Eppinger Lines

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This replica of a Charter can be viewed on the southern outskirts of Niefern-Öschelbronn .
Charter in Eppingen.
A wooden guard standing at the entrance to the Eppinger Chartaque.

The Eppinger lines were a fortified line of defense that stretched from Weißenstein near Pforzheim via Mühlacker , Sternenfels and Eppingen to Neckargemünd . It had a total length of 86 km.

Cause of the construction of the lines

The French King Louis XIV (called the "Sun King") laid claim to the inheritance of Liselotte von der Pfalz ( Elisabeth Charlotte ). She was married to Duke Philip of Orléans , brother of the "Sun King" Louis XIV . From this conflict the Palatinate War of Succession arose. The Eppinger lines were in the years 1695 to 1697 under the Margrave Ludwig Wilhelm von Baden also called "Turk Louis" in forced labor built to French raids in the Nine Years' War (1688-1697) to prevent. Ludwig Wilhelm von Baden recognized the geographical advantages and the necessity of a "Landesdefensionslinie". The location of the Eppinger lines had the advantage that the area could also be held against stronger opponents. These lines passed their first test in May 1696, when French forces (36,000 men) under General Claude de Choiseul broke off their advance on Heilbronn near Zaisenhausen and Sickingen in May and June after they had convinced themselves of the strength of the new lines.

  • The "Türkenlouis"

  • Louis XIV, called the "Sun King"

Construction

The bulwark consisted of a 40-meter-wide hook , a tangle of branches and tree trunks, which was followed by a ditch about 2.5 meters deep. The excavated soil of the trench was heaped up to form a wall behind it. The wall-ditch system of the Eppinger lines was secured by watchtowers , called Chartaque . A Charter was a tower-like block house with a base of 6 × 6 m and a height of about 12 meters.

  • Model of the original fortifications.

Situation of the civilian population

Durlach and Baden civilians were also used to build the defense system. These so-called "Schanzer" had their area of ​​origin in front of the Eppinger lines and were thus at the mercy of French violence. The French military threatened to burn down villages if "Schanzer" were placed. The German generals, for their part, threatened executions if the population did not help with the fortification work. Thus, the people in front of the lines often had to endure double suffering.

Replicas today

The replicas of such wooden watchtowers can be seen at Eppingen ( 49 ° 6 ′ 40 ″  N , 8 ° 56 ′ 26 ″  E ) and at Mühlacker ( 48 ° 58 ′ 8 ″  N , 8 ° 49 ′ 54 ″  E ). Another is a 1988 to the south of forest Schanz Niefern-Oeschelbronn at 48 ° 54 '16 "  N , 8 ° 46' 55.5"  O erected 12.5 meters high wooden observation tower .

In the south, near Pforzheim, there was a connection to the Black Forest lines .

The Eppinger-Linien-Weg, a hiking trail that opens up parts of the Stromberg-Heuchelberg Nature Park and provides information about the ground monument with display boards, runs along the route . The path is marked with the stylized symbol of a Chartaque.

  • Remains of the old moat.

  • View from the Eppinger Chartaque in west direction.

literature

  • Rudolf Groll: The Orlean War and the Destruction of Bretten in 1689 . In: Bretten Yearbook for Culture and History 1960 , Bretten 1960, pp. 9–29 (pp. 20–25: Eppinger Linien )
  • Gerhard Weber: The Eppinger Line . In: Kraichgau - Heimatforschung im Landkreis Sinsheim, Vol. 3, 1972, pp. 179–187.
  • Heimatfreunde Eppingen: Around the Ottilienberg. Volume 6, 1994, ISBN 3-930172-11-9

Web links

Commons : Eppinger Linien  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from June 29, 2015 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.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.niefern-oeschelbronn.de
  2. ↑ Heinz Musall and Arnold Scheuerbrand: Destruction of settlements and fortifications in the late 17th and early 18th centuries (1674-1714) in: HISTORICAL ATLAS OF BADEN-WÜRTTEMBERG 6.12
  3. ↑ http://www.ploync.de/reisen/359-deutsche-verteidigungslinie-wachtuerme-auf-den-eppinger-linien-mit-bildern.html

Coordinates: 48 ° 54 ′ 16 "  N , 8 ° 46 ′ 57"  E