Landau's Vauban fortifications are among the most significant surviving examples of 17th and 18th century military engineering in southwestern Germany. Sebastien de Vauban, Louis XIV's master military engineer, designed a star-shaped fortress here that made Landau one of the most formidable defensive positions on the upper Rhine.
Parts of the fortification are still visible: the most impressive remnant is the Fort (also known as the Englisches Werk), a detached outwork that can be visited. The earthworks and some of the original bastions survive in the town's park areas. The history of the sieges is well documented — the town changed hands between French and German control six times before the final French withdrawal in 1815 — and the fortification walks give a tangible sense of why this small town mattered so much to both sides.