View source for Fortress of Mainz

{{Short description|Fortress in Germany}}
{{Infobox military structure
|name = Fortress of Mainz
|native_name = Festung Mainz
|partof =
|location = [[Mainz]]
|image = Zitadelle mainz.jpg
|image_size = 300px
|caption =
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|type = [[Fortress]]
|coordinates =  {{coord|50|0|0|N|8|16|16|E}}
|code =
|built = 1619 onwards
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|demolished =
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|ownership =
|open_to_public =
|controlledby =
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|image2 = Mainz um 1844 lehnhardt.jpg
|image2_size = 300px
|caption2 =
}}
[[File:Bundesfestung Mainz Kastel.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[Reduit]] of the Fortress of Mainz]]
[[File:Proviantamt Mainz.jpg|thumb|upright|Provisions Magazine of Mainz; on the ground floor with restaurant]]
The '''Fortress of Mainz''' was a [[fortress]]ed [[garrison]] town between 1620 and 1918. At the end of the [[Napoleonic Wars]], under the term of the 1815 [[Treaty of Paris (1815)|Peace of Paris]], the control of [[Mainz]] passed to the [[German Confederation]] and became part of a chain of strategic fortresses which protected the Confederation.<ref>Jean Dennis  G.G. Lepage, ''French fortifications 1715-1815, Mayence'' p. 243-245</ref> With the dissolution of the Confederation and the [[Austro-Prussian War]], control of the fortress first passed to [[Prussia]], and, after the 1871 [[Unification of Germany]], to the [[German Empire]].
==1839==
In 1839 an article on Mainz in ''[[The Penny Cyclopædia]]'' stated that Mainz was one of the strongest fortresses in Europe, and a chief bulwark of Germany against France. At the [[Congress of Vienna]], Mainz was assigned to the [[Louis I, Grand Duke of Hesse|Louis, Grand-Duke of Hesse-Darmstadt]], but it was decided that, as a fortress, it should belong to the German Confederation, with a garrison of Austrian, Prussian, and Hessian troops. This garrison in time of peace consisted of 6,000 men. The military governor, who retained his post five years, was alternately an Austrian and a Prussian general. A criticism of the fortress was that it was too large, as it required for its defence a garrison of 30,000 men.<ref name=Penny-309>{{cite encyclopedia|year=1839|chapter=Mainz|encyclopedia=The Penny Cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (Limona–Massachutise)|volume=14 |publisher=London: Charles Knight & co. New York: William Jackson |page=309|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TX7BmPgLuw8C&pg=PP7|title=Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge}}</ref>
The fortress of Mainz was connected, by a bridge over the Rhine, with the strongly fortified village of [[Mainz-Kastel|Kastel]]. The extent of the works, which were much enlarged by the French while the city was in their possession, including the work called the ''Weisenauer Schanze'' or ''[[Fort Weisenau]]'', but exclusive of Kastel and of the small redoubt, was two and a half [[league (unit)|league]]s. Among the principal works were the [[Zitadelle Mainz|citadel]], with the ''Eichelstein'', and that called the ''[[Hauptstein]]'', an extremely strong work projecting beyond all the rest, on an eminence called the ''Linsenberg''. Kastel, which at that time was united with Mainz as an outwork, had very extensive fortifications, which consisted of four strong forts besides the strongly fortified island of [[Petersau]], including which latter the works were of greater extent than even those of Mainz itself. The inner works consisted of 14 principal and 13 smaller bastions. On the land side there were four great gates with double drawbridges, and toward the river several more gates. The Rhine runs from south to north, and the [[Main (river)|Main]] from east to west. About a mile above the junction of the two rivers was the village of [[Kostheim]] on the Main, and a little farther up a bridge of boats, defended by a strong ''[[tête-de-pont]]''.<ref name=Penny-309/>
==1864==
Karl Baedeker writing in 1864 stated that Mainz was amongst the strongest [[fortresses of the German Confederation]]. It was surrounded by a threefold line of fortifications: first ring, the [[Defensive wall|chief rampart]] consisting of 14 bastions comprising the [[Zitadelle Mainz|citadel]]; second ring, a line of advanced forts, connected by [[glacis]]; third ring, by still more advanced entrenchments, erected partly by the Prussian, partly by the Austrian engineers, of which the principal were the ''Weisenauer Lager'', the ''Hartenberg'', and the ''Binger Thurm''. On the north side of the town stood a vast Military Hospital, facing the ''Schlossplatz''. In time of peace the garrison consisted of 3,000 Prussian, and a similar number of Austrian troops; in time of war the number of soldiers could be trebled.<ref>Karl Baedeker, ''A Handbook for travellers on the Rhine, from Holland to Switzerland'', Koblenz, 1864 - p. 279</ref>
==Structures and buildings==
According to Lehnhardts map of Mainz ~ 1844 <ref>{{citation |editor=[[Franz Dumont]] |editor2=[[Ferdinand Scherf]] |editor3=[[Friedrich Schütz (historian)|Friedrich Schütz]] |title=Mainz - Die Geschichte der Stadt |publisher=Philipp von Zabern |location=Mainz |date=1998| language=German |edition=first }}</ref> many [[bastion]]s are to be found:
{{columns-list|colwidth=18em|
*Bastion Alexander
*Bastion Martin
*Kasematte Bastion Franziskus
*[[Zitadelle Mainz]]
*Proviant-Magazin
*[[Mainz-Kastel]]er [[Reduit]] Kaserne
*Defensionskaserne
*Alexanderkaserne
*Gautor
*Bastion Alexander
*Gonsenheimer Tor
*Rheintore
*Fort Josef
*Fort Weisenau
*Fort Biehler
*Fort Malakoff
*Fort Stahlberg
*Fort Hauptstein ''[Fort Meunier]''
*Fort Hartenberg ''[Fort Gibraltar]''
*[[Bassenheimer Hof]]
*[[Osteiner Hof]]
*[[Electoral Palace Mainz|Martinsburg and Electoral Palace]]
*[[Arsenal, Mainz|Old Armory]] ''[Nouvel arsenal]''
*New Armory ''[Nouvel arsenal]''
*Cavalier Prinz Holstein
*Caponniere at Feldbergplatz
*Rheinschanzen
* Fort Großherzog ''[Fort Montebello]''
* Inundationsschanze ''[Pont-écluse]''
}}
==References==
{{reflist}}
;Attribution
*{{Source-attribution|{{cite encyclopedia|year=1839|chapter=Mainz|encyclopedia=The Penny Cyclopædia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge (Limona–Massachutise)|volume=14 |publisher=London: Charles Knight & co. New York: William Jackson |page=309|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=TX7BmPgLuw8C&pg=PP7|title=Penny Cyclopaedia of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge}}}}
==External links==
{{commons category|Festung Mainz}}
*[http://www.festung-mainz.de www.festung-mainz.de] {{in lang|de}}
{{Fortresses of the German Confederation}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Castles in Rhineland-Palatinate]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures in Mainz]]
[[Category:Fortresses in Germany]]