Fortress Mainz-Fort Josef

Fort Joseph, also known as Josephsschanze, was part of the second ring of fortifications of baroque Mainz, the capital of the territory of Electoral Mainz administered by the Electors and Archbishops in the Holy Roman Empire.

The Josephsschanze was built to the right in front of the Gautor on the height of the Linsenberg, where one descends into the Zaybach valley to the pillars of the Roman aqueduct, next to the former Roman military road that led from the Porta praetoria of the castrum. It lies opposite the main stone and is separated from it only by the imagined valley. It extends to the edge of the hill and had two lunettes positioned one in front of the other. With the main stone, it was able to cover the entire Bingerstraße and the so-called Dalheimer Grund, extending beyond Zahlbach.

The still visible pointed stone walls of the remains of the fort, to which the flanks connected at the rear on both sides, are today bordered by Langenbeckstraße and Czernyweg in Mainz-Oberstadt, which lead to the University Medical Center of Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz.

Fort Joseph was built between May 1713 and 1730 according to plans by the fortress builder Johann Maximilian von Welsch on behalf of Elector Lothar Franz von Schönborn, to protect Mainz's interests on the Rhine. Twenty years earlier, the fortress had been liberated from French occupation by an imperial liberation army under the command of Duke Charles Alexander of Lorraine on September 8, 1689, after a three-month siege and bombardment of the city and ramparts.

Now, five new forts were to contribute to strengthening the fortress of Mainz, because with the modernization of weapon technology, cannons now had such a range that enemy troops could simply shoot over the Schönborn bastions of the first ring of fortifications. Fort Joseph, along with the four other detached forts, was intended to better relieve the 16 old bastions to the west. Welsch was supported by Lieutenant Colonel of Engineers Luttig, Colonel of Engineers Gerhard Cornelius von Walrave, and other engineer officers.