Fausse-Braie
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The Fausse-Braie (also Fausse Braye , German: Niederwall or Vorwall ) describes a wall in early modern fortress architecture that lies between the moat and the main wall of a fortress.
The wall corridor belonging to the Fausse-Braie is directly adjacent to the main wall with the rear, so that the construction appears as a stepped shoulder in the wall system. The Niederwall was built lower than the main wall in order to be able to defend the moat and the covered path from it. The Fausse Braie was mainly used in Dutch fortification architecture in the 16th and 17th centuries. It arose from the Zwinger of the medieval fortifications; It is to be distinguished from the counterguard or real braye, which are also lower than the main wall, but are separated from it by a ditch.