The ''Linienwall'' was the outer line of the fortifications for the city of

Vienna, Austria Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

, that lay between the city’s suburbs and outlying villages. Constructed in 1704, it was razed in 1894 to make way for the Vienna Beltway.

Construction

The construction of the ''Linienwall'' was begun by order of Emperor Leopold I in 1704 to protect against attacks by the Turks and the

Kuruc Kuruc (, plural ''kurucok''), also spelled kurutz, refers to a group of armed anti- Habsburg insurgents in the Kingdom of Hungary between 1671 and 1711. Over time, the term kuruc has come to designate Hungarians who advocate strict national inde ...

(a group of anti-

Habsburg The House of Habsburg (; ), also known as the House of Austria, was one of the most powerful dynasties in the history of Europe and Western civilization. They were best known for their inbreeding and for ruling vast realms throughout Europe d ...

rebels). It was part of a defensive line that followed the Austro-Hungarian border as delineated by the

Danube The Danube ( ; see also #Names and etymology, other names) is the List of rivers of Europe#Longest rivers, second-longest river in Europe, after the Volga in Russia. It flows through Central and Southeastern Europe, from the Black Forest sou ...

March March is the third month of the year in both the Julian and Gregorian calendars. Its length is 31 days. In the Northern Hemisphere, the meteorological beginning of spring occurs on the first day of March. The March equinox on the 20 or 2 ...

, and

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rivers as well as by

Lake Neusiedl Lake Neusiedl (, ; or ; ; ; ), or Fertő (), is the largest endorheic lake in Central Europe, straddling the Austrian– Hungarian border. The lake covers , of which is on the Austrian side and on the Hungarian side. The lake's drainage basi ...

. All of the residents of Vienna and its suburbs between the age of 18 and 60 years old were required to work (or provide a replacement worker) on the fortifications, which consisted of a zigzagging, palisade-reinforced, earthen

rampart Rampart may refer to: * Rampart (fortification), a defensive wall or bank around a castle, fort or settlement Rampart may also refer to: * LAPD Rampart Division, a division of the Los Angeles Police Department ** Rampart scandal, a blanket ter ...

, four metres high by four metres wide, and a three-metre-deep

ditch A ditch is a small to moderate trench created to channel water. A ditch can be used for drainage, to drain water from low-lying areas, alongside roadways or fields, or to channel water from a more distant source for plant irrigation. Ditches ...

. Construction was completed in only four months. In 1738, the earthworks were reinforced with a layer of bricks. The fortifications encircled the suburbs from the Danube Canal at Sankt Marx (today Vienna’s 3rd District) to Lichtental (part of the 9th District), a distance of 13.5 km. It thus separated physically the ''Vorstädte'' or suburbs (today’s 3rd through 9th districts, incorporated into Vienna in 1850) from the ''Vororte'' or outlying places (today’s 10th through 19th districts, incorporated 1892). The most important arterial roads entered the city via drawbridges and gates; each of these locations additionally included a

custom house A custom house or customs house was traditionally a building housing the offices for a jurisdictional government whose officials oversaw the functions associated with importing and exporting goods into and out of a country, such as collecting ...

where a toll, the '' Liniengeld'' was charged. On June 11, 1704 the ''Linienwall'' helped a group of 2,600 Viennese residents along with 150 students repel an attack by the Kuruc. Josephinische Landesaufnahme Wien

Chapels

Between 1740 and 1760, a

chapel A chapel (from , a diminutive of ''cappa'', meaning "little cape") is a Christianity, Christian place of prayer and worship that is usually relatively small. The term has several meanings. First, smaller spaces inside a church that have their o ...

dedicated to

John of Nepomuk John of Nepomuk (or John Nepomucene) (; ; ) ( 1345 – 20 March 1393) was a saint of Bohemia (a western part of what is now the Czech Republic) who was drowned in the Vltava river at the behest of King Wenceslaus IV of Bohemia. Later accounts st ...

was built at each of the 18 city gates. These chapels were intended to provide a place for all travellers to and from the city to pray or hear mass at the city limit. The only remaining chapel still in its original position is the ''Hundsturmer Kapelle'' in the

Margareten Margareten (; ) is the fifth district of Vienna (). It is near the old town of Vienna and was established as a district in 1850, but borders changed later.Otto Wagner's Vienna Metropolitan Railway in 1898. A replacement chapel was built at this time which now stands near the Vienna Volksoper between the viaduct for the railway (now part of the

Vienna u-bahn The Vienna U-Bahn () is a rapid transit system serving Vienna, Austria. The five-line network consists of of route, serving 109 stations. 459.8 million passengers rode the U-Bahn in 2019. The modern-day U-Bahn opened on 25 February 1978, after ...

) and the Vienna Beltway known as ''Gürtel''.

Toll zone limit

A foreign army never seriously tested the military utility of the ''Linienwall'', but it did discourage raids by the aforementioned Kuruc. It did, however, protect revolutionaries during the

Revolutions of 1848 The revolutions of 1848, known in some countries as the springtime of the peoples or the springtime of nations, were a series of revolutions throughout Europe over the course of more than one year, from 1848 to 1849. It remains the most widespre ...

from government forces. From 1829 on, the walls (specifically the gates leading into the city) primarily served as a location to charge a road toll, the '' Liniengeld'' on modes of transport entering the city, therefore representing a fiscal and legal as well as physical limit to the city. The suburbs inside of the walls were thus taxed at a higher rate than those outside the walls even before their formal incorporation into the city in 1850. One consequence of this was the establishment of a great number of restaurants and hotels in the ''Neulerchenfeld'' (now part of the 16th District) right outside of the wall (dubbed the "Holy Roman Empire’s biggest pub") who took advantage of the lower taxes to sell food and drinks at a significantly cheaper rate.

Removal

By the mid-19th century, long after the ''Linienwall'' had become militarily obsolete, Vienna was growing at a rapid rate. As railway and road construction kept pace with this growth, eventually the space occupied by the fortifications was replaced with transportation facilities. For example, in 1846 the terminus for the South Railway and East Railway was built right outside the Belvedere Gate at ''Südbahnhof'' (South Station). In 1858 another station, Wien Westbahnhof was built outside of Mariahilfer Gate. From 1862 to 1873, the first part of the ring roads (the ''Gürtel'' mentioned above) was built directly outside of the walls. In 1874, the unincorporated parts of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th districts that lay outside of the wall were incorporated as a new 10th district, Favoriten. On 18 December 1890 the decision was made to incorporate the remaining outlying suburbs from 1 January 1892.Wien seit 60 Jahren. Zur Erinnerung an die Feier der 60jährigen Regierung Seiner Majestät des Kaisers Franz Josef I. der Jugend Wiens gewidmet von dem Gemeinderate ihrer Heimatstadt. Gerlach & Wiedling, Vienna, 1908, p. 27. This decision rendered the fortifications as a duty control limit obsolete. The remainders of the ''Linienwall'' were removed in March 1894, leaving behind a very wide belt around the city. Starting in 1895 this area was filled with a second ring road as well as the viaduct for the Vienna Metropolitan Railway, which is how the area remains today.

Remnants

Besides the ''Hundsturmer'' Chapel, there are only a few sections of the ''Linienwall'' left which can be seen in the following locations: * In the 3rd district along the tracks for the

Vienna S-Bahn The Vienna S-Bahn is a suburban commuter rail network in Vienna, Austria. As opposed to the city-run urban metro network, the Vienna U-Bahn, it extends beyond the borders of the city, is operated by the Austrian Federal Railways, ÖBB (Austria ...

between ''Rennweg'' and Südbahnhof stations. * In the area of a former cattle market in the Sankt Marx area of the 3rd District. * In the yard of ''Weyringergasse'' 13 in the 4th District.

References

Literature

* Ingrid Mader, ''Der Wiener Linienwall aus historischer, topographischer und archäologischer Sicht'', in: ''Fundort Wien'' 14, 2011 (2011) 144-163. * Ingrid Mader, Ingeborg Gaisbauer, Werner Chmelar: ''Der Wiener Linienwall. Vom Schutzbau zur Steuergrenze''. Wien Archäologisch 9. Stadtarchäologie Wien, Vienna, 2012,

External links

Wiener Zeitung – Der Vorläufer des Gürtels
(version from the

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American 501(c)(3) organization, non-profit organization founded in 1996 by Brewster Kahle that runs a digital library website, archive.org. It provides free access to collections of digitized media including web ...

, as the original is no longer available)
Wieden Provincial Museum – the ''Linienwall'' auf der Wieden

Course of the ''Linienwall'' around Vienna, ca. 1850
(version from the

, as the original is no longer available) {{coord, 48, 11, 19, N, 16, 22, 41, E, region:AT-9_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title Buildings and structures in Vienna City walls 18th century in Vienna 1704 establishments in the Habsburg monarchy 1704 establishments in the Holy Roman Empire 18th-century establishments in Austria 1894 disestablishments in Austria-Hungary Military history of Vienna