Germany · 16th century
Forchheim Fortress (German: Festung Forchheim) was laid out after the occupation of the town of Forchheim during the Second Margrave War (1552) by the Bishopric of Bamberg. Today about one third of the fortification works have survived and have been incorporated into the municipal parks.
In 1552, during the Second Margrave War, troops of the Margrave of Culmbach, Albrecht Alcibiades, occupied Forchheim for three months. After its recapture by Claus of Egloffstein, the Bishopric of Bamberg decided to expand the town to the southern border fortification in line with the latest Italian fortification practice. Building work began in 1553 with St. Veit's Bastion south of Forchheim Castle, the so-called Pfalz. In 1561/62, the bastion by the Saltor Tower was added. The northeast corner of the town's fortress was protected by a round artillery tower. New entrances were created: the Bamberg Gate in 1557, the Reuth Gate in 1567, the Old Nuremberg Gate in 1570, and the Sattler Gate in 1578/79. The inflows and outflows of the Wiesent were guarded by two moated castles, of which the northern one has been preserved.
At the beginning of the 17th century, work on the fortifications stalled. At the beginning of the Thirty Years' War, the medieval town wall still existed to a large extent. The fortifications were supplemented by new defensive works. During the war there was no major [siege], although Forchheim was important strategically and as an assembly area for troops and as a refuge. The fortress proved itself for the first time.
After the end of the fighting, the expansion of the fortifications continued. In 1655, St. Cunigund's Outwork was built in the east and, one year later, St. Philip's Outwork. St. Valentine's Outwork (a zwinger-bastion, 1657) and St. Henry's Outwork (Dreikirchen Work) have been fully or partially preserved. In 1675,St. Peter's Outwork (the Dernbach Bastion) was added in the north-east and, in 1683, the large St. Martin's Outwork (New Work), which has since disappeared. Prince Bishop Lothair Francis of Schönborn sent military architect, Maximilian von Welsch, in 1706 to upgrade the works.
In addition to the fortifications, numerous administrative and representative buildings were built in the town centre. The most skilled architects in the Archbishopric were involved in the planning.
Text adapted from “Forchheim Fortress” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Forchheim Fortress ranks #7,391 of 9,079 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #661 of the 711 mapped in Germany. Founded 1553, it is older than 37% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 891 atlas entries founded in the 16th century. 12 more atlas landmarks stand within 25 km. See how Germany compares in the castle statistics.
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