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Siege of Godesberg (1583)

Godesberg Siege – 1583
Part of The Cologne War
A castle stands at the top of a steep hill, and its walls are being blown away in explosion and fire. The fortress is surrounded by mounted and foot soldiers, and several units of mounted soldiers are racing up the hill toward the castle on its peak
Destruction of the fortress on Godesberg during the Cologne War in 1583; 1,500 pounds (680 kg) of powder were used to breach the walls and blow part of the castle up; almost all its defenders were put to death.
Date mid-November – 17 December 1583 (1583-12-17)
Location Godesberg (present-day Bad Godesberg), Electorate of Cologne
Result Catholic victory
Belligerents
Black cross on a silver background, in a coat of arms Gebhard, Truchsess of Waldburg
Prince-Elector, Cologne 1578–1588 (Calvinist)		 Black cross on a silver background, in a coat of arms Ernest of Bavaria
Prince-Elector, Cologne, 1583–1612 (Catholic)
Coat of arms, two fields featuring blue and white rhombuses, the other two a yellow lion on black background House of Wittelsbach
Commanders and leaders
Felix Buchner, Lt. Colonel, Eduard Sudermann, Captain of the Guard Ferdinand of Bavaria
Charles, Count of Arenberg
Strength
"... a strong force of Dutch" mercenaries (approx. 180 troops from the Netherlands) Over 400 foot soldiers, 5 squadrons of cavalry
Casualties and losses
178 not stated in sources

a.^ Engraving by Frans Hogenberg (1535–1590). Hogenberg and Georg Braun, Civitates orbis terrarum, Cologne, 1572–1617. b. ^ (German) Ernst Weyden. Godesberg, das Siebengebirge, und ihre Umgebungen. Bonn: T. Habicht Verlag, 1864, p. 43.

c. ^ (German) Tanja Potthoff. Die Godesburg – Archäologie und Baugeschichte einer kurkölnischen Burg. Inaugural Dissertation, University of Munich, 2009, p. 15.

Coordinates: 50°41′9″N 7°9′6″E / 50.68583°N 7.15167°E / 50.68583; 7.15167

a.^ Engraving by Frans Hogenberg (1535–1590). Hogenberg and Georg Braun, Civitates orbis terrarum, Cologne, 1572–1617. b. ^ (German) Ernst Weyden. Godesberg, das Siebengebirge, und ihre Umgebungen. Bonn: T. Habicht Verlag, 1864, p. 43.

The Siege of Godesberg, 18 November – 17 December 1583, was the first major siege of the Cologne War (1583–1589). Seeking to wrest control of an important fortification, Bavarian and mercenary soldiers surrounded the Godesberg, and the village then of the same name, now Bad Godesberg, located at its foot. On top of the mountain sat a formidable fortress, similarly named Godesburg, built in the early 13th century during a contest over the election of two competing archbishops.

Towering over the Rhine valley, the Godesburg's strategic position commanded the roads leading to and from Bonn, the Elector of Cologne's capital city, and Cologne, the region's economic powerhouse. Over time, the Electors strengthened its walls and heightened its towers. They added a small residence in the 14th century and the donjon (also called a Bergfried or keep) developed as a stronghold of the Electoral archives and valuables. By the mid-16th century, the Godesburg was considered nearly impregnable and had become a symbol of the dual power of the Prince-electors and Archbishops of Cologne, one of the wealthiest ecclesiastical territories in the Holy Roman Empire. The Cologne War, a feud between the Protestant Elector, Gebhard, Truchsess of Waldburg, and the Catholic Elector, Ernst of Bavaria, was yet another schismatic episode in the Electoral and archdiocesan history.


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