Asia (cannon)
The Asia and its never-completed sister gun Europa were two giant Prussian cannons of the 18th century.
Data
The Asia weighed 370 Prussian hundredweight (19.04 metric tons). The weight of her bullets made her a 100 pounder, though she never actually fired projectiles. The production costs amounted to 17,828 thalers .
Emergence
In the course of the construction of the Berlin armory at the end of the 17th century, a special decoration was planned to place colossal, elaborately designed bronze guns at the four corners of the building, which were to be named after the then known continents Asia, Europe, America and Africa . The production was entrusted to the chief inspector of the royal court and artillery foundry Johann Jacobi , who also cast the equestrian statue of the Great Elector (now in Charlottenburg Palace ) designed by Andreas Schlüter . Schlüter was also responsible for the design of the four guns.
The documented preparatory work for the casting of these cannons began in 1696, but the production of the first Asia cannon was delayed until 1704, and it was not until 1706 that the completed cannon could be installed in front of the armory. The sister gun Europa remained an unfinished raw casting and was melted down again in 1713. Four 24-pounders were made from her bronze.
Whereabouts
The Asia , a pure sighting gun with no practical artillery value, stood in front of the armory for 40 years until Friedrich II ordered on February 11, 1744 by cabinet order that the useless giant cannon be melted down.
literature
- Heinrich Müller: The army in Brandenburg and Prussia from 1640 to 1806 - the armament . Brandenburg publishing house, 2001