thumb|Scherenbergtor and medieval wall with the Kiliansturm in the background

Marienberg Fortress (German: Festung Marienberg) is a prominent landmark on the left bank of the Main river in Würzburg, in the Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany. It is a symbol of Würzburg and served as a home of the local prince-bishops for nearly five centuries. It has been a fort since ancient times, although most of the current structures were built in Renaissance and Baroque styles between the 16th and 18th centuries. After Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden conquered the area in 1631 during the Thirty Years' War, the castle was reconstructed as a Baroque residence. After it ceased to serve as residence of the Bishops of Würzburg, the fortress saw repeated action in the wars of the late 18th and 19th centuries. It was severely damaged by British bombs in March 1945 and only fully rebuilt in 1990. Today, it houses two museums.

Geography

The fortress is located on a prominent spur of the Marienberg, which rises about 100 metres over the Main river on the opposite side of the city of Würzburg. On the slopes around the castle are vineyards.

From 100 AD onwards, control of the area changed hands several times between different "tribes" (Suevi, Marcomanni, Allemanni and Burgundians), before the area was taken by the Franks in the 6th century. Würzburg became the occasional seat of a Franconian-Thuringian duke under the Merovingians. His court resided on the right bank of the Main, however. In the 7th century, a written document mentioned Uburzi (which later became Virteburch and then "Würzburg"), referring to the fortification on the hill. The name Marienberg was in use only from high medieval times onward. After missionary work in the area led by Saint Kilian in the late 7th century, in the early 8th century, the Franks under Duke Hedan II constructed a chapel dedicated to the Virgin Mary and a fortification (earth ramparts and half-timbered houses) on the hill. The chapel – probably built at the site of a former pagan holy site dedicated to a mother goddess – and later churches that replaced it, was the reason why the hill and fortress eventually became known as Marienberg ("Mary's Mount"). This was probably the first Christian church built of stone north of the Alps outside of the territory formerly controlled by Rome (i.e. east of the Rhine and on the far side of the Limes).

Saint Boniface came to Franconia in 719, by which time there was no longer a duke at Würzburg, and some of the local clergy practiced pagan customs. Boniface appointed his follower Saint Burchard as the first Bishop of Würzburg in 741. Saint Mary's Church (explicitly mentioned in a document from 822) became the See's cathedral. Over the next decades, the town of Würzburg began to grow and in 788 the hill-top church lost the role of cathedral to a predecessor of Würzburg Cathedral (except for a brief interlude after the latter was destroyed in a fire in 855). At that point, the remains of Saint Kilian, Saint Colman and Saint Totnan were moved from Saint Mary's to be reinterred at the new cathedral. However, Saint Mary's continued to serve as the burial site for the intestines of the Prince-Bishops. Their bodies were buried in the cathedral, their hearts until 1573 at Ebrach Abbey.

No mention is made of any fortification on Marienberg until, in the 13th century, the Prince-Bishops of Würzburg moved their residence to Marienberg. Beginning around 1200, medieval fortifications were constructed on the hill. Under Bishop Konrad von Querfurt, Saint Mary's became the court chapel of the See. He and Bishop built what is today known as the Bergfried and the first palas. Lobdeburg used the castle as a temporary residence in 1242. After relations between the bishop and the people of the town – who supported the Emperor against their bishop – deteriorated in 1253, he moved his court permanently to the fortress. His successors remained there until the 18th century. Relations between bishop and town were fraught and the main reason for keeping an armed contingent stationed in the fortress. After 1308, the palas was enlarged under Bishop with construction paid for by the townspeople to compensate their liege lord for a riot that year. Since access to water was at a premium on the hill and earlier attempts to link the fortress to a spring at Höchberg were less than satisfactory, the Tiefer Brunnen ("deep well", going down 100 metres) was dug inside the fortress. The reign of Bishop saw the construction of an additional ring of fortifications. In 1373, the burghers of Würzburg attacked the fortress with catapults whilst the fortress fired back with blackpowder weapons, the first documented use of guns in Würzburg. The first half of the 15th century saw a decline of the Hochstift and construction on the fortress mostly ceased. Only after 1466, under Bishop Rudolf von Scherenberg, were more fortifications and the Scherenbergtor added, as well as some towers and outbuildings. Also that year, sculptor Tilman Riemenschneider was imprisoned in the fortress and tortured along with the other members of Würzburg's city council, as punishment for allying themselves with the peasants.

<gallery>

File:119th Armored Engineer Battalion Wurzburg fortress Baily Bridge.jpg|Bailey bridge built over bombed out Ludwig Bridge at base of Marienberg Fortress by the 119th Armored Engineer Battalion of the U.S. 12th Armored Division, April 1945

File:Marienberg festning Würzburg TRS.jpg|Fortress Marienberg,14 June 2003

File:West overview of Festung Marienberg 20140602.jpg|View from west

File:Festung Marienberg (by Pudelek) 01.JPG|Parking between bastions at the Fortress

File:WÜ MarienbergFürstengarten.jpg|The Fürstengarten (Prince's Garden) overlooking the city

File:Festung-Marienberg-Wuerzburg-JR-E-7398-2025-06-08.jpg|Interior facade of the Neutor (New Gate)

File:Würzburg Festung Marienberg Leypoldt.jpg|1603 engraving of the Fortress by Johann Leypoldt

</gallery>

References

  • Official Website
  • Museum für Franken