Bastion at Schottenanger

The Bastion at Schottenanger (also known as Bastion 35, Schottenflanke, or formerly Bastion St. Jakob) is part of the left-bank baroque city fortifications in Würzburg and is a protected architectural monument.

Brief history and connection to the monastery

The bastion belongs to the large baroque bastion fortification system built under Prince-Bishop Johann Philipp von Schönborn from 1656 onwards (following the experiences of the Thirty Years’ War). His coat of arms, dated 1666, is affixed to the bastion itself.

It encloses or lies directly adjacent to the grounds of the former Schottenkloster St. Jakob (also known as Jakobskloster). This monastery was founded in 1134 by Irish (“Scottish”) Benedictine monks and gave its name to both the bastion and the Schottenanger. The monastery continued in various forms until its secularization in 1804; parts of it had to make way for the baroque fortification works. Today the site houses, among other things, the Don Bosco vocational training centre.

The bastion is thus closely linked to the urban development of Würzburg: from the medieval expansion of the Mainviertel, through the baroque refortification, to its present-day use (including areas of the environmental education centre and public green spaces).

It is one of the better-preserved remains of the baroque city fortifications on the left bank of the Main and therefore a typical architectural monument that makes Würzburg’s military and urban history visible.