palisade
Palisades are 20–30 cm thick, 3–4 m long posts that are partially pointed at the top. In the art of fortification, they are buried about 1 m deep with gaps of 6–8 cm as an obstacle and connected in the ground by a base threshold and at the top by a nailed lath .
The term from the French word palissade increasingly replaced the term " bulwark " (i.e. planking), which had been synonymous until then, from the late 16th century .
history
Long before palisades were used for fortification purposes, they were pure obstacles to approach, which, like Chevaux de Fries, protected places of worship in the sense of a Temenos from profane access or from insight.
Later, starting with the Bronze Age , they were supposed to cover against enemy fire and simplify your own defense. Three pieces of wood were placed close to each other and then left a gap of 8 to 10 cm, which was filled up to the stop height by a weaker chest palisade.
To protect against fire, earth was poured from the outside against the palisade up to the height of the loopholes . The resulting ditch made it difficult to use the notches from the outside. Defensive palisades were used to protect the throat of open field works , in local defense, even in the open field in the form of round, so-called tambours , for example to cover individual field guards against attack by cavalry . In the Orient one often encounters fortifications in which palisades form the outer parapet embankment and an earth wall behind it, the so-called Palanke .
Hookwork
In West and East Prussia as well as in the Baltic States , strong palisades, which - instead of a city wall - surrounded a small town, were called "Hakelwerk". As pars pro toto , the term “Hakelwerk” also stood for the small town itself, which was protected in this way in the late Middle Ages and early modern times .
Palisades in landscaping
Palisades have been used in landscaping since the 1970s . They are usually used to intercept embankments or smaller slopes and / or to border beds or paths. It is less common to use it as a free-standing wall, for example as a privacy screen. When installed, such “walls” are generally no higher than 2–3 m.
Nowadays, pressure impregnated round timber , round and square concrete and natural stone posts are generally used for palisades . An optimal way of fixing in the ground is through the use of lean concrete .
In the past, wooden sleepers impregnated with coal tar oil ( carbolineum ) from railway operations were popular. However, due to their carcinogenic leaching, they may no longer be used and must be disposed of as hazardous waste.
At the end of the 19th century, palisades were used for coastal protection ; however, they were soon replaced by walls made of stone or concrete. A piece of palisade wall for beach protection is still preserved on the East Frisian island of Baltrum .
Palisade in the Pfahlbaumuseum Unteruhldingen
Concrete palisade with a cove
Palisades for coastal protection on Baltrum
Web links
Footnotes
- ↑ Erwin Volckmann: The German city in the mirror of old street names: culture and verbatim . Memminger, Würzburg, 2nd edition 1926, p. 40.