The Mainzer Zitadelle (Citadel of

Mainz Mainz () is the capital and largest city of Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. Mainz is on the left bank of the Rhine, opposite to the place that the Main joins the Rhine. Downstream of the confluence, the Rhine flows to the north-west, with Ma ...

) is situated at the fringe of , near Mainz Römisches Theater station. The fortress was constructed in 1660 and was an important part of the

Fortress Mainz The Fortress of Mainz was a fortressed garrison town between 1620 and 1918. At the end of the Napoleonic Wars, under the term of the 1815 Peace of Paris, the control of Mainz passed to the German Confederation and became part of a chain of stra ...

History

The Jakobsberg hill, where the citadel was constructed, had been occupied by a

Benedictine , image = Medalla San Benito.PNG , caption = Design on the obverse side of the Saint Benedict Medal , abbreviation = OSB , formation = , motto = (English: 'Pray and Work') , foun ...

abbey during the

Middle Ages In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...

(since 1050). Halfway up the hill, the

amphitheater An amphitheatre (British English) or amphitheater (American English; both ) is an open-air venue used for entertainment, performances, and sports. The term derives from the ancient Greek ('), from ('), meaning "on both sides" or "around" and ...

of the Roman settlement of Mogontiacum, must also have been visible at that time. The Jakobsberg hill, however, had not been integrated in the ring of the defensive city walls of the town and this flank of the city was therefore only slightly protected. This position immediately at the gates of the town opened a strategic gap, as an aggressor could use the hill for a raid into Mainz or for a cannonade. The construction of the "Schweickhardtsburg" fortress under the supervision of cathedral vicar Adolph von Waldenburg during the years 1620-29 provisionally filled this gap and integrated the hill into the system of city walls. The name of the irregularly pentagonal fortification honors the reigning monarch of that time, the

prince-elector The prince-electors (german: Kurfürst pl. , cz, Kurfiřt, la, Princeps Elector), or electors for short, were the members of the electoral college that elected the emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. From the 13th century onwards, the princ ...

Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg (15 July, 1553 – 17 September, 1626) was the Archbishop-Elector of Mainz from 1604 to 1626. Biography Early life, 1553–1604 Born on July 15, 1553, Johann Schweikhard von Kronberg was the third son of Hartmu ...

. Around 1655 prince-elector Johann Philipp von Schönborn initiated an improvement of the fortification of the entire town comprising

bastion A bastion or bulwark is a structure projecting outward from the curtain wall of a fortification, most commonly angular in shape and positioned at the corners of the fort. The fully developed bastion consists of two faces and two flanks, with fi ...

s according to French type. Within this modification of the fortress, the Schweickhardtsburg was converted into the regular, quadrangular citadel, as it is today. St. Jacobs abbey and the Roman

cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...

, the

Drususstein The Drususstein (Drusus stone) is a nearly 20 metres high masonry block of Roman origin on the grounds of the citadel of Mainz, Germany. It was originally cased in marble. Researchers now largely accept that this is the structural remnant of the ...

, remained untouched within the fortress. Above the gate in direction to the town, a building for the commander of the citadel was erected in 1696 by the order of Lothar Franz von Schönborn. The gateway, existing since 1660 was skillfully integrated in the new building. During the siege of Mainz (1793) St. Jacobs abbey was destroyed largely by Prussian shelling. The remainings of the abbots and guest house had been used only for military purposes since then. In the south of the courtyard a

Baroque garden The Baroque garden was a style of garden based upon symmetry and the principle of imposing order on nature. The style originated in the late-16th century in Italy, in the gardens of the Vatican and the Villa Borghese gardens in Rome and in the g ...

existed, which can be seen on a map dated 1804. After the

Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...

Mainz became in 1816 a fortress of the

German Confederation The German Confederation (german: Deutscher Bund, ) was an association of 39 predominantly German-speaking sovereign states in Central Europe. It was created by the Congress of Vienna in 1815 as a replacement of the former Holy Roman Empire, w ...

. Prussians and Austrians settled in the citadel and used it as barracks. For this purpose, the Austrians erected 1861 the shellproof Citadel Barracks; the small side building was used as casino and kitchen. Even in 1914 a double company barracks was erected. Due to this, the last remainings of the abbey declined. However numerous architectural elements of the abbot and guest houses had been integrated in the new buildings. During

World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the citadel was used as prisoner-of-war camp ( Oflag XII-B). According to the

Treaty of Versailles The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1 ...

in 1919 - and the

slighting Slighting is the deliberate damage of high-status buildings to reduce their value as military, administrative or social structures. This destruction of property sometimes extended to the contents of buildings and the surrounding landscape. It is ...

of the fortifications in and around Mainz as effect of it- the military history of the citadel of Mainz ended. Nevertheless, during the last days of World War II, the population of Mainz took shelter in the casemates of bastion Drusus, which had been turned into air raid shelters.

After World War II

After the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

the

French army History Early history The first permanent army, paid with regular wages, instead of feudal levies, was established under Charles VII of France, Charles VII in the 1420 to 1430s. The Kings of France needed reliable troops during and after the ...

seized the premises until 1955. The Paul Tirard School, named after the chair of the Inter-Allied Rhineland High Commission (1919–1930), was opened by the French administration in 1950 for education of the children of French military and civilian personnel civil during the occupation.IL ETAIT UNE FOIS...LE CPOA
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The citadel today

Today the citadel is owned by the city of Mainz and accommodates numerous municipal offices. Mainz Citadel has been administered as part of the city's

cultural heritage Cultural heritage is the heritage of tangible and intangible heritage assets of a group or society that is inherited from past generations. Not all heritages of past generations are "heritage"; rather, heritage is a product of selection by soc ...

since 1907. The trench in the southern part of the citadel had been considered part of the city's

natural heritage Natural heritage refers to the sum total of the elements of biodiversity, including flora and fauna, ecosystems and geological structures. It forms part of our natural resources. Definition Heritage is that which is ''inherited'' from past gener ...

since the 1980s. One of the buildings near the Drususstein today houses the Mainz historical museum. The citadel and its surroundings bear witness to the entire history of Mainz concentrated in one spot, going from the Roman cenotaph, the ''Drususstein'' (Drusus monument) via the fortress barracks and up to the

air raid shelters. Since 1975, an annual youth festival, the ''Open-Ohr'' festival, has taken place at the citadel during

Pentecost Pentecost (also called Whit Sunday, Whitsunday or Whitsun) is a Christian holiday which takes place on the 50th day (the seventh Sunday) after Easter Sunday. It commemorates the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and other followers ...

weekend.

External links (de)

www.festung-mainz.de/zitadelleInitiative Zitadelle Mainz e.V.

References

{{Authority control Forts in Germany Castles in Rhineland-Palatinate Zitadelle Mainz Zitadelle Mainz Tourist attractions in Rhineland-Palatinate Museums in Rhineland-Palatinate Local museums in Germany Military and war museums in Germany

History

After World War II

The citadel today

See also

External links (de)

References