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Osijek Fort and the beginnings of the strategic chain of city-forts of prince Eugene of Savoy before the war of 1716 – 1718
Zlatko Uzelac
; Institut za povijest umjetnosti, Zagreb
Sažetak
Osijek got new earthen fortifications with bastions and ravelins during the preparations for the battle at Slankamen, in which, on 18/8/1691, Ludwig von Baden defeated the Grand Vizier Fazil Mustafa Köprülü. The fortifications were designed by the Superintendant, Engineer Mathias von Kaiserfeld, who also designed the new fortifications at Petrovaradin after the battle. The construction continued after the battle, because the majority of the Imperial Army had to retreat to the Rhine and the war with the Turks continued until the great victory of Prince Eugene of Savoy at Senta. Kaiserfeld designed Osijek according to Kaiserwerth near Düsseldorf. After the end of the war and the conclusion of peace in Karlovci in 1699, the construction primarily continued in the strategically more significant Petrovaradin, under the leadership of Michael Wamberg (Michael de Vamberg), where the fortifications were reinforced with bricks, and the construction in Osijek stopped. The decision to continue with the construction was reached during the unsuccessful negotiations with King Louis XIV to end the War of the Spanish Succession in May of 1709, when it was suspected that there was a possibility that the alliance between France and Turkey will be renewed and Turkey could join the war. The continued construction was then organised by Eugene of Savoy, who sent General Beckers to Osijek in 1710. Beckers immediately started with brick reinforcements of earthen barriers in Osijek, and the works in Petrovaradin intensified. After the end of the war with France, Prince Eugene concentrated more on the construction of forts on the south-eastern border. The construction of the castle fortified with bastions ended in 1712 on his largest estate, located right next to Osijek in Bilje/Bellye, which he was given by the Emperor Leopold for his victory at Senta. The construction started in 1707, according to the design made by the person who by then became the Prince’s resident architect, Johann Lucas von Hildebrandt, and it was designed primarily as a centre for a type of operational headquarters used for preparations for the final encounter with the hostile force from the Bosporus. It will be used for that purpose once the war actually started, four years later. During the same year, 1712, a new design for Osijek was also suggested. The first draft was rejected due to several important details and corrected according to the suggestions from the Court War Council, i.e. Prince Eugene as its president, and the new and final variant was adopted in 1713. The idea about the removal of the existing double glacis was rejected, as well as the possibility of large expansions to the fortified city, and much more attention was given to the fortifications toward the Drava River. On the opposite riverbank, on the Prince’s property, a new Kronwerk was designed, the construction of which started immediately. The Osijek modernization designs were made by Jean Petis de la Croix (De la Croix Paitis), who was an engineer in Osijek since 1704, and he took the position of a fortification intendant for Slavonia in late 1711, after the death of Engineer Caspar Dörck. The new plan of Osijek shows many characteristics which will be typical for the entire system of new baroque city-forts which will be established, and their construction will be supervised by the Prince Eugene of Savoy after the conquest of Belgrade in 1717. Along with the strong, but rationally designed fortifications, which are mostly reliant on improved and modernized Dutch solutions, its features also include the full attention that was given to urban planning. In the same year, 1713, Jean Petis de la Croix also made a design for the new baroque city-fort Szeged. The plan for Szeged relied on classic examples of oval baroque city-forts, but was adapted to specific conditions in which the medieval fort along the Tisa was kept as a separate city “citadel”. The existing medieval city (Palanka) that existed along the river was designated for demolition, and the new city was moved in the direction perpendicular to the riverbank, which turned out to be prudent looking ahead, due to common flooding of the river. After one of those floods in the 19th century, the urban layout of the city was completely remodelled, the possibility that was anticipated by Jean Petis de la Croix in his solution. During the following year, 1714, Designs for the new fort Brod (Slavonski Brod), located on the key strategic position on the Sava River, entryway to Bosnia, and designs for Carsburg (Alba Iulia), the main fort in Transylvania, were added to the core of the future strategic system of fortified cities on the border to the Ottoman Empire, Osijek, Petrovaradin, and Szeged. The design for Carsburg was made by the old engineer Giovanni Morandi Visconti, and the design for Brod was made by the engineer Willer, who replaced Jean Petis in Osijek. A large square fort was designed for Brod, the dimensions of which were determined by the geometric position of the existing planned city settlement along the Sava, but the final and improved design for the fort, approved by Eugene of Savoy, was made by Francois Perrette in 1715. When the war started, in 1716, all the forts were in construction, and Pertovaradin, where a great battle took place, was the only one that was almost complete. Its powerful fortifications served as support for the new great victory of Eugene of Savoy. Timișoara was conquered after that, and then in the following year, 1717, Belgrade, the city that will become the biggest and central city-fort in the giant chain of city-forts. Eugene of Savoy was mostly dedicated to the construction of this chain after the wars were finished, until the end of his life in 1736. His experience in conquering the largest and most important forts of his time, especially during the War of the Spanish Succession, influenced the fact that this strategic defensive system became aseparate chapter in the history of fortifications.
Ključne riječi
Hrčak ID:
217721
URI
Datum izdavanja:
18.5.2017.
Posjeta: 2.502 *