Siege activities during the Thirty Years’ War and their impact on the construction of modern fortresses in Pommern, Neumark and Schlesien
Siege activities during the Thirty Years’ War and their impact on the construction of modern fortresses in Pommern, Neumark and Schlesien

Summary/Abstract: The bastion fortification was born between the fifteenth and sixteenth century in Italy and spread very quickly throughout Europe. In Pommern, today’s Lubusz Land and Schlesien, bastion strongholds appeared as early as in the mid-16th century, however, at the outbreak of the Thirty Years’ War, bastion strongholds were still a rarity in this part of the continent. After the Thirty Years’ War, the situation changed dramatically. The bastion was fortified with 45 more towns. This was due to very intensive siege operations in the area. In the period between 1625 and 1648, there were 121 occupations. Cities were captured by fire, proximity attack, assault and mines or a combination of these techniques.Of the bastion fortified towns during the war, 21 lost their importance just after the conflict, 15 disappeared within a century after the war and 9 remained important until the 19th century. Of the latter, three were small and insignificant strongholds (Damm, Stettin and Penemünde), while the others – Brieg, Neiße, Glogau, Stettin, Kolberg and Stralsund – retained their importance as important strongholds until the 19th and sometimes until the mid-20th century.

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