Ehrenbreitstein city fortifications

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The Klausenburg , in the background the Rheinburg 1909

The Ehrenbreitstein city fortification was a fortification around the city of Ehrenbreitstein , which is now a district of Koblenz . The first coherent city fortifications were built by the Trier electors in the 17th century with the expansion of the electoral residence .

With the construction of the Prussian fortress Koblenz at the beginning of the 19th century, the city fortifications were rebuilt. The system belonging to the Niederehrenbreitstein system was built in parts in the years 1827–1833 and was completed in 1854–1857 under Carl August von Cohausen . The crenellated brick wall connected the older parts of the city fortifications with one another and ran as follows: Helfenstein-Sauerwassertor- Klausenberg factory - Press house of the Buschmann brothers - Blindtaltor-Blindtaltraverse-Kaponniere on Kolonnenweg - Luisenturm -Teichertturm-Defensibles Trainwagenhaus-Pfaffendorfer Tor. The Ehrenbreitstein city fortifications were abandoned in 1890.

history

Kurtrier city fortifications

Heribert Tower

In the Middle Ages , Ehrenbreitstein did not have a continuous fortification. Instead, the narrow entrances to the village were secured with permanent castle houses. In the 16th century, a round tower, the so-called Heribert Tower , and a gate at the Augustinian monastery also secured the village. After the construction of Philippsburg Palace in the Thirty Years' War , the planning for the construction of a city fortification can be proven, but there is no evidence of its execution. It was not until 1672 that Elector Karl Kaspar von der Leyen laid a new curtain wall around the town in the course of renovations on the southern foothills of the electoral fortress Ehrenbreitstein , from the Capuchin monastery to the Blind Valley, from there to the round tower at the Augustinian monastery via the former square tower of today's journeyman's house to the tower at the Sauerbrunnen and from here on towards the Helfenstein. Most of the towers of this first city wall are still there today; a piece of the city wall has been preserved in Humboldtstrasse.

Prussian city fortifications

The defensible press house of the Buschmann brothers (Klausenburg)
The Luisenturm (left) and the Teichertturm (bottom right)

After Ehrenbreitstein was taken over by Prussia in 1814 and the Koblenz fortress was built , during which the destroyed Ehrenbreitstein fortress was rebuilt, a new city fortification with gates in the form of a crenellated wall at the defensible train car house and at the Klausenberg plant (today Rheinburg) was built in 1827–1833 . In addition, the blind gate and the defensible wine press house of the Buschmann brothers , which was located in the immediate vicinity of the Klausenberg plant, were built. Overall, however, the attachment was incoherent, so that no complete attachment ring was placed around the site. It was not until 1854 that the gaps were gradually closed and the older parts were integrated , under the direction and according to plans of the engineer officer Carl August von Cohausen . The connection of the Klausenberg to the Helfenstein took place in the years 1854–1857, when the Sauerwassertor was also built. The Klausenburg factory, wine press house and Blind Valley were connected by crenellated walls, while the following section up to the Pfaffendorfer Tor had to be completely re-fortified. Von Cohausen planned a total of four towers in this section. The blind valley traverse was given a square, massive tower (blind tower), from which the crenellated wall ran across the column path via a gate system to a two-storey caponier (Perschenbach tower). For aesthetic reasons, von Cohausen had planned another tower in the immediate vicinity, which, however, had been rejected several times and only received building permission through the connection with the Prussian Princess Luise ( Luisenturm ). A fourth and last tower (Teichertturm) was built in the immediate vicinity of the Pfaffendorfer Tor. In 1857 the entire system was completed.

The following engineering officers were involved in the construction of the Prussian city fortifications in the construction phase until around 1833:

Task of city fortifications

In 1890 the Ehrenbreitstein city ​​fortifications were abandoned together with the Koblenz city fortifications and the Emperor Franz Feste system . The city of Ehrenbreitstein bought the wall, including the grounds, buildings and gates, in 1892/93 and gradually sold them in the following years. In the following years, important parts came into private ownership, were rebuilt and have been preserved to this day: the Klausenberg factory (today Rheinburg), defensible wine press house (today Klausenburg), caponiers on Kolonnenweg, Luisenturm, Teichertturm. In addition, parts of the crenellated wall and a tower of the Sauerwasser Gate have been preserved. On the other hand, parts of the Sauerwassertor, the Blindtaltor and the Blindtaltraverse, which fell victim to a landslide, were demolished.

Monument protection

The remains of the Ehrenbreitstein city fortifications are a protected cultural monument under the Monument Protection Act (DSchG) and entered in the list of monuments of the state of Rhineland-Palatinate . They are located in Koblenz-Ehrenbreitstein in the monument zone Tal Ehrenbreitstein .

Since 2002, the remains of the Ehrenbreitstein city fortifications have been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Upper Middle Rhine Valley .

literature

  • Matthias Kellermann: The Prussian fortress Koblenz and Ehrenbreitstein. On the history of the fortifications on the right bank of the Rhine , 3rd edition, Koblenz 2014. ISBN 978-3-934795-63-1 .
  • Fritz Michel : The art monuments of the city of Koblenz. The profane monuments and the suburbs , Munich Berlin 1954, p. 442 (Die Kunstdenkmäler von Rheinland-Pfalz, first volume).
  • Marianne Schwickerath: 1857–1997. For the 140th anniversary of Cluj-Napoca , Koblenz-Ehrenbreitstein 1997.
  • Klaus T. Weber (dissertation): The Prussian fortifications of Koblenz (1815–1834) . (Series: Art and Cultural Studies Research) 2003, p. 305ff. ISBN 3-89739-340-9 .
  • Ulrike Weber (edit.): Cultural monuments in Rhineland-Palatinate. Monument topography Federal Republic of Germany. Volume 3.3: City of Koblenz. Districts. Werner, Worms 2013, ISBN 978-3-88462-345-9 .

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Michel, Kunstdenkmäler, p. 442.
  2. ^ General Directorate for Cultural Heritage Rhineland-Palatinate (ed.): Informational directory of cultural monuments - district-free city of Koblenz. Mainz 2020, p. 16 (PDF; 6.5 MB).