In the immediate vicinity of the castle, a special feature of Marburg invites you to make an extraordinary discovery. Via ancient staircases and open terrain, you can descend into the depths of the town's former fortifications, which give a vivid impression of the fighting conditions of the time. Even though the casemates are only partially connected to each other, the size of the accessible complex is still impressive. They are among the few remaining defensive fortifications in Hesse.
In the 17th and 18th centuries, larger defensive structures were built, particularly to the west of the castle, which were partly based on proposals made by the Hessian fortress architect Wilhelm Dilich in 1620.
Today's castle park is the site of several bastions, redoubts, ravelins and casemates. They contained underground gun emplacements.
As the Marburg fortress proved to be difficult to defend and was therefore of little strategic importance, the walls, ramparts and moats were largely removed between 1770 and 1786. In 1806, Napoleon's troops entered Marburg without a fight. In 1807, Napoleon ordered the destruction of the fortress. As a result, all the walls and casemates that were still standing were blown up - except for the casemates through which the water pipes led to the castle.
As a result, only two casemates have survived undestroyed into modern times. All the other fortifications were buried under rubble and earth for 170 years.
Since 1977, the casemates have been gradually uncovered and made accessible to the public. Since 1710, there had been an underground passageway around the witches' tower that connected two casemates. The new (85 meter long) sections of the casemates will also be included in the MTM's casemate tour program by spring 2008 at the latest.
Marburg Fortress is the only fortress in Hesse today that is still preserved above ground with such impressive walls and so many casemates.
