Vauban Towers
As Vauban towers , two gate towers in Pfaffenthal in the city of Luxembourg , right and left of the Alzette , called the Siechentor and Eichertor . Both gates took their name from the medieval gates that existed here before. Inseparable from these towers is the connecting wall (popularly called Béinchen , today a pedestrian bridge ), which crosses the Alzette and at that time allowed the river to be sealed off from invading enemies.
History, function and layout
Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban , French fortress construction technician, recognized during the French siege of the city of Luxembourg (1684) that the then largely unfortified Pfaffenthal and the adjacent hills represented a weak point of the fortress. After the capture of Luxembourg, he had these sections included in the fortification ring of the city in 1685. He fortified the heights with two forts. The valley was cordoned off by a locking bolt (defensive / closing wall: Béinchen ). The fortifications thus extended from Fort Berlaymont and on the opposite side to the new forts of the Grünewälder Heights.
The defensive and closing wall ( Béinchen ) was flanked and secured on the left and right by the two gate towers, Siechentor and Eichertor . In addition, deep trenches came (after 1867 with the demolition of the fortress Luxembourg filled, exposed 1997/98) and the drawbridge at Eichertor . Together with the weapons, possible attackers should be kept at a distance by structural measures. If attackers nevertheless got to the foot of the gate tower, they could additionally use them through recessed throwing or casting openings ( machiculis ). B. be pelted with stones. The battlements of the valley walls could be reached through doors on the first floor of the gate towers.
Before Eichertor was additionally (stationed here from 1714 to 1795) by Austrian troops in 1743 a further fortification, an offshore Wall Shield ( Ravelin ), created to cover this gate tower. The ravelin was removed above ground when the Luxembourg Fortress was razed in 1872, but was partially reconstructed in the late 20th century and the trenches that were filled in were exposed again.
Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban has strongly influenced the cityscape of Luxembourg to this day, not least through these Vauban towers and the connecting wall ( Béinchen ), which still exist today .
UNESCO World Heritage Site
Since 1994, the Béinchen and the Vauban Towers have been on the UNESCO World Heritage List, along with the other remains of the former Luxembourg fortress.
literature
- L. Diederich, La forteresse de Luxembourg , Luxembourg: Service des Sites et Monuments nationaux o. J.
- Wilfried Koch, architectural style , Munich 1991.
- Jean-Pierre Koltz, Building History of the City and Fortress of Luxembourg , 3 vols., Luxembourg 1946/1951.
- Jean-Pierre Koltz, Building history of the city and fortress Luxembourg: Description and razing of the fortifications , Verlag Bück, 1944
Web links
- Tours Vauban: Les portes d'Eich et des Bons Malades et le mur Vauban. , Website: ssmn.public.lu.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Vauban circular route in the footsteps of the fortress builder From Bockfelsen to Kirchberg, website: www.luxembourg-city.com, p. 4.
- ↑ Fort Niedergrünwald had Vauban built in 1684/1685. It consisted of three bastions , two ramparts and extensive underground mine passages. After the razing of the Luxembourg Fortress, only parts of the left, terraced bastion have been preserved.
- ↑ See also: Treaty of London 1867 .
- ↑ Vaubanrundweg on the trail of the fortress builder From the Bockfelsen to the Kirchberg, website: www.luxembourg-city.com, p. 4 f.
- ↑ The tall, slender chimney on the nearby river bank is not part of the fortifications, but a remnant of a pumping station (1876) that pumped spring water from the valley floor into the upper town.
- ↑ Vauban circular route on the trail of the fortress builder. From the Bockfelsen to the Kirchberg , website: www.luxembourg-city.com, p. 5.
Coordinates: 49 ° 37 '0.55 " N , 6 ° 7' 56.82" E