Marienberg Fortress Photo

Photographer’s Note

This shot was taken about an hour before sunset taking advantage of the nice angled lighting.
Fortress Marienberg is a prominent landmark on the Main river in Würzburg, Germany. It has been a fort since ancient times. After Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden conquered the area in 1631, the castle was reconstructed in the Baroque style. Today, it is a park and museum. In 704 A.D., the Marienkirche was built atop a former Celtic shelter and in the 13th century was surrounded by the first fortification. In 1482, the main castle was encircled by a medieval ring wall with the Scherenberg gate. Some of the parts of the fortress accessible to the public are the Scherenberg-Tor (Gate) the Burgfried (keep), a chapel, a well house, Bibra Stairs / Lorenz von Bibra apartments, and the Julius Echter Apartments.

In May 1525, during the Peasants' War (Bauernkrieg), a peasant army of 15,000 men surrounded the fortification (seat of the bishop of Würzburg) but could not penetrate the concentric walls built on a steep incline. When their leader, Florian Geyer, went to Rothenburg ob der Tauber in early June to procure the heavy guns needed to at least attempt to breach the walls, the leaderless peasant army camped out around the castle, allowed themselves to be outflanked by a professional army in the service of the bishop. More than 8,000 peasants were either slaughtered or blinded on the bishop's orders. The Nazis would lionize Florian Geyer 410 years later, as part of the National Socialists' desire to connect with the common man and turn them away from the Catholic Church.

In about 1600, Julius Echter rebuilt the fortress into a Renaissance palace. After the conquest by Gustav II Adolf of Sweden in 1631 (Thirty Years War), the fortress was reconstructed as an even more formidable baroque fortification, and a princely park was laid out.

Still, during the Napoleonic Wars, the fortress was captured and, of course, the fortress wasn't defended in 1945 when the US Army quickly captured the side of the Main river on which Marienberg is located, across from the city center of Würzburg.

The Baroque Armory, built 1702-1712, houses the Mainfränkisches Museum, an excellent collection of Franconian works of art, including world-famous sculptures by Tilman Riemenschneider. The Fürstenbau Museum in the princes’ wing of the fortress offers a stroll through 1200 years of Würzburg’s history. The mighty Fortress Marienberg is the symbol of Würzburg and served as a home of the prince-bishops for nearly five centuries.(Wikipedia)

jlbrthnn, tedesse, PaulVDV, gunbud, ChrisJ, Budapestman, Dyerco, danos, Uhu, paololg, JanD, xavshot, Charo, Didi, lregoli has marked this note useful

Critiques | Translate

npecanhuk (15090) 2009-02-15 6:32

Hello Asa!
The architecture of the building is truly attractive and beautiful!
With outstanding sharpness, correct exposure, perfect pov, you have composed this image very nicely and it's really really nice! I really like it! Great colors too! TFS - Congratulations!
Best regards,
Neyvan

bracasha75 (22507) 2009-02-15 6:47

Helo Asa
One lovely present of this castle in Wurzburg and beautiful architecture shot
Thanks for sharing
Cheers,Braca

Buin (38546) 2009-02-15 6:57

Hallo Asa!
Again a wonderful sight of this really well-fortified castle (you wrote its name wrong in the title). You managed the difficult light with sunshine and shadows very well here and the point of view creates a good depth. I see - I have to visit it someday ... ;-)
Greetings from still snowy Germany!
Frank

jlbrthnn (39405) 2009-02-15 11:01

Hello Asa,
The perspective is excellent. Light and shades are well managed. The colors of July are a real pleasure. The note recalls well the historical attacks lived by this fortress which survived all the same. An overall good work.
Have a nice evening.
Cordially.
Joël

tedesse (13268) 2009-02-15 11:15

Hello!
Excellent POV and composition.Interesting architecture of fortress.Lovely colours and light.
Interesting note.
Greetings
Tadeusz

PaulVDV (5447) 2009-02-15 12:14

Hello Asa,
A good POV and composition including the road and moat around this fortress.
Very good light managing.
Best regards, Paul

gunbud (28247) 2009-02-15 17:44

Hi Asa,
What lovely clear natural colors and great depth to this stunning German fortress.
The lighting is excellent and the lush green summer trees and shrubs contrast beautifully with the lovely blue sky.
Your POV was well chosen bringing excellent depth and sharp details to this lovely architecture.
Regards, Tom

ChrisJ (70443) 2009-02-15 19:02

Hi Asa

A good upward pov on the castle with superb color, sharpness, & composition. The red turrets contrast well against the blue sky. Tfs!

Budapestman (43200) 2009-02-16 3:51

Hi Asa,
Beautiful shot of this imposing fortress with spectacular diagonal composition and fine architectural details. The POV is excellent, beautiful colours and lights. Thank you for sharing!
Have a nice week!
George

Dyerco (9378) 2009-02-16 7:18

Hi Asa
The light was well handled here and there is ample DOF. The colours are well saturated. There is some slight distortion from the wide angle lens but a fine shot overall.
Phil

Jean-Luc (5488) 2009-02-16 9:38

Bonjour Asa,
La perspective est très belle et les couleurs tout à fait réussies.
La note est bien documentée. Excellent travail.
Well done,
Amicalement
Jean-Luc

danos (33624) 2009-02-16 13:19

Hello Asa,
nice perspective and POV of the Marienberg fortress,under this brilliant light of the day.I like the narrow right alley that lead the eye to the far end distance.The trees and the bushes, create contrast in the scene, as the sharpness and the clarity make it unique.Well done.

Regards,Danos

Bluejeans (33345) 2009-02-16 17:10

Ola Asa ,
Bonito ponto de visão sobre este forte , tem belos detalhes como as suas janelas , gostei da sua arquitectura bem robusta , estas torres nas muralhas são bem interessantes, boa luz e cores, parabéns!!
Um abraço Gonçalo

Greg1949 (8535) 2009-02-17 4:28

Asa, this is a great capture, colorful and well composed. I think I wish I had your skills of organization, you have shot for a winter of posting from your summer time trips, I can't seem to manage that. Anyway great capture and presentation.

Greg

mikeo (12117) 2009-02-17 11:38

Hi Asa,

There is huge number of great, old castles and palaces in Germany... I found just few of them, but still looking for:) One of them is yours... Very great part of castle, so cool composition, great colours and i like sky so much!

greetings,

mikeo

mi

darek1978 (11675) 2009-02-17 14:17

Hello Asa,
Very clear image and nice colours. I really like this contrast between blue sky and green grass and trees. Congratulations!
Thanks for sharing,
Darek

Fis2 (46651) 2009-02-18 12:13

Witaj Asa!
Wonderful object, beautiful architecture.
I like the frame, perspective and coloring.
Interesting light.
Well done.
Regards
Krzysztof

Uhu (7474) 2009-02-19 1:34

I heard the name - Florian Geyer - but never ever knew the story behind the name. Now I know a bit. Interesting!
Great photo of a nice-looking fortress!

paololg (14495) 2009-02-19 15:32

Ciao dear Asa,
you have chosen the moment and the correct light to capture this beautiful image. Excellent perspective with a pleasant sense of the overlap of the towers in comparison to the castle, creating an almost three-dimensional image. Really beautiful, compliment!
Ciao!
Paolo

JanD (15251) 2009-02-21 0:42

Howdy Asa!
Wonderful fortress. Amazing old architecture. Good POV and capture. Very good colors.
Regards!

xavshot (63299) 2009-02-21 11:35

Bonsoir
j'aime beaucoup l'exposition de cette photo et le contraste des couleurs. Belle mise en valeur de cette architecture.
Xavier

Charo (32086) 2009-02-21 18:03

Hello Asa,
This region of Germany, has some fantastic scenery and castles. Sober perspective of this magnificent and beautiful architecture.
Excellent composition with great light and details.
Greetings,
Charo

jurek1951 (26172) 2009-02-21 23:19

Hi Asa,
a nice photo of the famous castle,
good point of view and framing,
well composed,
Georg

Didi (36654) 2009-03-05 15:44

Hello Asa
Interesting point of view and good balance between shades and summer lights.
I don't know if it was possible to give a little bit more foreground for the main tower.
Best regards