Christiansburg (Varel)
The Christian Castle was a fortress built by Danes with a seaport near Varel , construction of which began in 1681. The fortress was named after its builder, the Danish King Christian V , who inherited the county of Oldenburg after the death of Count Anton Günther from Oldenburg . Due to bad planning verschlickte who built within the fortress seaport quickly so that the fortress already in 1694 had abandoned. By 1696, all buildings were demolished and the moats filled in. The only remnants of the fortress today are remnants of the wall south of the Varel harbor and the harbor basin of the Varel harbor itself, which was part of the fortress.
history
After the death of Oldenburg Count Anton Günther, the county of Oldenburg fell to his relative, the King of Denmark Christian V, as Anton Günther had no legitimate heirs. As early as 1654 he transferred the office of Varel to his illegitimate son, who was legitimized by Emperor Leopold I , the later Count Anton I of Aldenburg , and in 1658 the rule of Kniphausen , both of which were no longer part of the County of Oldenburg. However, the Danish king did not recognize this regulation and after the death of Anton I built the fortress town directly at the gates of Varel to underpin his Danish claims to rule.
The efforts of the Danish king, however, met with great opposition from the mother of Anton II, the only male heir to Anton I von Aldenburg, who was born only seven months after the death of his father. Only after lengthy negotiations did the "Aldenburg Tract" of 1693 come to an amicable settlement. In this the Aldenburg family had to give up some possessions, but were allowed to keep the Noble Lordship of Varel , but had to recognize the Oldenburg and thus the Danish sovereignty.
With the agreement, the political objectives for the construction of the fortress no longer existed. Since the seaport built within the Christiansburg quickly became lost due to bad planning and the access to the port within the fortress could only be guaranteed with considerable investments, it was decided to give up the fortress.
location and size
The Christiansburg fortress was built east of Varel at what was then the Varel landing and port on the Jade Bay . The dyke line and the existing sluice were included in the fortress. The complex had a diameter of around 1200 meters and was designed as a star-shaped city complex with a harbor and moats based on the model of similar Danish fortresses.
The harbor, which also carries water at low tide, was located within the fortress and was originally intended to be kept free from siltation by the flowing waters of the Nordend Leke and Südend Leke . The Danes underestimated the problems caused by the tides in the flat mudflats of the southern North Sea . Contrary to the initial plans, the entrance to the port was given a lock to keep the water inside the port at low tide. As a result, the harbor, moats and fairway became increasingly slippery.
literature
- Karl-Ernst Behre : The history of the landscape around the Jade Bay. Brune-Mettcker, Wilhelmshaven 2012, ISBN 978-3-941929-02-9
- Wilhelm Janßen: The Christiansburg near Varel 1681-1693: A baroque fortress to secure the Danish rule on the northern border of Oldenburg. , Isensee Verlag, Oldenburg 2009, ISBN 978-3-899956-10-8
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b NWZonline.de: Vareler did not trust the Danes , accessed on October 23, 2013
- ↑ a b City of Varel - History ( Memento of the original from June 11, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed October 23, 2013
- ↑ Varel-Christiansburg 2007 ( Memento of the original from February 25, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , accessed October 23, 2013
Coordinates: 53 ° 24 ′ 20.1 ″ N , 8 ° 10 ′ 8.9 ″ E