Fulda () is a city in
Hesse,
Germany; it is located on the
river Fulda and is the administrative seat of the
Fulda district (
Kreis).
History
Early Middle Ages
The
Benedictine monastery of Fulda was founded in 744 by
Saint Sturm, a disciple of
Saint Boniface, as one of Boniface's outposts in the reorganization of the church in Germany. It later served as a base from which missionaries could accompany
Charlemagne's armies in their political and military campaign to fully conquer and convert pagan Saxony.
The initial grant for the abbey was signed by
Carloman, the son of
Charles Martel. The support of the
Mayors of the Palace and later, the early Pippinid and
Carolingian rulers, was important to Boniface's success. Fulda also received support from many of the leading families of the Carolingian world. Sturm, whose tenure as abbot lasted from 747 until 779, was most likely related to the Agilolfing dukes of
Bavaria. Fulda also received large and constant donations from the Etichonids, a leading family in
Alsatia, and the
Conradines, predecessors of the
Salian Holy Roman Emperors. Under Sturm, the donations Fulda received from these and other important families helped in the establishment of daughter houses Johannesberg and Petersberg near Fulda.
left|220px|thumb|St Boniface baptizing and being martyred, from the Sacramentary of Fulda,
After his martyrdom by the
Frisians, the relics of Saint Boniface were brought back to Fulda. Because of the stature this afforded the monastery, the donations increased, and Fulda could establish daughter houses further away, for example in
Hameln. Meanwhile Saint
Lullus, successor of Boniface as archbishop of
Mainz, tried to absorb the abbey into his archbishopric, but failed. This was one reason that he founded
Hersfeld Abbey, to limit the attempts of the enlargement of Fulda.
Between 790 and 819 the community rebuilt the main monastery church to more fittingly house the relics. They based their new basilica on the original 4th-century (since demolished)
Old Saint Peter's Basilica in Rome, using the
transept and
crypt plan of that great pilgrimage church to frame their own saint as the "Apostle to the Germans". The crypt of the original abbey church still holds those relics, but the church itself has been subsumed into a
Baroque renovation. A small, 9th century chapel remains standing within walking distance of the church, as do the foundations of a later women's abbey.
The great scholar
Rabanus Maurus was abbot from 822 to 842.
From its foundation, the abbey Fulda and its territory was based on an Imperial grant, and therefore was a sovereign principality subject only to the German emperor. Fulda was made a bishopric in 1752 and the prince-abbots were given the additional title of prince-bishop. The prince-abbots (and later prince-bishops) ruled Fulda and the surrounding region until the bishopric was forcibly dissolved by Napoleon in 1802.
The city went through a baroque building campaign in the 18th century, resulting in the current “Baroque City” status. This included a remodel of the Dom (Cathedral) of Fulda (1704-1712) and of the
Stadtschloss (Castle-Palace, 1707-1712) by
Johann Dientzenhofer. The city parish church, St. Blasius, was built between 1771–1785.
In1764 a
porcelain factory was started in Fulda under Prince-Bishop, Prince-Abbot
Heinrich von Bibra , but shortly after his death it was closed down in 1789 by his successor, Prince-Bishop, Prince-Abbot Adalbert von Harstall.
Because of its quality and rarity, this porcelain is much prized by collectors.
thumb|right|300px|Cathedral of Fulda.thumb|right|300px|Looking east toward Fulda over the rich farmlands.thumb|right|300px|Statue of Saint Boniface (1830) at Fulda, Germanythumb|right|320px|Fulda, c. 1830thumb|320px|[[Weser river watershed, showing
Fulda River and the city of Fulda.]]
Cold War importance
Fulda lends its name to the
Fulda Gap, a traditional east-west invasion route used by Napoleon and others. During the
Cold War, the former
East/
West German border passed just east of Fulda, and large
Soviet and East German forces were stationed in the area as it was considered to be a potential invasion route for
Communist forces.
The
U.S. Army stationed the
14th and later the
11th Armored Cavalry Regiments in the city and surrounding areas as the screening force for the
U.S. V Corps.
Sister Cities
People
