Ziegenhain (DE)

FORTE CULTURA Station: Ziegenhain Water Fortress (DE)

Bulwark of the Protestants

"As festive as Ziegenhain"

was once a saying that referred to the imposing former water fortress.

Built from 1537 by Landgrave Philip the Magnanimous, it surrounded the town centre with a mighty circular wall and four roundels and became the central main fortress of the four Hessian state fortresses.

Where confirmation was once invented

In 1539, Hessian theologians and reformers came to the fortress of Ziegenhain at the invitation of Landgrave Philip the Magnanimous. There they issued the Ziegenhain Church Discipline Code, introducing confirmation, which had a significant influence on Protestantism and is still celebrated by Protestants around the world today.

The Ziegenhain fortress was razed in 1807 by order of Napoleon, leaving only the moat and the castle intact. The castle has been used as a prison since 1872. Visitors to the fortress can walk along the moat in Ziegenhain and take a look at the exhibits in the Museum der Schwalm, the former commandant's building.