Ludgerusburg
| Ludgerusburg | ||
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 Ruins of the gatehouse at the entrance to the city park |
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| Creation time : | 1654-1659 | |
| Castle type : | Niederungsburg | |
| Conservation status: | Razed in 1688, few ruins, a ravelin | |
| Standing position : | Prince-Bishop | |
| Place: | Coesfeld | |
| Geographical location | 51 ° 57 '0 " N , 7 ° 10' 17" E | |
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The Ludgerusburg is a looped, star-shaped citadel in the north of Coesfeld in North Rhine-Westphalia , the construction and destruction of which took place in the second half of the 17th century. It was the sovereign residence of Christoph Bernhard von Galens , which was named after St. Ludgerus , the first bishop of the diocese of Münster .
history
In 1651, three years after the Peace of Westphalia had drawn a line under the turmoil of the Thirty Years' War , Hessian troops were encamped in Coesfeld. In the peace negotiations, Amalie Elisabeth von Hanau-Münzenberg , widow of Wilhelm V , the Landgrave of Hessen-Kassel , was promised a high compensation, until Coesfeld was to remain in the Hessian occupation as a pledge until it was repaid in full. Christoph Bernhard von Galen , the new prince-bishop of the bishopric of Münster , made the liberation of the city one of his most urgent tasks and, through advance work and negotiating skills, was able to get the Hessians to leave Coesfeld on July 1, 1652.
Against the background of his disputes with the city of Munster , von Galen intended to develop Coesfeld into a royal residence . The fortifications, which had already been strengthened during the occupation, were expanded and supplemented by a spacious citadel, called Ludgerusburg, which was built in front of the cattle gate in the north of the city from 1655. The weirs for the Berkel dam were replaced the year before to keep the water in the trenches.
The area of the citadel roughly corresponded to that of the Coesfeld at that time. The complex was square in plan and connected to the city's fortifications via one of its corners. The four bastions each carried a cavalier . The fortress was surrounded by a wide water-bearing moat. Along the main rampart facing the castle, the Fausse-Braie was a lower rampart with a rear ramp that was supposed to protect curtains and flanks. Between and in front of the bastions, four ravelins and demi-lunes located in the moat protect the dead corners of the fortress.
The land required for the construction of the citadel was expropriated and the affected citizens of Coesfeld were compensated for the surrender of their land. On August 28, 1655, 600 soldiers of the Prince-Bishop began work. The following year, on July 17, 1656, the foundation stone was laid for the gatehouse, the magnificent architecture of which goes back to Peter Pictorius the Elder . However, Bernhard Spoede is considered the fortress builder , Pictorius was more the person entrusted with the execution. However, his plans to build a central palace complex inside the citadel were never completed. Christoph Bernhard von Galen therefore moved into a wing that was actually intended as an auxiliary building in 1659.
After the Prince-Bishop's death, von Galen died on September 19, 1678 in Ahaus , his successors Ferdinand Freiherr von Fürstenberg († 1683) and Maximilian Heinrich von Bayern († 1688) were initially interested in preserving the citadel and the castle. Immediately after Maximilian's death, however, the cathedral chapter in Münster, which had replaced Coesfeld as the royal seat, had the system largely razed. The remaining city fortifications of Coesfeld were largely destroyed in the Seven Years' War .
Remains in modern times
Not much of the Ludgerusburg has survived in Coesfeld's present-day townscape. However, all the facilities of today's Coesfeld “culture mile”, including the Coesfeld Concert Theater , the WBK, the cinema, the CoeBad and the school center, are located on the site of the former fortress. The ruin of the gatehouse at the entrance to the city park on Osterwicker Strasse is the most famous relic of the former citadel. In the courtyard behind the town hall, between the municipal bathing establishments and the cinema, a barrel vault has been preserved as a further ruin , whose former purpose and integration into the complex can no longer be determined beyond doubt. North of the railway line from Coesfeld to Münster in the Citadelle building area, the largely preserved St.-Johannes- Ravelin has been placed under protection as a ground monument . The street in its immediate vicinity is called Am Ravelin . A neighboring biotope is a remnant of the former moat. At the entrance of the Berkel into the city, the former ramparts and fortifications can still be seen today. The Fürstenwiesen, named after von Galen and located to the right of the river, can be flooded during high water to protect the Coesfeld city center from damage.
Even from the former city fortifications , not much has been saved today. Only the flood around the Berkel along the former east-facing ramparts, the Walkenbrückentor , which was rebuilt after the Second World War and which formerly led to the esplanade in front of the citadel, and the powder tower, which was renovated at the beginning of the new millennium, are preserved today . Today this serves as the domicile of the Heimatverein. The Coesfeld Promenade leads along the former ramparts around the city center.
literature
Bernhard Sökeland : History of the city of Coesfeld . 1839 ( full text in the Google book search).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Bernhard Sökeland : History of the city of Coesfeld . 1839 ( full text in the Google book search).
- ↑ Soil and architectural monument "Citadel". FDP parliamentary group, City Councilor Coesfeld, December 2006, accessed on December 4, 2011 .
- ^ Textual stipulations of the development plan no. 32 "Citadelle". (PDF; 71 kB) City of Coesfeld, October 12, 1994, p. 5 , accessed on December 4, 2011 .