Copperplate engraving \ — *Copperplate engraving "Battle of Stadtlohn 1623" by Matthäus Merian*

*© Stadtarchiv Bocholt*

*Copperplate engraving of General Johann Tserclaes Count of Tilly*

*© Stadtarchiv Bocholt*

03. November 2023City history

Town history discussion group: 400 years of the Battle of Lohner Bruch

Event on 22 November at the media centre // Historical battle takes centre stage

On Wednesday, 22 November, the city of Bocholt invites you to the Bocholt city history discussion group in the media centre (Alter Bahnhof) at Hindenburgstraße 5. The guest is the city archivist of Stadtlohn and historian Ulrich Söbbing. The event starts at 6.30 pm.

In his lecture, Ulrich Söbbing sheds light on one of the largest field battles of the Thirty Years' War, the Battle of the Lohner Bruch near Stadtlohn 400 years ago. On 6 August 1623, two armies with a total of over 50,000 soldiers rolled towards the Dutch border in kilometre-long columns. A battle finally broke out at the gates of Stadtlohn in which thousands of mercenaries were killed or wounded.

After the battle, the war raged on for another 25 years until the Peace of Westphalia was signed in Münster and Osnabrück. The Thirty Years' War cost the lives of millions of people in Central Europe and destroyed the economic foundations for decades. The lecture takes a look at the living conditions of soldiers and people at the time of the Thirty Years' War and the significance of war propaganda in pamphlets and steel engravings.

The speaker, Ulrich Söbbing, has been head of the Stadtlohn municipal archive for many years. After studying history at the University of Münster, he specialised in regional and educational history. His book on "The Battle of the Lohner Bruch near Stadtlohn" was published in 2023.

Following the lecture, the adult education centre and the town archive invite you to a discussion with the speaker. Moderation: City archivist Renate Volks-Kuhlmann

The Bocholt city history discussion group is a cooperation between the Bocholt-Rhede-Isselburg adult education centre and the city archives: Historians as well as local historians present their research topics and then engage in discussion with the audience. The event is organised in cooperation with the Society for Historical Regional Studies of the Western Münsterland.

Please register at vhs-bocholt.de or stadtarchiv(at)bocholt(dot)de