Built as a fortification process to guard the middle Rhine region, this fortress was constructed between 1817 and 1828. It is situated 118 metres high above the Rhine and is the second largest fortress in Europe. In 1672, while there was war between France and Germany, the Archbishop refused the request permits from both the sides for the troops to pass by the Rhine. Today, this fortress is open to the visitors and public and is connected to the town by cable car. The fortress is beautifully below by the british poet Lord Byron: “Here Ehrenbreitstein, with her shattered wall Black with the miner's blast, upon her height Yet shows of what she was, when shell and ball Rebounding idly on her strength did light; A tower of victory! from whence the flight Of baffled foes was watch'd along the plain: But Peace destroyed what War could never blight, And laid those proud roofs bare to Summer's rain-- On which the iron shower for years had poured in vain.” When the fortress was destroyed by the french troops in 1801, the poet wrote these words; which lead to the rebuilt of the fortress.