Linienwall, 1704 fortification system in Vienna, Austria.
The Linienwall was a fortification system encircling Vienna with an earthen rampart, wooden palisades, and defensive ditches. This network included gates and drawbridges that functioned as control points for monitoring traffic and goods entering the city.
Emperor Leopold I commissioned this fortification in 1704 as a defensive response to threats from Ottoman and Hungarian rebel forces. The system remained an important military structure guarding the city for more than a century.
The chapels placed at the city gates show how travelers and customs officials used this fortification in their daily lives and spiritual practices. They reveal the human side of what was otherwise a purely military structure.
Only fragments of the original fortification survive today, scattered across different parts of the city. The best location to see a preserved section is near the Vienna S-Bahn station at Landstrasser Gurtel.
Eighteen chapels dedicated to John of Nepomuk were built at the city gates between the 1740s and 1760s, providing a place of prayer for those passing through. These small religious buildings transformed a military structure into a spiritual landmark for everyday travelers.
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