Today something about my hometown ...:


Bremen defeats Sweden!


In the summer of 1666 a 10,000-strong Swedish army under Field Marshal Carl Gustav Wrangel....



...arrived the Free Hanseatic City of Bremen...:



The Kingdom of Sweden is one of the victorious powers of the 30 Years War and has been expanding ever stronger in Northern Germany ever since.

The fat chunk of Bremen, at that time a rich trading city, city that is also strategically located on important trade routes, is to be taken over by Wrangel for the Swedish crown (the ruling monarch Karl XI at the time).

An attempt to take Bremen by surprise fails!

There were brief but fierce fighting in the city area - then the almost 6,000 defenders of Bremen succeed ...



... throw the Swedes out again!

Wrangel begins a siege of the city ...:



He set up his headquarters in a building in the village of habenhausen, south of the city limits. Today habenhausen is a district of Bremen.

But the city of Bremen is not only a fat chunk, it is also particularly well equipped:

The approximately 6000 defenders have modern equipment and weapons, the city has plenty of food and water - and the protective and defensive systems had only been improved two years earlier and were now among the most modern in Europe ...:


Bremen also has strong allies - such as Denmark, Brandenburg-Prussia, the Duchy of Braunschweig-Lüneburg and the Landgraviate of Hessen-Kassel.

These allies also do not want the Swedes to take Bremen under the nail and establish themselves in their neighborhood - and therefore they hurry to deploy a reliever contingent of a further 6,000 soldiers.

Now the Swedish besiegers who have just won the day threatens to become besieged himself and to get caught between two fires!

On November 15, 1666, Bremen and Sweden conclude the so-called "Peace of Habenhausen" in Wrangel's headquarters ...:



The treaty stipulates that the Swedes move away and Bremen waived imperial immediacy by the end of the 17th century and is not allowed to participate in imperial days.

A face-saving condition that Field Marshal Wrangel had set - because it has practically no meaning for the people of Bremen, who otherwise remain completely unscathed ...:



In reality, this peace treaty is a severe blow to Swedish military policy, and it is commonly understood as a victory for Bremen.

After the "Peace of habenhausen" which was so extraordinarily favorable for them, the people of Bremen show what true diplomacy is:

On July 8, 1667, the Bremen Senate pays homage to the Swedish crown - a gesture that hardly costs anything.

During the subsequent week of festivities from July 9th to 13th, 1667, Wrangel was honored and honored in Bremen for his diplomatic skills and his “wise foresight”.

Wrangel's headquarters during the siege, the so-called "Schwedenscheune", stood as house number 15 in today's Schwedenstrasse, which bears this name in memory of what happened.

The structure survived almost unscathed until the First World War.

After a lightning strike, the Swedish barn unfortunately had to be demolished in 1938 because it was dilapidated. Today there is a memorial stone on a neighboring property ...:





Ever since the people of Bremen chased Bishop Waldemar out of their city in 1217, they were never again subjects, but always free citizens who governed themselves! Above them there was only the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire - there were never any sovereigns here!

A relief from the Middle Ages on the facade of the Bremen town hall...


... clearly shows what people in Bremen thought of the papal church prince...:


They put his wand where they think it belongs ...

Unfortunately, Bremen has probably had its prime ...

But life is really good here!



Cheers

Peter Wilson The Thirty Years war, Europe’s tragedy is excellent reference of full history..nearly 25% of all Germans died..

Excellent as usual Martin. We tend to forget that Sweden has a very belligerent history, where nowadays they are regarded as the epitome of neutrality.

Phil

A short period, but bloody.....for sheer nuttiness Denmark had its spell that imploded after mixing it up with Prussia in 19th century.