Berlin Fortress
Berlin was expanded into a fortress in the 17th century , encompassing the historic districts of Alt-Berlin , Kölln , Neu-Kölln and Friedrichswerder , the structure of which can still be seen on the city map today.
history
The plan to build the fortress was made under the direct impact of the Thirty Years' War 1618–1648. The still young Elector Friedrich Wilhelm (later the "Great Elector") had taken over the rule in the last years of the war.
Thirty Years' War
With the exception of the Battle of Wittstock , no major fighting had taken place in the Mark Brandenburg . Berlin had been completely unprotected and actually only got off lightly because there was little spoil to be made in the already bitterly poor Mark Brandenburg. Brandenburg was occupied several times by the different warring parties, allied with the more powerful side (first with the Catholic imperial party , then with the Protestant Swedes ), had to pay substantial contributions and was otherwise plundered. Wallenstein camped in Bernau near Berlin in 1627 ; Berlin itself was occupied by the Swedes in 1631. The royal seat had neither significant troops nor effective defenses. Even without fighting, a third of Berlin's houses were damaged and the population had halved.
Military use
When construction began, the fortress was already militarily outdated: the artillery was constantly being developed, and the guns achieved ever greater ranges. An attacker could now fire at any point in the city from a proper distance from the fortress over the walls without rifle fire or other light weapons reaching him.
The defenders could have set up similar modern cannons on the bastions , but they should have hit the besiegers' artillery positions with pinpoint accuracy; But that was impossible at the end of the range and would only occasionally have been pure coincidence. The attacker, on the other hand, would only have had to have a few fire grenades hit somewhere in the city to gradually devastate the city completely. The ramparts thus provided perfect protection against direct storming, but no longer offered a flammable, vulnerable city any protection. They only made sense for military citadels such as Spandau .
use
While the fortress existed, the area of the Margraviate of Brandenburg was only affected by a brief Swedish campaign , which kept a safe distance from Berlin.
construction
The planning and preparations began in 1650 under the Dutch master builder Memhardt (Memhard) . The fortress corresponded to the bastionary system based on the Italian model that was common in the Netherlands at that time .
The "fortress" consisted in principle of sand walls that were planted or overgrown with grass. This created a ditch in front of the wall, from which the sand was carried up. The trench was flooded, the area in front of it was exposed unprotected to the effects of weapons from the ramparts and bastions.
In contrast to the previous towers of the medieval city wall , the bastions were now so large that several cannons could be set up on them and turned in all directions. Each section of the ramparts between the bastions could be shot at directly from the bastions, the wall of each bastion could be secured against storming by means of targeted fire from the neighboring wall and the neighboring bastion.
For further details, see also the technical terms fortress construction .
First of all, the areas in front of the city wall had to be cleared. All the suburbs had already been laid down around 1640 in order to create a free field of fire because of an alleged attack by the Swedes.
The fortifications on the eastern (Berlin) side were quickly completed in 1658–1662. On the western ( Köllner ) side, the work dragged on longer due to the swampy subsoil on the Werder and was only considered completed in 1683 with the construction of the Leipziger Tor . Ultimately, however, they were never completed here because the systems no longer received the planned height.
In 1680 work began on demolishing the medieval city wall; the fortress construction was finally stopped in 1683.
Around 1740 one began to level the heaped up walls again. The complete removal of all systems was not completed until the end of the 19th century.
location
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Outside the medieval city wall including Werder , which was elevated to a city in 1662, and the old suburb of Neu-Kölln (bastions VI and VII).
Buildings and streets opposite the fortifications filled the space and later trace the course like a matrix ; a street leading through a gate remained in its position. After the long drawn-out removal of ramparts and ditches, the now existing road network was built; therefore, large areas are still recognizable today.
The fortress received five gates and thirteen bastions .
Fortress moats
There were two moats. The eastern one ran from the Oberspree at the Stralauer Tor around Berlin to its mouth near the Spandauer Tor . It was called the Königsgraben , also known as the Zwirngraben in the northern section . Coming from the Oberspree, it was navigable to the dam of the Zwirnmühle (today around Hackescher Markt ). The Königsgraben still had water in the middle of the 19th century (actually more sewage). The course was straightened, the cross-section reduced. In connection with the construction of the light rail by railway builder Ernst Dircksen on this contiguous plot of land, the Königsgraben was filled in. The slightly meandering course of the light rail viaduct traces the old bastions VIII to XIII to this day.
The western fortress ditch , the so-called Green Ditch , went off from the Oberspree at the Waisenbrücke , formed the southern border of Neu-Kölln and the western border of Friedrichswerder and flowed into the Unterspree at the height of today's Dorotheenstraße , after the fortress was abandoned, into the Spree Canal , which is called Kupfergraben in this section . Because of the unsightly appearance of the green moat , colonnades were built on the bridges . The Moorish Colonnades (today surrounded by the buildings of the Federal Ministry of Justice ) and the Institute for European Ethnology at Humboldt University have been preserved at their original location. The Spittelkolonnaden were destroyed in the Second World War and the southern part was rebuilt 60 m to the west at what is now Marion-Gräfin-Dönhoff-Platz . The linden tunnel was created in the moat between the first and second bastions, which was initially filled in in 1833. It served as a tram tunnel during the imperial era . A section of the Grüner Graben between the Opera and the Prinzessinnenpalais was archaeologically exposed until around 2005 (today it is covered by the opera café's garden bar). However, it is more a matter of the straightened course after the old systems were cleared, which was only used for the sewer system . A section of the vaulted fortress moat under the commercial building at Jägerstraße 28 has been preserved as a restaurant cellar.
Gates
Castle / New Town Gate
Geographical location: 52 ° 31 ′ 3 ″ N , 13 ° 23 ′ 45 ″ E
This gate was located on Unter den Linden in front of the later Neue Wache : In front of the gate there was a ravelin that reached as far as the later monument to Friedrich II . The first bastion was located immediately next to the entrance.
The slightly offset and narrowed course of the Unter den Linden street is evidence of the fortress to this day.
Leipzig Gate
Geographical location: 52 ° 30 ′ 44 ″ N , 13 ° 23 ′ 59 ″ E
The Leipziger Tor replaced the Gertraudentor in the north between Bastions III ( Hausvogteiplatz ) and IV ( Spittelmarkt ). The Leipziger Tor was completed in 1683 and demolished in 1738. It was the most beautiful and most representative of all fortress gates.
The Alte Leipziger Straße led from the Spreegasse Bridge, later known as the Jungfernbrücke , through the Leipziger Tor to an even older Leipziger Straße , which existed roughly there in the Middle Ages and led via the Spittelmarkt to Leipzig . When the Reichsbank was rebuilt, Alte Leipziger Straße was shortened to the Kurstraße to Niederwallstraße section in 1935 and deleted as part of the reconstruction after the Second World War in 1969. Since 2005/2006 there has been a corresponding section roughly on the old course of the road.
Köpenicker Tor
Geographical location: 52 ° 30 ′ 41 ″ N , 13 ° 24 ′ 33 ″ E
It was in front of the Köpenicker gate of the city wall, but on the Neu-Kölln side in Neue Roßstrasse, southeast of today's Wallstrasse . The Dresdener Strasse led from here to Dresden .
Mill gate
Geographical location: 52 ° 30 ′ 55 ″ N , 13 ° 24 ′ 54 ″ E
The Mühlentor was on the banks of the Spree in front of the Stralauer Tor of the city wall, on Stralauer Strasse near the bank, roughly on the east side of Waisenstrasse.
In August 1658 the order for the new building was given to Memhard, and in 1660 it was completed.
The defensive effect was achieved by a long, open wooden bridge between the flank of the adjacent 8th Bastion and the Spree (today's Rolandufer ).
Georgentor
Geographical location: 52 ° 31 ′ 14 ″ N , 13 ° 24 ′ 43 ″ E
It was in front of the Georgentor or Oderberger Tor of the city wall, roughly on today's Gontardstraße. Today's Rathausstrasse led through the gate. One of the towers of the city wall together with a new building formed the security system. In front of the gate there was a ravelin , the shape of which was taken from Alexanderplatz in the design up to the Second World War . From the gate, moats had to be crossed on two bridges. The access was open and directly within the effective area of the X bastion.
The moats that surrounded the hill were soon filled in again and a cattle market was set up (named Ochsenmarkt or Ochsenplatz ). The street opposite was still called An der Contreescarpe until 1819 .
In 1701, on the occasion of the coronation of Elector Friedrich as King in Prussia, the gate was renamed Königstor , the suburbs were renamed Royal City . The royal bridge led over the royal moat to the gate. In 1746 it was removed for the purpose of urban expansion, but the King Colonnades of Gontard existed at this point from 1776 to 1905 (today in Kleistpark ).
Spandauer Tor
Geographical location: 52 ° 31 ′ 23 ″ N , 13 ° 24 ′ 13 ″ E
The Spandauer Tor had moved as the Spandauer Bridge from the course of the Spandauer Straße to the northeast. The current course of the road reflects this situation unchanged.
There was a ravelin in front of the gate , the shape of which is still depicted by the square in front of Hackescher Markt train station . From the gate, moats had to be crossed on two bridges. The XII. Bastion was able to fire directly on the entire access area.
The old Spandauer Tor on the later Garrison Church Square was behind the XII. Bastion inoperative.
Bastions
The coordinates given reflect the position of the top of the bastion . In addition to the numbering, the bulwarks also had names.
I. Body Guard Bulwark (Gießhaus Bastion)
Geographical location: 52 ° 31 ′ 11 ″ N , 13 ° 23 ′ 38 ″ E
The street Hinter dem Gießhaus, Maxim-Gorki-Theater and Bauhofstraße still show the course of the bastion.
The armory was built on the edge of the bastion, on which the Brandenburg cannons had already been cast.
II. “Wittgenstein's” bulwark
Geographical location: 52 ° 30 ′ 57 ″ N , 13 ° 23 ′ 41 ″ E
The property of the Hedwig Church goes back to this bastion.
III. "Sparr" bulwark (hunter bastion)
Geographical location: 52 ° 30 ′ 46 ″ N , 13 ° 23 ′ 45 ″ E
The Hausvogteiplatz represents the interior of the bastion.
IV. Gertrauden bulwark (Spittel bastion)
Geographical location: 52 ° 30 ′ 39 ″ N , 13 ° 24 ′ 8 ″ E
This bastion was built around the Spittelmarkt and the Gertraudenspital. The old Gertraudentor became inoperative, the Heerstrasse swiveled to Leipzig to the Leipziger Tor.
Dönhoffplatz was created on the outside after the trench was filled in. Up until the Second World War, the shape of the bastion could be seen on the perimeter. With the destruction and the car-friendly reconstruction, the contour can still be read on the city map and aerial photograph, but no longer recognizable on the spot.
V. "Goltzsche" bulwark (salt bastion)
Geographical location: 52 ° 30 ′ 36 ″ N , 13 ° 24 ′ 20 ″ E
Seydelstrasse and Neue Grünstrasse form the flanks, while Alte Jakobstrasse runs on the outside of the trench.
VI. "Rillenfortsches" bulwark (Heubinder Bastion)
Geographical location: 52 ° 30 ′ 40 ″ N , 13 ° 24 ′ 43 ″ E
Neue Jakobstraße: the bend opposite Schmidstraße goes back to the fortress; Road course changed during reconstruction.
Behind it ran the Graben.
VII. Bulwark "in the swamp" (Köpenicker Bastion)
Geographical location: 52 ° 30 ′ 46 ″ N , 13 ° 24 ′ 55 ″ E
The top was on the corner of Rungestrasse and Am Köllnischen Park.
The Köllnische Park was laid out on this property and the Märkisches Museum was deliberately built here to make reference to the city's history.
VIII. Stralau bulwark
Geographical location: 52 ° 31 ′ 0 ″ N , 13 ° 25 ′ 5 ″ E
Close to the old mill gate, for example on today's Schicklerstrasse.
IX. Monastery bulwark (Hetzgarten bastion)
Geographical location: 52 ° 31 ′ 12 ″ N , 13 ° 24 ′ 56 ″ E
Behind the monastery church .
In 1693 the Hetzgarten , a hunting theater for animal fights , was built within the bastion by the builder Nehring (Nering) . After the Hetzgarten was closed, the building was used as a central cadet house from 1713 to 1778 .
X. "Siebenburgisches" bulwark (Marien-Bastion, commanders-bastion)
Geographical location: 52 ° 31 ′ 21 ″ N , 13 ° 24 ′ 45 ″ E
Today the Alexanderplatz train station and the Galeria Kaufhof are located on this property.
In the 18th century there was the commandant's office in front of the bastion, i.e. the palace and office building of the city commandant; the garden of the commandant's palace was on the bastion.
The building was used in 1751 as a gift from Frederick II for the first Prussian porcelain factory ( Wegely ).
XI. Dragoon Bastion
Geographical location: 52 ° 31 ′ 29 ″ N , 13 ° 24 ′ 24 ″ E
There were Derfflinger - Dragoons stationed. Later the street name Dragonerstraße (today Max-Beer-Straße ) reminded of it.
XII. "Uffelnsches" bulwark (Spandau Bastion)
Geographical location: 52 ° 31 ′ 24 ″ N , 13 ° 24 ′ 5 ″ E
The New Promenade / Great Presidential Street form the northwest flank of the bastion.
The garrison church was built behind the bastion in 1701–1703 . In 1751, the ramparts for the construction of the Spandau suburb were removed again and the moat was filled with the material of this bastion. For this purpose, the twisting trench at Hackescher Markt was created as a shortening of the trench and to drive a twisting mill.
XIII. Lustgarten bulwark
Geographical location: 52 ° 31 ′ 16 ″ N , 13 ° 23 ′ 48 ″ E
In 1679, this bastion was laid north of the pleasure garden on the previous botanical garden. The botanical garden was newly laid out in an enlarged area near the village of Schöneberg - today's Kleistpark .
Today the Pergamon Museum is located here .
literature
- Peter Feist: When Berlin was a fortress ..., 1658–1746 (= The historical place . Volume 27 ). 2nd Edition. Kai Homilius Verlag , Berlin 2006, ISBN 3-931121-26-7 (26 pages in pocket calendar format).
- The fortification of the cities of Berlin, Kölln and Friedrichswerder In: Monument preservation. 1921, p. 15
- Hans Zopf, Gerd Heinrich, Waldemar Kuhn (Eds.): Berlin Bibliography (until 1960), In the Senate Library Berlin, Berlin 1965, p. 66 (Section C26. Fastenings)
Web links
- Fortification (fortification) . In: Urban development at the Luisenstädtischer Bildungsverein
Individual evidence
- ^ E. Dietrich: The development of the waterways in and near Berlin , Berlin 2016, first published in: Zentralblatt der Bauverwaltung 1881
Map with all coordinates: