Petersberg Citadel

Petersberg Citadel (German: Zitadelle Petersberg) in Erfurt, central Germany, is one of the largest

and best-preserved town fortresses in Europe. The citadel was built on Petersberg hill, in the north-western part of the old town centre from 1665, when Erfurt was governed by the Electorate of Mainz. It is surrounded by over two kilometres of stone walls and is 36 hectares in size.

Erfurt has also been ruled by Sweden, Prussia, Napoleon, the German Empire, the Nazis, and post-World War II Soviet occupying forces, and it was part of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany). All of these regimes used Petersberg Citadel and had an influence on its development. The baroque fortress was in military use until 1963. Since German reunification in 1990, the citadel has undergone significant restoration and it is now open to the public as a historic site. Its maze of underground passageways are also open to visitors and the fortress bakery (1832) is again in working order.

Text adapted from “Petersberg Citadel” on Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0.

Petersberg Citadel ranks #1,969 of 3,734 worldwide in the atlas's castle fame ranking, and #135 of the 256 mapped in Germany. Founded 1665, it is older than 27% of the atlas's dated landmarks — one of 285 atlas entries founded in the 17th century. See how Germany compares in the castle statistics.

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Read the full history on Wikipedia ↗