Peenemünder Schanze
The Peenemünder Schanze was a fort on the northern tip of Usedom on the Peenestrom . In the course of its history, the fortress changed hands several times. From 1631 to 1721 the fortress belonged to Sweden and then to Prussia until its final dismantling in 1871 . It has been a protected soil monument since 1955 and has been part of the Peenemünde protected soil monument landscape since 2011.
history
In the Thirty Years War
In the 15th century there was a customs and pilot station on the site of the later Peenemünder Schanze . This is where the “Pomeranian prince's toll” was levied and the pilots for the journey into the Oder also went on board incoming ships.
Despite protests from the militarily weak Pomeranian Duke Bogislaw XIV , imperial troops occupied the Duchy of Pomerania from 1627 and besieged the fortresses there (e.g. Stralsund). On the instructions of the Imperial Commander-in-Chief Wallenstein , jumps were raised at the entrances to the Odra near Peenemünde and Westswine (Swinemünde) in 1628. At the narrowest point of the Peene River to the Baltic Sea, a massive Sternschanze was created from earth walls . The ski jump controlled the entrance to the Peene River and was occupied by imperial mercenaries.
On June 24, 1630 Gustav II Adolf of Sweden reached the mouth of the Peene with his fleet and landed his troops. He took possession of the Peenemünder Schanze without resistance. The Swedes expanded the Peenemünder Schanze further. Casemates and brick buildings were built later .
Swedish period (1648-1720)
From 1648 to 1720 the Peenemünder Schanze belonged to Swedish Pomerania . In the Brandenburg-Swedish War in early October 1675 the Brandenburgers tried to conquer the Peenemünder Schanze without success. In January 1676 the Brandenburgers took the Swedish troops by surprise and took the hill. In June 1676 the Swedish troops landed at Peenemünde and recaptured the hill. The Brandenburgers suffered 300 deaths and 30 prisoners. The Brandenburgers took up position in front of the hill on July 14, 1676 with 1000 infantry, 100 riders and artillery. They enclosed the hill from the east. The Swedish commander capitulated after a 24-hour bombardment and received 140 Swedes free withdrawal. After the Stockholm Peace of 1679, the Brandenburgers had to withdraw from Pomerania and the Swedes took over Pomerania again.
In the Great Northern War the jump was of 1000 Prussia and Saxony on August 22, 1715 attack . Despite strong resistance, the numerically superior attackers won. After the battle the allies had 33 officers and 575 men dead and seriously wounded; the Swedes had 58 dead and 68 wounded. 100 Swedes were captured during the battle.
After the end of the war in 1720, Usedom became part of Brandenburg-Prussia, and Sweden lost control of the entrance to the Oder. It tried to restore the access control by building the fortification and the harbor of Grünschwade opposite the Peenemünder Schanze.
In the Seven Years War
In 1756 the Seven Years' War began , in the course of which it came to the heaviest fighting over the Peenemünder Schanze. At that time the ski jump bordered directly on the Baltic Sea in the north , and in the south there was swamp and mud. It was surrounded by a Peenestromarm and connected to the village of Peenemünde by a wooden bridge . The outer wall and trenches formed a rectangular star. In the southern part of the hill there was an acute-angled block house and in the middle, surrounded by moats, was the square main hill with the material, storage and ammunition chambers. A narrow inlet led almost to the middle of the courtyard. The fort was armed with thirty guns.
In July 1757 the Peenemünder Schanze was occupied by a Prussian detachment and the fortification was reinforced. From 14 to 23 September Swedish units besieged the Peenemünder Schanze and shot at it, so that after four hours the Prussians with 200 men surrendered.
From January to March 1758 the Prussians besieged the blocked Peenemünder Schanze, began to erect the batteries on March 9th and, under Major General von Manteuffel, opened the bombardment from sea with their guns on March 12th. The powder magazine was hit on March 13th , which exploded and set fire to the inside of the ski jump and the wooden structures. Ultimately, the Swedes had no choice but to capitulate with eight officers and 179 men. At the beginning of April the Swedes tried again from Rügen to surprise the hill at night. A galley anchored in front of the Ruden on April 3rd and disembarked 17 boats with 200 men on the night of April 6th. When it got dark they sailed close to the hill and put up the scaling ladders . The Prussians repelled the Swedes. In the fight the Swedes lost 16 dead, 60 prisoners and a large boat. The Swedish generals Hessenstein and Ehrensvärd then advanced from the direction of Anklam and Demmin with 2000 men at Wolgast across the Peenestrom and began a new siege of the hill on July 19, 1758. On July 25, 1758, the Prussians withdrew without a fight with 300 men.
The year 1759 began again with fighting for the Peenemünder Fort. Prussian troops moved back into Swedish Pomerania on January 1st. The Swedes withdrew so that the Prussian troops could lay siege to the hill, which was still occupied by the Swedes. The Swedes were able to hold the hill, then on April 9th, 1759 the bombing of the hill began. First a small and soon after the larger main powder magazine was hit and blown up by a projectile. The explosion destroyed a large part of the wall, killing several men of the crew and wounding another 60. On the night of April 10, the Swedes surrendered with 10 officers, 235 men and 33 guns. This was the last fight for Fort Peenemünde. The Prussian King Friedrich II issued the order to General Manteuffel to have the Peenemünder Schanze razed . The basic facilities of the ski jump remained as a pilot and customs station.
In the 19th century
The last time the Peenemünder Schanze was besieged and conquered by the French during the Fourth Coalition War of 1807. In 1848 in the course of the Schleswig-Holstein uprising , the old Peenemünde Schanze was made ready for war again, equipped with four heavy artillery pieces and manned by around 50 soldiers. In 1870 during the Franco-Prussian War , the Peenemünder Schanze was made ready for war. After the end of the conflict, the facility was finally demilitarized and dismantled. The hill remained in existence as a pilot and customs station until 1903.
literature
- Leo Schmidt , Ute Mense: Monument landscape Peenemünde: a scientific inventory; Conservation Management Plan. Ch. Links Verlag, 2013.
Web links
Coordinates: 54 ° 8 ′ 21.6 ″ N , 13 ° 45 ′ 22.4 ″ E