Peitz fortress

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The Brandeburg Vestung Peitz
The fortress tower

The fortress Peitz is a former fortress of the Brandenburg town of Peitz , which extended over the area of ​​today's old town. The only remaining aboveground structure is the mighty, also known as the thick tower , about 36 meters high fortress tower , which is also the oldest structure in the Peitz region.

history

14th to 16th century

The town and castle Peitz was mentioned for the first time on August 3, 1301 in a sales deed that was issued in Dahme as " Pizne opidum et castrum ". At that time Theoderich the Younger, Landgrave of Thuringia, Margrave of the East and Lusatia , sold the Lausitz border march for 6,000 marks in silver to the Archbishop of Magdeburg , Burchard III. In addition to Peitz, this document (the original is in the Bohemian Crown Archives in Prague ) mentions 23 other cities, castles and localities. In addition to this sales certificate, there is another certificate that was issued in Dahme on the same day. In this, Archbishop Burchard von Magdeburg enfeoffs Theodoric the Younger with the border mark he had previously bought. However, these two treaties never became legally effective, as the constitutionally required renunciation of Lusatia before the German king did not come about due to the state of war between the empire and the margrave of Thuringia.

From this point on, Lusatia, and thus also the town of Peitz, had a restless and eventful history, because the country was ruled by constantly changing rulers over the next few decades. From 1323 to 1353, Peitz and Lausitz were owned by Bavaria, as King Ludwig the Bavarian had acquired Lausitz. Peitz and Lausitz came under Saxon rule in 1353, under which they remained for 15 years, before finally falling under Bohemian rule in 1368. On April 30, 1415, the Hohenzollern Prince Friedrich VI. Burgrave of Nuremberg , enfeoffed with the Mark of Brandenburg in Constance as part of the Council of Constance by King Sigismund and took over his reign as Elector Friedrich I of Brandenburg. As a result of the repeated Hussite incursions into Lusatia, on December 28, 1431 Heinrich and Albrecht Schenken von Landsberg , who had been pledges of Peitz since 1418 , placed themselves under the protection of Elector Friedrich I.

Landvogt Johann von Polenz from Senftenberg , who had bought Lausitz from King Sigismund in 1422, did not agree to this protection treaty, as he feared that this protection treaty would sooner or later bring Peitz into the domain of the Brandenburg electors. Since the Landsberg taverns refused to end this protection treaty, Polenz concluded an alliance with the Duke of Saxony's envoy, the aim of which was to recapture Peitz and end the protection alliance. On August 8, 1436 the Saxon captain Querfurt conquered the castle after a siege with about 160 men and Governor Johann von Polenz made a solemn entry into the city. Then Heinrich Schenk von Landsberg turned to his patron, the Brandenburg Elector, and asked him for help. This sent the Johanniterordensmeister Hans von Waldow as an advocate for the bailiff in Peitz. Polenz realized that he could not afford a war with his powerful Brandenburg neighbor and agreed to hand the castle back to Heinrich Schenk von Landsberg if he would recognize him as his lord and the emperor's bailiff.

With the death of King Albrecht , a long battle for the Bohemian crown broke out in the empire. During this time, both the Saxons and the Brandenburgers tried to enlarge and consolidate their sphere of power and influence. With skillful financial diplomacy, the Brandenburg Elector Friedrich II succeeded in acquiring the Pfandbrief from Heinrich Schenk von Landsberg on August 11, 1442. Shortly afterwards, Brandenburg horsemen appeared in front of the town gates of Peitz and took possession of the castle and town for the elector. Heinrich was installed as bailiff and entrusted with the further administration of the Bailiwick of Peitz. In 1448 Elector Friedrich II acquired the rule of Cottbus . In the same year he succeeded in acquiring Lausitz from the Polenz brothers as part of the so-called "Lübben purchase contract" (September 29, 1448). They handed him the letter of majesty through which the elector de jure became the legal owner of the Lausitz border march. Thereupon he received homage in the cities of Lübben , Guben , Forst , Sorau , Spremberg and Luckau . But this increase in territory and power aroused the suspicion of the Bohemian King Podebrady , since the Lausitz region was still a Bohemian crown fief. He demanded the return of the Lausitz with repayment of the purchase money. Since the two sides could not come to an agreement despite lengthy negotiations, acts of military violence ensued. This came to an end in the " Guben Peace Treaty " on June 5, 1462. The result of the peace treaty was that the House of Brandenburg kept the properties in Lusatia that had been acquired before the Lübben purchase agreement, but had to return the Lusatia with reimbursement of the purchase money. Thus the dominion of Cottbus, the Vogtei Peitz, the Schenkenländchen Teupitz and Bärwalde remained with the Brandenburgers and became the Brandenburg exclave in the Bohemian Lausitz.

Fortress construction 1559 to 1562

Margrave Johann von Küstrin decided in 1557 to build a fortress in Peitz, as reported by the Brandenburg chronicler Nicolaus Leuthinger . The exposed location of the former Peitz / Cottbus exclave was probably decisive for the construction of the fortress. Due to the defenseless proximity to Bohemia, there was always the danger of occupation by opposing armies in times of war. But the impending danger posed by the " Turks, Muscowites and others " (justification given by the margrave in a letter to the emperor in Vienna on February 24, 1561) was a decisive reason for building the fortress in Peitz.

If you look at the two fortifications of Peitz and Küstrin , they lay on a line of defense and protected the margrave's lands with their strong arms. If you add the Spandau fortress, which his brother Elector Joachim II began to build in 1560, the result is a fortress triangle, which represented insurmountable protection. Elector Joachim II also cited the above-mentioned Turkish threat as a reason for building the Spandau citadel opposite the estates. There are no building or fortress plans from this early period. There is an undated pen sketch with German inscriptions in the Secret State Archive of Prussian Cultural Heritage in Berlin, which is in the files on the Peitz fortress construction, but the dimensions given therein (with the exception of the fortress tower) cannot be transferred to the later fortress plans. Whether it is a plan for the reconstruction of the Peitzer castle complex or a draft for the construction of a fortress-like structure cannot be conclusively answered at the moment.

In December 1559, the plans for the fortress construction had progressed so far that construction could begin. Margrave Johann issued building regulations for Peitz on December 18, 1559. It stipulated in detail which tasks and duties the respective workers had. Work was carried out six days a week from Monday to Saturday, Sunday was the day off. The workers were called to work in the morning with a construction bell; the beginning and the end of the breaks were also indicated by the bell. The first phase of work lasted three to four hours, depending on the length of the day. Then there was a break of half an hour. After another three hours there was a break of one hour. Again after three hours there was another one hour break. After that, the workers had to work until dark. But not only the working hours had been precisely fixed, but also the remuneration for certain work and of course fines. For example, a worker would lose half his weekly wage if he did not show up for work on Monday. If he came to the construction site on Tuesday, he would lose all of his wages. If a worker appeared up to half an hour late after the work bell had rung, a supervisor would whip him during the next break. Nobody was allowed to give up their service until Martini (November 11th) under physical punishment .

A special feature of this fortress construction is that the work did not begin in spring, but in the middle of winter. From a letter of the then Peitz fortress builder Jeronismus Arkanat from January 24th 1560 to the Margrave Johann von Küstrin it emerges, “ that man has started digging the grounds ” and “ so soon it would be possible to lay the foundation for the four ”. In addition, Arkanat complained to the Margrave that he was “ putting a lot of effort ” and “ loading strangers on me ” and humbly asked “ in view of the great, mighty baw, to graciously provide me with a baw lord who can do all things ” . Arkanat himself was a master builder in Peitz until at least November 13th, 1560, then his trace is lost. The Italian Francesco Chiaramella de Gandino was appointed as the new master builder by Margrave Johann.

The citadel (upper fortress) was built in the area of ​​the old castle. The existing brick structures were torn down and the bricks obtained from them were used to build fortresses. According to a bundle of files from the time, it was expected that 600,000 stones could be extracted from the old wall and the ground. 100,000 bricks should be obtained from the removal of the old tower, if it were removed by 10–12 pieces (approx. 3–3.6 m). 500,000 bricks were to be burned in the brick kiln in Peitz. 100,000 bricks were to be delivered from Lieberose from the Schulenburg family and the Cottbus City Council was to deliver 85,000 bricks. Thus, at the start of construction, the stately sum of 1,385,000 bricks was available. The brick kilns in Peitz, Cottbus and Lieberose were to gradually produce another 450,000 bricks, so that in the end a total of 1,835,000 bricks were available. Another calculation in this bundle of files shows that a bricklayer processed 500 bricks per day. In a six-day work week, this was 3,000 stones. 16 bricklayers processed 48,000 bricks. With an assumed work duration of 34 weeks, a total of 1,632,000 stones were used for the 16 masons. In order to give a brief overview of the work done by these 16 bricklayers in one week, it should be mentioned at this point that with the 48,000 bricks and a stone thickness of 27 cm × 14 cm × 10 cm without a mortar joint they built a wall 108 meters in length and 12 meters high in one week. This clearly shows the impressive work that was done back then.

At the same time 4,450 quintals of lime were brought in from Küstrin and 4,794 quintals from Beeskow for the construction. According to the Margrave's own calculation, up to 1,200 workers were deployed on this construction site at peak times. The citadel was provided with an approx. 675 meter long moat. The ramparts at the moat were to be protected by 751 piles. Each post should have a total length of approximately 5.4 meters. The piles were driven approx. 4.2 meters deep, so that at the end around 1.2 meters per post protruded from the ground and thus served as a storm obstacle. At the same time the city (under fortress) was secured by an elaborate system of bastions , earth walls and moats. Both areas, the lower fortress (fortified city) and the citadel (upper fortress), formed the fortress Peitz after the work was completed in 1562.

Accurate plan of the Brandenburg Vestung Peiz. like those of Kayserl. Royal Troops under the command of General von Laudon on August 25, 1758.

Later story

Between 1590 and 1595, extensive fortifications were built around the entire city. Well-known builders of European standing such as Chiramella, Arkanat and above all Rochus zu Lynar were involved in the construction. During the Thirty Years' War Peitz offered protection to many nobles and church dignitaries. In the winter of 1636/37 even the Brandenburg Elector Georg Wilhelm and his court visited Peitz and took it as the seat of government.

About 100 years later, during the Seven Years' War , the Peitzer fortress was to be expanded. Financial reasons forced this “modernization” to be canceled. In 1758 and 1759, Austrian troops took the fortress. In 1759 all the buildings in the fortress area were to be destroyed by blowing up. As if by a miracle, a thunderstorm extinguished the already burning fuses and initially saved the fortress from total destruction. In 1767, King Frederick the Great gave the order to demolish the fortress. Nevertheless, in addition to the tower, Peitz still has other valuable witnesses from the time of the fortress.

Todays use

The fortress tower now serves as a museum and offers a good view of the town of Peitz from the approximately 35 meter high turret. The large ballroom is used for concerts, celebrations and also for weddings.

Governors

See also

literature

  • Dirk Redies (Red.): The Peitz Fortress . Peitz 1994.
  • Stadtgeschichtliches Museum Spandau (Ed.): From Vestungen. The Brandenburg-Prussian fortresses Spandau - Peitz - Küstrin . Berlin 2001 (Editors: Ralf Gebuhr, Andrea Theissen, Martin Winter).
  • Christoph Malcherowitz: Foray through Peitz history from the 14th century to the 18th century (= history and stories from Peitz, issue 1). Friends of the Peitzer Museen e. V., Peitz 2001.
  • Daniel Burger : The state fortresses of the Hohenzollern in Franconia and Brandenburg in the age of the Renaissance (= series of publications on Bavarian state history, volume 128), Munich 2000.
  • Daniel Burger: The castles in the Renaissance fortresses of the Electors and Margraves of Brandenburg. In: Stefan Breitling / Christof Krauskopf / Franz Schopper (eds.): Burgenlandschaft Brandenburg (= Berlin Contributions to Building Research and Monument Preservation, Volume 10), Petersberg 2013, pp. 164–181.

Web links

Commons : Peitz Fortress  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ see description in the monument database of the state of Brandenburg
  2. ↑ a b fortress tower on the website of the Peitz office

Coordinates: 51 ° 51 ′ 27 "  N , 14 ° 24 ′ 34.6"  E