Eppingen lines
The Eppingen lines (
in southern Germany. It had a total length of 86 kilometres.Purpose
The French king, Louis XIV. (the "Sun King") made claims to the inheritance of Liselotte of the Palatinate (
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"Turkish Louis"
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Louis XIV, the "Sun King"
Design
The bulwark consisted of a roughly 40-metre-wide Verhack, an abatis of branches and logs that was followed by a roughly 2.5-metre-deep ditch. The spoil from the ditch was used to build a rampart behind the ditch. The ditch and bank system of the Eppingen lines was guarded by watchtowers, called chartaques. A chartaque was a tower-like blockhouse with a plan measuring 6×6m and a height of about 12 metres.
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Model of the original fortifications
Situation of the civilian population
Civilians from Durlach and Baden were forced to work on the construction of the defences. These so-called schanzers came from the area in front of the Eppingen lines and were thus at the mercy of French forces. The French army threatened to raze villages if schanzen were built. The German generals, for their part, threatened executions if the population did not assist with building the defences. Thus the people who lived in front of the lines often had to suffer twice as much.[2]
Modern day reconstructions
Examples of the typical wooden watchtowers have been reconstructed and may be seen today at Eppingen (49°6′40″N 8°56′26″E / 49.11111°N 8.94056°E) and Mühlacker (48°58′08″N 8°49′54″E / 48.96889°N 8.83167°E). In 1988 a 12.5-metre-high wooden observation tower was built at the Waldschanz south of Niefern-Öschelbronn near 48°54′16″N 8°46′55.5″E / 48.90444°N 8.782083°E.
In the south, near Pforzheim, the line is linked to the Black Forest lines.
The Eppingen Lines Way (Eppinger-Linien-Weg), a footpath, runs along the course of the defensive lines and through parts of the Stromberg-Heuchelberg Nature Park. It has display boards with information about the historic monument. The way is marked with a stylised symbol of a chartaque.
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Remains of the old ditch and rampart
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View from the Eppingen chartaque looking west.
See also
- Baroque fortifications in the Black Forest
- Bühl-Stollhofen Line
- Ettlingen Line
References
- ^ "Niefern-Öschelbronn". Archived from the original on 2015-06-29. Retrieved 2015-06-27.
- ^ "Deutsche Verteidigungslinie: Wachtürme auf den Eppinger Linien mit Bildern". www.ploync.de. Archived from the original on 2011-05-06.
Literature
- Rudolf Groll: Der Orleanische Krieg und die Zerstörung Brettens 1689. In. Brettener Jahrbuch für Kultur und Geschichte 1960, Bretten 1960, S. 9-29 (S. 20-25: Eppinger Linien)
- Gerhard Weber: Die Eppinger Linie, Kraichgau - Heimatforschung im Landkreis Sinsheim, 1979
- Heimatfreunde Eppingen: Rund um den Ottilienberg, Band 6, 1994, ISBN 3 - 930172 - 11 - 9
External links
- Eppingen Lines footpath at OpenStreetMap
- http://www.stimme.de/kraichgau/kultur/sonstige-Letzte-Arbeiten-an-Eppinger-Linien;art16463,1839651
- http://www.heimatverein-lomersheim.de/geschichte/eppingerlinie/index.html
- http://www.ploync.de/reisen/359-deutsche-verteidigungslinie-wachtuerme-auf-den-eppinger-linien-mit-bildern.html
- https://web.archive.org/web/20150629121608/http://www.niefern-oeschelbronn.de/index.cfm?fuseaction=gaeste&rubrik=sehenswertes&id=299