History of the city of Fulda
The history of the city of Fulda deals with the historical development of the region of the medieval monastery and today's city of Fulda in East Hesse based on prehistoric times . The history of the Fulda Monastery is described in more detail in the article Fulda Monastery .
Geological history
Around 240 million years ago, during the Red Sandstone Age , East Hesse was a lowland plain with rivers running through it and was inundated by the sea in the subsequent Muschelkalkzeit. In the Tertiary 65 million years ago, the Rhön volcanoes were active, which gave rise to today's basalt rocks. In a subtropical climate, lignite was formed in the surrounding lakes and swamps . Fossil finds showed similarities with those of the Messel pit near Darmstadt. Rhino and mastodon remains were discovered during the construction of the Fulda train station in 1865.
Prehistory and early history
The first settlements in the Fulda area at the end of the Stone Age around 5000 BC. BC indicate band ceramic finds. The Fulda professor Joseph Vonderau (1863–1951) laid the foundation for research on the prehistory and early history in the Fulda area with over 100 excavations. This is why the Vonderau Museum of City History is named after him.
A stool grave burial site was discovered on the Schulzenberg (near Fulda) in the western district of Fulda, dating from around 2700–2200 BC. BC, the end of the Stone Age, may have been created.
From found barrows dating back to 1550 BC. It can be seen that settlement became more intense during the Middle Bronze Age . The urn graves found on Haimberg also belong to the Bronze Age . This urn field culture is dated 1200–750 BC. Dated. In September 2006 a Bronze Age settlement was found between Johannesberg and Sickels when the Westring was being built. The facility is unique in Hessen. In an emergency excavation lasting a few days, granaries, graves and Bronze Age garbage pits were measured and finds were recovered.
Numerous settlement activities can also be identified from the Iron Age (from 750 BC). The excavations of the Celtic oppidum Milseburg (around 500–100 BC), which are exhibited in the Fulda Vonderau Museum, are significant . At the time when the Romans threatened the cultures north of the Alps, the Milseburg was a center of Celtic culture with over 1000 inhabitants. The Celts used sturdy and heavy plows with plowshares that not only tore up the ground, but turned the clod. Long strip corridors were created so that the plug had to be turned as little as possible .
In the area of today's city of Fulda itself, the settlement of the Fulda cathedral hill in the first century AD by Germanic tribes can be proven.
Early middle ages
In the Merovingian period , a Franconian royal court is said to have been located in the Fulda area, which was destroyed around the year 700 by an incursion by the Saxons.
Founding of a monastery
The Frankish Empire developed after the fall of the Roman Empire to the center of power and later a major power in Central Europe. With his baptism, the Frankish king Clovis I secured the support of Rome for his power struggles, and a broad-based Christianization began. The area in which the future city of Fulda developed was inhabited by Germanic chats before the arrival of the Christian missionaries . They remained loyal to their old Germanic gods even after they were incorporated into the Frankish Empire. In the Merovingian era, a Franconian manor house is said to have been located in Fulda at the intersection of the old streets Via Regia , Antsanvia and Ortweg , which was destroyed around the year 700. It became important to secure this strategically important place.
On behalf of Pope Gregory II , Bonifatius , who came from the English Crediton , organized the Christianization of Germania . In the course of his missionary work, as archbishop he structured the church of the then largely pagan East Franconian empire.
In 743 , Karlmann , the brother of the later Frankish King Pippin, handed over the Eiloha mansion on the Fulda River with an area of 4,000 paces to Boniface in order to found a monastery there. This process and the area are called the Karlmann Donation .
Bonifatius commissioned the monk Sturmius , who came from Bavaria , to build a monastery at a ford over the Fulda river to proselytize the Saxons , which was also to be his burial place. Sturmius came from Hersfeld to the Eichloha area in the spring of 744 . He erected the founding cross for the new Benedictine monastery in the Buchonia beech forest on the site of today's cathedral, of which he became the first abbot.
Boniface achieved that the monastery was endowed with other rich donations (possessions and regalia ). It was of particular importance for the Fulda Monastery that it was the first in the Reich in 751 to be subordinated directly to the Pope by Pope Zacharias , a so-called exemption under canon law . Thus it was withdrawn from the suzerainty of the bishops of Würzburg and the archbishop of Mainz . It was thus the first and for a long time the only monastery in the empire directly subordinate to the Pope. In 765 it received the status of an imperial abbey under king protection and in 774 church immunity , in 804 the right to freely elect an abbot . Fulda only became a diocese around 1700.
Sturmius, whose term of office as abbot lasted from 747 to 779 , was closely connected with the Bavarian dukes of Agilolfing. Fulda received donations from leading noble families in Saxony, Alsace and the Conradines , the ancestors of the later Salian emperors of the Holy Roman Empire . The immunity privileges of Charlemagne in 774 and his son, Ludwig the Pious, 814, indicated the direction of the development of the monastery into an imperial abbey, which was to become particularly important in the Ottonian imperial church system. The monastery community already comprised around 400 monks in 779 , when the first abbot Sturmius died.
In 754 Boniface was killed on a mission in Friesland ; just before he at Dokkum the Confirmation wanted to make of converted to Christianity men and women, he and his companions were killed by pagan Frisians (see The Death of Boniface ).
The bones of Boniface were brought to Fulda. The transfer of the body took over a month until it arrived in Fulda on July 9th. The grave immediately became the destination of numerous pilgrims . The donations of goods to the monastery began as early as Boniface's lifetime and intensified when the later so-called apostle of the Germans found his burial place there. The donations brought the monastery huge free float from northern Italy to Friesland , from Alsace to Thuringia . Most of the goods, however, were located in the Fulda area and were administered by Fulda ministerials, new noble knight families, which soon turned out to be a major problem.
Fulda grew and became the most important monastery north of the Alps.
Aspiring monastery
Between 791 and 819 a church of the Holy Sepulcher was built for Boniface. It was named Ratgar Basilica after the builder, the monk Ratgar , who was also abbot at times . It was built according to the plans for St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and was the largest basilica north of the Alps. The construction devoured such funds that Abbot Ratgar was driven out of the convent of the monastery. In the course of the Middle Ages, the structure of the building deteriorated more and more, so that the Ratgar Cathedral was torn down in 1700 and today's baroque cathedral was built over the Boniface crypt .
The neighboring Michaelskirche dates from the years 819 to 822. It was the chapel of the monk's cemetery. The original crypt has been preserved, the church interior has been renovated several times. It is one of the oldest churches north of the Alps, as is the Holy Sepulcher of St. Lioba in neighboring Petersberg . Saint Lioba was considered to be Boniface's niece, but she could also have been his wife because of the celibacy that was not yet practiced at the time , which is pure speculation.
These buildings, which were gigantic for the time, were made possible by sources of income from the tithe that the monastery collected from the serfs and peasants. In addition, they had to do labor. The authorization to do this was drawn from a certificate from Charlemagne , which granted the monastery the tithe privilege. But this document was a forgery, which was possibly produced after the death of Charlemagne in 814 in the time of Abbot Ratgar. A successor of Charlemagne, the East Frankish King Ludwig the German (around 806–876), confirmed the forgery in 875, probably also in the belief that Charlemagne had given the privilege. This makes the Fulda tithe privilege the first of its kind in Germany.
Another famous abbot of the Fulda monastery was Rabanus Maurus from 822 to 842 . He is considered to be one of the most important abbots of the Fulda monastery, which at that time was at the height of its reputation with over 600 monks and, with its library of around 2,000 manuscripts, was considered a beacon of occidental scholarship. In this he was significantly supported by the then head of the convent school Rudolf .
According to a legend revived by the writer Donna Woolfolk Cross , but not supported by any fact, the later Popess Johanna is said to have lived in the Fulda monastery around 830 (The Popess ISBN 3-7466-1400-7 ).
The development of the Imperial Abbey of Fulda in the centuries that followed was shaped by two developmental tendencies. On the one hand, the abbey and the respective Fulda abbot became part of the Ottonian imperial church system, on the other hand, estrangements began from fiefs that belonged to the monastery but were loaned to the nobles of the area. One example is the family of the Counts of Ziegenhain (today Schwalmstadt ), who were high bailiffs of Fulda. They collected tithes for the abbey and paid taxes to the monastery for it, and they also provided military protection.
The abbey and the settlement were granted coin, market and customs rights in 1019 by Heinrich II and in 1114 Fulda was first mentioned as a city (civitas).
High Middle Ages
The development of the imperial abbey of Fulda in the centuries that followed was shaped by two developmental tendencies: on the one hand, the abbey and the respective abbot of Fulda became part of the Ottonian imperial church system; on the other hand, the estrangement of fiefs that belonged to the monastery but loaned to the nobles of the area began were. One example is the family of the Counts of Ziegenhain (today Schwalmstadt ), who were high bailiffs of Fulda.
The abbey and the settlement received coinage, market and customs rights in 1019 through Heinrich II and in 1114 Fulda was first mentioned as a city (civitas).
The alienation of the monastery property in the 12th century led to the monastery's economic decline. It was not until Abbot Markward I (1150–1165) that many of these goods were restituted. The abbot was helped by one of the most famous forgers of documents of the Middle Ages, the Fulda monk Eberhard, who summarized the possessions of the abbey in the so-called Codex Eberhardi and falsified it strongly in favor of the monastery. Abbot Markward drove out robber barons , built castles to protect the monastery area and fortified the city with a city wall in 1162.
In 1208 Fulda was elevated to the rank of city and since then has jealously guarded his rights against the abbots' arrogance.
Late Middle Ages
In 1236, after a pogrom against the Fulda Jews, a trial was brought before the court court of Emperor Friedrich II. After the death of five Christian children in a mill fire, the Fulda Jews were accused of murder and arson. 30 of them were then killed. The children's corpses were brought to the Palatinate Hagenau before the emperor to have the Jews punished in the empire. Friedrich was convinced of the innocence of the Jews and asked experts. In July 1236 he absolved the Jews of all accusations and placed them under his protection as chamber servants with the Augsburg Jewish privilege .
Emperor Friedrich II raised the abbots of the monastery to the rank of imperial prince. Prince Abbot Heinrich V. von Diez-Weilnau (1288–1313) had an abbey castle built between 1294 and 1312 in which he resided outside the monastery. This castle was converted into a Renaissance palace in the 17th century by Prince Abbot Johann Friedrich von Schwalbach .
When Abbot Heinrich (before 1320) built a second one within the city, the citizens, with the help of High Bailiff Count Johann von Ziegenhain, stormed both of the abbot's castles and destroyed the new castle, including the tower and curtain walls. On complaint of the abbot who had fled the Emperor were over the city and the Earl of Emperor Louis IV. , The imperial ban imposed. Later (1331), Archbishop Baldwin of Trier brokered an atonement, as a result of which the citizens had to restore the tower and the curtain walls of the new castle and pay significant compensation. The leaders of the uprising were executed.
1350 sought Black Death , the plague Fulda home. In March 1349, however, the first plague pogrom in Hesse took place in Fulda , to which the vast majority of the Jewish population fell victim. In 1356 Emperor Charles IV awarded the prince abbot the honorary title "Arch Chancellor of the Empress". The Fuldaer Land, with its monastery and city, was now in the tension of forces between the two neighboring territories, the Archdiocese of Mainz and the Landgraviate of Hesse .
Under Abbot Reinhard von Weilnau (1449–1476) the development of the imperial monastery into a territorial principality was completed.
Modern times
Peasants' War, Reformation and Catholic Restoration
In Fulda Abbey, Reformation teachings spread from 1517 , but the abbots as well as a large part of the clergy and population held on to the old faith.
The Central German peasant uprising in 1525 first took hold in the area of the Imperial Abbey of Fulda. The peasants and the citizens of the city allied (Easter 1525); the imperial monastery and its subsidiary monasteries were plundered. The Hessian Landgrave Philip of Hesse advanced on May 3, 1525 with a strong army, whereupon the peasants surrendered after a short resistance. The city was sacked and had to bear the cost of the war . As a result, the importance of the state estates of the Fulda monastery increased significantly.
In 1570 Balthasar von Dernbach became prince abbot of Fulda. He wanted to renew the bishopric from the inside out and in 1571 summoned the Jesuits to Fulda. A grammar school (1572) and a papal college (1584) were established.
.jpg)
Thirty Years' War
The Thirty Years' War 1618–1648 devastated large parts of Germany. Fulda was not spared either. In 1622 Duke Christian plundered and pillaged the bishopric. Further occupations, looting, billeting and pillaging followed. The numerous war damage was repaired under Prince Abbot Joachim von Gravenegg 1644–1671.
Baroque and beginning industrialization
In 1700 Prince Abbot Adalbert von Schleifras appointed Johann Dientzenhofer as master builder in Fulda and commissioned him to build a new cathedral and a city palace in baroque style on the site of the Ratgar basilica .
In 1752 the prince abbots were elevated to the status of prince-bishops.
The University of Fulda existed from 1734 to 1805 . The institution founded by Prince Abbot Adolph von Dalberg on the basis of the papal college had four faculties : theology, philosophy, medicine and law. The baroque building from 1731–1734 was designed by Andreas Gallasini and today houses the Adolf von Dalberg elementary school.
The secularization of 1802 disempowered the prince abbots. The Fulda possessions went as part of the newly formed Principality of Nassau-Oranien-Fulda to Friedrich Wilhelm von Oranien-Nassau until Napoleon annexed the province of Fulda in 1806. In 1810 it became part of the Grand Duchy of Frankfurt . At the Congress of Vienna in 1815, the province was dissolved and, after a year-long Prussian administration, handed over to the Electorate of Hesse. Due to the German-Austrian War , Fulda and Kurhessen became part of the Kingdom of Prussia in 1866.
20th century
In the Weimar Republic in 1927 Fulda became an independent city .
1933-1945
The synagogue in the former Judengasse was destroyed during the Reichspogromnacht on November 9, 1938 . On November 9th, the synagogue was prepared to fire after the furniture had already been smashed. Fires were set at around 2 a.m., 4 a.m. and 6 a.m. the 80 year old synagogue burned down. The following day, Jewish shops and homes were destroyed. The historian Walter Mühlhausen said: "The overwhelming majority of the initiative for the violence in Hesse came from the local Nazi organizations, but the population, regardless of whether they owned the brown party book or not, took part in the Reichskristallnacht". In 1940 the Jewish cemetery was destroyed, the tombstones removed and built into other buildings. From 1941, a total of 243 Jews from Fulda were deported.
During the Second World War , one third of Fulda was destroyed in several air raids . However, the city was never the Allied primary target . American associations mostly bombed the area around the marshalling yard with the neighboring rubber works on the return flight. But incorrect drops also hit the city center around what was then Adolf-Hitler-Platz (square in front of the parish church, today again “Under the Holy Cross”).
After 1945
The independent city (since 1927) developed into a modern industrial location after 1945. 1972 saw the incorporation of 24 municipalities surrounding the city. In 1974 the city loses its district freedom until it receives a "functional special status" in 1980, and thus acquires various tasks of the district level.
From August 31 to September 5, 1954, the 76th German Catholic Day took place in Fulda . It was under the motto “ You should be a witness to me ”. Another highlight in the city's history was the visit of Pope John Paul II , who was enthusiastically welcomed by more than 100,000 believers on the Cathedral Square on November 17 and 18, 1980.
During the Cold War , Fulda had a special strategic importance, which is illustrated by the term Fulda Gap . The term originated from the idea that in the event of an attack by the Warsaw Pact, it would attempt to penetrate into southwest Germany through the Fulda valley. There was a large US garrison with the 11th Armored Cavalry Regiment. In 1994 the city celebrated its 1250th anniversary and became the venue for the 1st Hessian State Garden Show .
literature
- Irina Görner: Burial customs of the Bronze Age burial mounds in North and East Hesse . Marburg studies on prehistory and early history, ISSN 0724-4304
- Dieter Griesbach-Maisant, Manfred Reith, Werner Kirchhoff: Cultural monuments in Hessen - City of Fulda. ed. from the State Office for Monument Preservation Hessen in the series Monument Topography Federal Republic of Germany, Braunschweig / Wiesbaden 1992, ISBN 3-528-06244-4 .
- Walter Heinemeyer, Berthold Jäger (Ed.): Fulda in his story. - Landscape Reichsabtei Stadt, publication of the Historical Commission for Hesse 57, Fulda 1995, ISBN 3-7900-0252-6
- Fulda History Association (Hrsg.): History of the city of Fulda. Volume II. From the Princely Residence to the Hessian Special Status, Fulda 2008, ISBN 978-3-7900-0398-7
- Fulda History Association (Hrsg.): History of the city of Fulda. Volume I. From the beginnings to the end of the Old Kingdom, Fulda 2009, ISBN 978-3-7900-0397-0
- Norbert Rücker : Is the city of Fulda 1250 years old? in: "Buchenblätter" supplement to the Fuldaer Zeitung for Heimatfreunde, number 21 from October 19, 2011, p. 82
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hesse in the Middle Ages - source texts: "Charlemagne gives the Fulda monastery tithing rights to its villas and the servants and peasants sitting on them (forgery)" ( Memento of the original from June 10, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ Jesuits in Fulda: "Auxiliary troops" and protagonists in the struggle for Catholic reform, promoters of church music. In: bistum-fulda.de. Diocese of Fulda, accessed on June 17, 2016 .
- ↑ Lecture: The synagogue burned at six in the morning. ( Memento from July 19, 2011 in the web archive archive.today ) In: Fuldaer Zeitung. November 10, 2010.
- ↑ "76. German Catholic Day in Fulda, August 31st-5th September 1954 ". Contemporary history in Hessen. (As of May 29, 2012). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
- ^ "Visit of Pope John Paul II in Fulda, November 17-18, 1980". Contemporary history in Hessen. (As of November 7, 2012). In: Landesgeschichtliches Informationssystem Hessen (LAGIS).
