Siege of Philippsburg (1676)
Dutch War (1672–1678 / 79)
Solebay - First Schooneveld - Second Schooneveld - Texel - Bonn - Maastricht - Sinsheim - Seneffe - Enzheim - Türkheim - Sasbach - Konzer Bridge - Stromboli - Augusta - Palermo - Kokersberg - Philippsburg - Maastricht - Valenciennes - Tobago - Cassel - Freiburg - Ypres - Rheinfelden - Saint-Denis
The siege of Philippsburg Fortress in 1676 was an episode of the Dutch War . The strategically important fortress located in the diocese of Speyer was since its conquest by French troops in 1644, together with Breisach, the only French bridgehead on the right of the Rhine . The French military architect Vauban expanded Philippsburg, which was now a constant threat on the western flank of the Holy Roman Empire .
With the outbreak of the Dutch War, Philippsburg became the starting point for several French forays into the Electoral Palatinate and the Neckar region. After the fortress garrison had destroyed the villages of Graben, Kißlau, Schwetzingen and Bruchsal in the spring of 1676, the Habsburg Emperor Leopold I decided to wrest the important bridgehead from the French. An approximately 40,000 strong imperial army under the command of Charles V of Lorraine took up the siege on May 1, in which together with Frederick VI. von Baden-Durlach his brother Hermann von Baden-Baden also took part. The French fortress commander, Colonel Charles de Faultrier du Fay, put up a strong resistance with almost 2,800 men, but had to surrender the fortress on September 17, 1676 as there was no relief. The approximately 1500 surviving French were granted a deduction with all military honors in the delivery conditions ( Accords-Articul ): "with balls in the mouth / sounding game, burning fuses (and) flying flags" . Instead of them, 3,000 troops from the Reich provided the garrison.
The fortress remained in German hands until 1688, before it was recaptured by French troops after another siege .
literature
- Josef Bader : The German Reichsgränzfestung Philippsburg. In: Badenia or the Baden region and people. Vol. 1, 1858 (1859), ZDB -ID 531249-8 , pp. 233-270, here pp. 254 f., ( Digitized version ).
- Heinz Musall: Floor plan of the fortress Philippsburg 1745 , Historical Atlas of Baden-Württemberg
