map

Fulda is situated at an altitude of 262 m on the river Fulda in eastern Hesse. Its history goes back to 744 AD, when Saint Bonifatius (Boniface, born as Winfrid or Wynfrith probably in Wessex around 675 AD, also known as the Apostle of Germany) instructed his pupil Sturmius to build a Benedictine monastery at this place. After being martyred in Friesland (near Dokkum, NL), Boniface was buried in Utrecht, but his body was later transferred to Mainz, and finally, according to a wish of St. Boniface himself, was laid to rest in the monastery at Fulda, while one arm is an important relic guarded by the cathedral of Eichstätt. In 774, the monastery and its territory became immediate to the empire. The old basilica, which was built between 791 and 819 AD, was one of the largest churches in Christianity of that time. In 1220 the abbots of Fulda were granted the status of Imperial Princes . In 1752 the Prince Abbots were elevated to Prince Bishops. During that period the bishops transformed Fulda into a splendid Baroque residence town. The old Romanesque basilica was replaced in 1704–1712 by the magnificent Baroque cathedral built by the architect Johannes Dientzenhofer. The political power of the bishops ended with the secularisation in 1802. At first Fulda was given to Nassau-Orange, then to the new Grand Duchy of Frankfurt. In 1815 the territory passed to the Electorate of Hesse (Hesse-Kassel), before becoming Prussian in 1866. As a bishopric Fulda is still influencial within the Catholic church of Germany. The annual conference of the German bishops takes place in Fulda, the burial place of St. Boniface.

The residential castle [left] was first built by the prince abbots in 1294–1312. This castle was replaced in 1606–1612 by a Renaissance residence, which was rebuilt and enlarged in Baroque style by the architect Johannes Dientzenhofer in 1706–1721.

The bronze monument for St. Boniface [foreground] was created in 1842 by Werner Henschel.