Knowing your love of historical and military trivia, I thought you
might enjoy this.
Recent discovery by me about September 11 and Vienna.
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Reference the history below, 11 September is celebrated in Vienna
as Fleischknödeltag ( meat dumpling day). I did not know why but recently discovered that fleischknödel (a dumpling filled with meat,see
attachment) were used in the Viennese cannons on September 10, 1683 against
the invading Turks when they ran out of regular cannon balls.
They used pork inside, very significant, for the Turks refused to
cross the line where the pork fleischknödel hit.
Thus, Vienna was saved from the Turkish invasion.
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How long do some remember historical dates?
Jan Sobieski
On September 10, 1683, the papal legate sang a great outdoor mass on the Kahlenberg, west of Vienna, for King Jan III Sobieski and his 16,000 troops. The king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had been named commander of the field army of some 85,000 troops, including not only the Polish-Lithuanian contingent, but also troops of the Habsburg Monarchy, Bavaria, Saxony, Franconia, Swabia, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, and the Zaporozhian Cossacks -- collectively: the Holy League.
Besieging the city were 150,000 troops of the Ottoman Empire, including 70,000 Janissaries led by Grand Vizier Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha. This was not the first time the Gates of Vienna had been attacked by the world's then-superpower. The first bombardment had been in 1529, and there had been others since; but Vienna still stood. The Sultan had come to uncork the Danube Valley and open the way into Central Europe. Hungary was already his, and the Balkans, and years had been spent planning and organizing this siege.
How long do some remember historical dates?
Jan Sobieski
On September 10, 1683, the papal legate sang a great outdoor mass on the Kahlenberg, west of Vienna, for King Jan III Sobieski and his 16,000 troops. The king of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth had been named commander of the field army of some 85,000 troops, including not only the Polish-Lithuanian contingent, but also troops of the Habsburg Monarchy, Bavaria, Saxony, Franconia, Swabia, the Grand Duchy of Tuscany, and the Zaporozhian Cossacks -- collectively: the Holy League.
Besieging the city were 150,000 troops of the Ottoman Empire, including 70,000 Janissaries led by Grand Vizier Merzifonlu Kara Mustafa Pasha. This was not the first time the Gates of Vienna had been attacked by the world's then-superpower. The first bombardment had been in 1529, and there had been others since; but Vienna still stood. The Sultan had come to uncork the Danube Valley and open the way into Central Europe. Hungary was already his, and the Balkans, and years had been spent planning and organizing this siege.
The Walls of Vienna. The
protrusions are called bastions. The triangular fortifications in front
of the walls are called ravelins. The cathedral in the center of town is
St. Stephan's (Stephandom) known locally as "Steffl" (Stevie).
Below: Jan III Sobieski (left) and Sultan Mehmet IV (right). Note that muslims had no problem depicting human figures in their art. Note also that they weren't into perspective. The Renaissance passed them by.
Below: Jan III Sobieski (left) and Sultan Mehmet IV (right). Note that muslims had no problem depicting human figures in their art. Note also that they weren't into perspective. The Renaissance passed them by.
The Vienna garrison of 11,000 soldiers and 5,000 citizens, Ernst Rüdiger Graf von Starhemberg commanding, were cut off and starving. The Turks had made the traditional offer of surrender, but when Perchtoldsdorf to the south had accepted the offer, her people had been massacred and enslaved, so there was no thought of surrender. If Vienna went down, she would go down like Constantinople: fighting.
The Hungarians were Turkish vassals and tried to attack Poland after Jan Sobieski left, but the Lithuanian contingent had been marching behind and defeated them. The Duke of Lorraine defeated another Hungarian force northwest of Vienna, which opened a route for the Bavarians, Saxons, and the other German States. Only Louis XIV of France had refused the Pope's rally call and used the opportunity to seize Hapsburg territories in the Elsass and other parts of southern Germany. (The Elsass (Alsace) would eventually become part of France.) Dead Jannisaries on the field were found to have French money on them; and a French engineer had helped them during the siege.
September 8, the Turks brought down the Burg bastion and the Löbel bastion, and the Graf von Starhemberg prepared to fight in the streets. But as the relief army crossed the mountains, the Khan of the Crimea failed to block them - some say because he felt snubbed by the pasha. Also in the Turkish army were less-than-enthusiastic vassals George Prince Ducas of Moldavia and Şerban Prince Cantacuzino of Wallachia - essentially: the Romanians. They had tried to warn the West about the impending invasion and had supplied troops only under duress. Some stories contend that the Romanians loaded their cannons with balls of straw so as to not contribute to the siege. (This is a neat trick, but the Romanians pulled it off again in 1945, when they switched to the allied side while still occupied by German armies.)
In the walls of the Griechenbeisl on Fleischmarkt are embedded to this day three Turkish cannonballs. (This is the oldest restaurant in Vienna, and features walls with the scribbled autographs of people who have dined there: Mozart, Beethoven, Mark Twain, etc.)
When the relief armies reached the Kahlenberg, they lit bonfires and the effect on von Starhemberg and the desperate defenders can only be imagined. Perhaps Scott Key spying the banner above Ft. McHenry or the marines on Iwo Jima seeing the flag unroll atop Mt. Suribachi might understand.
The cavalry had come to the rescue.
The Turks hastened to finish a new mine under the Löbel bastion, filled it with gunpowder, and sealed it off. But von Starhemberg detected the mine and the Austrians dug a countermine, and an heroic Hapsburg soldier rushed into the chamber and extinguished the fuse, saving the wall from final breach.
The Duke of Lorraine was
on the left and the German States under the Electors of Saxony and Bavaria in
the center. For a first hand account with the usual uncertainties and
misspellings, see: Giacomo di
Grasse.
While Lorraine, Saxony, and Bavaria had been fighting on the left and center,
Sobieski had held the cavalry back on the right, on the high ground. When
the moment came, he launched downhill the largest cavalry charge in history. It
was led by the famous "Winged Hussars" of Poland. Ahead of the charge the
Turks were bombarded with cannonballs made from Fleischknödel filled with pork. The Turks refused to
cross the lines where the pork hit. On September 11-12, 1683, the jihad broke and ran from
the Gates of Vienna, leaving 20,000 dead, and all their cannon
behind.
After the battle, von Starhemberg emerged from the battered and starving city and kissed Jan Sobieski, calling him his "savior." For his failure, Kara Mustafa Pasha was executed in Belgrade on 25 December by order of the commander of the Janissaries. He was strangled with a silk rope pulled by several men on each end.
After the battle, von Starhemberg emerged from the battered and starving city and kissed Jan Sobieski, calling him his "savior." For his failure, Kara Mustafa Pasha was executed in Belgrade on 25 December by order of the commander of the Janissaries. He was strangled with a silk rope pulled by several men on each end.
The consequences for Europe were incalculable. All one need do is
consider that the countries once ruled by the Turks remain to this day the
poorest and most backward in Europe.
After September 11, 1683, no jihadi force attacked on Western land until 2001.
On September 11, just to make their point.
After September 11, 1683, no jihadi force attacked on Western land until 2001.
On September 11, just to make their point.
“Remembering”
cji
9/11/13
Passing
over time and space
watching
buildings falling quick
national
tv and worldwide press
people
dancing in the streets
while
American’s in deep sorrow
(some
at least who cared today)
yet to
many repayment of debts
blaming
America for all their woes
those
in government leadership
included
among those who cheered
China,
Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt
Syria,
Korea, Russia, many others
happy
to see America attacked
remembering
one would guess lies
for as
evil as America might be
only
freedom can be found here
without
America there is no freedom
thus
remembering broken glass
in the
Holocaust and Pearl Harbor
and now
in America on this date
twelve
years come and gone
hatred
still the war-cry of Islam
as it
was in 1683 in Vienna
feeling
soon it would fall to siege
allowing
the herds of hatred
into
the bowels of W. Europe
so long
ago and so far away
but
Islamic Terrorists don’t forget
they
kindle and make excuses
in
Spain and destroying a train
killing
innocent civilians many
because
of events in 1492
few
even knew about in history
thus
9/11 is a day of infamy
where
Vienna repelled the hordes
waiting
at their gates to kill
(there
is no honorable surrender)
for
there is no honor in terrorism
while
yet today we wait on Congress
Syria
another place now in flames
innocent
people being killed
by
madmen of the world found
conning
the world once more
with
our POTUS leading astray
putting
our nation into harm’s way
because
of hatred and terror
funding
Islamic Extremism
calling
it a peaceful exchange
forgetting
our Constitutional law
ignoring
illegals and violence
rather
adopting a son of crime
turning
their backs upon America
who
today remembers so much
hot
embers history to touch!
Copyright © 2013 – cji
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