Wesel fortress
The Wesel Fortress was a defense system that enclosed the old town of Wesel on the Lower Rhine. Its core was the partially preserved citadel of Wesel .
History of the fortress
The Hanseatic city of Wesel was already being fortified in the Middle Ages . In 1568 the city had a bastion built at its own expense in the area of the Flesgentor and thus a typical fortress element. In the course of the 17th century, the city, which was under Prussian rule, was occupied or besieged several times by various powers. On the orders of the Prussian Elector Friedrich Wilhelm , the conversion of the city into a fortress began in 1681. In the south of the city, the citadel was built as a fortress within the fortress between 1688 and 1722 according to plans by Jean de Corbin . The citadel was in the shape of a five-pointed star and was connected to the belt of fortifications surrounding the city by several blunt bastions in its east and west. When the fortress was built, the number of city gates leading to Wesel was reduced from thirteen to just four.
The first barracks in the city were built around 1770 to accommodate soldiers and their families. Around 1780 soldiers and their family members made up a little more than half of the approximately 10,000 city residents. On November 8, 1794, French troops under General Napoleon Bonaparte conquered the town of Büderich on the left bank of the Rhine and bombarded the fortress town of Wesel the following day. There was no great damage or civilian deaths, while the French were able to maintain their position in Büderich with high losses. From 1805 to 1814 the Wesel on the right bank of the Rhine was also under French rule. During this time, both the city and the fortifications were redesigned, including barracks VIII as part of the citadel. The Citadelle Napoléon was also built between 1807 and 1813 as a bridgehead on the left bank of the fortress . It was named Fort Blücher after the end of French rule . Between December 19, 1813 and mid-January 1814, the town of Büderich, on the left bank of the Rhine, was completely destroyed on the orders of Napoleon in order to have a free field of fire in this direction if the fortress was expected to be defended. Ultimately, this measure proved to be militarily unnecessary. Nevertheless, the Prussians then forbade the rebuilding of the place because it was very close to Fort Blücher and a fortification associated with high costs would have been necessary. Büderich was rebuilt southwest of its original position. On May 8, 1814, the French troops left the Wesel fortress. Because guns had a longer range due to technical progress, the need to build outer forts was seen in the 19th century. Among other things, Fort Fusternberg was built between 1856 and 1860 and Fort I between 1879 and 1882, which served as a military security for the Wesel railway bridge .
In 1886 it was decided to de-strengthen Wesel and the process of razing it was initiated. In 1889 the city of Wesel acquired large parts of the fortress grounds. In the development plan of the Cologne master builder Josef Stübben , the city gained 62 hectares of building land. In the following years the three city gates Brüner Tor, Rheintor and Klever Tor were removed and only the Berliner Tor was retained and ring roads were built around the city in the area of the former fortress walls. In Fort Glacis of Wesel , just outside the walls, a green belt was created. However, numerous fortress buildings were preserved, which is why Wesel could be used as a gathering point for soldiers during World War I. Since the Rhineland was demilitarized by the Versailles Treaty , the buildings were not used in the following period. At the time of National Socialism , however, Wesel was a military base and was largely destroyed by bombing during the Second World War .
Effects on urban development
Wesel had benefited economically from its favorable geostrategic location on the Rhine and Lippe rivers and had become a prosperous Hanseatic city in the late Middle Ages. At the same time, this location was decisive for the development of the Wesel Fortress. The establishment of the fortress caused an economic setback, as certain branches of the economy had to be given up and expansion of urban planning or economic activities beyond the ring of the fortress was no longer possible. Until the fortification was de-fortified in the late 19th century, building within a radius of 1.5 kilometers around the fortress was prohibited or subject to strict requirements. The densely populated districts of Feldmark , Fusternberg and Schepersfeld , which today directly surround the city center , and the no longer existing Rheinvorstadt had a total of only 1,111 inhabitants in 1858. Due to the lack of space for expansion, Wesel lagged well behind its capabilities in the areas of industry and trade and initially retained its character as a military base and administrative city. Also due to its continued military importance, Wesel was severely destroyed in the Second World War. In the process of reconstruction after 1945, however, the city was able to free itself from development obstacles. Among other things, urban areas outside the fortress, such as the Feldmark, grew rapidly in this phase.
Today's traces of the former fortress
The citadel of the historic fortress has been preserved in parts and is used as a cultural center. It is the location of the Prussian Museum Wesel , the city music and art school Wesel , the city archive and part of the city museum. In the east of Wesel city center, the Berliner Tor has been preserved as a former fortress gate. From Klever Tor a gable relief is obtained and placed on today Wesel town hall. Fort Blücher on the left bank of the Rhine only exists as a ruin, Fort Fusternberg and Fort I on the former railway bridge have been preserved. After the Second World War, it was converted into the Church of Peace to the Holy Angels .
The ring roads around Wesel city center largely trace the earlier course of the ramparts. Forest areas near the city emerged from the fortress glacis. It also gave its name to the adjacent streets Am Lippeglacis , Am Nordglacis , Am Ostglacis and Am Westglacis .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jutta Prieur: History of the City of Wesel - Volume 2, p. 207
- ↑ Andreas Rutz: War and War Experience in the West of the Empire 1568-1714, p. 250
- ↑ a b c d e f g Wesel as a fortress town (wesel-tourismus.de)
- ↑ City Chronicle (wesel775.de)
- ↑ a b c Citadel Wesel (wesel-tourismus.de)
- ↑ November 9, 1794 - During the "Affair of Wesel" French artillery shelled the city and fortress of Wesel. (wesel.de)
- ↑ Fort Blücher ( Memento of the original from November 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. (clivia.belta.de)
- ↑ December 6th, 1813 - Destruction of Büderich by order of Napoleon (wesel.de)
- ↑ August 30, 1813 - The first Ghent seminarians come to Wesel (wesel.de)
- ↑ Wesel: View behind the barracks wall (rp-online.de)
- ↑ Josef Stübben : The city expansion of Wesel . In: Deutsche Bauzeitung , vol. 25, no. 3 (January 10, 1891), pp. 13–15 with illustration on p. 17. ( urn : nbn: de: kobv: co1-opus-24540 )
- ↑ Walks of a gable frieze (wesel.de)
- ↑ Schepersfeld (wesel.de)
- ↑ a b Feldmark and Fusternberg (wesel.de)
- ↑ Wesel - the constricted city ( memento of the original from June 10, 2016 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. (kdg-wesel.de)
