Willem Coucheron (also recorded as ''Willum'' or ''Wyllem Coucheron'') was a Dutch-born Danish-Norwegian quartermaster general.

Biography

Willem Coucheron was born in the Netherlands and came to Norway in June 1657. Coucheron came to Norway as an engineer and quartermaster general for the region south of the

Dovrefjell Dovrefjell is a mountain range in Central Norway that forms a natural barrier between Eastern Norway and Trøndelag. The mountain range is located in Innlandet, Møre og Romsdal, and Trøndelag counties in Norway. As a result of its central loca ...

mountain range in central Norway in June 1657. He served as captain of the Oplandske National Infantry Regiment in 1658 and captain of the

Valdres Valdres () is a traditional district in central, southern Norway, situated between the districts of Gudbrandsdalen and Hallingdal. The region of Valdres consists of the six municipalities of Nord-Aurdal, Sør-Aurdal, Øystre Slidre, Vestre S ...

company Under the command of

Jørgen Bjelke Jørgen Bjelke (2 June 1621 – 17 June 1696) was a Dano-Norwegian or Norwegian officer and nobleman. He was born at Elingaard Manor on Onsøy near Fredrikstad, in Østfold County, Norway, and died in Kalundborg, Denmark. Early and personal lif ...

he led his company in combat at

Bohuslän Bohuslän () is a Provinces of Sweden, Swedish province in Götaland, on the northernmost part of the country's west coast. It is bordered by Dalsland to the northeast, Västergötland to the southeast, the Skagerrak arm of the North Sea to the ...

in 1659, and in the defense of Halden from 14 January to 23 February 1660. In 1660, he was sent to

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a population of 1.4 million in the Urban area of Copenhagen, urban area. The city is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager, separated from Malmö, Sweden, by the ...

to present plans for a new defensive work for

Halden Halden (), between 1665 and 1928 known as Fredrikshald, is both a List of cities in Norway, town and a Municipalities of Norway, municipality in Østfold Counties of Norway, county, Norway. The municipality borders Sarpsborg to the northwest, R ...

, Norway. These plans were approved by the king on 28 July 1660. He began the construction of the fortifications of

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 ...

at Halden in 1663. Together with his son

Anthony Coucheron Anthony Coucheron (also recorded as Anton Coucheron or Anthony Willemsen; c.1650 – 14 March 1689) was an engineering officer. Coucheron played an important role in the history of Norwegian and Danish fortifications. As Sweden grew to be a grea ...

, he worked on the fortification which became known as Fredriksten fortress in

. The defensive walls, built to the Dutch design of the period, were so effective a deterrent that the town, although placed under siege, was never taken. He became colonel of the Coucheron regiment in 1676; During the

Gyldenløve War The Scanian War (; ; ; ) was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark–Norway, Brandenburg and Sweden. It was fought from 1675 to 1679 mainly on Scanian soil, in the former Danish–Norwegian provinces along the border wit ...

the regiment participated in combat at

and performed well in the conquest of Carlsten fortress (Swedish: ''Karlstens fästning'') at

Marstrand Marstrand () is a seaside locality situated in Kungälv Municipality, Västra Götaland County, Sweden. It had 1,320 inhabitants in 2010. The town got its name from its location on the island of Marstrand. Despite its small population, for histo ...

in 1677. He became commandant of

1677–79 and commandant at

Bergenhus fortress Bergenhus fortress () is a fortress located in Bergen, Norway. Located at the entrance of Bergen harbour, the castle is one of the oldest and best preserved stone fortifications in Norway. History The fortress contains buildings dating as earl ...

from 1680. Coucheron died at

Bergenhus Bergenhus is a borough of the city of Bergen in Vestland county, 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 ...

20 June 1689.

References

Other soueces

*V.E. Tychsen: ''Fortifikations-Etaterne og Ingeniørkorpset'', 1884 *Chr. Elling: ''Holmens Bygningshistorie'', 1932 *''Norske Minnesmerker, Fredrikstad'', 1934 *J. Klindt Jensen: ''Barokken i Rønne Fæstning'', 1952 *H. Langberg: ''Danmarks Bygningskultur I'', 1955 *V. Steen Møller: ''Frederiksvern'', 1973 *H.E. Nørregård-Nielsen i: ''Magtens Bolig'' (Danm. Ark.), 1980 *''Norsk Kunstnerleksikon'', Oslo 1981 *Kjeld Magnussen: ''Foren. til norske Fortidsminners Bevaring'', Årsbok 1985 *P. Bolten Jagd: ''Danske Forsvarsanlæg I'', 1986 *''Huse i Fr.havn'', 1986 1600s births 1689 deaths Emigrants from the Dutch Republic Immigrants to Denmark–Norway 17th-century Danish military officers Danish military engineers Danish generals Norwegian Army generals Dutch military engineers Norwegian military engineers Norwegian colonels {{denmark-mil-bio-stub