Johan Caspar von Cicignon (c. 1625 – 12 December 1696) was a

Luxembourg Luxembourg, officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, is a landlocked country in Western Europe. It is bordered by Belgium to the west and north, Germany to the east, and France on the south. Its capital and most populous city, Luxembour ...

-born

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a Conscription, conscripted or volunteer Enlisted rank, enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, a warrant officer, or an Officer (armed forces), officer. Etymology The wo ...

and military engineer who spent most of his career in the service of

Denmark–Norway Denmark–Norway (Danish language, Danish and Norwegian language, Norwegian: ) is a term for the 16th-to-19th-century multi-national and multi-lingual real unionFeldbæk 1998:11 consisting of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway (includ ...

. He is most associated with the reconstruction of

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; ), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros, and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2022, it had a population of 212,660. Trondheim is the third most populous municipality in Norway, and is ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

after the great fire of 1681.

Biography

Johan Caspar von Cicignon was born in Oberwampach, a village in the commune of Wincrange, in northern

. He was the son of Georg Friedrich de Cicignon til Mechern og Oberwampach and Marie de Lachen dite Wampach. Dating from 1657, he was in the Venetian military service. In 1662 he entered the Danish-Norwegian service and rose to the position of Major General. He became commandant at the Bergenhus Fortress in early 1664. As such he was involved in the Battle of Vågen in 1665, when an English flotilla attacked a Dutch treasure fleet sheltering in the bay of

Bergen Bergen (, ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Vestland county on the Western Norway, west coast of Norway. Bergen is the list of towns and cities in Norway, second-largest city in Norway after the capital Oslo. By May 20 ...

. During the

Scanian War The Scanian War (; ; ; ) was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark–Norway, Electorate of Brandenburg, Brandenburg and Swedish Empire, Sweden. It was fought from 1675 to 1679 mainly on Scanian soil, in the former Danish ...

from 1675 to 1679, he served first in

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) 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, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...

, where he distinguished himself at the siege of

Wismar Wismar (; ), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar () is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city of Mecklenburg after Rostock, Schwerin and ...

in 1675. Cicignon was commander in

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a List of cities in Norway, city and Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipal ...

and engaged in the Battle of

Rügen Rügen (; Rani: ''Rȯjana'', ''Rāna''; , ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic ci ...

in autumn 1677. A fire in Trondheim on 19 April 1681 (''Hornemansbrannen'') led to an almost total reconstruction of the city. Johan Caspar von Cicignon laid out plans for the reconstruction of Trondheim and fortifications. Kristiansten Fortress was built after his plans. Cicignon's

baroque The Baroque ( , , ) is a Western Style (visual arts), style of Baroque architecture, architecture, Baroque music, music, Baroque dance, dance, Baroque painting, painting, Baroque sculpture, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished from ...

style is still used as a guideline in much of Trondheim's city centre and in later years there have been quite the debate over whether or not the plan's intentions are being stretched by entrepreneurs trying to profit from infringing the plan's strict building boundaries.''Johan Caspar Cicignon (1625*-1696)'' (300 år med Cicignon. Trondhjems Historiske Forening, 1981

Honours

In 1686 he was appointed Knight of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog () is a Denmark, Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V of Denmark, Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the Order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single cla ...

Monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, historical ...

s for Cicignon can be found in both Oberwampach and Trondheim.

Personal life

Cicignon lived his later years on his farm Trosvik in Fredrikstad. He was married to Anne Sophie von Hagedorn (1636–1690) and they had a son Frederik Christoph de Cicignon (1667–1719) who became a major general and was commander of the

Fredrikstad Fortress Fredrikstad fortress (''Fredrikstad festning'') was a fortification in Fredrikstad, Norway. It was the base of the Østfold Regiment, with defence related responsibilities for the east side of Oslofjord. History Fredrikstad Fortress was construc ...

. Johan Caspar von Cicignon was also the grandfather of Ulrik Frederik de Cicignon (1698–1772) who was sheriff in

during the ''

Strilekrigen Strilekrigen was a farmer's rebellion that took place in Bergen in Norway (at the time in a Denmark-Norway, union with Denmark) on 18 April 1765, when about 2,000 common people from Nordhordland poured into Bergen to protest against the harsh a ...

'' in 1765.

Kristiansten Fortress

Cicignon made the plans for the construction of Kristiansten Fortress in Trondheim in 1681–1685. It was built after the city fire of Trondheim in 1681 to protect the city against attack from the east. Construction was finished in 1685. It fulfilled its purpose in 1718 when Swedish forces laid siege against Trondheim. The fortress was decommissioned in 1816 by king Charles XIV John.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cicignon, Johan Caspar Von Luxembourgian soldiers Danish generals Norwegian Army generals 1620s births 1696 deaths People from Wincrange Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Date of birth unknown People from Fredrikstad