A painting by Pierre Nicolas Lenfant shows us a somehow
idealized situation[1]. The king himself who
visited the siege more as a spectator then as a commander wears his red dress,
well known from different battle paintings by Parocel and Lenfant. (Look at the painting in the collection of Versailles: http://collections.chateauversailles.fr/#26dc20ed-9a28-43c2-ae71-9e72a84ef01b ) He is
talking to some officers and generals and his position is characterized by the
Loretto-chapel at the left of the painting. The guns are bombarding the town
and the Austrian artillery answers the fire. What Lenfant paints is a mixed
bag. The artillery is firing but the river Dreisam still is in the old riverbed
in front of the town’s walls, which are partly destroyed already. The buildings
at the Schlossberg are completely arising of the painter’s fantasy – you just
have to compare them with historical maps. The most important features of the
fortress like the “Salzbüchsle” or “Fort Aigle” (as the French called it) which
were heavily modified in the 1720s after the lesson the Austrians learned from
the 1713-siege, looked completely different. But for some studies of French
camp-life, uniforms and the French view on the siege this painting really is
interesting. The painter gave the landscape a more romantic atmosphere with
rocky hillsides and nice exotic looking trees while in this period the
hillsides were covered with vines.
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| The king's view at the town from the Lorettoberg. |
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| The Loretto-chapel today. |
The presence of the king
was in fact of no great significance for the battle itself. In many biographies
of Louis XV it is mentioned in a foot note at the most because his recreation
from his serious illness in 1744 is of more importance for the outcome of the
war than the siege of Freiburg. Bernier[2]
gives a good impression of the character of the “bien aimé”, a better picture
for sure then Reed Browning, although his book about the war is highly readable[3].
The king had his headquarters at Munzingen in the same castle where prince
Charles of Lorraine stayed at the time of his attempts to cross the Rhine at
Breisach in 1743. All sources mention that he observed the siege from the
Lorettoberg. There was an agreement that the French would not bombard at the
minster of Freiburg, if the Austrians would not shoot at the position of the
French king. But it seems that the Austrians shot in his direction nevertheless
because it’s possible to find a cannonball even today near his place of
observation[4].
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| The canonball in the wall of the Loretto-chapel - although in my opinion neighter the caliber nor the place of the canonball make sense to me. |
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| An indiscription at the Loretto-chapel mentioning the presence of king Louis XV observing the siege from that Point in 1744. The inscription mentions the battle of 1644 too. The chapel was built in 1657 in memory of the bloody battle during the 30-years war. |
Naturally Louis XV didn’t come
to share the bloody warfare with his soldiers and for sure he didn’t share the
heavy work of thousands of French peasants who were brought to Freiburg to build
a new riverbed for the Dreisam. The king himself showed not much affection to
stay until the town was won. He departed with his entourage at the morning of
the 7th November shortly before the French troops entered the town.
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| A view from the place of the Salzbüchsle, where nowadays is a modern tower, on the landscape. Please note the two small hills in the middle distance. The lower one is the Lorettoberg, the position of the French king in 1744. |
Text: André Hanselmann
Photos: André Hanselmann
[1] Pierre Nicolas Lenfant: „Siège de
Fribourg, 11 octobre 1744“ at the château de Versailles, No. d’invitaire MV 187
[2]
Olivier Bernier: „Ludwig XV. – Eine Biographie“ Benzinger, Zürich, 1986
[3] Reed Browning: „The War of the
Austrian Succession“ St. Martin's Press,
New York, 2008
[4]
Tilman Spreckelsen: „Patenschaft fürs Kirchenschiff“ Die Zeit, 10. September,
1998
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