Ingolstadt (DE)

History

Due to its location on the Danube, Ingolstadt was already an important crossroads for long-distance transport routes in prehistoric times and later in Roman times. The first mention of Ingolstadt can be found in a document of Charlemagne in 806. Around 1270, Ingolstadt was demonstrably surrounded by a city wall, of which the Old Castle (today known as the Herzogskasten) still exists today and is used as the city library.

Due to the division of Bavaria into two duchies, Ingolstadt became the capital and residential city of the Duchy of Bavaria-Ingolstadt in 1392 (1392-1447). The construction of the second medieval city wall, which had already begun in 1368, was completed by 1430. The city wall contained 87 semicircular towers, which is why Ingolstadt was nicknamed "the Hundred Towers".

In 1472, the first university in Bavaria was founded in Ingolstadt, which later made a name for itself as a centre of the Counter-Reformation. Ingolstadt was also an important trading centre for salt, wine and beer.

In 1537, Ingolstadt became the Bavarian state fortress of Ingolstadt and was extended as a bastioned Renaissance fortress from 1539 to 1565. This gave it the nickname "Die Schanz".

As early as 1546, the Schmalkaldic War between the troops of the Schmalkaldic League and the imperial troops of Charles V led to a two-week conflict outside the city gates of Ingolstadt, but without any major consequences.

During the Thirty Years' War, Gustav II Adolf of Sweden bombarded Ingolstadt from the south. However, he abandoned his attempt to take the city after a week following heavy losses. Whether the fact that his horse was literally shot out from under him during a reconnaissance trip contributed to this is still disputed today. After the Swedes left, the animal was brought back to the city and taxidermied. The "Swedish grey horse" can now be seen in the city museum and is considered to be the oldest preserved taxidermy specimen in Europe.

Ingolstadt was besieged again in 1704 during the War of the Spanish Succession without success. However, the fortress was handed over as part of the Treaty of Ilbesheim and remained under the administration of the imperial troops until 1715.

In 1799, Napoleonic troops occupied the fortress of Ingolstadt. The university was relocated to Landshut and the fortress was razed.

The decision to rebuild the fortress was made as early as 1806, but it was not realised until 1828 due to a lack of funds. The Royal Bavarian Main Fortress became the largest and most expensive construction project during the reign of King Ludwig I. In 1861, the neo-classical fortress housed around 12,750 soldiers of the Bavarian army - compared to around 7,000 Ingolstadt citizens.

From 1866, the outer belt (middle ring) was built around the city, followed by the outer belt from 1875.
The construction of the fortress strengthened the transport infrastructure: the railway was connected in 1867 and companies such as the "Königlich Bayerische Geschütz- und Geschoßgießerei" (Royal Bavarian Gun and Bullet Foundry) ensured an economic upturn.

During the First World War, Ingolstadt was at times occupied by over 40,000 soldiers, the fortress buildings were used as prisoner-of-war camps and two reserve hospitals were set up in the city.

In 1937, the town's status as a fortress was revoked. The approximately 100 Jewish inhabitants were expelled by 1938. In 1944, Fort VIII (Manching) became a Wehrmacht prison, where 76 members of the Wehrmacht were executed for draft evasion or desertion by the end of the war. From January 1945, the town was the target of Allied bombing raids.

After the war, emergency accommodation for refugees was set up in the fortifications. From the mid-1950s, the pioneer barracks on the Schanz were built as Bundeswehr barracks: Today it houses the pioneer school, the army's technical school for civil engineering and the centre for civil engineering as well as the mountain engineer battalion 8.

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Architecture

The first and oldest town wall was built in the 13th century and consisted of a rectangle with 4 corner towers. The Old Castle - today called the Duke's Box - was part of the fortifications and is the only remnant of this first medieval town fortification.

The second medieval city wall was built between 1368 and 1430. A 6-8 metre high city wall and 87 semi-circular towers at intervals of around 30 metres secured the city and earned it the nickname "the hundred towers" (Latin: ad centum turres). It has been almost completely preserved, with the Kreuztor gate, the Münzberg tower and the old Feldkirchner Tor gate being worth seeing.

The foundation stone for the construction of the first Bavarian state fortress was laid in 1539. By 1565, a bastioned Renaissance fortress was built on both sides of the Danube under Duke Wilhelm IV, planned by Reinhard Count Solms zu Münzenberg and realised by master fortress builder Georg Stern. The New Palace was also fortified with bastions and additional moats.

Further reinforcements took place in the 17th century under master fortress builder Christoph Heidemann. He had the inner moat wall raised and placed detached bastions, mostly in the form of a lunette, in front of the existing bastions. Three additional bastions were also built and the Harder Gate, which was considered to be a weak point, was closed.

After the fortress was razed by Napoleonic troops, it was rebuilt from 1828 onwards as a classicist polygonal fortress and two fortifications (from 1866 and 1875). This made Ingolstadt a "fortress of the first rank", providing sufficient space for the Bavarian army to prepare for campaigns and sufficient cover and storage space after campaigns. In addition to the purely defensive buildings, the military authorities also erected numerous supply and residential buildings, making Ingolstadt the industrial "armoury" of the Kingdom of Bavaria, with a powder factory, bullet and ammunition factory. After Spandau, it was the second largest armaments centre in the German Reich at the time.

After all, with a garrison of 30,000 men and a stock of 400 guns, the Ingolstadt fortress was considered to be highly resistant and no opponent was expected to be strong enough for a formal attack.

After the Second World War, all the fortifications of the outer fort belt were blown up, with the exception of Fort Prinz Karl (Fort VI) near Katharinenberg near Großmehring. However, considerable remains can still be found on some of the ruins and the outlines can usually still be clearly recognised on aerial photographs.

Detailed descriptions of the construction phases and development stages of the fortress can be found on the website of the Förderverein Bayerische Landesfestung Ingolstadt e.V. at www.www.festungingolstadt.de.