Emder Wall

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The Emder Wall is the early modern city fortification and today a local recreation and green area in the city of Emden in East Frisia .

During the Thirty Years War , the wall protected the city of Emden as the only place in East Friesland from being captured by foreign troops. After the transition of the region to Prussia in 1744, the wall lost its defensive function and was gradually converted into a local recreation area from around the second half of the 19th century.

history

Defense systems until 1570

Until the wall was built, the Emden city fortifications consisted primarily of flatter earth walls. The first fortification came in the course of the Saxon feud (1514-1517) when the Emder fortified the earth walls with brick and sandstones. The residents built the new gate at what was then the northern end of the urban area at the level of the city ​​moat and old moat from stone - it was the city's first stone border gate. There were also individual watchtowers. Only the south side of the city facing the Ems was fortified from stone , but this - in addition to protection against attacks from the sea - primarily for reasons of coastal protection . This is where the Emsmauer ran , the course of which is traced by the Emsmauerstraße .

The Duke of Alba in a painting by Titian

When the Spanish Duke Alba defeated the troops of the States General in the course of the Dutch struggle for freedom in the Battle of Jemgum (1568) , he briefly threatened to march with his army to Emden, but gave up. The city took this as an opportunity to increase and strengthen its border fortifications within just two years. This particularly affected the south-eastern city limits on the right lower reaches of the Ems, since attacks were most likely from there.

The expansion of the city

With the influx of religious refugees from the Netherlands , the city grew strongly in the second half of the 16th century, especially in the 1560s and early 1570s. This was accompanied by a gradual expansion of the urban area. The then suburb of Faldern (consisting of Groß-Faldern and Klein-Faldern ) came to Emden on July 15, 1595 after the Delfzijler Treaty had been signed. It had merged with Emden's old town to the west as early as the 1550s to form a single settlement area, but until 1595 it was still under the direct jurisdiction of the East Frisian counts . Just one year after the conclusion of the contract, the city council had the fortifications on the east side of the two Faldern reinforced, creating the Nordertor and the Faldernpoort or Faldern Gate , which until then had also been named Holten Poort after the building material used . After the fortification of this gate with stone material was successful, it was later called Herrentor.

In the Hague Accord of 1603, the States General again arbitrated a dispute between the East Frisian Count House and the city of Emden, which, among other things, concerned the exact boundaries of the city. In the accord, the wealthy in The Hague stipulated that the city could tackle the desired northern expansion if it also surrounded the expansion area with a rampart. As early as 1604, the plans of the Emden city council began.

Construction of the wall

From 1606 to 1616 the town builder Gerhart Evert Pilooth , later advised by the Dutch fortress builder Johan van Valckenburgh , brought the town up to date with the latest defense technology. The wall used to consist of eleven kennels (pentagonal bastions), which were almost in a ring (well more than 180 degrees) around the city. The rest of the barrier was formed by the Ems , which then flowed directly past the city center . In the event of a defense, cannons could be posted on the heights of the wall . A wide moat (city moat) was dug in front of these facilities to make it more difficult for attackers to storm the wall. The bastions were armed with cannons in such a way that a potential attacker could not exploit any blind spots to storm the wall.

In the Thirty Years War

The ramparts around 1640
Video of the re-enactment event Heerlager. “400 years of Emder Wall” - a fortification is celebrating its anniversary on June 11th and 12th, 2016, during which more than 200 amateur actors re-enacted military life in Emden 400 years ago.

The modernized Emden city fortifications had to pass the first and at the same time the greatest test during the Thirty Years' War , when East Friesland was used as a place of rest and retreat by the troops of the Protestant military leader Ernst von Mansfeld . While the rest of the county suffered great hardship , Emden was the only place unoccupied. After arriving in East Frisia in 1622, the Mansfeld troops advanced on the city in January 1623 and occupied the surrounding villages: Borssum , Uphusen , Wolthusen , Hinte and Larrelt . Although Mansfeld had several thousand soldiers and experience in fortress warfare, he did not manage to get much closer to the city than the range of their cannons. Only individual troops of the mercenary leader approached the city in order to steal the grazing cattle of Emder citizens from the pastures. However, Mansfeld and his soldiers never set foot in the city itself.

When Mansfeld shifted parts of his troops from the fortress Leerort to Greetsiel and sent the war material by ship on the Ems downstream, Emden ships attacked the convoy and - besides the private belongings of the military leader and his officers - captured 37 pieces of artillery, more than 2500 cannonballs, 209 Hundreds of powder and 180 hundredweight of fuses as well as various handguns, cutting and stabbing weapons. The captured artillery set up the Emden garrison on the wall, which contributed to the strengthening of the firepower. In total there were more than 200 guns on the wall. Ultimately, Mansfeld demanded the surrender of the booty, but in vain. The city councilors around the city councilor Johannes Althusius later let the mercenary leader know in a letter that they were “confident that we will separate pestilence, hunger and sorrow”. The city itself was in no way affected by the outbreak of the plague in East Frisia, but there were many deaths in the surrounding area.

After Mansfeld withdrew in 1624, East Friesland was occupied two more times by foreign troops, who moved into their resting quarters there. These troops did not set foot in the city of Emden either, but behaved more cautiously than Mansfeld anyway.

From the Prussian takeover of East Frisia in 1744 to the present

While the Wall in the " first Prussian period of East Friesland " (1744–1806 / 15), unlike many castles in the region , remained undisturbed by the demolition , it was relieved of its function during the Hanover era (1815–1866). However, the structure was retained. The military technology had made the wall superfluous in the meantime. After the city lost its fortress character in the early 19th century, the originally 36 meter wide Emden moat was no longer maintained as a fortress moat. As a consequence, it was kept narrower, but wide enough to allow inland navigation on their way to the villages of the Krummhörn in the future. The flooded land in front of the wall, the foreland, was used by Emden vegetable farmers in the 19th century for cultivation.

After a “beautification commission” had been formed for the wall in 1824, the popularity of the earlier fortification as a recreational area only rose in the following decades. From 1906 the Emden tennis and hockey club resided on the wall. In 1911, the Emden Ruderverein Ostfriesland, a rowing club exclusively for the employees of the Emden Post and Telegraph Office, moved into its domicile at the Kesselschleuse, which after the merger with the Emden Rowing Club (1924), which had been founded five years earlier, served as a common club house.

During the Nazi era in Emden , the Marine-SA built a boat harbor at Marienwehrster Zwinger, which was transferred to the Emden Water Sports Club (WVE) after the Second World War . The only one of the 35 larger Emden air raid bunkers was built in 1942 at the yellow mill Zwinger on the wall, but in the rear area close to the city on the border with today's green spaces.

In the years from 1969 to 1975, the city of Emden had the rampart foreland between the actual rampart and the city moat expanded as a recreational area and further walking paths were created there. During this time the bridge to the New Theater was built. The wall was placed under monument protection in 1977 .

construction

A bird's eye view of parts of the wall (bottom and top right), looking west

The wall is divided into eight parts, called the Zwinger. These are from west to south-east: Meister-Geerds-Zwinger, Heuzwinger, Albringwehrster Zwinger, Vogelsang-Zwinger, Marienwehrster Kennel, Yellow-Mühlen-Zwinger, Rote-Mühlen-Zwinger and Weisse-Mühlen-Zwinger. In the case of the Albringwehrster and Marienwehrster Zwinger, it was named after the Albringwehr agricultural property in the area of ​​the community of Hinte and the Marienwehr district of Emden in the northeast of the city. The three kennels named after mills got their name from the mills standing there, although the yellow mill is no longer preserved.

City gates

At the time it was built, the Emder Wall was broken through by several city gates, some of which are now part of the city of Emden. The Herrentor was located at the eastern entrance to the city, where the district of the same name is located today . Access from the north-east was secured by the Nordertor, which is now indicated by Nordertorstraße. This is the exit road to Wolthusen . The Boltentor allowed access from the northwest, and the Boltentorviertel is named after him .

Today's buildings

Vrouw Johanna mill

The ramparts, rising several meters from the otherwise quite flat East Frisian marshland, were given additional use as a location for several windmills from the start . From what used to be several mills on the wall - at least five locations are clearly documented - three structures are still preserved, but all of them in very different degrees of conservation. The Dutch gallery De Vrouw Johanna on the Marienwehrster Zwinger has been completely renovated . The owner is the city of Emden, which has leased the mill to the Emder Mühlenverein. The non-profit association takes care of the preservation of the listed building. It is the only windmill in Emden that still has blades. In addition to the Johanna mill, there is also the Rote Mühle (now a kindergarten) and the White Mill on the wall , which, however, is in dire need of renovation. The last two mills mentioned are on the kennels named after them. In addition to the mills, there is also the club house of the Emden local association of the workers' welfare and a memorial for those who fell in the world wars. One of the 35 larger Emden bunkers is located on the edge of the yellow mill kennel. Apart from the other club houses and facilities of the sports clubs (see section Sports), there are no other structures on the wall.

traffic

The wall not only protected Emden from being captured in the Thirty Years' War, but was also an urban and traffic boundary for centuries. The rampart itself, but also the moat in front of it, formed a barrier between the core city and the later parts of the city outside the ramparts, which developed over the centuries. The traffic only flowed through the earlier city gates; today's roads continue to accommodate the traffic routes. In the area of ​​the eight Zwinger there are only three street culverts, two other important streets also lead directly past the ends of the wall from the city center to the outlying districts.

Abdenastraße, which forms part of Landesstraße 2 , which crosses Emden from west to east, leads past the western end of the ramparts . However, it does not touch the embankment directly. The street Am Herrentor runs along the south-eastern end of the embankment. Until the demolition of the Borssum Zwinger, it also ran through the wall, since then it has formed the boundary of the former city fortifications no longer leading through the wall. The street connects the city center with the Herrentor district outside .

On the other hand, three streets lead through the embankment. These are Boltentorstrasse in the northwest, which connects Früchteburg between the Meister-Geerds-Zwinger and the Heuzwinger and the Conrebbersweg district further to the northwest with the city center, as well as Auricher Strasse, the main road to the north. In the northeast, Nordertorstrasse / Wolthuser Strasse also runs through the wall. In the case of Boltentorstraße and Nordertor- / Wolthuser Straße, the individual kennels are connected by means of a zebra crossing . In the case of the four-lane Auricher Straße, there are both level crossing options at a traffic light and an underground tunnel.

Boiler lock with Rotem Siel (top left), Stadtgraben (top right), Ems-Jade Canal (bottom right) and Fehntjer Tief (bottom left). The swing bridge over the Rote Siel can be seen at the top left.

In the course of the expansion of the wall to a local recreation facility, two new pedestrian bridges were created between 1969 and 1975 that connect the city moat with the area outside the city center. Bridges exist near the New Theater at the Albringwehrster Zwinger and near the Hans-Susemihl Hospital at the Vogelsang-Zwinger. Another bridge does not connect the city center with the outlying parts of the city, but rather two of the kennels themselves: between the Rote-Mühlen-Zwinger and the Weisse-Mühlen-Zwinger there is a swing bridge that crosses the Ems-Jade Canal that leads to this place is called Rotes Siel . The swing bridge allows shipping traffic to pass quickly and ensures that ships or boats with higher superstructures can also pass the crossing. Apart from the mentioned crossing possibilities, the wall still separates the city center from the outlying parts of the city.

The Emden city moat is connected to the East Frisian waterway network by three canals. At Meister-Geerds-Zwinger, the Larrelter Tief branches off to the west in the direction of the suburb of the same name. At the Albringwehrster Zwinger, Hinter Tief leads towards the town of the same name north of the city. Both lows are linked to the knockster low . At Marienwehrster Zwinger begins the low-level trek that connected Emden with Aurich to the northeast in the past. Today it represents the connection between the city center and the Little Sea . The southeasternmost of the kennels, the Weisse-Mühlen-Zwinger, is no longer bounded by the moat, the watercourse is already called Fehntjer Tief and is the waterway to the eastern outskirts of the Sea port city ( Moormerland , Ihlow , Großefehn ).

The paths on the wall can be used by both pedestrians and cyclists.

Sport and recreation

Emder Wall today

A number of sports clubs are based on the Wall. The Emden sailing club, the water sports club Emden and the Emden rowing club take advantage of the location on the city moat . The ESV has its club premises with a boathouse on the Marienwehrster Zwinger, where, in addition to the clubhouse, there is also the boat harbor with 25 berths. The WVE is also located at Marienwehrster Zwinger, just a little further north, and also has a boathouse and club house there. The Emden rowing club operates a clubhouse and boat facility at the Rote-Mühlen-Zwinger not far from the boiler lock . The Emden tennis and hockey club is located in the foreland between the Rote-Mühlen-Zwinger and the Yellow-Mühlen-Zwinger, and its tennis department has had several courts there since 1906. Furthermore, the Schützencorps Emden has its club headquarters in the Schützenhof am Heuzwinger, where the club's shooting range is also located. The wall is also used by members of the Emden running community, but also by joggers, walkers, Nordic walkers and cyclists who are independent of the club. On the other hand, the paths on the wall are unsuitable for inline skaters , as the underground of the paths consists of gravel. The wall is also a popular excursion area for walkers.

literature

  • Wolfgang Brünink: The Count of Mansfeld in East Friesland (1622-1624) (= treatises and lectures on the history of East Friesland. Volume 34). Publishing house Ostfriesische Landschaft, Aurich 1957, DNB 450650340 .
  • Bernd Kappelhoff : History of the city of Emden from 1611 to 1749. Emden as a quasi-autonomous city republic. (= East Frisia under the protection of the dike. Volume 11). Verlag Rautenberg, Leer 1994, ISBN 3-7921-0545-4 .
  • Bernd Kappelhoff: Johann von Valkenburg, the expansion of the city of Emden and its fortifications around 1600 and the role of the Netherlands in it. In: Emder yearbook for historical regional studies of East Frisia . Volume 75, 1995.
  • Ernst Siebert, Walter Deeters , Bernard Schröer: History of the city of Emden from 1750 to the present. (= East Frisia under the protection of the dike. Volume 7). Verlag Rautenberg, Leer 1980, DNB 203159012 , therein:
    • Ernst Siebert: History of the City of Emden from 1750 to 1890. P. 2–195.
    • Walter Deeters: History of the City of Emden from 1890 to 1945. P. 198–256.
    • Bernard Schröer: History of the city of Emden from 1945 to the present. Pp. 257-488.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Bernd Kappelhoff: Johann von Valkenburg, the expansion of the city of Emden and its fortifications around 1600 and the role of the Netherlands in it. In: Emder yearbook for historical regional studies of East Frisia . Volume 75, 1995, p. 139.
  2. ↑ Bernd Kappelhoff: Johann von Valkenburg, the expansion of the city of Emden and its fortifications around 1600 and the role of the Netherlands in it. In: Emder yearbook for historical regional studies of East Frisia . Volume 75, 1995, p. 136.
  3. ↑ Bernd Kappelhoff: Johann von Valkenburg, the expansion of the city of Emden and its fortifications around 1600 and the role of the Netherlands in it. In: Emder yearbook for historical regional studies of East Frisia . Volume 75, 1995, p. 143.
  4. ↑ Bernd Kappelhoff: History of the city of Emden from 1611 to 1749. Emden as a quasi-autonomous city republic. (= East Frisia under the protection of the dike. Volume 11). Verlag Rautenberg, Leer 1994, ISBN 3-7921-0545-4 , p. 11.
  5. ↑ Wolfgang Brünink: The Count of Mansfeld in East Friesland (1622-1624). (= Treatises and lectures on the history of East Frisia. Volume 34). Verlag Ostfriesische Landschaft, Aurich 1957, DNB 450650340 , p. 91.
  6. ↑ Wolfgang Brünink: The Count of Mansfeld in East Friesland (1622-1624). (= Treatises and lectures on the history of East Frisia. Volume 34). Verlag Ostfriesische Landschaft, Aurich 1957, DNB 450650340 , p. 136, note 174.
  7. ^ Ernst Siebert: History of the city of Emden from 1750 to 1890. In: Ernst Siebert, Walter Deeters , Bernard Schröer: History of the city of Emden from 1750 to the present. (= East Frisia under the protection of the dike. Volume 7). Verlag Rautenberg, Leer 1980, DNB 203159012 , pp. 2–195, here p. 44.
  8. ↑ Tennis Emden: Club history ( memento from September 11, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ), accessed on January 1, 2016.
  9. ↑ Festschrift for the 100th anniversary in 2006. ( Memento from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) In: emderruderverein.de. P. 8 f., Accessed on July 21, 2013 (PDF file).
  10. ↑ Club homepage, menu item Chronicle. In: wvemden.de , accessed on July 21, 2013.
  11. ^ Michael Foedrowitz, Dietrich Janßen: Air raid shelter in Emden. Self-published, Berlin / Emden 2008, OCLC 254736187 , p. 15.
  12. ^ Bernard Schröer: History of the city of Emden from 1945 to the present. In: Ernst Siebert, Walter Deeters , Bernard Schröer: History of the city of Emden from 1750 to the present. (= East Frisia under the protection of the dike. Volume 7). Verlag Rautenberg, Leer 1980, DNB 203159012 , pp. 257-488, here p. 290.
  13. ↑ Emder Wall. ( Memento of January 11, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) In: emden.de , accessed on July 21, 2013 (PDF; 281 kB).
  14. ↑ Johanna Mill. ( Memento from September 24, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) In: emdermuehlenverein.de , accessed on March 23, 2012 (PDF file).
  15. ^ Promotion of cycling in Emden. In: emden.de , p. 11. (PDF file).
  16. ↑ Boathouse. In: emder-segelverein.de , accessed on March 22, 2012.
  17. ↑ wvemden.de Retrieved on March 22, 2012.
  18. ↑ Tennis Emden: Club history ( memento from September 11, 2012 in the web archive archive.today ), accessed on January 1, 2016.

Coordinates: 53 ° 22 ′ 27.9 ″  N , 7 ° 12 ′ 32.6 ″  E