements were: the simplest possible floor plans, subdivision of the entire facility into defensible subsections, solid retreats ( reduits ) in the core building, bomb-proof hollow structures - casemates - for the crew and the war material. Large units of troops should be accommodated in the fortified camps and be able to defend themselves. In a second fortification phase (1841–1848), the new type of fortification was consistently implemented. A tower fort was built on the Petersaue in 1845 . In contrast to the "New Prussian fortification manner", which was carried out in high towers raised above the ground and was realized, for example, with the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress , the Austrians around Mainz used works that were sunk into the ground for the first time.

In addition to this, Mainz was now provided with a permanent garrison , which was provided by Prussia and Austria . The Franconian Carl Graf zu Castell-Castell , who served as a captain in the Austro-Hungarian army , was appointed to represent Austria in 1841 . During this time, many new buildings were erected that still exist today: for example Fort Weisenau in the Volkspark , the provisions store on Schillerplatz , Fort Joseph , a large part of which has been preserved alongside the university clinics (it now houses a private collection of historical Uniforms) or Fort Bingen , a casemate of which is still preserved on the campus of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz . Fort Bingen belonged to Fort Mariaborn, Fort Joseph and Fort Gonsenheim to a third fortress ring that was drawn around Mainz.

In 1866 the Prince Karl barracks were built, the Schönbornhof barracks were rebuilt, and a food store was built in Kastel. From June 10 to 14, the Prussians and Austrians left the city by federal decree. The troops were replaced by Bavaria, Sachsen-Meininger and an estimated 12,000 soldiers from Hesse.

In 1866, Maximilian Schumann carried out tests on the artillery firing range of the fortress on the Großer Sand against a mobile cannon armored by him with a minimal slot carriage covered with iron plates. The attempts were never finished, although they were quite promising because the German War interrupted them and were later forgotten. A Schumann tank was built on the Drusus bastion of the citadel. But none of this has survived today.

During the Austro-Prussian War (mentioned July 20 to August 26, 1866) the royal Bavarian Major General Ludwig Graf von Rechberg and Rothenlöwen was the military governor of the now Hessian fortress before it was handed over to the Prussians. The Hessian Major General Friedrich von Specht (1803–1879) was part of his general staff .

After the war of 1866, Mainz first became a Prussian fortress and then seven years later it became a fortress of the German Empire . At this point in time, Mainz was lagging behind industrial development: the fortifications and areas that had been kept free by the military prevented modern factories and industrial plants from settling there, and there was also the strong delimitation of the Mainz urban area due to the fortification ring. In 1872 the long-awaited expansion of the Neustadt was approved by the fortress authorities: The northern, Schönborn 'bastion belt was torn down - and Kaiserstraße was built on it . However, another wall was built around Mainz Neustadt. The city of Mainz had to pay for this “ Rheingauwall ”. In 1873 the army canning factory was built to supply the troops with catering. The literature speaks of the cost of 4 million guilders for the renovation of the fortress and 22 million marks for the city expansion. The city of Mainz bears the costs. The steps are agreed in the city expansion contract signed on September 21, 1872 between the governorate and the city of Mainz. By moving the fortress pale , the city will receive 25 hectares of arable land as property and 122 hectares of private property will be released for development.

The last major work that was built to strengthen the Mainz fortress was Fort Biehler on the Petersberg between Kastel and Erbenheim . In addition, the existing forts were strengthened by 1890 and the Cavalier Pritzelwitz was built.

On March 18, 1904, an imperial cabinet order was issued which ordered the abandonment of the north-western front. This pronounces the elimination of the entire inner wall around Mainz. The direct consequence of this is the abolition of the fortress pale .

Fortress commanders

From 1854 Eberhard Herwarth von Bittenfeld ; 1866 to 1871 Heinrich Karl Woldemar Prince of Schleswig-Holstein-Sonderburg-Augustenburg ("Prince Holstein") governor of the imperial fortress Mainz; from 1876–1877 Lieutenant General Peter von Lehmann was the fortress commander . In the years 1898–1903 Paul was Baron von Collas (1841–1910), Prussian general of the infantry à la suite , military governor and fortress commander of Mainz.

Occupation troops

1688

105th Infantry Regiment

1804

9th regiment de cuirassiers

The occupation troops had been in Mainz since 1866:

Infantry regiments or parts thereof

1866
1866-1871
since 1866
1866-1870
  • Replacement Battalion No. 34
  • Replacement Battalion No. 73
  • Landwehr Battalion No. 82
  • 4th Magdeburg Infantry Regiment No. 67
1871-1897
since 1871

Artillery regiments or parts thereof

1866-1876
  • 1. Kurhessisches Feldartillerie-Regiment No. 11
since 1866
  • Field Artillery Regiment "General Feldzeugmeister" (1st Brandenburg) No. 3
since 1832
since 1876
  • Field Artillery Regiment "Oranien" (1st Nassau) No. 27
since 1900
  • Field Artillery Regiment "Frankfurt" (2nd Nassau) No. 63

Cavalry regiments

Pioneers and hunters

Decline in military importance and continued use

In 1904 the city was abandoned as a fortress. By order of Kaiser Wilhelm II , many of the fortifications and city gates were closed by 1912. Nevertheless, Mainz remained a fortress. From 1909 new, modern bunkers and detached belt forts (outer forts or Biehler forts ) were built within a radius of 26 km to replace the outdated fortifications, as artillery technology was now able to shoot 16 kilometers. This fourth fortress belt, the Selzstellung , ran through the Rheinhessen towns of Heidesheim ( Uhlerborn ), Wackernheim ( Mainzer Berg ), Ober-Olm , Klein-Winternheim / Nieder-Olm , Zornheim (Dechenberg), Ebersheim (Auf der Muhl) and Gau- Bischofsheim to Weisenau and consisted of around 318 bunkers. A fortress railway, more precisely an ammunition and supply train from Uhlerborn to Zornheim, as well as specially built military roads, secured supplies via their own routes. The financing of this last belt of fortresses around Mainz came from reparations from the Franco-German War of 1870/1871. The construction of Fort Muhl and the Dechenberg base alone cost the empire 900,000 Reichsmarks and thus just as much as the construction of the Christ Church in Mainz . Fort Muhl was equipped on two floors with electric lights, oven heating and ventilation, a dressing and operating room, a bakery and a water supply for 90 days. 291 soldiers were supposed to operate here.

The selzstellung was based on the concept of the locked position. According to the plans, a zone of resistance against the west should be created by expanding it deeper. With the reinforcement and reinforcement expansion, which was only partially implemented, the Selzstellung only reached the originally planned strength after a declaration of war. Since the Selzstellung was only ready for action as part of a mobilization , it was considered a "non-armored framework of permanent construction".

Compared to a classic fortress with a fortress crew, this type of blocked position had the advantage that it could be quickly occupied and defended by regular field troops and that it could always be upgraded according to the latest weapons technology. All of the position's important combat positions were housed in self-sufficient bunkers. Infantry troops in projected field positions completed the defense, and bunkered shelters were provided for their protection. The command bunkers of the four sections were connected to each other by telegraph stations. The command bunker was in Marienborn.

Another line of defense on the Westerberg parallel to the Mainzer Berg was planned by the military government in 1916. First a route was laid from Ingelheim to Westerhaus Castle and then the construction of a rack railway began. The aim was to protect the Westerberg to the east with trenches and fortifications against French troops. Although the railway was completed, the fortress belt was not, as the military changed their plans. Therefore, the track was then dismantled again.

The last military governor of Mainz and fortress commander was Hugo von Kathen (1855–1932), general of the infantry and in 1937 the namesake of a barracks between Mainz-Mombach and Mainz-Gonsenheim , which was forcibly incorporated into it.

The 300-year history of Mainz as a fortress city ended with the Peace Treaty of Versailles in 1918. However, the numerous underground passages of the fortress served as a shelter from bombing raids during World War II . During the world wars, the citadel served as an officers' camp to accommodate captured officers ( Oflag XII-B ).

As in Cologne, the city's fortifications were converted into green spaces in the Mainz green belt . The new bunkers in Rheinhessen were blown up in the 1920s under the supervision of the French military .

See also

literature

  • Alfred Börckel : History of Mainz as a fortress and garrison from Roman times to the present . Publishing house by J. Diemer, Mainz 1913. Digitized
  • Rudolf Büllesbach, Hiltrud Hollich, Elke Tautenhahn: Bollwerk Mainz - The Selzstellung in Rheinhessen. morisel-Verlag, Munich 2013.
  • Ludwig Falck : The Mainz fortress. The stronghold of Germany "Le boulevard de la France". With a preface by M. Grassnick. Walter, Eltville 1991.
  • Stefan Dumont: Soldiers and women from Mainz in the fortress of Mainz 1816-1866 . University of Mainz, Mainz 2010, urn : nbn: de: hebis: 77-diss-1000020289 .
  • Stefan Dumont: The 'Key to the Empire' - Mainz as a fortress city , in: Franz Dumont and Ferdinand Scherf (eds.): Mainz. People - buildings - events. Philipp von Zabern, Mainz 2010, pp. 231–244.
  • Hartmut Fischer: Ecology versus monument preservation? Forms of a conflict using the example of the Mainz Citadel ; in: Hans-Rudolf Neumann (arr.): Preservation and use of historical citadels ; Mainz Philipp von Zabern 2002, ISBN 3-8053-2987-3 , p. 214 ff.
  • Elmar Heinz: double wheel and double eagle. Mainz fortress between the emperor, empire and electoral state in the 1st coalition war (1792–1797). DWJ Verlags-GmbH, Blaufelden 2004, ISBN 3-936632-43-X (also: Mainz, University, dissertation, 2002).
  • Herbert Jäger: The draft for a detached work on the Suder Mountains near Mainz. A lost or unknown work by Maximilian Schumann? In: Fortification. Vol. 13, 1999, ISSN  0931-0878 , pp. 36-54.
  • Clemens Kissel : The old fortifications of Mainz and a short history of the Kur-Mainzer troops Mainz 1899 digitized
  • Michael Kläger: The Mainz city and fortress expansion. Local politics in the second half of the 19th century . In: Contributions to the history of the city of Mainz 28 . Mainz 1988
  • Peter Klein, Werner Lacoste: The Mainz covered cannon stands as the predecessor and trigger of the Schumann armored stand. In: Fortification. Vol. 14, 2000, pp. 6-39
  • Peter Klein, Werner Lacoste, Markus Theile: The Mainz Schumann tank stand from 1866 in original photos. In: Fortification. Vol. 14, 2000, pp. 40-49.
  • Peter Krawietz: Preservation in the long term - sensible use of historical citadels. The example of Mainz ; in: Hans-Rudolf Neumann (arr.): Preservation and use of historical citadels ; Mainz Philipp von Zabern 2002, ISBN 3-8053-2987-3 , p. 81 ff.
  • Peter Lautzas : The Mainz fortress in the age of the Ancien Regime, the French Revolution and the Empire. (1736–1814) (= Geschichtliche Landeskunde. Vol. 8, ISSN  0072-4203 ). F. Steiner, Wiesbaden 1973 (at the same time: Mainz, University, dissertation, 1971).
  • Werner Lacoste: Kastel as part of the Mainz fortress. In: Elmar Brohl (Ed.): Military threat and structural reaction. Festschrift for Völker Schmidtchen. German Society for Fortress Research , Marburg 2000, ISBN 3-87707-553-3 , pp. 81–117.
  • Werner Lacoste: Officers in charge of the fortresses Mainz, Königsberg, Pillau, Boyen and Marienburg from 1866–1914. In: Fortification. Vol. 13, 1999, pp. 132-141.
  • Hans-Rudolf Neumann: The Federal Fortress Mainz 1814–1866. Development and changes. Berlin 1987 (Berlin, Technical University, dissertation, 1987).
  • Hans-Rudolf Neumann: The flank casemates of the former fort Bingen in Mainz. In: Mainz magazine. Vol. 86, 1991, ISSN  0076-2792 , pp. 219-229.
  • Karl Anton Schaab : The history of the federal fortress Mainz, historically and militarily based on the sources. Self-published by the author, Mainz 1835. Digitized
  • Rudolf Schmitt: The fortress city of Mainz. In: Fortification. Vol. 11, 1997, pp. 58-73.
  • Heinrich Schrohe (editor): The Mainz city photographs from the 16th to the 18th century. Mainz 1930–1931 digitized
  • Maximilian Schumann (?): Mainz and the German western border. Victor von Zabern, Mainz 1861, digitized .
  • Julia Stapelmann: The fortifications of the city of Mainz: Chances and perspectives for the development of leisure and tourism ; in: Hans-Rudolf Neumann (arrangement): Preservation and use of large historical fortresses ; Mainz Philipp von Zabern 2005, ISBN 978-3-8053-3511-9 , p. 373 ff.

Web links

Commons : Mainz Fortress  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Börckel p. 71
  2. ^ Clemens Theodor Perthes : Political conditions and people in Germany at the time of French rule . Volume 2. Gotha 1862, p. 122 ( Google Books )
  3. ^ Law on the establishment of the budget of the German Empire for the year 1875 ( Wikisource )
  4. ^ Hans-Rudolf Neumann: Military building administrations in Mainz
  5. ^ Military schematism of the Austrian Empire , from the kk Hof- und Staats-Druckerei , 1831 p. 366
  6. ↑ Martin Klöffler: Fortress inventory. State of Hesse . (PDF; 203 kB) 9th expanded and corrected edition. Martin Klöffler, Düsseldorf 2010.
  7. ^ Karl Anton Schaab: The history of the federal fortress Mainz. 1835, p. 524 ff.
  8. ^ Heinrich Gassner: on the history of the Mainz fortress. 1904, p. 16
  9. ^ Heinrich Gassner: on the history of the Mainz fortress. 1904, p. 18 f
  10. ^ Heinrich Gassner: on the history of the Mainz fortress. 1904, p. 20
  11. ^ Heinrich Gassner: On the history of the Mainz fortress . 1904, p. 20.
  12. ↑ Alfred Börckel. Mainz historical images. Sketches of memorable people and events from 1816 to the present. Mainz: Zabern 1890. pp. 202-203.
  13. ^ Alfred Börckel: Mainz as a fortress and garrison from Roman times to the present . 1913, p. 294 .
  14. ^ Defense line Selzstellung. In: Rhein Main Presse , April 30, 2009.
  15. ^ Fort Muhl and the field railway in Ebersheim ( Memento from September 2, 2011 in the Internet Archive )

Coordinates: 50 ° 0 '  N , 8 ° 16'  E