Alarm cannons

The alarm cannons in Stade , also called flood cannons, were fired to warn of flooding .

The Stader flood cannons in their current place behind the Swedish warehouse

The tradition of alarm firing at high tide probably dates back to the Swedish times. It is mentioned for the first time in 1747. The three cannons still in existence today date from the first half of the 18th century. They stood first on the castle bastion. With the expansion of the New Harbor from 1880, the castle bastion was partially removed and the cannons relocated on the western Schwingedeich next to the Harschenflether lock.

The cannons were fired for the first time at 2 m above sea ​​level . Three shots were fired at 2.5 m above sea level and 6 shots at 3 m above sea level. Alarm shooting was forbidden during the French occupation and World War II. The last time the cannons were fired was during the 1962 storm surge .

The cannons have been in the possession of the Stade History and Local History Association since 1971. You are currently standing behind the Swedish reservoir in the direction of the Schwing estuary.

See also

• One O'Clock Gun
• 9 O'Clock Gun
• Castle Cornet Noonday Gun
• Cannon firing ceremony (La Cabaña)
• Noon Gun
• Noonday Gun

literature

• Jürgen Bohmbach : Stader Stadtlexikon . Stade 1994.
• L. Schlichtmann: The alarm cannons on the Schwingedeich in Stade . Announcements of the Stader Geschichts- und Heimatverein No. 47, pp. 9–13, Stade 1971.