City fortification Hanau

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The former fortifications of the two cities of Old and New Hanau are referred to as city ​​fortifications Hanau (later also: Fortress Hanau ) . It was built in three successive main phases from the 13th to the 17th century. The medieval city fortifications, laid out around 1300 and expanded around 1429, have been supplemented by a fortification system planned by Reinhard zu Solms since 1528 , which made it possible to set up cannons. It comprised the old town of Hanau and the Hanau suburb that emerged in the 15th century towards the Kinzig .

Towards the end of the 16th century, the founding of Hanauer Neustadt under Count Philipp Ludwig II. Necessitated an extension and substantial enlargement of the fortification to the south. The fortress reached its greatest importance during the Thirty Years' War , when it was blocked several times without success, but was taken twice in a coup. During this time it found its way into literature through Grimmelshausen's Simplicissimus . After that, it quickly lost its importance as it was not modernized. In 1806 it was largely abandoned. Today only small remains are preserved, including almost all of the medieval water tower and the Frankfurter Tor.

Hanau - Excerpt from the Topographia Hassiae by Matthäus Merian 1655. View of Hanau from the east in the 17th century, in the foreground the Kinzig and the weir at the Herrnmühle , left: the new town, in the middle the old town, right: the city ​​palace .

topography

Hanau lies northeast of the Kinzig estuary in the Main . Coming from the east, the Kinzig does not strive directly to the Main, but flows first to the northwest in an arc, now called Krumme Kinzig , around the old town and then to the southwest into the Main. The core city is thus surrounded by water on three sides. This strategically favorable location was used from the earliest moated castle to the large fortifications of modern times, when the trenches of the city wall were filled by the Kinzig. Of these trenches, only the one that branches off from the Kinzig at the Herrnmühle and flows through the Hanau Castle Garden is preserved today . From the Main Canal , which was laid out around 1600 and which branched off the Main approx. 100 meters upstream of the Kinzig estuary and led in a north-easterly direction to the port (at today's Kanaltorplatz), only a short start is left.

Remnants of bridges can still be seen here and there along the inner city ring. On plans from the 19th and early 20th centuries, the associated trenches can still be seen there, which led to the Main Canal. Water currents that still strive through the sandy soil of Hanau's inner city from the Kinzig to the Main occasionally still cause difficulties in civil engineering work, such as the construction of the Karl Rehbein School or the underpass at the Westbahnhof .

Hanau was on the trade routes Frankfurt am Main - Leipzig and Frankfurt am Main - Nuremberg , which the Kinzig crossed west of the old town initially via a wooden bridge and from 1559 via a stone arch bridge, and was an important market square.

Components

The fortifications consisted of the medieval city ​​palace of Hanau, the medieval fortifications of the old town of Hanau, the renaissance fortifications around the city palace, the old and hospital suburbs and the baroque fortress ring , which included the city palace, the old, suburb and new town of Hanau. All of these city ​​walls and ramparts had gates through which important traffic connections ran, such as the trade routes Frankfurt am Main - Leipzig and Frankfurt am Main - Nuremberg .

history

middle Ages

Castle and old town

Plan of the medieval city with the castle to the north.

With the construction of a castle , the favorable location in the arch of the Kinzig has demonstrably been used since the Middle Ages. There are only very few prehistoric and Roman finds from the core city of Hanau.

According to the documents, the construction of a castle, the later city palace, can be assumed in the 12th century. 1143 is the first time a Dammo de Hagenouwa is named after the castle. The name suggests a Hague in the Au . The castle itself was first mentioned in a document in 1234. How many castles of ministerials the region concerned it is initially quite a simple Wasserburg with zugbrückengeschütztem gate, Palas , keep and farm buildings. There are no sources from this period about the settlement that was formed under the protection of the castle complex.

Southern old town wall at the back of the former Central cinema

The settlement was first mentioned in 1303 when King Albrecht I granted it city rights. It is very likely that the first city wall dates from this time. In 1338 the church in Kinzdorf is called " extra muris oppidi Hanawe " (lying outside the city wall of Hanau). At this point the city wall must have stood. In the same year the water tower is mentioned for the first time, the link between the city fortifications and the castle. It got its name from its location in the city moat and castle moat. It is the only completely preserved tower of the medieval city fortifications.

The medieval city was created under the protection of the castle, which was integrated into the defenses in the form of a city ​​castle . Nevertheless, the transition between the city and the outer bailey was not a clearly recognizable border in the Middle Ages. In addition to the farm buildings of the castle, there were numerous courtyards of the castle men , which were not subject to the municipal jurisdiction, but were fiefs of the lord of the castle. This so-called castle freedom took up a substantial part of Hanau's old town, probably up to Johanneskirchgasse and Johanneskirchplatz .

The guard duty on the city wall (and in the streets) was primarily a matter of the citizenry.

Fortification of the hospital suburb

In front of the Metzgertor, i.e. on the road in the direction of Frankfurt am Main , a settlement developed in the 15th century, the "Hospitalvorstadt" . The name arose later after the Alt-Hanauer Hospital , which received a new building here at the end of the 16th century. The fortification of this hospital suburb was a separate wall, mentioned for the first time in 1429. Its outlet in the direction of Frankfurt was the (later so-called) hospital gate. It was not included in the wall ring surrounding the city until the Renaissance fortifications in the 16th century. In the same century, a new settlement was built in front of the gate along the road to Frankfurt, the (now second) “suburb” that still bears this name today.

Early modern age

Castle and expanded city of Hanau around 1550

With planning at least since 1522 and a start of construction in 1528 began under the government of Count Philip II of Hanau-Munzenberg, a new fortification of the city of Hanau, which under his son, Count Philipp III. von Hanau-Münzenberg and was continued during his minority by the regent, Count Balthasar von Hanau-Münzenberg . In terms of defense, this was made necessary by the artillery that was created. Until then, there were hardly any effective long-range weapons that were able to destroy a corresponding wall. Therefore, the main task was to prevent the enemy from approaching the wall, which was what made it possible for him to physically attack it. A medieval wall ring enclosed the area to be protected as quickly as possible. This was how the most favorable relation between construction costs and defense purpose could be achieved. He had obstacles to approach, like trenches in front of it.

The new fortification was designed under the direction of Count Reinhard zu Solms according to the latest findings of the time, whereby the south side of the fortification with three rondelles and two corner bastions were certainly carried out according to his design. This Renaissance fortress took into account artillery, both in defense and attack. Reinforced was built on ramparts and bastions that were wide enough to offer space for guns . In addition, upstream bastions made it possible to bombard the enemy before he got close enough to the fortress to threaten its facilities with his guns. The work on the new fortress mainly focused on the southern flank, i.e. the area that is now occupied by Freiheitsplatz . They lasted until around 1540. The areas in the north around the city ​​palace were not addressed until 1614.

Even now, the security service on the wall (and in the streets) of Hanau was primarily a matter that the citizens of the city had to provide, even if the count provided additional armed men in special situations.

Fortification of the new town

The border between the Archdiocese of Mainz and the County of Hanau, drawn due to legal disputes on the occasion of the establishment of the new town of Hanau in 1597. To the left of the center of the picture the new town under construction.
Hanau - Excerpt from the Topographia Hassiae by Matthäus Merian 1655, the Neustadt on the right

Original attachment

On June 1, 1597, Count Philipp Ludwig II of Hanau-Münzenberg signed a treaty with Calvinist refugees from France and the Spanish Netherlands , the surrender of the new town of Hanau to settle in Hanau. The surrender was supplemented in 1604 by a transfix of the Neustadt Hanau . It is the founding act for the Neustadt Hanau . The count made the building site in front of Hanau's old town available - against the resistance of the Archbishop of Mainz, who saw the area as being covered by a wild ban to which he was entitled - and paid for the infrastructure, especially the fortifications, which the sovereign made a concession to the new citizens . The design of the fortress around the new city came from Nicolas Gillet , the main builder of the complex was - until his death in 1607 - René Mahieu . This modern baroque fortification leaned in the north on the southern fortification of the old town. The planned layout of the city established a regular, chessboard-like street network that characterizes Hanauer Neustadt to this day and is now a listed building.The former fortress ring is still visible today in a road ring that runs around the Neustadt in the west, south and east. However, as the count's resources - as it turned out - were not sufficient for the fortification work to proceed quickly, the new residents took over the construction from 1601 for three years. For this they had all of the count's income transferred from the Neustadt and received an annual grant of 1,500 florins from the sovereign treasury. Then the count took over the construction again.

In December 1603, Philipp Ludwig II issued a privilege to settle a Jewish community in Hanau. In the space between the medieval fortifications of the old town and the Renaissance fortifications in front of it, in the area of ​​the medieval Zwinger , the Judengasse (today: Nordstrasse) was built as a ghetto . This community was directly subordinate to the count's administration, not one of the two city administrations of the old or new town of Hanau, but the old town of Hanau was subject to head tax .

The guard duty on the fortification was now carried out by the citizens of the city as well as by the garrison that the sovereign maintained.

Thirty Years' War

The city fortifications of Hanau attained their greatest military importance during the Thirty Years' War . It was fought over several times and was conquered twice - but by military coups, not because the fortifications were insufficient. Right at the beginning of the war, the fortifications were strengthened: In 1615 the “Red Gate” was completed and the Kinzig Bridge was provided with a gate tower, the Margaret Tower, which was built on the second bridge pillar when viewed from the city. Construction of the fortress was completed in 1619.

Count Philipp Moritz (1605–1638) was initially allied with the emperor and from March 1630 had an imperial garrison. This was expelled on October 31, 1631 by the Swedish lieutenant colonel Christoph Hubald , apparently with the consent of the count, who switched sides and allied himself with King Gustav Adolf of Sweden. This immediately began to eliminate the existing weaknesses of the fortress and to strengthen them. In particular, all higher vegetation in the area around the fortress was removed, as well as obstructions such as the walls of the Kinzdorffriedhof and the French cemetery . The Swedes erected ravelins , which had not been used until then, reinforced the protruding corners of the main fortifications, in front of the remaining gates that were used - at least in front of the Nuremberg Gate - lunettes were placed, the canal gate was provided with a hornwork , the fortification of the Kinzig Bridge in 1634 / 1635 also with a hornwork, included in the fortifications and a glacis placed in front of the moat . In the same phase - in the meantime General Jakob von Ramsay had taken over the command in Hanau - an expansion of the Contrescarpe , i.e. the outer ditch embankment, belonged. There was a heated dispute between the old and the new town about the structure of the fortification - as is often the case with construction issues relating to the fortification.

The adventurous Simplicissimus

With the “ Simplicissimus ” by Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen, an outstanding literary testimony to the Hanau Fortress is available from the time of the Thirty Years' War :

" The pastor delayed me in his losament until ten o'clock before he went with me to the governor to tell him my decision so that he could be a guest at the same because he had a free table at noon; Because Hanau was blocked at that time and such a tight time with the common man, before the stretched people in the same fortress, that even some who imagined something did not disdain to pick up the frozen turnip shells in the streets, so the rich threw down. "

" Then the master of the court told me in front of the table that I had recently come home from the bulwark or wall and said: I knew where the thunder and lightning came from, I had seen large holes on half wagons that were hollow inside, in them one would have onion seeds and one iron white turnips, the tail of which was cut off, stuffed, afterwards the blocks behind were tickled a little with a pronged spear, which would have struck steam, thunder and hellish fire from the front. They brought up more of the same kind of antics, that is, that you had almost the same whole snack of nothing but me to talk and laugh about. Such caused a general conclusion to my downfall, which was that I should act bravely, so in time I would give a rare table counsel with which one could worship even the greatest potentate in the world and make the dying laugh. "

Siege of 1635/36
Siege and relief of the fortress Hanau in 1636 in the Theatrum Europaeum by Matthäus Merian.

Simplicissimus stayed in Hanau after the battle of Nördlingen and before the siege of 1635/36. As a result, the city and fortress of Hanau and their occupation got into a difficult situation when the Protestant party had largely withdrawn from southern Germany. At the beginning of the French intervention, Hanau formed the link between the anti-Habsburg troops on the Upper Rhine under Bernhard von Weimar and the Swedish army in northeast Germany under Johan Banér . The fortress was isolated and surrounded by territories that had joined the imperial family. As a result, the unfortified villages in the Hanau region were initially plundered. For their part, the Swedish occupation had also started to get food and supplies through looting. General Ramsay covered the region with the Little War from the fortress Hanau and carried out tricks on places held by imperial troops such as Wächtersbach , Gelnhausen and Staden . Later he also plundered neighboring cities such as Seligenstadt and Steinheim and tried unsuccessfully to occupy Breuberg Castle .

In September 1635, the imperial under Guillaume de Lamboy therefore began to besiege Hanau. The imperial main camp was located near Kesselstadt, and numerous entrenchments were built mainly along the Kinzigbogen. Lamboy himself took up quarters in Steinheim Castle . But little was done to take the city by storm. The imperial ones lacked heavy artillery, so that the siege was more like a blockade. One hoped for a non-fighting handover. There was a lack of food in the city, and the plague and residents of the surrounding area who had fled to the city made the situation even worse.

The Hanau archivist Johann Adam Bernhard summarized the conditions in the besieged city about 100 years later as follows, referring to an essay by an elderly citizen:

" ... If some horses, which were wanted to be kept, were also shot down by friends and enemies, the poor people fell out and brought in as much as possible for their maintenance. Just like she cooked donkeys, dogs and other meats and sells them on the Marck almost every day. Cats were caught out of game, and a number of those who were hungry for meat traded dry meat from the executioner. All kinds of herbs without distinction were eaten by the poor residents and the refugees, and were eaten unsalted and melted, because of the unnatural use of food afterwards so many 100 people suffered serious illnesses, paralysis, scabbard and putrefaction, and quite a few fell out on the street and fell down ... "

After nine months of siege, in June 1636 a Hessian-Swedish relief army under Landgrave Wilhelm V of Hessen-Kassel (1602–1637) - he was married to Amalie Elisabeth von Hanau-Münzenberg (1602–1651) - and the Swedish general Leslie approached and liberated the city. Since then, thanksgiving services have been held annually, from which the Lamboy Festival developed from 1800 .

Conquest by coup
Conquest of Hanau by hand, copper engraving from the 17th century.

Count Philipp Moritz (1605–1638) fled to the Netherlands with his family after the battle of Nördlingen . The Swedish city commandant, General Jakob von Ramsay , remained in the fortress Hanau, even when Count Philipp Moritz succeeded in reconciling with the emperor in 1637, switching back to his side and returning to Hanau. General Ramsay simply arrested the count in his castle in Hanau.

In this situation, on February 12, 1638 , powers on friendly terms with the count took possession of the fortress through a military coup carried out by members of the Wetterau Counts' Association and carried out by Major Johann Winter and Ludwig Heinrich von Nassau-Dillenburg . Early in the morning, Winter's soldiers penetrated the fortress at the Herrnmühle , first freed the count who had been imprisoned in the city palace and occupied the fortifications in the old town. The occupation was thus in a hopeless situation because the new town was unfortified opposite the old town. General Ramsay was now arrested himself and taken to Dillenburg , where he succumbed a year and a half later from the injuries he had suffered in this operation.

18th century

After the Thirty Years War, the fortress was not modernized in the style of Vauban . Repairs were occasionally carried out. But already in the second half of the 18th century the fortress was completely out of date and was no longer maintained for military reasons, so large parts of it began to deteriorate.

In the years after 1767, under the government of the Hereditary Prince Wilhelm (later Landgrave Wilhelm IX and Elector Wilhelm I) of Hessen-Kassel, the fortifications between the old and new towns of Hanau were torn down, creating Paradeplatz and Esplanade (today: Freiheitsplatz ). During construction work on the square, archaeological traces of these systems are repeatedly uncovered.

19th century

On the orders of Napoleon on November 5, 1806 - the French marched into Hanau on November 3 - the Hanau fortress was largely razed in the winter of 1806/1807 . In particular, all ramparts were removed. The new construction of a more contemporary and much larger fortress failed in 1813/1814 due to the greed of the elector, the resistance of the population and the changed strategic situation after the events of the two years.

In the following time, the gates sometimes stood for a few years, but were then also demolished. The work finally dragged on until 1829, when the medieval parts of Hanau Castle were laid down. Only the representative gate building of the Frankfurter Tor was not demolished. The removal of the fortifications was welcomed by the townspeople. In this way, they gained areas in the immediate vicinity of the city that were initially usually used for gardening. From 1886 new street openings were created and closed built "outer quarters" were created.

Investments

Medieval fortifications

Fortification of the city palace

Detailed plan of the late medieval core castle.
Water tower: On the right, a walled-up door can be seen in the middle, the connection to the battlement

Hanau Castle was a moated castle that lay on an island in a wide arc, which the Kinzig describes coming from the east here to the south, in the southern area of ​​today's castle garden , north of the town hall at a height of about 104 m above sea level. NN. It was built by the Lords of Hanau-Buchen in the 12th century. The builder is Dammo von Hagenowe, who is mentioned for the first time in a Mainz document in 1143 . The closest place was initially the fishing settlement south of the Main and later the deserted area of Kinzdorf . In the years after 1170, the lords of Hanau-Dorfelden took over the castle. Probably it was in this first castle to a number of buildings, including the keep , which enclosed a small courtyard. The castle was first mentioned in a document in 1234 as "Castrum in Hagenowen". Little is known of the building history of Hanau Castle in the Middle Ages. Archaeological excavations in 2001 and 2002 uncovered parts of the retaining wall of the moat, which was founded on a wooden grate made of oak . This could be dendrochronologically dated to the year 1302. The original defense system probably consisted of a wall and a moat. Another tower on the north-east side, the so-called archive or pigeon tower, can be proven to date back to 1375 at the latest. He protected the castle on the field side.

During the 15th century the castle became the permanent main residence of the Lords and Counts of Hanau . This went hand in hand with various structural extensions: At the end of the Middle Ages, the castle received a kennel on the side facing away from the city. This included a round tower on the east side with a bell-shaped hood . On the west side there were mainly semicircular shell towers . Later the Counts Philipp Ludwig II. (1576–1612), Philipp Reinhard (1664–1712) and Johann Reinhard III. (1665–1736) moved the castle towards the city, whereby the fortifications that had still existed between the outer bailey and the castle were abandoned.

Fortification of the outer bailey

The outer bailey was probably separated from the old town by a wall until the 16th century. Obviously, it was not a defensive structure, but a demarcation of the separate legal districts of town and castle.

Fortification of the old town

Fastening ring
Old Johanneskirche, south side. At the bottom left you can see the rest of the medieval city wall used for the south wall
Rest of the city wall in Schlenkergässchen
South-east corner of the old town fortifications

The wall ring around the medieval old town of Hanau consisted of a simple wall with an upstream kennel and moat. This wall was additionally reinforced by the two gate towers and eight defensive towers, the latter were mostly designed as shell towers. Counterclockwise they were:

  • Water tower, transition to the castle fortifications
  • Rectangular tower behind the Erbsengasse. It protected the bend in the wall to the south.
  • Tower south of Johanneskirche , demolished in 1725
  • Metzgertor (see below)
  • Semicircular defense tower at the bend of the city wall to the east
  • Kinztor (see below)
  • Semicircular defense tower to the south. After the destruction in the Second World War , it was exposed in the direction of Nordstrasse, but was demolished in 1950, including a considerable part of the city wall still standing there.
  • Round, closed defense tower at the south-east corner of the fortification, also known as the “witch's tower” or “theft tower”. One room in this tower served as a temporary synagogue for the newly founded Jewish community in Hanau from 1605 to 1608 . The base of the tower is preserved and destroyed the memorial to the 1938, on the opposite side of the since 1608 North Road standing synagogue Hanauer included.
  • Tower at the end of Badergasse. Demolished in 1709 when the ghetto was enlarged
  • Tower between the latter and the beginning of the castle fortifications
  • Tower as a transition to the castle fortifications (questionable)

The wall and towers were built from basalt rubble ( dolerite ) from the quarries near today's Wilhelmsbad . It was about 1.40 thick and 6-7 meters high. A covered battlement ran along it . For this, the dam crest was widened on the inside by on corbels brick arch bricks were placed. The length of the wall was 800 meters.

In front of the wall there was a kennel wall six meters away . It cannot be seen on the earliest views of the fortress, but was detected in 1951 during canal works in Badergasse. Excavations in 2001 in the further course of Nordstrasse confirmed this. The height of the 85 cm thick wall and the question of whether it was crowned by battlements remains unclear.

This first medieval city wall had only two external gates: the Metzgertor to the west, where the road from Frankfurt arrived, and the southern Kinzdorfer Tor for the connection to Kinzdorf and for the trunk roads to the east. Both gates could be seen from the upper floor of the first Hanau town hall, the so-called playhouse opposite today's goldsmith's house .

Kinzdorfer Tor

The Kinzdorfer Tor (also: "Kinztor") was at the southern end of the Marktgasse. It consisted of a tower with a passage for the street and a bridge in front of it, in its last development a stone arch bridge. It got its name from the settlement of Kinzdorf, a later desert that lay south of the medieval city of Hanau and where the parish church responsible for Hanau stood until the 15th century . The Kinzdorfer Tor was a square gate tower that protruded from the fortification wall. He had an arched gateway. More recently it also housed a porter's apartment. With the establishment of the Neustadt Hanau, the gate lost its fortification function. Most recently it was used as a prison .

In the course of the removal of the fortifications between the old and new town in the area of ​​today's Freiheitsplatz under the government of Hereditary Prince Wilhelm (IX./I.) Of Hesse-Kassel in the years 1768–1779, the Kinzdorfer Tor was demolished in the summer of 1769 and the one in front Filled trench.

Some of these buried findings could be archaeologically observed during the construction of the then bank for community services on the corner of Freiheitsplatz and Marktstrasse, south side .

Butcher's gate

The butcher's gate, also known as the “cat tower”, was the gateway to the medieval city from the west. It consisted of a tower with a passage for the street. The suburbs formed in front of the gate from at least the 15th century. In a round turrets, roof turret of the tower, hanging Armsünderglöckchen . In 1510 the tower received a "clock with pointer".

After the hospital suburb was included in the wall ring in the 15th century, the gate largely lost its fortification function. It was demolished in 1771.

Fortification of the hospital suburb: hospital gate

The first suburb of the medieval old town, the area of ​​today's Hospitalstrasse, was initially protected by a simple wall, first mentioned in 1429. The gate in this wall that opened the way to the west was the (later so-called) "inner" hospital gate . It is said to have had the year 1484 or 1498. Before that, a new, second suburb was developing .

Renaissance fortification

Wall ring

The new defensive ring, which was placed around Hanau in the 16th century, enclosed the Hanau old town, the hospital suburb and the Hanau city palace. These three elements have now been surrounded by a new Renaissance fortification system. Whether this was based on the model theoretically conceived by Albrecht Dürer , which would actually have been built here for the first time, is controversial. The work lasted almost 20 years. Towards the south, the new fortification was designed as a flat semicircle, which was reinforced with five bastions: the two corner bastions were kept almost square, the three middle ones as semicircles.

At the same time, the castle on the north side of the Hanau fortifications was also expanded and re-fortified, which lasted until around 1560. The new fortification system left the medieval fortifications of the old town and castle largely untouched, so that they were now surrounded by a double defense system.

Entrance in to Hanau over the Kinzig Bridge , painting by an unknown English painter from 1814 with the Kinzig Bridge and the Margaret Tower.

New gate

The New Gate, also known as the “Schützentor”, was moved east to the axis of the street emerging from the market gate, in 1531 as a new southern exit from the city under the reign of Count Balthasar (1508–1534), who was responsible for Count Philip, who was still underage III. (1526–1561) ruled, established. Count Balthasar came in from the New Gate Sandstone - portraits both as also affix his late brother, Earl Philip II, with corresponding inscriptions.. The new gate was demolished during the work on the installation of the Freedom square in the middle of the 18th century and the portraits and inscriptions for Red Gate translocated . When the ramparts were demolished, the stones were saved privately, entered the collection of the Hanau History Association in 1875 and were destroyed in the Second World War.

Second hospital gate

Right at the beginning of the construction work for the Renaissance fortifications, the second, outer, hospital gate was built in 1528, while Count Philip II was still alive. It secured the “suburbs” from the outside and was additionally secured by a hornwork built in 1634. The gate had a square tower and an arched passage. The hospital gate was torn down at the beginning of the 19th century, either during the demolition of the fortifications in Napoleonic times or in 1816/1817 because it turned out to be an obstacle to traffic.

Kinzigbrücke and Margarethenturm

In 1556–1559, a new stone arch bridge over the Kinzig was built in front of the hospital gate after the previous wooden building fell victim to a flood.

At the beginning of the Thirty Years War, in 1615, the defense of the Kinzigbrücke was reinforced with its own tower, the Margarethenturm. In 1813, during the Battle of Hanau , the suburb was set on fire by the French. A view of the scene shows the Kinzigbrücke with the Margaret Tower. It was used as a prison until 1829, when it was demolished.

Fortress ring of the Neustadt Hanau

Part of the Hanau city fortifications, uncovered in April 2009 in an excavation at the Hanau city hospital.

Wall

In front of the Neustadt wall was a moat that was fed by the Kinzig and to which a Contrescarpe was only presented during the Thirty Years' War. The wall that followed was walled up on the outside and had a narrow path in front between the water and the wall, which was accessible from the protruding gate buildings. The wall was crowned by a parapet and on the city side was framed by fascines or wattle . According to the first draft, the inner sides of the wall should be accompanied by streets that were only built on on the side facing the city. However, this was not done, the streets were built on on both sides and gardens were laid out between the houses and walled walls.

In keeping with the layout of the new town, the fortification consisted of five segments of a regular eight-pointed star. The southern, older fortification of the old town pushed into the remaining three spikes, opposite which the new town remained without its own fortification. The construction of the new fortress was based on the then very new Tenaill system. It has not been clarified whether this was done for cost reasons - curtains with bastions in front would have been more expensive - or because the opponents of the project, the Free Imperial City of Frankfurt and the Archdiocese of Mainz , were to be calmed down with this less complex building . The resulting fortress was considered very modern. A major flaw, however, was the lack of external works. Completing these was the first measure after the Swedes occupied the city on November 1, 1631. In front of the inwardly bent sections of the Tenaillen, such porches were now placed, a total of seven, particularly large ones at the canal gate and at the hospital gate and the Kinzig bridge in front.

Mill gate

The mill gate was built after 1609, but closed again during the Thirty Years War and the associated bridge was demolished - it is not clear when exactly and finally. When the fortifications were razed in Napoleonic times, the gate was torn down.

Nuremberg Gate

The Nürnberger Tor was built between 1600 and 1605, the bridge in front was already completed in 1604. A heavy flood damaged the gate and destroyed the bridge, which had to be rebuilt in 1615/1616. During the Thirty Years War, the gate was given a bezel at a later date. It was demolished during the demolition of the fortifications in Napoleonic times.

At the same place, a new gate system in the classical style was built in 1820 . It consisted of two pavilions facing each other , the street could be blocked with a lattice gate in between. This served customs, but no longer had a defensive function. One of the guard houses housed the employees of the authority, which levied excise here .

First, with increasing traffic, the lattice gate disappeared in 1867, the two pavilions remained standing. Since 1935, the southern one has housed a memorial for those who died in the First World War . The air raids of World War II survived only this pavilion. When the “Brüder-Grimm-Center”, a shopping center, was built in this area around 1980, the pavilion was moved to the north side of the street in 1981/82. Today it houses the Volksbühne Hanau's advance booking office for theater tickets.

  • Mühltor on a drawing by Conrad Westermayr 1804.

  • Nürnberger Tor (Renaissance facility) during the demolition work in 1806/1807.

  • Nürnberger Tor: The south pavilion of the classicist complex is offset to the north.

  • The Steinheimer Tor during the demolition in 1806 (Conrad Westermayr).

Steinheimer Tor

Construction of the Steinheim Gate began in 1600, the gate tower was completed in 1601 and a bell was hung there. In 1619, during the Thirty Years' War, the gate was closed and the bridge in front of it was demolished. It remained closed until 1776. In 1827 the gate was demolished.

Canal Gate

Construction of the canal gate began in 1609. The canal gate was a double passage through the wall. On the one hand, an ordinary gate with a gate tower and passage was created for road traffic, but immediately south of it another passage through the wall, which was designed as a water-bearing ditch, the access to the port planned within the fortification . The gate was completed in 1611 and the port in 1617. During the Thirty Years' War the canal gate was reinforced with a horn . However, it turned out that the harbor basin and the canal silted up. At the end of the war the harbor basin was silted up and abandoned.

A plan from 1684 shows that the harbor basin and the channel between the basin and the moat have been filled. The Canal Gate was now almost meaningless in terms of traffic: it led to nowhere. It was only when Philippsruher Allee was built at the beginning of the 18th century that the gate regained importance. While the ramparts around the Neustadt were largely razed in the winter of 1806/1807 , the Canal Gate was only demolished in 1829.

Frankfurter Tor

The first Frankfurter Tor was built in 1601–1607, although it partially collapsed again after a flood during construction. In 1722 - not least because it was the representative portal on the way to and from the electoral and coronation city of the German emperors - Count Johann Reinhard III. rebuild it representative. The architect was Christian Ludwig Hermann . It bears the coat of arms of the then ruling Count Johann Reinhard III. and his wife Dorothea Friederike von Brandenburg-Ansbach . At the time of construction, only the middle of the three arches out of town was open, but all three on the town side. The opening of the two outer arches out of town took place later, perhaps in 1833 when the wooden bridge in front was replaced by a wider stone bridge. The mint of the County of Hanau was temporarily housed in the gate .

The Frankfurter Tor is the only gate that has survived to this day. Preserved baroque city gates are relatively rare. In Napoleonic times it escaped demolition because it contained apartments. In 1945 the Frankfurter Tor was destroyed except for the surrounding walls and the vault of the through passages. The reconstruction took place from 1953 to 1955 by the town builder Schalin and the Miltenberg engineer Lotz. The upper floor has been used for training rooms in the neighboring St. Vinzenz Hospital since the 1980s . The building was originally a stone sight and was only plastered after the reconstruction. A short section of the new town fortifications to the southwest was also preserved.

  • The canal gate from the inside on a drawing by Carl Wilhelm Woerishoffer before 1829. On the left in the picture the rest of the former port canal with the bridge crossing it.

  • The canal gate from the outside on a drawing by E. Toussaint.

  • Frankfurter Tor.

  • The Frankfurter Tor 1809, the moat can still be seen. Watercolor drawing by Bernhard Hundeshagen .

Baroque addition to the old town fortifications: Red Gate

The Red Gate, also known as the “Walltor” or “Red House Gate”, was the “back exit” of the city and was of minor importance in terms of traffic. It led to the mills on the Kinzig, to the Jewish cemetery and to Rückingen. It was started in 1535 but wasn't finished until 1615. Nothing is known of the original appearance of the Red Gate. The only illustration that exists shows it in a greatly changed state from the 18th century and already during the demolition. The Red Gate was demolished during the demolition of the fortifications in Napoleonic times.

Structural remains

The numerous city moats, which were almost completely filled in after the Second World War, can still be seen on a map from 1932.
Foundation block of a powder tower between Main-Kinzig-Halle and the police headquarters; discovered in 1978 during the construction of the underground car park under the management building.

Old town fortification

The following are preserved:

  • Water tower at the chancellery building (city library) ⊙
  • Wall section on the west side of the Old St. John's Church ⊙
  • Wall section in Schlenkergässchen (west side, with parts of the battlement) ⊙
  • Section of the wall at the rear of the former “Central Theater” cinema, accessible from Marktstrasse ⊙
  • Foundation of the defense tower at the southeast corner of the fortification. The foundation has been preserved and included in the memorial for the destroyed Hanau synagogue , which was formerly on the opposite side of Nordstrasse . ⊙

Renaissance fortification

  • Ghetto wall on the footpath between the former Judengasse (today: Nordstraße) and the authorities . The time of construction and the original function of this wall have not been clarified. Possibly the last remnants of the Renaissance fortifications. ⊙
  • A foundation block weighing 10 t was uncovered in 1979 when the police headquarters were being built. It belonged to the powder tower of the bastion in the Jewish quarter and was moved to the parking lot Sandeldamm , where it is today in the extension of the ghetto wall. ⊙

Neustadt fortification

  • Frankfurter Tor with a short section of the fortification ⊙
  • The south pavilion of the Nürnberger Tor offset to the north, Nürnberger Straße / Kurt-Blaum-Platz ⊙
  • The following streets still trace the course of the Graben-Wall-System of the Neustadt in the Hanau town plan: Mühl tor weg , southern section of Julius-Leber-Straße , northern section of Grüner Weg , Heraeusstraße , Kurt-Plaum-Platz , Friedrich-Ebert -Investment. At the Steinheimer Tor . Canal gate square , Nussallee .

Others

  • Former crossing of Heinrich-Bott-Straße over the city moat (bridge railing) ⊙
  • Isolated bridge over the former moat at Nussallee 16 (day care center of the Marienkirche community) ⊙

literature

  • 675 years old town Hanau. Festschrift for the city anniversary and catalog for the exhibition in the Historical Museum of the City of Hanau am Main , ed. from the Hanauer Geschichtsverein e. V., Hanau 1978, ISBN 3-87627-242-4 .
  • Gerhard Bott : Monuments in the city and district of Hanau. In: Hanau city and country. A home book for school and home. Ed .: Hanau History Association. Hanau 1954.
  • Heinrich Bott : The old town of Hanau. A memorial book for the 650th anniversary of the old town of Hanau. Ed .: Hanau History Association. Hanau 1953.
  • Heinrich Bott: City and fortress Hanau according to the Stockholm plan by Joachim Rumpf of January 8, 1632 and according to other plans and views of the 17th and 18th centuries. (1) In: Hanauer Geschichtsblätter. 18. Hanau 1962, pp. 183-222.
  • Heinrich Bott: City and fortress Hanau. (2) In: Hanauer Geschichtsblätter. 20. Hanau 1965, pp. 61-125.
  • Reinhard Dietrich : Preliminary report on the emergency rescues at the Kinzdorfer Tor in Hanau's old town. In: Hanauer Geschichtsblätter. 29: 331-339 (1985).
  • Hanauer Geschichtsverein (Ed.): With Hebelius Potter around old Hanau - A journey back in time to the year 1810 (= Hanauer Historische Hefte 1). Hanau 2010.
  • Carolin Krumm: Cultural monuments in Hessen - City of Hanau . Ed .: State Office for Monument Preservation Hessen . Wiesbaden 2006, ISBN 3-8062-2054-9 .
  • Eckhard Meise : Bernhard Hundeshagen - no monument protection in Hanau in the early 19th century. In: New Magazine for Hanau History 2006. pp. 3–61.
  • Eckhard Meise: Hanau. The city in the Middle Ages and modern times. In: Guide to archaeological monuments in Germany 27. Hanau and the Main-Kinzig district. Theiss, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-8062-1119-1 , pp. 159-169.
  • Michael Müller: Construction and importance of the Hanau Fortress in the Thirty Years War. In: Hanauer Geschichtsverein (ed.): The Thirty Years War in Hanau and the surrounding area. Hanauer Geschichtsblätter 45th 2011, ISBN 978-3-935395-15-9 , pp. 93-121.
  • Michael Müller and Astrid Otte: Excavations in the courtyard of the Hanau authorities center on Freiheitsplatz 2 . In: New Magazine for Hanau History 2019, pp. 3–15.
  • Michael Müller: "Today you can see potatoes growing where cannons used to be planted." Changes in the Hanau townscape during the Napoleonic era. In: Erhard Bus , Markus Häfner, Martin Hoppe (Red.): Hanau in the Napoleonic era. Published by the Hanauer Geschichtsverein 1844 e. V. to commemorate the battle of Hanau on October 30 and 31, 1813. Hanau 2014, ISBN 978-3-935395-21-3 (=  Hanauer Geschichtsblätter 47 ), pp. 187-201.
  • Oskar Schenk: The old Hanau city gates. In: Hanau city and country. A home book for school and home. Hanau 1954, pp. 355-359.
  • Inge Wolf: Christian Ludwig Hermann - Building Director at the Hanauer Hof. In: Hanauer Geschichtsblätter. 30: 445-555 (1988).
  • Ernst Julius Zimmermann : Hanau city and country. 3. Edition. Hanau 1919. (ND 1978, ISBN 3-87627-243-2 )

Web links

Commons : Stadtbefestigung Hanau  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ A b Günter Rauch: "Tammo de Hagenouwa". When the name Hanau was first mentioned in a document 850 years ago. In: New magazine for Hanau history. 1993, 4 ff .; Peter Acht: Mainz document book. Volume 2: The documents from the death of Archbishop Adalbert I (1137) to the death of Konrad (1200). Darmstadt, publishing house of the Historical Association for Hesse 1971 No. 37.
  2. ^ Heinrich Reimer : Hessisches Urkundenbuch. Section 2, document book on the history of the Lords of Hanau and the former province of Hanau. Volume 1. 767-1300. Publications from the Royal Prussian State Archives, Hirzel, Leipzig 1891 No. 184.
  3. ↑ See Bert Worbs: Buchen - Dorfelden - Windecken . Early castles in the county of Hanau. In: Hanauer Geschichtsblätter. 30, 1988, pp. 347-404.
  4. ^ Heinrich Bott, Altstadt, p. 25; ders .: City and fortress (2), p. 120f.
  5. ↑ a b c Heinrich Bott, Altstadt, p. 35.
  6. ↑ a b Bott: City and Fortress (2), p. 121.
  7. ^ Heinrich Bott, Altstadt, pp. 30f.
  8. ^ Friedrich Uhlhorn: Reinhard Graf zu Solms, Herr zu Münzenberg, 1491–1562 . Marburg 1952, p. 44ff.
  9. ↑ Bott: City and Fortress (2), p. 69.
  10. ^ Bott, city and fortress (1), p. 193.
  11. ^ Bott: City and Fortress (2), p. 85ff.
  12. ^ Bott: City and Fortress (2), p. 95.
  13. ^ Bott: City and Fortress (2), p. 97.
  14. ↑ a b c d e f g h i O. Schenk, p. 357.
  15. ↑ Bott: City and Fortress (2), p. 123.
  16. ^ Bott, city and fortress (1), p. 183.
  17. ^ Bott, city and fortress (1), pp. 195f.
  18. ^ Bott, city and fortress (1), pp. 200f; ders .: City and Fortress (2), p. 123.
  19. ↑ a b Bott, City and Fortress (1), pp. 198f.
  20. ^ Bott, city and fortress (1), p. 204.
  21. ^ Bott, city and fortress (1), p. 202.
  22. ↑ The adventurous Simplicissimus 1st book, 23rd chapter
  23. ↑ The adventurous Simplicissimus 2nd book, 3rd chapter
  24. ↑ Herfried Münkler : The Thirty Years War. European catastrophe, German trauma 1618–1648 . Rowohlt Berlin, Berlin 2017, ISBN 978-3-87134-813-6 , pp. 558 and 725.
  25. ↑ Reinhard Dietrich: Hanau conquered by hand. In: Hanauer Anzeiger. (Volume 263, No. 37) of February 13, 1988, p. 8.
  26. ^ Bott, city and fortress (1), p. 222.
  27. ^ Heinrich Bott, Altstadt, p. 34.
  28. ↑ ju: Excavator exposes a piece of the city wall. In: Hanauer Anzeiger . March 5, 2010, p. 1 .; Reinhard Dietrich: preliminary report ; Reinhard Dietrich: Production waste from the Hanau faience factory - an excavation. In: Hanauer Geschichtsblätter. 30: 335-346 (1988).
  29. ↑ See in particular: Michael Müller: Changes in the Hanau cityscape in the Napoleonic period. In: Hanau History Association . 1844 eV: Hanau in Napoleon's epoch = Hanauer Geschichtsblätter 47. Hanau, undated [approx. 2015], ISBN 978-3-935395-21-3 , pp. 187-202 (188ff); Heinrich Bott, Altstadt, p. 34; Titmouse: Bernhard Hundeshagen. P. 6.
  30. ^ Eckhard Meise: A fortress not built (Hanau 1813/1814). In: Hanauer Geschichtsverein (ed.): News from a troubled time. Hanau in the first decades of the 19th century. Hanau 2016 (=  Hanauer Geschichtsblätter 50 ), ISBN 978-3-935395-25-0 , pp. 447-584.
  31. ↑ Hebelius Potter judged the demolition critically and criticized the unimaginative handling of the Hanau people with the conversion areas (literature catalog : Hanauer Geschichtsverein (ed.): Mit Hebelius Potter around the old Hanau .)
  32. ↑ Bott: City and Fortress (2), p. 125.
  33. ↑ a b Heinrich Bott, Altstadt, p. 19.
  34. ^ Heinrich Bott, Altstadt, p. 23f.
  35. ^ So Heinrich Bott, Altstadt, p. 28, citing archaeological findings. In doing so, he refutes Zimmermann's contrary view.
  36. ↑ Information from: Heinrich Bott, Altstadt, p. 26f .; O. Schenk, p. 356.
  37. ↑ Eckhard Meise: Brief overview of the history of the Hanau Jews and their synagogues. In: New magazine for Hanau history. Hanau 2010, pp. 45-107 (56).
  38. ^ Heinrich Bott, Altstadt, p. 25f.
  39. ^ Heinrich Bott: The old town of Hanau. A memorial book for the 650th anniversary of the old town of Hanau. Ed .: Hanau History Association. Hanau 1953, p. 28 and Fig. 3; on the excavations in 2001 see Frank Lorscheider: Interim report on the excavations in the area of ​​the Hanau City Palace. In: New magazine for Hanau history. 2002 / I, pp. 3–20, here p. 10f.
  40. ↑ a b Reinhard Dietrich: preliminary report .
  41. ↑ a b c O. Schenk, p. 356.
  42. ↑ O. Schenk, p. 356; Heinrich Bott, Altstadt, p. 26.
  43. ^ JA Bernhard: Historical chronicle of the two cities of Hanau . Part I, Book 1, Chapter 7, §§ 7-9 (Manuscript from the 18th century owned by the Hanau History Association.)
  44. ^ H. Bott: The old town of Hanau.
  45. ↑ Bott: City and Fortress (2), p. 122.
  46. ^ Heinrich Bott, Altstadt, p. 30ff.
  47. ^ Heinrich Bott, Altstadt, p. 31f.
  48. ↑ Meise: Bernhard Hundeshagen. P. 26 ff; Fig, p. 49.
  49. ↑ Meise: Bernhard Hundeshagen. P. 24; JA Bernhard: Historical chronicle of the two cities of Hanau . Part I, Book 1, Chapter 7, §§ 7-9 (Manuscript from the 18th century owned by the Hanau History Association.)
  50. ^ Bott, city and fortress (1), pp. 200f.
  51. ↑ a b c d e f So Meise: Bernhard Hundeshagen. P. 37.
  52. ↑ O. Schenk, p. 357; Bott, City and Fortress (1), p. 200f.
  53. ^ A b c Bott, City and Fortress (1), p. 198.
  54. ^ Bott, city and fortress (1), p. 196.
  55. ^ Bott, city and fortress (1), p. 196f ("Siege Plan" by Matthäus Merian ).
  56. ^ Bott, city and fortress (1), p. 194.
  57. ↑ a b Bott, City and Fortress (1), p. 195.
  58. ^ Bott, Stadt und Festung (1), p. 196 ("Siege Plan " by Matthäus Merian ) and supplement (reproduction of the plan of the Hanau Fortress by Joachim Rumpf from 1632).
  59. ↑ a b O. Schenk, p. 357f.
  60. ^ Martin Hoppe: Hanauer street names. Hanau 1991, ISBN 3-87627-426-5 , p. 182.
  61. ^ Bott, city and fortress (1), p. 199.
  62. ↑ Werner Kurz: From the Count's traffic project to the "Stinkkaute". In: Hanauer Anzeiger . March 6, 2010, p. 33.
  63. ↑ Meise: Bernhard Hundeshagen. P. 6.
  64. ^ Bott: City and Fortress (2), p. 93ff; ibid., p. 94, a handwritten sketch by Count Philip Ludwig II is shown, which shows how he imagined the gate to look.
  65. ↑ Inge Wolf, pp. 452ff, 507ff.
  66. ↑ Inge Wolf, p. 454.
  67. ↑ Gerhard Bott, Baudenkmäler, p. 155.
  68. ↑ Meise: Bernhard Hundeshagen. P. 36.
  69. ↑ Inge Wolf, p. 455.
  70. ↑ Carolin Krumm, p. 142.
  71. ↑ Meise: Bernhard Hundeshagen. P. 35.
  72. ↑ Krumm, p. 247.
This article was added to the list of articles worth reading on December 13, 2011 in this version .