This website presents our knowledge and research on this important aspect of the Royal Collection. As of April 2026 it will not be regularly updated and new research on this topic will sit within the main website.

Thirty Years War (1618-48)

Maps, prints and letterpress text covering the major battles and sieges of the war

ANONYMOUS

View of the siege of Breisach, 1638 (Breisach am Rhein, [Vieux-Brisach] Baden-Württemburg, Germany) 48°01'58"N 07°34'58"E

1638 or later

Etching and engraving; printed on paper; laid down on paper and then mounted on paper (Mount Type A); gilt edge, right | 29.8 x 37.3 cm (image and sheet) | RCIN 722123

A low-middle oblique view of the siege of Breisach 18 August-17 December 1638 in which Bernard of Saxe-Weimar (16 August 1604-18 July 1639), joined by French forces commanded by Jean-Baptiste Guébriant 1602-17 November 1643) and Henri de la Tour d'Auvergne, Vicomte de Turenne (11 September 1611-27 July 1675), forced the commander of Breisach, Baron Hans Heinrich von Rheinach, to capitulate. Thirty Years War (1618-1648).

  • Anonymous (printmaker)

    Subject(s)

    Army-France
    Army-Germany
  • Watermark: Map: coat of arms. Backing paper: cross within teardrop shape. Mount: cropped; [kneeling man with cross in shield].

    Condition: about six fold lines, formerly folded to 8.1 x 10.0 cm; very worn; foxing to both sides of the mount. Pressure marks from the mounts of items which were kept above and below this print in a different collection are present on the recto and verso

  • 29.8 x 37.3 cm (image and sheet)

    cropped (platemark)

    47.4 x 40.6 cm (mount)

  • Printed title:

    DIE STAT BRISACH SAMPT DEM LÆGER [top centre]

    Annotations:

    George III heading: Brisach besieged by the Duke of Weimar in 1638

    Other annotations: (Recto) [top left, black pencil, erased:] Brisach; [below view, black pencil, erased:] … taken by the French 1638. (Verso) none.

    George III catalogue entry:

    Brisach A Plan of Brisach besieged by the French under the command of the Duke of Weimar, and taken on the 19.th of Dec.r 1638.

  • Subject(s)

    Breisach am Rhein, [Vieux-Brisach] Baden-Württemburg, Germany (48°01'58"N 07°34'58"E)

  • Bibliographic reference(s)

    M. McDonald, The Print Collection of Cassiano dal Pozzo. Part II, Architecture, Topography and Military Maps, 3 vols, London 2019, cat. no. 3026

Page revisions

  • 25 May 2024