Prehistory and Middle-Ages Around 1000 BC, a
Celtic refuge castle was built on the site by members of the
Urnfield culture. Archaeological findings indicate that the locals of the later
Hallstatt culture had trade contacts with
Ancient Greece and that the hill marked an extreme northern point on the wine trade network of the time circa 500 BC. The hill may have been a
Fürstensitz, the seat of a "prince". 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. Bishop
Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn took office in 1573. He again reconstructed the fortress and further increased the size of the fortifications, after a fire in 1572 had damaged much of the medieval castle. Under his reign, the transformation of the fortress into a Renaissance residence was completed. In 1600, a fire destroyed the north wing of the main building and damaged some of the towers and the chapel. By 1607, the northern part of the fortress had been rebuilt. The goal was a rectangular four-wing palace, with towers at the corners, in accordance with the fashion of the time. However, the fourth tower was never built. Echter also had the chapel rebuilt and added a new well house. In 1631, after some days of fighting the fortress was taken by Swedish forces under
Gustav II Adolf of Sweden in the
Thirty Years' War. Swedish troops plundered the fortress. Most of the well-known library was carried off to
Uppsala. The fortress was held by the Swedish and their allies until 1635.
Bernard of Saxe-Weimar had been appointed Duke of Franconia. In 1635, Bishop
Franz von Hatzfeld was able to return to Würzburg. After 1642, the princely residence was completely rebuilt and redesigned under Bishop
Johann Philipp von Schönborn. In 1648, the fortress became a
Reichsfestung and its fortifications were again increased considerably over the next decades. After 1708, the palas (
Fürstenhaus) and church were redesigned in
Baroque style. The fortifications achieved their current form with the addition of a number of outer works to the southeast (
Höllenschlund) in 1711–1715. In 1712,
Charles VI was received by the Prince-Bishop at the castle, the last time a
Holy Roman Emperor visited the fortress. Shortly thereafter, in 1719/20 the court of the Bishops moved into a palace on the other side of the Main river which was later replaced by today's
Würzburg Residence. Marienberg now became just a military structure. Work on the last tower to be built (
Maschikuliturm) began in 1724. The fortress saw repeated action during the wars of 1795–1815. In 1796, during the
War of the First Coalition, the well-stocked fortress was handed over by its garrison to the French. In 1800/01, however, it was successfully defended against a new French attack by Imperial General Dall'Aglio during the
War of the Second Coalition. In 1803, the fortress was occupied by troops of the
Electorate of Bavaria after the Bishopric of Würzburg was
secularized. From 1805 to 1814, Marienberg was a fortress of the
Grand Duchy of Würzburg, part of the
Confederation of the Rhine, the puppet state of the
First French Empire. In 1813/14, French troops tenaciously defended the fortress against
coalition forces. The French Emperor
Napoleon visited the fortress in 1806, in 1812 before the
Russian campaign, and twice in 1813. In 1814, Fortress Marienberg passed to the
Kingdom of Bavaria. The
Prussians under
Edwin Freiherr von Manteuffel bombarded the fortress from the south in 1866 during the
Austro-Prussian War. Marienberg lost its official status as "fortress" in 1867. During the
Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71 it was used as a garrison and prison camp. Due to disuse, by 1900 the fortress had fallen into disrepair. From 1914 to 1918, during
World War I, the fortress served as barracks for artillery. During the
German revolution, revolutionaries seized control of the fortress in 1918 but it was retaken by government troops. After the war, the
Fürstenbau served as a barracks for the
Landespolizei (state police), as a military depot and as an emergency accommodation (100 apartments). In 1935, the
Bavarian Administration of State-Owned Palaces, Gardens and Lakes became the owner of the fortress and began its restoration. Towards the end of
World War II, the
Echterbastei served as a medical depot and then as a depository of cultural treasures. During the
bombing of Würzburg by the
Royal Air Force on 16 March 1945, significant parts of the fortress were destroyed by fire caused by
incendiary bombs. Reconstruction commenced after 1950 and was finished only in 1990. ==Architecture==