Rastatt Fortress

[1] As early as 1819 to 1824 a fortress construction commission was formed in which Baden, Bavarian, Württemberg and Austrian engineers jointly produced the plans, which were then shelved for 20 years for political reasons.

Not until the Rhine Crisis of 1840/41 did it happen, however, that the states of the German Confederation come to an understanding about defence measures against France and the federal assembly on 26 March 1841 agreed the construction of both fortresses.

[5] The construction of the fortress resulted in an enormous economic upturn for the town, which was later paid for however with the departure of public facilities such as the court (Hofgericht) and county council (Kreisregierung).

The large number of construction workers employed (in 1844 4,000[7]) made the expansion of municipal infrastructure (police and medical services) necessary, the financing of which caused disputes between the town, the grand duchy and federal military authorities.

The majority of the construction stone came from a roughly 500-metre-long bunter sandstone quarry on the hill of Eichelberg near Oberweier and was transported to Rastatt on a 14.5-kilometre-long, horse-drawn wagonway,[8] its capacity being 400 cubic metres per day.

After the German Empire had lost the First World War, it was laid down in the Treaty of Versailles in Article 180, that Germany had to slight its fortresses east of the Rhine along a 50-mile corridor.