Battle of Dybbøl

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Battle of Dybbøl
Part of the Second War of Schleswig
The Battle of Dybbøl by Jørgen Valentin Sonne, 1871
Date April 7 – April 18, 1864 Location Dybbøl, Denmark Result Decisive German victory
Combatants
Prussia Austria	Denmark
Commanders
	General George Daniel Gerlach
Strength
37,000 126 guns[1]	11,000 ? guns[2]
Casualties
1,201 dead, wounded, or captured	4,834 (c. 700 dead, 554 wounded, 3,534 captured)

Second War of Schleswig
Mysunde – Dannevirke – Sankelmark – Rügen – Dybbøl – Fredericia – Heligoland – Als – Lundby

The battle of Dybbøl, was the key battle of the Second War of Schleswig and occurred on the morning of April 18, 1864 following a siege lasting from April 7. Denmark suffered a severe defeat against the German Confederation which decided the war. Dybbøl had already been a battlefield in the First war of Schleswig.

On the morning of April 18, 1864 Prussian troops moved into their positions at 02:00 am and began their charge, after hours of artillery preparation at 10:00 am. 13 minutes after the charge the Prussian infantry had already seized control of the first line of defense of the redoubts. At 13:30 the last resistance at the bridge head in front of Sønderborg. During the battle around 3600 Danes and 1200 Prussians were either killed, wounded or disappeared. A total massacre of the retreating troops was avoided and the Prussian advance halted by a counterattack by the 8th Brigade. It should be noted that the Danish army had smaller guns and older rifle mode. The Prussian army used the Dreyse needle-gun, a breech-loading rifle that could be loaded while the user was lying down. Since the Danes had to load their older muzzle-loading rifles while standing, they made better targets for the Prussians.

This battle also was the first one monitored by delegates of the Red Cross, Louis Appiaand Charles van de Velde.

[edit] Legacy

Every year on April 18 a national memorial is held in Dybbøl. Danish soldiers appear in period uniforms. The 140 year anniversary was a special event in Denmark.

Sociologists still refer to the Battle of Dybbøl when commenting on the relationship between Danes and Germans.

Karl Klinke, a Prussian soldier who is said to have run onto the redoubt carrying explosives and igniting them by the palisades thus killing himself and blowing a hole into the Danish redoubt was imortalized by a poem by Theodor Fontane.

In Germany the battle of Dybbøl and the Second war of Schleswig have largely vanished out of the conscience of the German public.^{[citation needed]}Johann Gottfried Piefke dedicated the Düppeler Sturmmarsch to this battle.

The field of Dybbøl was formerly the home of national symbols of both warring sides; the Danish Dybbøl Mill and the German Düppeldenkmal. The latter was a victory monument which was blown up in 1945. The perpetrators were never identified and this monument has never been rebuilt.

[edit] External links

• Military History of Denmark – entry on Battle of Dybbøl