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July 02, 2005
Marienberg Castle
Würzburg lies below the Marienberg Castle, the fortress home of the Fürstbischofs of Würzburg. This site has been a church, and a seat of religious learning and power since it was first established by Saint Killian, a missionary martyr to this part of Germany. Killian and his two companions were killed here by invading Vikings, and their successors re-established the church under the Holy Roman Emperor (Otto I - I think!) and were then authorised to "defend the Burg" against invasion.
The "Scherenberg Gate", so named after the Prince Bishop who "modernised" the castle. This is now the inner gate house - there are two "outer" gates and a squeeze approach to negotiate to get here!
The Marienberg dominates the landscape at this point, sitting atop its mountain; it puts one in mind of the hymn "Ein feste Berg ist unser Gott!", and it would certainly have taken a major seige and very costly assault to storm this one. The outer bastions are of "recent" date - 1670 - 1780 - with lots of extensions and reconstruction. While the inner fortress is a very early model of a courtyard fortress and keep, the outer works are modelled on the "star" bastion concept, with each outer wall dominated from behind by an inner bastion and each curtain wall enfiladed from the projecting bastions. Later additions saw these curtains pierced and strengthened to take heavy artillery pieces, and the records show that the normal garrison was 200 men with fifty tons of powder, arquebusses and shot, crossbows and bolts, catapults of various sizes, and provisions sufficient to feed the garrison for a year without relief.
The Baroque Well House stands next to the circular church of St Mary (Maria + Castle = Marienberg!) and its odd looking Baroque Choir. The oldest extant part of the castle is the high circular tower.
The well, in the innermost courtyard, is a triumph all on its own - it is over 100 metres deep and tunneled through solid rock - granite, in fact - to reach the water seeps that feed it. It was dug by hand sometime in the 1100's! The Marienberg church is circular and has a Baroque extension which is out of character with the older circular structure, while the interior is a baroque riot.
At the very heart of the castle stands the original guard tower, the central "keep", a tall circular structure which once had a wooden walkway encircling its crown. The lowest portion of this tower was originally a prison; now a door gives access to what was once a chamber which was a final destination for anyone placed there. This tower predates everything else one sees today with the exception of the original part of the church.
According to the history guide, the church has been reconstructed several times, but has retained in each reconstruction the original "double circle" design. The present dome is a baroque enlargement, replacing a conical roof.
Well worth the journey to see - and worth every minute of the six hours we spent there!
Posted by The Gray Monk at July 2, 2005 10:56 AM