Citadel Wesel

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The main gate of the Wesel Citadel as seen from the central weapon square

The Wesel Citadel is one of the largest preserved fortifications in the Rhineland and was built in Wesel between 1688 and 1722 according to plans by Johan de Corbin in the form of a five-pointed star, with each point representing a bastion . The citadel was the core of the Wesel fortress . Today the citadel is used as a cultural center. It comprises the Prussian Museum Wesel , part of the Wesel City Museum, the Wesel Music and Art School and the Wesel City Archive and is a central venue for the Wesel Culture Night .

architecture

The architectural features of the citadel go back to the principles of Sébastien Le Prestre de Vauban , the most important fortress builder of his time. The construction costs of the construction phase between 1668 and 1700 are estimated at 373,452 Reichstalers . In the following years, too, considerable financial resources flowed into the construction; for the years 1701 and 1702, an estimate of 221,600 Reichstalers is estimated. During this period, the entire Wesel fortress was equipped with 250 guns .

In 1687 Friedrich Wilhelm von Brandenburg ordered the construction of a citadel to expand Wesel as a fortress town. It was to be built in the south of the city with a connection to the existing city fortifications and equipped with five bastions and five ravelins , which were also given back flanks. The main gate of the citadel was built in 1718. Presumably by the middle of the 18th century, the citadel was reinforced with extensive works on its south and east sides. During the time of their occupation from 1805 to 1814, the French erected a two-story brick building without a basement in the citadel, which still exists today: the former barracks VIII.

The main gate is representative. In the south of the two wings there is a prison cell in which, among other things, the eleven Schill officers waited for their trial.

  • The main gate of the citadel in Wesel seen from the city side

  • Likewise the main gate of the citadel

  • A former French mortar that was installed here after 1871

  • The tenaille in front of the curtain wall of the citadel

  • The transition from the tenaille to the bastion in the citadel

Todays use

Barracks No. VIII of the Citadel, now a music and art school

The fortifications that were once fortified have now disappeared after the First World War in 1919/1920. In particular, the facility is open to the Rhine and Lippe , the original enemy side. Only a street name reminds of the field gate there . The citadel is used as a cultural center and is the most important venue for the Wesel Culture Night, which has been held every September since 2002 .

The following buildings have been preserved:

  • Main gate system with curtain wall, bridge, tenaille, bridge and moat from 1718 ( Jean de Bodt ), renovated in 1823, is now used by the Municipal Museum, Schill Casemate Department. This gate is also fortified, but actually represented the connection to the city.
  • Officer's prison from 1727 (privately owned) houses the Bodywave dance school (school for oriental dance and culture, owner Sahéla S. Brock), Jefimowa Ballett (ballet and stage dance school), the corset tailoring "Hellmade Corsetts", Steve McNeely's art studio and the workshop by the artist Anja Weinberg.
  • Garrison Bakery No. II from 1809, is used by the Wesel city archive with a restoration workshop.
  • Barracks No. VIII from 1809, was renovated for the music and art school of the city of Wesel .
  • Grain magazine around 1835, today the LVR Lower Rhine Museum Wesel is housed here.

List of the governors of the Wesel Citadel

See also

literature

  • Leopold von Zedlitz-Neukirch : The state forces of the Prussian monarchy under Friedrich Wilhelm III. , Volume 3, p. 216 List of Governors
  • Veit Veltzke: Citadel Wesel. In: Ministry for Building and Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, Landschaftsverband Westfalen-Lippe (Hrsg.): Burgen AufRuhr. On the way to 100 castles, palaces and mansions in the Ruhr region. Editor: Kai Niederhöfer. Klartext Verlag, Essen 2010, pp. 409-413.

Web links

Commons : Zitadelle Wesel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ 15th Weseler Kulturnacht (wesel-tourismus.de)

Coordinates: 51 ° 39 ′ 6 ″  N , 6 ° 36 ′ 55 ″  E