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BREISACH, or ALTBREISACH

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Originally appearing in Volume V04, Page 492 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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BREISACH, or ALTBREISACH , a See also:town of See also:Germany, in the See also:grand duchy of See also:Baden, on the See also:left See also:bank of the See also:Rhine, See also:standing on a See also:basalt See also:rock 250 ft. above the See also:river, to m. W. of See also:Freiburg-See also:im-See also:Breisgau, and on the railway connecting that See also:city with See also:Colmar. Pop. (1900) 3537• It has a See also:fine See also:minster, partly Romanesque, partly See also:Gothic, dating from the loth to the 15th centuries; of its two See also:principal towers one is 13th See also:century Gothic, the other Romanesque. The interior is remarkable for its See also:rich decorations, especially the See also:wood-See also:carving of the high See also:altar, and for many interesting tombs and pictures. There is little See also:industry, but a considerable See also:trade is done in wines and other agricultural 1 BREISGAU-See also:BREITENFELD produce. On the opposite bank of the Rhine, here crossed by a railway See also:bridge, lies the little town of See also:Neubreisach and the fort See also:Mortier. Breisach (Brisiacum), formerly an imperial city and until the See also:middle of the 18th century one of the See also:chief fortresses of the See also:Empire, is of See also:great antiquity. A stronghold of the See also:Sequani (a Gallic tribe, which occupied the See also:country of the See also:Doubs and See also:Burgundy), it was captured in the See also:time of See also:Julius See also:Caesar by Ariovistus and became known as the See also:Mons Brisiacus. Fortified by the See also:emperor Valentian in 369 to defend the Rhine against the Germans, it retained its position throughout the middle ages as one of the chief bulwarks of Germany and was called the "See also:cushion and See also:key (Kisser and Schliissel) of the See also:German empire." Its importance was such that it gave its name to the See also:district Breisgau, in which it is situated. In 939 it was taken by the emperor See also:Otto I., and after remaining in the exclusive See also:possession of the emperors for two centuries, was strengthened and shared for a while between them and the bishops of See also:Basel. In 1254 and 1262 the bishops obtained full See also:control over it; but in 1275 it was made an imperial city by See also:King See also:Rudolph I., and at the beginning of the 14th century his son brought it definitively into the possession of the See also:Habsburg monarchs, leaving the bishops but few privileges.

In the See also:

Thirty Years' See also:War Breisach successfully resisted the Swedes, but after a memorable See also:siege and a See also:defence by See also:General von Reisach, one of the most famous in military See also:annals, it was forced to capitulate to See also:Duke Bernhard of See also:Saxe-See also:Weimar on the 18th of See also:December 1638. The endeavours of the emperor See also:Ferdinand III. to retake it were fruitless, and by the See also:peace of See also:Westphalia (1648) Breisach was annexed to See also:France. By the peace of See also:Ryswick (1697) it was restored to See also:Austria, when See also:Louis XIV. built the town and fortress of Neubreisach on the left bank of the Rhine. Again in 1703 it See also:fell into the hands of the See also:French, owing to treachery, but was ceded to Austria by the peace of See also:Rastatt (1714). Yet again, in the War of the See also:Austrian See also:Succession, it was captured (1744) by the French, who dismantled the fortifications. They refortified it in 1796, and after passing, by the peace of See also:Luneville (18o1), together with the Breisgau to the duke of See also:Modena, Breisach was by the peace of See also:Pressburg (1805) finally incorporated with Baden, when the fortifications were razed. During the Franco-German War (187o) Breisach suffered severely from See also:bombardment directed against it from Neubreisach.

End of Article: BREISACH, or ALTBREISACH

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