Schwedenschanze

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Schwedenschanze in Lübeck's Lauerholz forest

In Central Europe , numerous prehistoric ramparts and section fortifications bear the misleading, mostly popular nickname Schwedenschanze .

history

This name originated in connection with the fighting of the Thirty Years War , when the population sometimes reactivated older fortifications as refuges or cattle hiding places; in this way one wanted to get to safety in Catholic areas from the Protestant troop contingents of the Swedish king Gustav II Adolf . It is mostly speculative whether the individual weir systems actually served as shelter again during this emergency. Many of the often well-preserved earthworks in the forests of Europe were later only wrongly associated with the great religious war.

The history of the ground monuments often goes back several millennia. They were often expanded during the early Middle Ages , when the Hungarians threatened the East Franconian Empire and other regions in the 10th century ( Hungarian invasions ).

Also in the 17th century, i.e. during the Thirty Years War, numerous earth fortifications and entrenchments were built , which, however, differ significantly from older facilities due to their regular arrangement in geometric shapes (star entrenchments ). Occasionally, fortifications that were actually created by the imperial army , i.e. Catholic troops , were later referred to as "Schwedenschanzen"; for example the Schwedenschanze in the Rhön . The Schmölwall on the north side of the Flensburg Fjord is also only a tradition resulted with the later took place Second Northern War implicated in, fighting the Swede including against Denmark.

Schwedenschanzen

Denmark

Germany

Austria

in order of their position from west to east:

Switzerland

Czech Republic

See also

Web links

Commons : Schwedenschanzen  - Collection of images, videos and audio files