page_title: Rastatt Fortress
section_title: Construction
hierarchical_section_title: Rastatt Fortress / Construction
caption_attribution_description: English: A large quarry on the flanks of mount Eichelberg near Gaggenau where, in the 19th century, red sandstone was extracted for the construction of Fortress Rastatt. Deutsch: Der Steinbruch am Eichelberg bei Gaggenau, an dem im 19. Jahrhundert ein Großteil des Materials (Buntsandstein) für den Bau der Festung Rastatt gewonnen wurde.
context_page_description: Rastatt Fortress was built from 1842 to 1852. The construction of this federal fortress was one of the few projects that the German Confederation was able to complete. The fortress site covered the Baden town of Rastatt and, in 1849, played an important role during the Baden Revolution. It was abandoned in 1890 and most of it was eventually demolished.
context_section_description: Work on the federal fortress of Rastatt began on 15 November 1842 although its foundation stone was not laid until 18 October 1844, because laborious preparatory work was needed. This included the purchase of parcels of land or their requisition in return for compensation. In addition, to municipal and royal land, the properties of 345 private individuals were bought or requisitioned for the fortress.
  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 Austrian lieutenant colonel, Georg Eberle was appointed as the senior fortress construction engineer and almost all the management staff were from Austria. The large number of construction workers employed (in 1844 4,000) 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, its capacity being 400 cubic metres per day. In the quarry 400-1200 workers were employed, for whom a special hutted camp was built. In addition to locals, there were workers from Württemberg, Austria, South Tyrol and Italy. It was planned to complete the construction in 1849, but this did not come to fruition due to financial problems and the intervention of the Baden Revolution.
  In 1848 the fortress was opened with the appointment of its first governor, Lieutenant General Carl Felix von Lassolaye.
  Following its interruption by the Baden Revolution in 1849, work restarted in 1850, but came to a provisional halt in 1852. After serious disputes over its further expansion and funding, especially between Prussia and Austria, – the town defences and the station lunettes were finished in the period 1852–1854, and, in 1856, two outworks were completed.
caption: Fortress quarry on the Eichelberg
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