Henrik Ruse

Henrik Ruse

Henrik Ruse , later Baron Henrik Rysensteen , (sometimes called Henri , Hendri (c) k , Rüse or Rusius ; born April 9, 1624 in ruins in the province of Drenthe ; † March 4, 1679 in Sauwerd near Groningen ) was a Dutch fortress builder . He is considered to be the most important co-founder of the then leading Dutch fortress technology .

Life

Church in ruins

Ruse came from an Eastern French Huguenot family . His father Johannes Rusius ( Veldhausen , 1591–1655) had been a pastor in ruins since 1618 and founded the local grammar school ; his brother Albert became a professor in Amsterdam and Leiden. In 1639, at the age of 15, Henri began training in the military and took part in the Battle of Freiburg im Breisgau , the Battle of Alerheim and Philippsburg . In 1646 he went to Bergamo and Venice , and worked under General Leonardo Foscolo in Dalmatia and the Republic of Ragusa . The campaigns against the Turks reached Risan , Budva and Bar . When Foscolo took command in Candia (Heraklion) on Crete , Ruse returned to Amsterdam in 1651 and wrote his book on fortification and mathematics . He criticized the plans of Amsterdam mayors Frans Banning Cocq , Johan Huydecoper van Maarsseveen , Cornelis Bicker and Nicolaes Tulp . In Amsterdam he designed a city ​​gate , which was converted into a Libra after a few years , as well as two houses on Keizersgracht . He was also an entrepreneur, buying some land in the New Town and importing logs from Norway.

On June 2, 1654 in Amsterdam he married Susanna Dubbengiesser or Toppengiesser from Aachen , who was born in Stockholm when her father wanted to make a career there. In the following years three daughters were baptized: Maria, Anna Isabelle and Johanna Maria.

Henrik Ruse, half-length portrait on a medal from 1660

In 1658 Moritz von Nassau appointed him to Germany as an electoral engineer. Ruse will have prepared his activities abroad at that time, because Moritz von Nassau had commissioned him to work out plans for the fortification of Kalkar and Lippstadt at that time . It is unclear whether Ruse was also involved in the construction of the Berlin fortress, but his simultaneous work for the citadel in Harburg on behalf of Duke Christian Ludwig zu Braunschweig-Lüneburg is documented by a medal struck in 1660 with his bust.

In the same year 1660, Ruse received 3,000 thalers down payment from Moritz von Nassau for the construction progress of the Kalkar Citadel, which was completed in 1667 despite the resistance of the citizens. This facility, which had never been put into operation and was dismantled again after a few years, had cost the Elector enormous sums. The cost of the earthwork alone was estimated by Ruse in 1657 at 40,000, in 1658 at 64,000 and in 1661 at 94,000 thalers. Despite the high construction costs, the work was delayed considerably. In 1663, in a letter from the governor to the elector of 11,000 thalers to compensate Ruse, he said: “So that he can deliver the fortress completely this year, as he is owed and has undertaken to present such.” And the “Instruction for the governor ”of January 14, 1664 noted under no. 7 that “the Ingen. Ruse is to be stopped for the completion of the Citadelle in Calcar ” .

Basic plan of the citadel in Copenhagen by Henrick Ruse with the location of the Kastelenkirke

The delays in work are probably due to the fact that Ruse also entered the service of King Friedrich III in 1660 . of Denmark entered to lead the fortification of Copenhagen and the construction of the Friedrichsort fortress and to work in the Danish service as major general and inspector general of the Danish fortresses. From 1669 to 1673 he carried out the construction of the Rendsburg fortress . In 1673 he was awarded the title "Baron von Rusenstein" by King Christian V for his services, he became a knight of the Dannebrog Order and Baron von Abierg, Ustrop and Glut.

He was also active in Denmark and participated in the transport of oxen from Jutland and Mecklenburg to Holland on the ox route . He became a commandant in Glückstadt , but quarreled with the Danish imperial general Hans Schack and was transferred to Trondheim . 1677 he participated in the Scanian War , where he discussed the situation assessment in Landskrona came with Goltz in dispute. The Danish explorer Vitus Bering , who is in Russian service, wrote a poem about Ruse.

Ruse died on March 4, 1679 on his Onstaborg estate in Sauwerd near Groningen, at the age of only 54. He, his mother Euphemia van Katwijk (Ketwich) and his wife Susanna Baronesse von Rusenstein are buried in the church of that village. His son Christian Juel-Rysensteen inherited the estate near Ringkøbing .

A church in Hoogeveen was probably designed by him.

Works

In 1654 Joan Blaeu published his lead work Versterckte Vesting, uitgevonden in velerley voorvallen, en geobserveert in dese laeste oorloogen, soo in de Vereenigde Nederlanden as in Vranckryck, Duyts-land, Italiën, Dalmatiën, Albaniën en die daar fortified fortress land .

In 1671 he wrote a memorandum on the fortresses of Denmark "Aenwysinge der misunderstood van G. Melder, begaen in sijne Instructie van de fortificatien, in which hy de sustenuen van H. Ruse in 't hide the hedendaeghsche fortificatien, pooght te neitherleggen." (Rejection the misunderstandings of G. Melder in his instructions on fortification, in which he tries to refute the views of H. Ruse by reinforcing the fortification that is common today).

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Encyclopedie van Drenthe by MA W. Gerding [1]
2. ↑ http://www.pkn-ruinen.nl/ruse.htm  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
3. ↑ Three baptismal evidence from the Amsterdam City Archives Archive link ( Memento of the original from December 27, 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. Archive link ( Memento of the original from December 27, 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.   
4. ↑ De Ommelander Borgen en Steenhuizen by Wiebe Jannes Formsma, RA Luitjens-Dijkveld Stol, A. Pathuis [2]
5. ↑ http://www.rna-project.org/rna.borgen/rna.borgen/i000426.html  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original dated May 31, 2009 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.  

Web links

• Fredriksberg Fortress in the English Wikipedia

literature

• Georg Galland: The Great Elector and Moritz von Nassau, the Brazilian. Studies on Brandenburg and Dutch art history. Publishing house by Heinrich Keller, Frankfurt am Main, 1893. [3]
• Christian Kramm, J. Immerzeel jr .: De levens en works of Hollandsche en Vlaamsche kunstschilders, beeldhouwers, engravers en bouwmeesters van het begin the vijftiende eeuw dead heden. JC van Kestern & Gebr. Diederichs Verlag, 1842–1861 (5 volumes)