Stockholms slott skulpturer Dahlberg 2011

'' Count Erik Jönsson Dahlbergh (10 October 162516 January 1703) was a Swedish military engineer,

Governor-general Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

and

Field marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

. He rose to the level of nobility through his military competence. As an architect and draftsman, he was renowned for fortification works. He is most known for his collection of engravings ''

Suecia Antiqua et Hodierna ''Suecia Antiqua et Hodierna'' ("Ancient and Modern Sweden") is a collection of engravings collected by Erik Dahlbergh during the middle of the 17th century. ''Suecia Antiqua et Hodierna'' can be described as a grand vision of Sweden during its p ...

'', a collection of engravings of topographical research.

Biography

Erik Dahlbergh was born in

Stockholm Stockholm () is the capital and largest city of Sweden as well as the largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people live in the municipality, with 1.6 million in the urban area, and 2.4 million in the metropo ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...

. His early studies involved the science of fortification. Orphaned at an early age, Dahlbergh's studies qualified him as a

scribe A scribe is a person who serves as a professional copyist, especially one who made copies of manuscripts before the invention of automatic printing. The profession of the scribe, previously widespread across cultures, lost most of its promi ...

and in 1641 he found employment in Hamburg with Gerdt Rehnskiöld (1610−1658), senior accountant for

Pommern Pomerania ( pl, Pomorze; german: Pommern; Kashubian: ''Pòmòrskô''; sv, Pommern) is a historical region on the southern shore of the Baltic Sea in Central Europe, split between Poland and Germany. The western part of Pomerania belongs to ...

and

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label= Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schweri ...

. Over a six year period, he was taught the fundamentals in

draughtsmanship A drafter (also draughtsman / draughtswoman in British and Commonwealth English, draftsman / draftswoman or drafting technician in American and Canadian English) is an engineering technician who makes detailed technical drawings or plans for ...

. While learning these skills, he also studied mathematics, architecture, perspective and map drawing. He saw service as an engineer officer during the latter years of the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of batt ...

. In 1650, the military command dispatched Dahlbergh to

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , " Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on it ...

to recoup war

indemnity In contract law, an indemnity is a contractual obligation of one Party (law), party (the ''indemnitor'') to Financial compensation, compensate the loss incurred by another party (the ''indemnitee'') due to the relevant acts of the indemnitor or ...

awarded to Sweden following the

Treaty of Westphalia The Peace of Westphalia (german: Westfälischer Friede, ) is the collective name for two peace treaties signed in October 1648 in the Westphalian cities of Osnabrück and Münster. They ended the Thirty Years' War (1618–1648) and brought ...

. Dahlbergh also contacted the publishing firm of Merian and provided topographical maps. While studying art in Italy, news reached him of a coming war between Sweden and Poland-Lithuania and he saw the potential for a military career. In his military career, Dahlbergh saw service in

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

as adjutant-general and engineering adviser to

Charles X of Sweden Charles X Gustav, also Carl Gustav ( sv, Karl X Gustav; 8 November 1622 – 13 February 1660), was King of Sweden from 1654 until his death. He was the son of John Casimir, Count Palatine of Zweibrücken-Kleeburg and Catherine of Sweden. Afte ...

. He participated in March across the Belts and at the sieges of

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan a ...

and Kronborg where he directed the engineers during the

Northern Wars "Northern Wars" is a term used for a series of wars fought in northern and northeastern Europe from the 16th to the 18th century. An internationally agreed-on nomenclature for these wars has not yet been devised. While the Great Northern War is g ...

. In spite of his distinguished service, Dahlbergh remained a lieutenant-colonel for many years. His talents were later recognized and in 1676, he became director-general of fortifications for the Swedish crown. As director, Dahlbergh rendered distinguished service over the next twenty-five years. At Helsingborg in 1677, he was a key operative in the

Great Northern War The Great Northern War (1700–1721) was a conflict in which a coalition led by the Tsardom of Russia successfully contested the supremacy of the Swedish Empire in Northern, Central and Eastern Europe. The initial leaders of the anti-Swe ...

at Dunamünde, and in 1700 he was instrumental in the defense of the two sieges of Riga. His work in repairing the fortresses of his own country earned for him the title of the " Vauban of Sweden". He was also the founder of the Swedish engineer corps. He retired while in the rank of field marshal in 1702 and died the following year.

Legacy

In modern times, Erik Dahlbergh best known for compiling the collection of engravings called "

" published 1660–1716, and for assisting Samuel Pufendorf in his "Histoire de Charles X Gustave". He also wrote a memoir of his life ( Svenska Bibliotek, 1757) and an account "Of the campaigns of Charles X" (ed. Lundblad, Stockholm, 1823).

Appointments

Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...

Jönköping County Jönköping County ( sv, Jönköpings län) is a county or '' län'' in southern Sweden. It borders the counties of Halland, Västra Götaland, Östergötland, Kalmar and Kronoberg. The total county population was 356,291 inhabitants in ...

(1687–1693) *

Governor-General Governor-general (plural ''governors-general''), or governor general (plural ''governors general''), is the title of an office-holder. In the context of governors-general and former British colonies, governors-general are appointed as viceroy t ...

of Bremen-Verden (1693) *

Field Marshal Field marshal (or field-marshal, abbreviated as FM) is the most senior military rank, ordinarily senior to the general officer ranks. Usually, it is the highest rank in an army and as such few persons are appointed to it. It is considered as ...

(1693) *

Livonia Livonia ( liv, Līvõmō, et, Liivimaa, fi, Liivinmaa, German and Scandinavian languages: ', archaic German: ''Liefland'', nl, Lijfland, Latvian and lt, Livonija, pl, Inflanty, archaic English: ''Livland'', ''Liwlandia''; russian: Ли ...

(1696–1702)

References

Other sources

* Leif Jonsson (1992) ''Stormaktstid : Erik Dahlbergh och bilden av Sverige'' (Lidköping: Stiftelsen Läckö Institutet)

External links