Ehrenbreitstein Fortress

thumb|upright=1.2|Festung Ehrenbreitstein viewed from Koblenz (2011)

thumb|An entrance to the fortress|300x300px

Ehrenbreitstein Fortress (, ), a fortress in the German state of Rhineland-Palatinate, stands on the east bank of the Rhine opposite the mouth of the Moselle, and overlooks the city of Koblenz.

Occupying the position of an earlier fortress destroyed by the French in 1801, it was built as the backbone of the regional fortification system, , by [[Kingdom of Prussia |

Prussia]] between 1817 and 1828 and guarded the middle Rhine region, an area which French troops had repeatedly invaded before. The Prussian fortress was never attacked.

Since 2002, Ehrenbreitstein has formed part of the UNESCO World Heritage Site Upper Middle Rhine Valley.

Location

Ehrenbreitstein is located on the eastern bank of the Rhine at Koblenz in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany. It overlooks the confluence of the Mosel and the Rhine. The peak of the hill, which shares the name, is 118 metres above the Rhine.

In about 1000 a noble called Ehrenbert (or Erembert) erected a castle on the hill. Its initial name "Burg Ehrenbertstein" later became Burg Ehrenbreitstein.

The castle was first mentioned in an extant written document in 1139, as a property of the Archbishop of Trier. Archbishop Hillin expanded it in 1152–1169. A supporting castle (Burg Helferstein) was built on the hill known as Helfenstein to the south. After January 1923, Ehrenbreitstein was occupied by the French Army.

During World War II, the fortress served as a place of safekeeping for archives and cultural objects (1943–56) but also harbored three flak guns (1943–1945). The fortress serves as a venue for various cultural activities, such as open-air concerts and plays.

Cultural references

In 1822, the English translation of the castle's name, The Broad-Stone of Honour, was used as the title of Kenelm Henry Digby's exhaustive work on chivalry.

...this pulpit, I see, is a self-containing stronghold —a lofty Ehrenbreitstein... (Herman Melville, Moby-Dick)

As the vine flourishes, and the grape empurples close up to the very walls and muzzles of cannoned Ehrenbreitstein; so do the sweetest joys of life grow in the very jaws of its perils. (Herman Melville, Pierre)

thumb|upright=1.4|[[J. M. W. Turner, View of Ehrenbreitstein (1835)]]

Here Ehrenbreitstein, with her shattered wall

Black with the miner's blast, upon her height

Yet shows of what she was, when shell and ball

Rebounding idly on her strength did light;

A tower of victory! from whence the flight

Of baffled foes was watch'd along the plain:

But Peace destroy'd what War could never blight,

And laid those proud roofs bare to Summer's rain—

On which the iron shower for years had pour'd in vain.

(Lord Byron, Childe Harold's Pilgrimage Canto III, v.58)

Byron in fact refers to the previous structure, destroyed by the French, since the new fortification was only constructed after he wrote these lines.

In 1835, J. M. W. Turner completed a major painting inspired by Byron's work, entitled View of Ehrenbreitstein, or The Bright Stone of Honour and the Tomb of Marceau, from Byron's 'Childe Harold. In April 2017, the painting was in a private collection and had an estimated value of £15m-£25m. Turner also painted a series of watercolors depicting views of the fortress and environs, some of which are held by the Tate Gallery in London.

In 1897, a monument to Emperor Wilhelm I was erected right below the Festung, but on the west side of the Rhine, known as the Deutsches Eck (German Corner). Both fortress and monument were considered as symbols for the "Guard at the Rhine", as in the song "Die Wacht am Rhein". Today the Ehrenbreitstein Fortress is used for concerts and as a museum.

World Heritage Site

In 2002, the Upper Middle Rhine Valley became a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The Site includes as its northernmost point the fortress of Ehrenbreitstein.

References

Bibliography

External links

Ehrenbreitstein official website (mostly German)