City wall (Mainz)
The city wall of Mainz was a city fortification that had existed for centuries and was built in several construction phases . The first was built in the second half of the 3rd century for the Roman provincial capital Mogontiacum . The later medieval fortification line largely took over the course of the Roman wall and thus included large, still undeveloped areas. The construction of extensive bastionary fortifications since the 17th century made Mainz a fortress city . Remnants of the medieval wall sections were increasingly built into houses.
Roman time
The first city wall in Mainz was built in the second half of the 3rd century. The oldest representation of the city of Mainz, which is surrounded by city walls, is the Lyon lead medallion , which is dated to AD 297. From the late Roman wall ring (about two meters thick and six meters high, about 4000 m long) only remains in the foundations of the current city wall are preserved.
3rd to 8th century
In the Merovingian period (around 486–751) large parts of the wall were still undeveloped. It is not entirely clear today what condition the former Roman walls were in at the beginning of the early Middle Ages. What is certain, however, is that Archbishop Liutbert repaired the city wall around 881/882 .
9th to 12th centuries
The medieval city wall largely followed the course of the late Roman walls.
Under Archbishop Hatto I (891–913), the Mainz urban area was extended to the banks of the Rhine. For this, the Roman city wall was broken at the end of the 9th century by archaeological findings and about 30-50 m further east rebuilt
after an uprising of citizenship, Emperor Frederick Barbarossa in 1163, the demolition of the wall that was designed at least in part. To what extent the Mainz city wall was razed in 1163, d. H. was destroyed is unclear. Most of the part of the city wall on the banks of the Rhine was probably demolished.
13th to 16th centuries
Reconstruction and expansion in the 13th century, the wall was moved again towards the Rhine and the suburb of Selenhofen was included (had already had a rampart and moat since 1206). At the same time, the landside sections were increased from five to eight meters. The city fortifications defied all attacks until the height of the Mainz collegiate feud in 1462. In the 16th century, the medieval city wall no longer met the requirements of "modern" warfare: the walls were simply too weak for the new cannons.
1800 to 1900
In earlier times, the city wall was built over with houses in places.
Around 1900 the buildings on the city wall were demolished.
1900 to today
The current remains of the city wall in Mainz date from medieval times.
The section on Rheinstrasse was partially covered by the remains of a petrol station closed in 2002 until the end of November 2016.
The remains of an archway and sandstone surrounds of doors or windows are partly identical to those in the picture from 1869/70.
See also
Web links
- Mainz Fortress - The medieval city fortifications of Mainz
- Mainz Fortress - The remains of the medieval city wall
- Landesmuseum Mainz - The city wall around 1869/70 and 1900
- regional history - the Mainz city wall
- Archeology Mainz - Allgemeine Zeitung, Saturday, November 23, 2013: City wall enclosed theater.
- Merkurist Mainz - The Mainz eyesore
Individual evidence
- ^ Regional history of Rheinhessen, the Mainz city wall https://www.regionalgeschichte.net/rheinhessen/mainz/kulturdenkmaeler/stadtmauer.html