Siege of Wismar (1675)

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The siege on a leaflet from 1675
Battles and Sieges of the
Northern War (1674–1679)

The siege of Wismar in the Northern War from 1674 to 1679 took place during the Pomeranian Campaign from 1675 to 1676 from August 1, 1675 by the Brandenburgers allied with the Danes and from August 22, 1675 by the Danes themselves. It ended with the capture of the city ​​in mid-December 1675.

prehistory

In the Peace of Westphalia of 1648, the Mecklenburg city ​​of Wismar was ceded to Sweden . At the insistence of the French king, Sweden had started a war with Brandenburg. After the defeat of the Swedes in the Battle of Fehrbellin on June 18, 1675, Christian V of Denmark openly joined Sweden's opponents. Together with Friedrich Wilhelm I of Brandenburg, he wanted to drive the Swedes out of their North German possessions.

Troop strengths

Wismar was held by a Swedish garrison under the command of Field Marshal Carl Gustaf Wrangel (1613–1676), Governor General of Swedish Pomerania and since August 4, 1674, Commander of Wismar. The Swedish garrison numbered about 2500 men with 45 cannons.

The siege army of the Danes, Imperial and Brandenburgers was about 13,500 strong and provided with 44 siege cannons and 6 mortars . It was under the command of King Christian V.

course

Siege of Wismar 1675
Flyer from the siege

At the beginning of August 1675 the Brandenburgers appeared in front of Wismar, half a month later the Danes under Christian V joined them with 16-18,000 men via Oldesloe . Since a sea-side relief from the Swedish fleet threatened, the island of Poel , the granary of the fortress Wismar, was occupied by 2000 Brandenburgers in September . In September the great Elector and King Christian V of Denmark agreed that Wismar should fall to Denmark after the capture. The campaign initially shifted to Swedish Pomerania . The two allies met in October 1675 outside Stralsund , but initially decided to postpone a siege of the Western Pomeranian city.

Instead, it was intended to attack Wismar as soon as the Danish fleet could provide support to the Brandenburgers. The Danish king then moved to Wismar, where Sweden had its largest port on the German Baltic coast and the most suitable port for an attack on Denmark. Wismar was blocked again on October 4th by the Danes under Major General Sandberg with 5000 men. The Mecklenburg government had to pay for the supply of these troops and protested unsuccessfully. The closure of the port on October 24, 1675 proved to be an effective blocking measure. The last ship to enter and the last ship to leave was reported long before that.

Most of the Danish army had withdrawn via Damgarten and joined the blocking troops on October 29 at Wismar. There were up to 18,000 men, plus an artillery park with a strength of 76 cannons.

On October 31, 1675, the bombardment and siege of the fortress Wismar , which was under the command of the Swedish Lieutenant General Gustav Wrangel, began. The island fortress Walfisch , which is particularly important for the defense of the Mecklenburg city , fell into Danish hands on November 5th. The Swedes had an orlog , the sailing warship "Falke", stationed there. At low tide and in the thick November fog, the warship was ambushed on November 5, 1675 and taken into possession. During the capture of the warship “Falke”, the Danes captured 642 crew members and captured 38 ship cannons. The crew of Fort Wallenstein had no choice but to surrender to the superior force. According to contemporary information, the number of captured ship's crew was 60 sailors and one officer and the number of soldiers captured on the whale was 25.

Due to the elimination of the fortress at the entrance to the port, a sea-side horror by the Swedes was no longer to be expected for the besieged. The Danes threw entrenchments in front of the city gates and forced their attacks. Because of the severe frost and the resulting solidification of the boggy ground, Wrangel considered handing over the city. When the weather changed at the end of November, that was no longer necessary. For this, the attackers added to the pressure on the front of the new plant located Werder . A Swedish attempt at relief by Count von Königsmarck from Stralsund failed.

Despite brave defense of the Swedes and bad weather with rain and snow, the Danes, led by Lieutenant General Niels Rosenkrantz , finally managed to storm the city on December 13th. Together with representatives of the council and the tribunal, the Swedish governor Wrangel managed to negotiate favorable terms of handover for the winners. Wrangel surrendered to Stralsund on December 14th with the right to withdraw. 500 infantry and 150 dragoons withdrew from the city. The Danish royal couple entered the conquered city on December 16. The entire council of the Hanseatic city of Wismar received King Christian V and his companion at the Mecklenburg Gate and accompanied him to the Marienkirche .

consequences

The Danes referred winter quarters to this. The city remained in Danish ownership for the next four years. The Swedish officials were free to leave, but were also allowed to stay in the city. All other privileges of the city that were promised to it in the Peace of Westphalia, such as self-government, were not affected by the Danes. Denmark promised to return Wismar to Sweden on September 2 (August 22) 1679 in the peace negotiations in Fontainebleau and did so on November 23, 1680.

losses

The beginning of the bombardment of the city only led to minor human losses. 12 citizens were killed in over 12,000 cannon shots and over 500 grenade impacts. 1200 citizens, on the other hand, died from illness, especially after the withdrawal of the Danish troops and after the city was taken.

literature

  • Dieterich Schröder: Kurtze description of the city and rulership Wismar, what concerns the worldly history of the same, 1743, 2.329-348
  • Friedrich Techen : History of the seaside town of Wismar, Council d. Seestadt Wismar, 1929: the siege and conquest of Wismar by the Danes (1675), pp. 220–224 (fortification p. 220. Garrison p. 220 f).
  • Fritz Meyer-Scharffenberg: Wismar, the island of Poel and the Klützer Winkel, Hinstorff, 1965
  • Ernst Müsebeck: The campaigns of the Great Elector in Pomerania 1675-1677, Herrcke & Lebeling, Marburg 1897

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Eduard Maria Oettinger : History of the Danish court, from Christian II to Friedrich VII, third volume, Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 1857, p. 122
  2. ↑ https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Eigentliche_Abbildung_der_Stadt_Wi%C3%9Fmar