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Old hill
People first settled the hill in the fourth millennium BC
Ehrenbreitstein was first settled in the 4th millennium BC, and fortifications were built in the 10th or 9th century BC. A Roman fortification stood there in the 3rd to 5th centuries AD. About the year 1000 a noble named Ehrenbert built a castle.
Sieges
The old fortress held out in 1688 and was blown up in 1801
In 1688 the fortress withstood a siege by Louis XIV. A one-year siege that began in 1798 brought starvation to the defenders, who handed it over in 1799. In 1801 the French blew it up to deny it to the enemy.
Prussia
Prussia built today's fortress between 1817 and 1828 and never had to use it
After the Congress of Vienna the Rhineland became a Prussian province. The new fortress was built from 1817 to 1828 as part of a ring around Koblenz. During its years of active service, it was never attacked.
1200soldiers could defend the fortress
Saved
An American general stopped its demolition in 1922
After World War I the fortress was due to be destroyed. General Henry Tureman Allen, convinced of its historical value, prevented this in 1922. From 1943 it served as a place of safekeeping for archives and cultural objects.
Today
The fortress now holds several museums
It houses the Haus der Fotografie, the Haus der Archäologie and the Landesmuseum Koblenz. In 1835 J. M. W. Turner completed a major painting inspired by Byron's lines on the older fortress.
Day 3, evening
It comes after Deutsches Eck.
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The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Ehrenbreitstein Fortress, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.