Selkenfelder Schanze
The Selkenfelder Schanze , also called Selkenfelder Kanonenplatz or Schanze Selkenfelde , is a ski jumping facility built during the Seven Years' War on Hohe Straße near Stiege in the Harz Mountains .
Geographical location
The ski jump is about 3 km west of Güntersberge and 3.5 km east of Stiege an der Hohen Straße, which connects Güntersberge with today's B242. The Selkenfelde desert , which gave the hill its name, is located about 500 m to the southwest .
History and construction
In the course of the Seven Years' War the French tried to invade Prussia from the west . There were numerous attempts to cross the Harz in order to get to Halberstadt and on to Magdeburg . Since in the 18th century there were only a few developed roads that could be used by horse-drawn carriage, the few road connections played an important strategic role.
Around 1760 Prussia had an extensive fortification system built to secure the Harzlängsstraße. Part of it is the ski jump, which was then called Redoute . In the 18th century, the redoubt was a closed field fortification, which was surrounded on all sides by breastworks of equal strength and could accommodate artillery in the corner points.
The redoubt was built in 1760, presumably by local, forcibly recruited farmers using an older facility from the 17th century and was manned by Hanoverian troops. The Selkenfelder Schanze was designed to accommodate two to four guns and was equipped with a retractable wooden bridge. The redoubt was able to set fire to the Heerstraße (today's Bundesstraße 242 ) coming from Stiege , but the area between Schanze and Heerstraße was cleared. The nearby French fountain served as a water point.
Todays situation
On the hill there is a small open-air exhibition that was set up by employees of KoBa Harz, consisting of an information board, a log house and some fortifications that illustrate the situation at that time. The ski jump is only a few minutes' walk from the B 242.
swell
- Information board Schanze Selkenfelde on site
- Article of the KoBa Harz http://www.kobahz.de/?p=237
Coordinates: 51 ° 38 ′ 58.5 ″ N , 10 ° 55 ′ 39.9 ″ E