The termslandwehr ("land defence"),landgraben ("land ditch") andlandhege ("land enclosure") refer toborder demarcations or border defences and enclosures in Central Europe that were either built by settlements with the right ofenclosure or to mark and defend entireterritories. These measures, usually comprisingearthworks or dykes as well asditches and impenetrable lines of hedging, for protecting towns and villages date mainly to theHigh andLate Middle Ages and consist, in some cases, of systems over a hundred kilometres long. Comparable earthworks have been recorded sinceAntiquity.[1] The Romanlimes are the best known examples of earlierlandwehrs. TheDanewerk is another example of this type of barrier.
Many of theselandwehrs have survived, especially in woods and forests, and are often protected asheritage sites.
The construction of alandwehr was an effective way of protecting the population of asettlement or territory against attacks by neighbours or enemies infeuds or war, and also to mark out the legal limits of an area. Thelandwehrs were a means of limiting the likelihood, success, effectiveness, and consequences of medieval warfare, and thus preventing them. They also hindered bands of robbers entering the area and hampered their retreat after a raid. The combination of fencing and thorn bushes was also useful in enclosing cattle pasture and as a guideline in wolf hunting.Wolf pits are often found along the line of alandwehr.
Landwehrs were also used to on a large-scale to enclose woods and agricultural areas for the protection of the local population, where they were settled in dispersed dwellings and farmsteads within the protected area. Thelandwehr offered protection for the peasantry, in a way analogous to the population of fortified towns who were guarded by a town wall. Often too, the fields and outlying areas surrounding many towns had a ring-shaped enclosure, a so-calledStadtlandwehr ("town Landwehr"),Stadthagen orStadthege ("town enclosure"). An example of this is the Westphalian city of Dortmund, which, in addition to the city wall, also had a largelandwehr surrounding it.[2] As a map of 1748 portrays, Dortmund'sStone Tower was part of thislandwehr ring.
The only gaps inlandwehr defences were on roads entering the area where, like the gates in atown wall, people and goods were checked as they passed through. For example,landwehrs often acted as effective customs posts, usually imposing aroad toll.
Trade routes, particularly in the area of check points, were accompanied on both sides bylandwehrs. In addition to protecting travellers from ambushes, theselandwehrs on either side of the route were mainly used to channel the flow of traffic and effectively prevent people bypassing or avoiding check points and customs posts.
Hedges are one of the most natural forms of boundary defence and enclosure. Their simplest and, even today, most common use is as a garden hedge. Even inprehistoric andearly historic times, people built defensive enclosures using branches andbrambles for the protection of storage places (including caves), fortified residences, houses, estates and settlements from attack bypredators or enemies. This is common even today amongstnomadic tribes.Julius Caesar tells e.g. of thickHagen which were laid out by theNervii, one of the most powerfulBelgic tribes:
Having no strength in cavalry (for even to this day they care naught for that service, but all their power lies in the strength of their infantry), the easier to hamper the cavalry of their neighbours, whenever these made a raid on them, they cut into young saplings and bent them over, and thus by the thick horizontal growth of boughs, and by intertwining with them brambles and thorns, they contrived that these wall-like hedges should serve them as fortifications which not only could not be penetrated, but not even seen through.
— fromDe bello Gallico, Book II, Chapter 17
A more complicated form of defence was the classicditch andrampart system. In A.D. 16,Tacitus reported a border fortification built by theAngrivarii, theAngrivarian Wall, which was erected to defend them against theCherusci. Agreat battle was fought there in 16 AD. The most important border fortifications were said to have been atRehburg-Loccum.
TheAnglo-Saxon Chronicle speaks of a Bebbanburg around A.D. 547, which was"first fortified by a hedge". Thecapitularies ofCharlemagne also mention"ramparts planted with hedges".
InEngland, similar fortifications are called "dykes" orditches. For example,Bokerley Dyke was built around A.D. 360, transitioning intoGrim's Ditch which dates to 300 B.C., or the 270-kilometre-longOffa's Dyke.
In the case of the Normans, too, the existence ofHagediken - embankments planted with hedges - is recorded.
As a rule, mediaevallandwehrs consist of one or more impenetrable lines of hedging made ofpleachedhornbeam – (theGebück) - underplanted with thorny bushes such asblackthorn,hawthorn,dog rose,brambles orholly – (theGedörn).
In addition there was also usually a combination of one or more of the following elements:
From the time after theFrankish colonisation of Central Europe until the lateLate Middle Ages, the creation of fixed sovereign territories ruled by lords and princes led to the establishment of territoriallandwehrs which enclosed the land which was legally held by states and settlements. The territories ofGaue, counties (Zenten), regional magistracies (often coterminous with church parishes),Ämter and even entire states were enclosed bylandwehrs in the form of defensive hedges.
There were alsoLandhagen andStadthagen, which were arranged in a circular shape around smaller settlements. TheLandhegen bordered and protected entire regions as well as the areas surrounding towns and cities, for example the almost 70-kilometre-longAachen Landgraben the formerAachener Reich, similar to the ones inFrankfurt,Rothenburg,Lübeck orMühlhausen. The traces of theRothenburg Landhege are still about 60 km long today, theMühlhäusen Landgraben, still some 26 km long, recalls the border between Mühlhausen andEichsfeld.
These earthworks served several functions. They marked, protected and helped to bring peace to territories that were under their reeve (Greve),count (Graf) orAmtmann. This grouping of tasks for the protection of defended territories (Landwehr) resonated with the termHege (a range of measures concerning hunting and wildlife) in terms such asHege, Heege, Hag, Haag orHecke, but also with the termSchutzhecke or "protective hedge". Numeroustoponyms such asZarge, Gebück, Wehrholz orGehag recall different variants of these defensive structures as e.g. hedges, excavation works or staggered constructions.
The main objective of these barriers was to protect the population and their land from the hostile claims, raids, predations and warlike assaults of other princes.Landwehrs were a clear border marking and, at the same time, when they defined the external border to another territory, also a customs border. Even within a territory, there were sometimeslandwehrs which separated the individual districts (Ämter) from one another by the inclusion of streams and other natural obstacles. These 'internal' or 'intermediate'landwehrs (Zwischenlandwehren), were generally not as elaborate as those on the external borders.
One particular variant was the so-calledletzi in Switzerland, where it was often sufficient just to secure the access routes to a valley. Many of the battles of theOld Confederation with the Habsburgs took place at suchletzis, such asBattle of Morgarten,Battle of Näfels andBattle of Stoss.
Somelandwehrs also functioned as a form of outwork forfortresses. They were built with the character offieldworks as a first line of defence against enemy attack. Used until theModern Era, they were designed militarily, in the form ofchevaux de frise, to force the attacker of a fortress into having to conduct asiege even before reaching the fortress. Their modern successors include thebarbed wire used in both world wars.
The route of many simplelandwehrs shows, according to new research, that they were completely unsuitable for defence purposes in many places. From this it can be concluded that some of these installations were mainly used for border marking and collecting customs duties. They nevertheless restricted the free mobility of enemy troops, so that they were certainly of some military utility. For example, theStadthagen aroundWarendorf in theThirty Years' War succeeded in protecting the town. Although the enemy did in fact break into the municipal territory, they did not risk a major attack simply because of the danger, in a counter-attack, of not being able to beat aretreat quickly enough through the narrow breach in thelandwehr.
As a border fortification around areas that had been given specific rights,landwehrs had gaps in some places for roads, for counter-attack routes or for trade. These gaps (calledSchlags) were guarded by simpletollgates, by side roads (so-calledSchlingen),[3] or - by means of towers (watchtowers,Wighäuser orgate towers). At the border crossing points there were usually alsocustoms posts. The lucrative right to charge tolls (Zollrecht), often in connection with the right to sell alcohol (Krugrecht) could be given to local farmers.
Mostlandwehrs consisted of a simple ditch as an obstacle - on the plains this was also a water channel ormoat - behind which was an earthen bank made of the spoil from excavating the ditch. Behind the bank was the main barrier itself, a 20 to 50 metre-wide, dense, impenetrable thicket. In upland areas, the route of thelandwehr conformed to natural features such as rocks, steep slopes andwatercourses. Often a second ditch was dug at a distance of 10 to 30 metres.
The strips of vegetation and the embankments were covered with a hedge ofhornbeam cut back to the height of a man, whose branches were bent,intertwined with the other branches and stuck into the ground as a further obstacle. This resulted in the so-calledGebück, a plaited hedge. Understorey bushes, such asdog rose,whitethorn,blackthorn orbrambles, were used to make the hedge impenetrable. Hence the local name,Gedörn ("thorn hedge") used in some places. The site was kept clear of higher vegetation. The ground in front was largely cleared.
The construction of a defensive hedge was described by a priest atEberbach Abbey in 1790:
The structure was achieved as follows. Trees in the area were cut down to different heights and these were cut back again and their branches bent downwards. These branches continued to grow in their new direction and were closely interwoven, and this subsequently produced such a thick and tangled wilderness that it was impenetrable to men and horses.
— Pater Hermann Bär
With regular maintenance and care (hege), a nigh impenetrable woodland strip was created in the course of a decade. More elaboratelandwehrs with a defensive function consisted of several parallel ditches and banks, planted with hedging. In particular, double ditches were designed to prevent them from being jumped by horsemen. Another design was the so-calledWehrhecke (Wallhecke orKnick), a hedge-planted bank, for the maintenance of which a tax calledKnickgeld was raised.
InHesse, at the end of the 17th century, many villages on important roads or by borders, had fortifications, excluding anyfortified churches, as a Hessian chronicler described in 1697:
Today is almost the majority of large districts and villages in Hesse are surrounded by a moat and embankment / so that they can defend themselves against minor attacks.
— Johann Just Winkelmann.
The fortification could be made of fences (known asEtter orDorfetter), hedges, bank and ditch (dry as well as wet) and gates.
Another temporary artificial obstacle which could be built relatively quickly in the event of an attack, or to close gaps in alandwehr, was theabatis. This was also used as the first obstacle on the approach of castles, town and city walls, andschanzen, and was made of felled trees and cut logs, shrubs and thorns. Abatis were also used during the building of alandwehr, if necessary, until it was ready. Since the obstacle was made of dead wood, it was relatively easy to remove by burning once it had dried out.
Important roads passing through thelandwehr at entry points were guarded with so-called barriers (Schlägen) and other reinforcements such aswatchtowers. Road tolls were collected at the barriers which were paid to the territorial lord. From the beginning there wereinns at these points. The innkeepers provided food and drink for the passers-by. They also exercised sovereign functions by observing the ground in front of the town and by closing the barriers at night.
In many cases, the roads were flanked by ditch-bank-ditch systems on both sides, so that no one could enter the villages outside the intended route. Wooden bridges often led across the ditches, so that in the event of a war, the road could be closed by removing the bridge.
News of approaching enemy troops or visitors, was relayed along thelandwehrs to the Hinterland, using watchtowers (for example, inMünsterland). In upland regions this was also achieved by observation posts (Warten) at high lookouts from which one could see far into the surrounding countryside. Warning of approaching enemies was given by optical signals in the form of smoke signals, flags, mirrors and torches, or by signal horns andchurch bells. The entire population of the village and its neighbouring villages were required to "immediately" respond to these emergency signals or the sounding the storm bell, but also in other emergencies, such as fire or flood, no matter what other work or activity was in progress. The striking of the bell was calledGerüfte, for example, in the Münsterland.
To construct thelandwehr, the local territorial lord would use all his subjects in a service known assocage. Likewise the whole population were required to maintain it. Manylandwehrs were built and maintained jointly by neighbouring princes, for example, in Central Hesse, thelandheege on theHörre between the county of Nassau on one side and the Landgraviate of Hesse and county of Solms on the other.
The construction and maintenance oflandwehrs had to be carried out with a long-term perspective. Even with constant and time-consuming care (Hegen und Pflegen) it would be ten years before an impenetrable hedge was created. In addition, the ditches andHählweg, a patrolled road along thelandwehr had to be kept free of vegetation and maintained in working order. For this reason, manylandwehrs were abandoned or left unfinished for long periods of time for reasons of cost.
Intentional damage of alandwehr was punished with severe penalties. In the case of the over 100-kilometre-long Westphalian Landwehr in theTeutoburg Forest, punishments ranged from cutting off the right hand to the death penalty. Even crossing alandwehr in authorised places was often punished. On theRhön Landwehr, cutting through the hedging or using the patrol road was punishable by a fine of up to fiveguilders.
These border installations were constantly renewed and maintained until the 18th century and, in times of extreme danger, even reinforced and turned into fortifications.
In 1813 inPrussia, the obligation to defend the earthworks, which were slighted underNapoleon but nevertheless remained functional, became part of the general service duties of the military formations of the PrussianLandwehr (a territorial force not to be confused with the subject of this article). In many cases the field fortifications of the Landwehr troops were abandoned after the end of an armed conflict or after the abolition of an official district, and the hedges and woods burned to makecharcoal.
For theHäger in Niedersachsen, see: Adelung[13]
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