Temeschburg in the
Battle Against the Turkish Yoke
by Anton
Zollner
Translated by Brad Schwebler
Published at DVHH.org
2004 by Jody McKim
Pharr
German Translation:
www.banater-aktualitaet.de/tms22.htm
As was also the
case in other Banat castles they had trouble in the liberation
of Temeschburg from the Turkish yoke. In 1594 Transylvanian
Prince Sigismund Bathóry tried to move the Serbs and Walachians
living in the Banat to rebellion against the Ottoman. The
rebellion soon erupted under the leadership of Theodors of
Dazien. As the south Banat was in their hands, the rebels moved
to the Betschkereker Mountain and they crushed the Turks here
mercilously. The Pascha of Temeschburg moved towards them in
the field, but were always turned back and they lost 25,000 men
from it. But the rebels lacked uniform leadership there, got
into quarrels and asked Bethóry for help. This also soon came
under army leader Moses Székelyis, but he remained
incomprehensibly standing at the border. So the Pascha with
30,000 men could whip the rebels into fleeing.
At the
beginning of 1595 Bathóry decided with Austrian Emperor Rudolph
to make an alliance against the Turks and sent Georg Borbély
with a considerable army into the Banat. These conquered some
south Banat castles, and as the Pascha was again moved from
Temeschburg, he could be whipped into fleeing. Following this
siege the Transylvanian army also established itself in several
of the Turkish-owned castles in the north Banat. Dr. Iliesiu
wrote that in that year the Temeschburg fortress would be
besieged, but the Turks could still successfully resist.
In 1596 the
Ottoman tried to conquer back the castles they lost the year
before. There it happened according to the Kraushaar that it
was Bathóry himself in the Banat, and he attacked the Lippas to
conquer Temeschburg back. On the 11th of June 1596
the fortress was surrounded on all sides. After that the walls
were shot with cannon, Bathóy stormed the fortress, but was soon
beaten back.
Dr. Iliesiu
justified this defeat to the superiority of the Turks, the
occupying force of the fortress number 10,000 Ottoman, while
Bathóry only had over half at his disposal, and of them 2,082
foot soldiers and 1,146 cavalry fell. But this data appears to
be questionable because one observed Kraushaar’s and Griselinis’
descriptions. Before the second storming of the fortress a
powerful Tatar army of about 20,000 men came. Both authors
state that Bathóry’s army whipped the Tatars into fleeing, and a
loss of 10,000 men should have taught them something. But that
could not happen because Dr. Iliesiu’s statements would be
true. After a 40 day siege Bathóry was forced to give up the
fortress because of a shortage of food and siege materials.
In the next
year the Transylvanian Prince Báthory sent his army under the
orders of his chancellor Stefan Josika once again to Temeschburg
to conquer it. The siege lasted from 17 October to 17 November
1597, but was also without success this time. Nevertheless,
Josika advanced up to the suburbs of Temeschburg, but he had to
give up the fortress because of the autumn rains. After this
last attempt to conquer it back the Ottoman still remained the
undisputed rulers of the capital city of the Banat for another
hundred years. This only served as the base point for the Turks
for their numerous battle campaigns, which they led not only in
north and west Hungary but also in Transylvania.
In 1683 Sultan
Mohammed decided to subjugate all of Christian Europe, and the
first step at realizing this plan should be the occupation of
Vienna. The Turkish army, which consisted of 200,000 men, was
however totally beaten on the 12th of September 1683
with the assistance of the Polish King Sobiesky. The slaughter
in Vienna was the beginning of the end of the Ottoman Empire.
On the 2nd of September 1686 the Christians stormed
and conquered back Ofen (Buda), after which followed Fünfkirchen
(Pécs) and Szegedin. On the 12th of August 1687 the
Austrians besieged the Turks at Mohatsch (Mohács). One year
later, on the 12th of August 1688 the Bavarian
elector Max Emanuel began the siege of Belgrade, which became
part of the empire on the 6th of September. Prince
Eugen of Savoy also took part in the storming of Belgrade.
After only two years, 1690, the Belgrade fortress again fell
into the hands of the Turks. At this opportunity Ippeker
archbishop Arsen Csernovits fled with 30,000 “mostly Serbian
families” (Kraushaar) into Austrian owned regions and settled
down in Syrmia, Slavonia, and the Banat.
According to
Karl Kraushaar Sultan Mustafa II invaded Hungary on the 20th
of June 1695 with an army of 50,000 men. This undertaking
should have been thwarted by the just as powerful army under the
leadership of elector Friedrich August of Saxony. In August
this approached Peterwardein with the task of the Viennese war
council to conquer Temeschburg. But soon the elector was held
up at Lippa with mud at Beodra and Groß-Kikinda hindering their
advance to Temschburg. After that he crossed throught the swamp
at Aranka, and he began to besiege Temeschburg on the 1st
of August 1696. But here he heard that the sultan came to help
the besieged. He moved toward the approaching Ottoman and met
them at Tschene (Cenei). A three day battle ended undecided,
the Christian losses amounted to 1,146 men, the Turks had double
as many dead to lament over. In these battles the Temeschburg
Pascha also perished. Both sides were so weakened that they
avoided further battles.
For this
setback the elector Friedrich August of Saxony was made
responsible, and the court war council decided that a general
was to be placed at his side as advisor. This was no big deal
to the already famous Prince Eugen of Savoy. Shortly after that
the elector to the king of Poland was chosen, and the 35 year
old Prince Eugen was made commander-in-chief to the emperor.
His first shining victory over the Turks was won at the battle
of Zenta on the 11th of September 1697. Here the
baptismal fire of the high and German master infantry regiments
also took place at the same time. After this battle, which
lasted from two hours before sunset until 10 PM, left 20,000
Turks dead in the battlefield and 10,000 drowned in the Thieß
but could not intervene. From fear he fled to Temeschburg and
left behind a splendid booty for the emperor. The sultan
recognized the weaknesses of his army but also Prince Eugen
wanted his army to winter over in peace. So after long
negotiations the peace treaty of Karlovitz (today: Karlovac)
came on the 26th of January 1699.
During the
following period of peace the Turks strengthened the fortress
walls. According to Turkish and Hungarians documents the
Temeschburg Pascha asked for help from the sultan on the 14th
of November 1705. The sultan immediately sent 50 construction
workers from Belgrade to Temeschburg, and the Walachian Wojewode
Constantin Brâncoveanus sent the important wooden material for
50 wagons, which was pulled by four oxen. One year later, in
1706, the Turks built a barracks with 41 rooms according to Dr.
Iliesiu, which cost 2,537 Piasters. But that was the last war
preparations by the Turks in Temeschburg.
Temeschberg
under the Imperial Septer
The Karls
(Charles) Fortress
Soon after
the liberation of Temeschberg from the Turks (1716) they began
to strengthen the existing fortress enclosure. The work was
carried out under the supervision of Count Mercy. At the same
time the erection of the Temeschberg fortress began they adapted
to the latest modern war technology. It received the name of
the Austrian emperor at the time, Karl IV, and was known as
“Karlsfestung” because of it.
The
foundation stone of this new fortress was laid by the Jesuit
superior P. Michael Gasteyer at the large celebration on the 25th
of April, 1723 in the north Bastei (rampart). The stone
contained the following text in Latin: Imperante Carolo VI. Duce
Eugenio Sabaudiae Principe per cladem Petro-Varadini MDCCXVI a
Turcis recuperata Provincia, sub praesidio claudii Comitis a
Mercy anno a partu Virginis MDCCXXIII die XXV mensis Aprilis
Temesvarini moenia fondabantur”. This text probably already
prepared Dr. Iliesiu for translation difficulties, as he also
did not translate other texts in Romanian. For the same reason
only an incomplete translation was also found here: “During the
rule of Karl VI under field marshal Prince Eugen of Savoy the
province was conquered back from the hands of the Turks as a
result of the defeat at Peterwardein in 1716 under the
protection (…translation gap – A.Z.) was by Mercy in 1723 since
the confinement of the Holy Virgin, (=after the birth of Christ
– Amn. D. Verf.), on the 25th day of the month of
April the city walls of Temeswar were erected. The Bastei
(rampart) in whose walls the foundation stone was laid received
the names of the founders of the Jesuit order of the Holy
Ignatius. The construction work according to Dr. Iliesiu cost
20 million Guilders, lasting until 1765. During this time
Temeschberg transformed itself from a middle age fortress into
one of the most modern resistance buildings erected in the
Vauban’s system in the 18th century. In the region
of present day Romania, after Mahai Opris, it is the most
perfect resistance building of its kind.
One can
recognize that this great plan was carried out in several stages
when one compares the fortress plan from 1727 (see insert) with
the one from 1736. The first one still shows the fortress plan
from Turkish times whereas the second one is a much greater
fortress which from a ship looks like an irregular, nine corner
bastioniertes? (rampart) structure. It is also worth noting
that during the time of construction different gates were
established. One recognizes on the first plan in the east the
Lugoscher Gate (L) (later called the Siebenbürger (Transylvanian)Gate
or Factory Gate, in the northeast is the Arad Gate (A), in the
northwest is the Prince Eugen Gate (E) (the former Fosforzi
Gate), and in the south is the Belgrade Gate (B) (which was
later called the Peterwardein Gate or Josef City Gate.
On the plan
of 1736 the Arad Gate no longer exists, and the place where the
Prince Eugen Gate is identified finds itself with the
Großpalanka deep in the interior of the fortress. The Prince
Eugen Gate here was replaced with the Vienna or Mehala Gate. At
the same time the Belgrade Gate is still identified on the east
side of the castle which was later moved to the west side and
then bore the names Peterwardein or Josef City Gate. According
to Dr. Ilieiu the gates were very narrow so that only one wagon
could drive through. For this reason a second passageway had to
be knocked through the walls by all gates so it was possible to
have traffic in both directions. One reached the gates over
drawbridges which were hoisted up in the evening with heavy
chains. According to Schiff a military cemetery was erected in
1849 in the enclosure of the tombstones which were used to honor
the fallen imperial troops.
The fortress
walls were built in the form of triple ramparts. Between these
there were moats which could be filled if required from the
Bega. The inner rampart was 10 to 12 meters high, the others
were always lower on the outside. Along the wall nine
“Basteien” (ramparts?) were erected which gave the fortress a
star-shaped appearance. Between the Peterwardein and the Vienna
Gate one found the Florimund rampart (from Opris) or Mercy
rampart (from Schiff) (21), the Prince Eugen rampart (20), and
the Elisabeth rampart (19). On its completion in 1739 a board
was affixed at the Prince Eugen rampart which had the following
text in Latin: “The great warrior leader, his highness Prince
Eugen of Savoy, was promised a pledge (=foundation stone – Anm.
D. Verf.) dedicated in deference, and a corner defense stone
(=Bastei – Anm. D. Verf.) was dedicated in honor of this hero
who has returned the destroyed province to the undefeated
emperor in which he freed them after the overthrow of the
barbarians in a battle.” After the Vienna Gate followed the
Karls (Charles) rampart (18), which contained the already
mentioned foundation stone. On the walls after the construction
work was finished a tablet was affixed with the following Latin
text: “The sublime Emperor VI has the afterworld, as the Banat
was freed from the yoke of the Turks after 164 years and the
Christian beliefs and the ruling Austria took back this defense
work in a glorious way that he left erected, left behind; it
sits as evidence of steadfastness and bravery.” After that
followed up to the Siebenbürger (Transylvanian) Gate the Arad
rampart (according to Opris) or the French rampart (according to
Schiff) (17), the Theresien rampart (16), the Josef rampart
(15), and finally the powder tower (according to Opris) or the
Hamilton tower (according to Schiff) (23) and the castle rampart
(22). Today only three parts of the Temeschberg fortress
remain standing. Only the food storehouse remains completely
standing, which today houses the ethnographic department of the
Banat Museum. The other two are fragments of the Prince Eugen
and the Theresien ramparts (at the Timisoara 700 market, rather
close to the post palace? But both were repaired in the ‘60’s,
and a restaurant was set up in a part of it.
Copyright © Anton
Zollner.
Permission granted to translate and reproduce this page for
nonprofit genealogical use.