The siege of Nuremberg was a campaign that took place in 1632 about the Imperial City of

Nuremberg Nuremberg (, ; ; in the local East Franconian dialect: ''Nämberch'' ) is the Franconia#Towns and cities, largest city in Franconia, the List of cities in Bavaria by population, second-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Bav ...

during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War, fought primarily in Central Europe between 1618 and 1648, was one of the most destructive conflicts in History of Europe, European history. An estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died from battle, famine ...

. In July 1632, rather than face the numerically superior combined

Imperial Imperial is that which relates to an empire, emperor/empress, or imperialism. Imperial or The Imperial may also refer to: Places United States * Imperial, California * Imperial, Missouri * Imperial, Nebraska * Imperial, Pennsylvania * Imper ...

and Catholic League army under the command of

Albrecht von Wallenstein Albrecht Wenzel Eusebius von Wallenstein, Duke of Friedland (; 24 September 1583 – 25 February 1634), also von Waldstein (), was a Bohemian military leader and statesman who fought on the Catholic side during the Thirty Years' War (1618–16 ...

and Bavarian Elector Maximilian I,

Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden Gustavus Adolphus (9 December ld Style and New Style dates, N.S 19 December15946 November ld Style and New Style dates, N.S 16 November1632), also known in English as Gustav II Adolf or Gustav II Adolph, was King of Sweden from 1611 t ...

ordered a tactical retreat into the city of

. Wallenstein's army immediately started to

invest Investment is traditionally defined as the "commitment of resources into something expected to gain value over time". If an investment involves money, then it can be defined as a "commitment of money to receive more money later". From a broade ...

Nuremberg and laid

siege A siege () . is a military blockade of a city, or fortress, with the intent of conquering by attrition, or by well-prepared assault. Siege warfare (also called siegecrafts or poliorcetics) is a form of constant, low-intensity conflict charact ...

to the city, waiting for hunger and

epidemic An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί ''epi'' "upon or above" and δῆμος ''demos'' "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time. For example, in meningococcal infection ...

s to cripple the Swedish force. It proved difficult for the besiegers to maintain the siege because the city was large and needed a large force to man the

circumvallation Investment is the military process of surrounding an enemy fort (or town) with armed forces to prevent entry or escape. It serves both to cut communications with the outside world and to prevent supplies and reinforcements from being introduced ...

. In Wallenstein's camp, there were 50,000 soldiers, 15,000 horses and 25,000 camp followers. Foraging to supply such a large static besieging force proved to be extremely difficult. Gustavus' army grew through reinforcements from 18,500 to 45,000 men with 175 field guns, the largest army he ever led in person. With poor sanitation and inadequate supplies, both sides suffered from hunger,

typhus Typhus, also known as typhus fever, is a group of infectious diseases that include epidemic typhus, scrub typhus, and murine typhus. Common symptoms include fever, headache, and a rash. Typically these begin one to two weeks after exposu ...

and

scurvy Scurvy is a deficiency disease (state of malnutrition) resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, fatigue, and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, anemia, decreased red blood cells, gum d ...

. To try to break the deadlock, 25,000 men under Gustavus attacked the Imperial entrenchments in the

Battle of the Alte Veste The Battle of the Alte Veste was a significant battle of the Thirty Years' War in which Gustavus Adolphus' attacking forces were defeated by Albrecht von Wallenstein, Wallenstein's entrenched troops. Background In the late summer of 1632 t ...

on 3 September but failed to break through, having lost 2,500 men compared to 900 Imperials. Eventually, the siege ended after eleven weeks when the

Swedes Swedes (), or Swedish people, are an ethnic group native to Sweden, who share a common ancestry, Culture of Sweden, culture, History of Sweden, history, and Swedish language, language. They mostly inhabit Sweden and the other Nordic countries, ...

and their allies withdrew. Disease killed 10,000 Swedish and allied troops, with an additional 11,000 deserters. Gustavus was so weakened by the struggle that he sent peace proposals to Wallenstein, who dismissed them.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Nuremberg 1632 Military history of Nuremberg Sieges of the Thirty Years' War Conflicts in 1632 1632 in the Holy Roman Empire Battles of the Thirty Years' War involving Bavaria Albrecht von Wallenstein Sieges involving the Holy Roman Empire Sieges involving the Swedish Empire Battles of the Thirty Years' War involving Sweden Battles of the Thirty Years' War involving the Holy Roman Empire Sieges involving Bavaria