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87-591: As a fortified city , it was of strategic military and political significance. Although a direct fiefdom of the Holy Roman Emperor , the city obtained a municipal charter ; the acquisition of Breda, through marriage, by the House of Nassau ensured that Breda would be at the center of political and social life in the Low Countries . Breda had a population of 184,126 in 2021; the metropolitan area had

174-545: A Qing incursion in 1638. By 1641, there were ten bastion forts in the county. Before bastion forts could spread any further, the Ming dynasty fell in 1644, and they were largely forgotten as the Qing dynasty was on the offensive most of the time and had no use for them. In the wake of city growth and the ensuing change of defensive strategy, focusing more on the defense of forts around cities, many city walls were demolished. Also,

261-620: A residentiestad (residence city). The presence of the Orange-Nassau family attracted other nobles, who built palatial residences in the old quarters of the city. The most impressive one, built by the Italian architect Thomas Vincidor de Bologna for the first Dutch prince, was the first renaissance-style palace built north of the Alps. In the 15th century the city's physical, economic and strategic importance expanded rapidly. A great church

348-593: A sugar factory, supplying its best-known products. Breda formerly housed the largest brewery in the Netherlands ( Oranjeboom ). The multinational Interbrew took over the brewery in 1995 and then closed it in 2004. Production of the Breda brand was moved to both Bremen and Leuven until 2008, when Randalls Brewery (in Guernsey) acquired the licence. Guernsey is now the only place in the world where draught Breda

435-509: A bit more than a third the width of a major wall in China. According to Philo the width of a wall had to be 4.5 metres (15 ft) thick to be able to withstand ancient (non-gunpowder) siege engines. European walls of the 1200s and 1300s could reach the Roman equivalents but rarely exceeded them in length, width, and height, remaining around 2 metres (6 ft 7 in) thick. When referring to

522-490: A cost benefit hypothesis, where the Ming recognized the highly resistant nature of their walls to structural damage, and could not imagine any affordable development of the guns available to them at the time to be capable of breaching said walls. Even as late as the 1490s a Florentine diplomat considered the French claim that "their artillery is capable of creating a breach in a wall of eight feet in thickness" to be ridiculous and

609-496: A couple of years the event was free of charge to the public, due to sponsoring by a major bank. When the sponsorship ended a relative high fee was charged to enter the event. In 2024 together Breda and Tilburg host the Special Olympics National Games. The biggest national sports event aseptically for people with a mental disability. 2500 athletes competed in 21 sports. Between August 8 and 20 - 2023

696-454: A ground rampart . The city was fortified with six city gates with each gate flanked by massive brick towers. In other areas of Southeast Asia, city walls spread in the 16th and 17th century along with the rapid growth of cities in this period as a need to defend against European naval attack. Ayutthaya built its walls in 1550 and Banten , Jepara , Tuban and Surabaya all had theirs by 1600; while Makassar had theirs by 1634. A sea wall

783-743: A maximum thickness of 43 metres and an average thickness of 20–30 metres. Ming prefectural and provincial capital walls were 10 to 20 metres (33 to 66 ft) thick at the base and 5 to 10 metres (16 to 33 ft) at the top. In Europe the height of wall construction was reached under the Roman Empire , whose walls often reached 10 metres (33 ft) in height, the same as many Chinese city walls, but were only 1.5 to 2.5 metres (4 ft 11 in to 8 ft 2 in) thick. Rome's Servian Walls reached 3.6 and 4 metres (12 and 13 ft) in thickness and 6 to 10 metres (20 to 33 ft) in height. Other fortifications also reached these specifications across

870-428: A population of 324,812. In the 11th century, Breda was a direct fief of the Holy Roman Emperor , its earliest known lord being Henry of Brunesheim (1080–1125). The city of Breda obtained a municipal charter in 1252. After that Breda had the rights to build fortifications. The city constructed brick walls and Roman-style gates. In 1327, Adelheid of Gaveren sold Breda to Duke Johannes III of Brabant . In 1350,

957-423: A purely military and defensive purpose, towers also played a representative and artistic role in the conception of a fortified complex. The architecture of the city thus competed with that of the castle of the noblemen and city walls were often a manifestation of the pride of a particular city. Urban areas outside the city walls, so-called Vorstädte , were often enclosed by their own set of walls and integrated into

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1044-422: A response to gunpowder artillery, European fortifications began displaying architectural principles such as lower and thicker walls in the mid-1400s. Cannon towers were built with artillery rooms where cannons could discharge fire from slits in the walls. However, this proved problematic as the slow rate of fire, reverberating concussions, and noxious fumes produced greatly hindered defenders. Gun towers also limited

1131-556: A single "embassy district", enclosed by a fortified complex with walls and towers – this usually occurs in regions where the embassies run a high risk of being target of attacks. An early example of such a compound was the Legation Quarter in Beijing in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Most of these modern city walls are made of steel and concrete. Vertical concrete plates are put together so as to allow

1218-477: A very thick wall in medieval Europe, what is usually meant is a wall of 2.5 metres (8 ft 2 in) in width, which would have been considered thin in a Chinese context. There are some exceptions such as the Hillfort of Otzenhausen , a Celtic ringfort with a thickness of 40 metres (130 ft) in some parts, but Celtic fort-building practices died out in the early medieval period. Andrade goes on to note that

1305-644: Is NAC Breda . The club plays in the Eredivisie and their home stadion is the Rat Verlegh Stadion . The club became National Champion, once in 1921. The former Cadet football association ‘Velocitas’ of the military academy won the Holdertbeker (the predecessor of the KNVB Cup ) in 1899-1900. Besides NAC there are more amateur football clubs among others; Breda also plays a big role in

1392-460: Is West Brabantian , which is very similar to colloquial Dutch . As in other cities and villages in the south of the Netherlands, 40 days before Easter the citizens of Breda celebrate Carnaval . A four day chain of foolish events, silliness, nonsensical costumes and a small beer on the side. During the event the mayor of the city, symbolically turns over the keys to the city to “ Prince Carnaval ” and his ‘Council of 11’. Breda has 4 festive monarchs,

1479-463: Is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as curtain walls with towers , bastions and gates for access to the city. From ancient to modern times, they were used to enclose settlements. Generally, these are referred to as city walls or town walls , although there were also walls, such as

1566-435: Is also focused on art related to the colour red. Activities during the festival are lectures, workshops and demonstrations. The festival attracts attendance from 20 countries and was free due to sponsorship of the local government. Furthermore, some people referred to Breda as the opposite of burning man. As the festival grew bigger they needed a new spot to host the ever growing event. Breda's only professional football club ,

1653-601: Is brewed. However, the decline of industrial activity did not harm the city's economy. Nowadays, Breda is a service oriented economy based on business, trade and logistics. A growing number of international companies choose to establish their head office for Benelux operations and manufacturing in Breda. Examples of these companies are 3M Abbott Laboratories , Alfa Laval , Amgen , Dockwise , ExxonMobil , General Electric , General Motors , Krohne Oil & Gas , Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers , Scania , Texaco , and Toshiba . Also,

1740-518: Is called ‘ Middelbaar Beroepsonderwijs ' (MBO). This type of education is called ‘Hoger Beroepsonderwijs’ (HBO) The city center contains old buildings and portions of the singels ( moats ) and the harbour. Focal point is the Grote Markt, the main square with pubs and sidewalk cafes. Park Valkenberg is a major public park, halfway between the main railway station Breda and the Grote Markt. Major historic buildings include: The spoken dialect

1827-481: Is of Solnitsata , built in the 6th or 5th millennium BC. The Assyrians deployed large labour forces to build new palaces, temples and defensive walls. Babylon was one of the most famous cities of the ancient world, especially as a result of the building program of Nebuchadnezzar , who expanded the walls and built the Ishtar Gate . The Persians built defensive walls to protect their territories, notably

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1914-754: Is the Romanian Bran Castle , which was intended to protect nearby Kronstadt (today's Braşov ). The city walls were often connected to the fortifications of hill castles via additional walls. Thus the defenses were made up of city and castle fortifications taken together. Several examples of this are preserved, for example in Germany Hirschhorn on the Neckar, Königsberg and Pappenheim , Franken, Burghausen in Oberbayern and many more. A few castles were more directly incorporated into

2001-514: Is visited by a large Polish contingent and the city of Breda reserves a special portion of the festivities for the fallen Polish soldiers. A museum and a monument honoring Maczek and the Polish 1st Armoured Division stands in the city center. General Maczek and many soldiers of his division are buried in the nearby Polish military cemetery. Breda was the site of one of the first panopticon prison establishments, Koepelgevangenis . This prison housed

2088-700: Is with around 2000 members, the largest club of its kind in the Netherlands. Beside the usual athletics sports at their own track, they offer, nordic walking , tai chi , bootcamp and parasports . And a lot more... Every year in October, the Bredase Singelloop  [ nl ] is a major road running event on the half marathon distance with a field of national and international athletes. Similar events are held in Princenhage (10 van ’t Aogje) and Haagse Beemden (Haagse Beemden Loop) although

2175-810: The Derbent Wall and the Great Wall of Gorgan built on the either sides of the Caspian Sea against nomadic nations. Some settlements in the Indus Valley civilization were also fortified. By about 3500   BC, hundreds of small farming villages dotted the Indus floodplain. Many of these settlements had fortifications and planned streets. The stone and mud brick houses of Kot Diji were clustered behind massive stone flood dykes and defensive walls, for neighboring communities quarreled constantly about

2262-591: The Dutch revolt . Thus, the baron of Breda was also Count of Nassau in the Holy Roman Empire , Prince of Orange , and (the main) stadtholder in the Dutch Republic (from 1572 to 1650, 1672–1702, 1747–1795). Breda remained part of the barony of Breda until it was captured by French revolutionary forces in 1795. The acquisition of the city by the House of Orange-Nassau marked its emergence as

2349-529: The Great Wall of China , Walls of Benin , Hadrian's Wall , Anastasian Wall , and the Atlantic Wall , which extended far beyond the borders of a city and were used to enclose regions or mark territorial boundaries. In mountainous terrain, defensive walls such as letzis were used in combination with castles to seal valleys from potential attack. Beyond their defensive utility, many walls also had important symbolic functions – representing

2436-745: The Warring States (481–221   BC), mass conversion to stone architecture did not begin in earnest until the Tang dynasty (618–907   AD). Sections of the Great Wall had been built prior to the Qin dynasty (221–207   BC) and subsequently connected and fortified during the Qin dynasty, although its present form was mostly an engineering feat and remodeling of the Ming dynasty (1368–1644   AD). The large walls of Pingyao serve as one example. Likewise,

2523-734: The 16th century. The bastion and star fort was developed in Italy, where the Florentine engineer Giuliano da Sangallo (1445–1516) compiled a comprehensive defensive plan using the geometric bastion and full trace italienne that became widespread in Europe. The main distinguishing features of the star fort were its angle bastions, each placed to support their neighbor with lethal crossfire, covering all angles, making them extremely difficult to engage with and attack. Angle bastions consisted of two faces and two flanks. Artillery positions positioned at

2610-495: The 19th century, less emphasis was placed on preserving the fortifications for the sake of their architectural or historical value – on the one hand, complete fortifications were restored ( Carcassonne ), on the other hand many structures were demolished in an effort to modernize the cities. One exception to this is the "monument preservation" law by the Bavarian King Ludwig I of Bavaria , which led to

2697-631: The Austrian Succession , which ultimately led to the signing of the Treaty of Aix-la-Chapelle . During the Second World War , the city was under German occupation for over four years. During Operation Pheasant Breda was liberated following a successful outflanking manoeuvre planned and performed by forces of 1st Polish Armoured Division of General Maczek on 28 October 1944. Each year during Liberation Day festivities, Breda

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2784-476: The Dutch by trade who was used to entering and leaving Breda with a barge loaded with peat. Heraugiere went into the city, hidden between the peat of the barge along with a small group of soldiers, and discovered how easy it was as none of the garrison checked the barge. When they were in the heart of Breda they made a hasty exit with enough peat to keep them covered. Heraugiere soon realized a Trojan Horse style attack

2871-613: The European Para Championships were held in Breda. 1500 athletes from 45 country’s participated in the event. In 2011, the ParaGamesBreda received 3000 athletes from 40 country’s. In 2017 the NAC Breda Stadion was one of the hosts of the ‘Women’s European Football Championship.’ Together with Enschede , Deventer , Rotterdam , Tilburg , Doetinchem and Utrecht . The dutch women won

2958-568: The French "braggarts by nature". Very rarely did cannons blast breaches in city walls in Chinese warfare. This may have been partly due to cultural tradition. Famous military commanders such as Sun Tzu and Zheng Zhilong recommended not to directly attack cities and storm their walls. Even when direct assaults were made with cannons, it was usually by focusing on the gates rather than the walls. There were instances where cannons were used against walled fortifications, such as by Koxinga , but only in

3045-513: The Prince of Breda, Princenhage, Haagse Beemden and the Baron of Ginneken. For the occasion the city is renamed to ‘Kielengat’. Musically, the carnaval events traditionally are enlivened by wind bands called ‘Dweilorkesten' (Mop Orchestra’s). All pubs and bars participate in the event and on Sunday and Monday a large parade of floats and foolish creations slides through the streets. The events ends on

3132-745: The ancient site of Mycenae (famous for the huge stone blocks of its ' cyclopean ' walls). In classical era Greece, the city of Athens built a long set of parallel stone walls called the Long Walls that reached their guarded seaport at Piraeus . Exceptions were few, but neither ancient Sparta nor ancient Rome had walls for a long time, choosing to rely on their militaries for defense instead. Initially, these fortifications were simple constructions of wood and earth, which were later replaced by mixed constructions of stones piled on top of each other without mortar . The Romans later fortified their cities with massive, mortar-bound stone walls. Among these are

3219-410: The appropriate city gate and are often supplemented with towers. The practice of building these massive walls, though having its origins in prehistory, was refined during the rise of city-states , and energetic wall-building continued into the medieval period and beyond in certain parts of Europe. Simpler defensive walls of earth or stone, thrown up around hillforts , ringworks , early castles and

3306-672: The army and the civil service. The exiled Stuart Charles II of England resided in Breda for a little over a month of his time in exile during the Cromwellian Commonwealth and Protectorate , thanks to the proximity of Charles's sister Mary, Princess Royal and Princess of Orange , the widow of Prince William II of Orange (died 1650). Based mostly on suggestions by the Parliamentarian General George Monck , Charles II's Declaration of Breda (1660) announced his conditions for accepting

3393-491: The case of small villages. During Koxinga's career, there is only one recorded case of capturing a settlement by bombarding its walls: the siege of Taizhou in 1658. In 1662, the Dutch found that bombarding the walls of a town in Fujian Province had no effect and they focused on the gates instead just as in Chinese warfare. In 1841, a 74-gun British warship bombarded a Chinese coastal fort near Guangzhou and found that it

3480-416: The circumvention of the city, through which many important trade routes passed, thus ensuring that tolls were paid when the caravans passed through the city gates, and that the local market was visited by the trade caravans. Furthermore, additional signaling and observation towers were frequently built outside the city, and were sometimes fortified in a castle-like fashion. The border of the area of influence of

3567-659: The city again surrendered to the Spaniards, now led by Spinola ; the event was immortalized by Diego Velázquez . In the Siege of Breda of 1637 the city was recaptured by Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange , after a four-month siege, and in 1648 it was finally ceded to the Dutch Republic by the Treaty of Westphalia . In 1646, Frederick Henry founded the Orange College of Breda , modelled on Saumur , Geneva , and Oxford , intending it to train young men of good family for

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3654-766: The city center and the southern part of Breda. Known shopping centers are De Barones and 't Sas. Major shopping streets are the Eindstraat, Ginnekenstraat  [ nl ] , Wilhelminastraat and Ginnekenweg. A market is held on the Grote Markt every Tuesday and Friday from 09:00 to 13:00. A book and antique market is held on Wednesday from 09:00 to 17:00. Breda became since 1970 a more specific education city and student city . In 2012 there were 27,000 students registered in Middelbaar- and Hoger Onderwijs . Secondary education consists of; Some schools offer bilingual English/Dutch education. This type of education

3741-412: The city center. All other brands had to park at a dedicated parking outside the city center. At the peak over 10,000 motorcycles visited the city and attracted an audience of a 100,000 people. 2010 was the 22nd and last official edition. Due to the large number of people, the city council demanded strict security measurements for the following years. This was the moment that the volunteer organization pulled

3828-475: The city was often partially or fully defended by elaborate ditches, walls and hedges. The crossing points were usually guarded by gates or gate houses. These defenses were regularly checked by riders, who often also served as the gate keepers. Long stretches of these defenses can still be seen to this day, and even some gates are still intact. To further protect their territory, rich cities also established castles in their area of influence. An example of this practice

3915-514: The complete Breda region. The tours ended on the Church square next to the Grote Kerk in the center, where, coincidentally, a rockband was playing. Redhead Day (nl; Roodharigedag) is a festival that between 2007 and 2011 took place in Breda during first weekend of September. Since 2019 the festival relocated to Tilburg . The two-day festival is a gathering of people with natural red hair, but

4002-485: The construction of the "European Rampart" alongside its border with Russia to be able to successfully apply for a visa-free movement with the European Union. At its simplest, a defensive wall consists of a wall enclosure and its gates. For the most part, the top of the walls were accessible, with the outside of the walls having tall parapets with embrasures or merlons . North of the Alps, this passageway at

4089-623: The control of prime agricultural land. Mundigak ( c.  2500   BC ) in present-day south-east Afghanistan has defensive walls and square bastions of sun dried bricks. The concept of a city fully enclosed by walls was not fully developed in Southeast Asia until the arrival of Europeans. However, Burma serves an exception, as they had a longer tradition of fortified walled towns; towns in Burma had city walls by 1566. Besides that, Rangoon in 1755 had stockades made of teak logs on

4176-587: The crown of England, which he was to regain a few months later in the year. The Treaty of Breda was signed in the city on 31 July 1667, bringing to an end the Second Anglo-Dutch War in which the Dutch faced the same Charles II who had been their guest. Between 1746 and 1748 it was the site of the Congress of Breda , a series of talks between Britain and France aimed at bringing an end to the War of

4263-538: The defense of the city. These areas were often inhabited by the poorer population and held the "noxious trades". In many cities, a new wall was built once the city had grown outside of the old wall. This can often still be seen in the layout of the city, for example in Nördlingen , and sometimes even a few of the old gate towers are preserved, such as the white tower in Nuremberg . Additional constructions prevented

4350-488: The defensive strategy of the city (e.g. Nuremberg , Zons , Carcassonne ), or the cities were directly outside the castle as a sort of "pre-castle" (Coucy-le-Chateau, Conwy and others). Larger cities often had multiple stewards – for example Augsburg was divided into a Reichstadt and a clerical city. These different parts were often separated by their own fortifications. Adriaen van Bergen A Dutch skipper from Leur , Adriaen van Bergen devised

4437-417: The early Middle Ages also saw the creation of some towns built around castles. These cities were only rarely protected by simple stone walls and more usually by a combination of both walls and ditches . From the 12th century AD hundreds of settlements of all sizes were founded all across Europe, which very often obtained the right of fortification soon afterwards. Several medieval town walls have survived into

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4524-455: The empire, but all these paled in comparison to contemporary Chinese walls, which could reach a thickness of 20 metres (66 ft) at the base in extreme cases. Even the walls of Constantinople which have been described as "the most famous and complicated system of defence in the civilized world," could not match up to a major Chinese city wall. Had both the outer and inner walls of Constantinople been combined they would have only reached roughly

4611-627: The energy of artillery shots. Walls were constructed using wooden frameworks which were filled with layers of earth tamped down to a highly compact state, and once that was completed the frameworks were removed for use in the next wall section. Starting from the Song dynasty these walls were improved with an outer layer of bricks or stone to prevent erosion, and during the Ming, earthworks were interspersed with stone and rubble. Most Chinese walls were also sloped rather than vertical to better deflect projectile energy. The defensive response to cannon in Europe

4698-436: The evening before Ash Wednesday (Shrove Tuesday). The exclusive TV channel 'BaronieTV' broadcasts the events throughout the 'Barony of Breda'. Breda hosts the following museums: The Harley Dag was one of the biggest one-day motorcycle events of Europe, held on the third Sunday of August. The American motorcycle brands Harley Davidson and Indian were the main guests of the day. Other American brands were also welcomed to

4785-492: The fief was resold to Johannes II of Wassenaar (d. 1377). In 1403, the heiress of his line, Johanna of Polanen (1392–1445), married Engelbert I of Nassau (1370–1442; his sarcophagus is in the Grote Kerk in Breda). Through her, the city came into the possession of the House of Nassau , where it remained until 1795, passing to William I of Orange (1533–1584), stadtholder of Holland , Zeeland , and Utrecht and leader of

4872-404: The flanks could fire parallel into the opposite bastion's line of fire, thus providing two lines of cover fire against an armed assault on the wall, and preventing mining parties from finding refuge. Meanwhile, artillery positioned on the bastion platform could fire frontally from the two faces, also providing overlapping fire with the opposite bastion. Overlapping mutually supporting defensive fire

4959-580: The food industry is still largely represented by companies such as Anheuser-Busch InBev , Hero Group , Perfetti Van Melle and Royal Cosun  [ nl ] . Furthermore, the city is host to the headquarters of the Royal Netherlands Air Force . Because of its central location between the ports of Antwerp and Rotterdam , the city also attracts logistics companies such as Van Wijngen International . Koch Media has its Benelux office in Breda. The main shopping areas of Breda are

5046-539: The hands of the Dutch and Maurice of Nassau , when a 68 men hand-picked force, concealed under the turf of a peat-boat, had contrived to enter the city in a daring plan devised by Adriaen van Bergen , known as the ruse with the Peat Ship of Breda . Around 1610 the construction of the Spanish Gate or "Spanjaardsgat" was started as a remembrance to that successful action. After a ten-month siege in 1624–25 ,

5133-505: The hockey department. B.H.V. Push  [ nl ] supplied high-level players to the national women and men teams of the Netherlands and played in the Hoofdklasse them self. A few of Push’s national team players for example are: Bram Lomans , Matthijs Brouwer , Thom van Dijck , Joep de Mol , Floris Wortelboer , Teun Beins , Cécile Vinke and Malou Pheninckx . Breda's athletics club , A.V. Sprint  [ nl ] ,

5220-436: The invention of gunpowder rendered walls less effective, as siege cannons could then be used to blast through walls, allowing armies to simply march through. Today, the presence of former city fortifications can often only be deduced from the presence of ditches, ring roads or parks. Furthermore, some street names hint at the presence of fortifications in times past, for example when words such as "wall" or "glacis" occur. In

5307-884: The largely extant Aurelian Walls of Rome and the Theodosian Walls of Constantinople , together with partial remains elsewhere. These are mostly city gates, like the Porta Nigra in Trier or Newport Arch in Lincoln . In Central Europe, the Celts built large fortified settlements which the Romans called oppida , whose walls seem partially influenced by those built in the Mediterranean. The fortifications were continuously expanded and improved. Apart from these,

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5394-461: The least space in between them, and are rooted firmly in the ground. The top of the wall is often protruding and beset with barbed wire in order to make climbing them more difficult. These walls are usually built in straight lines and covered by watchtowers at the corners. Double walls with an interstitial "zone of fire", as the former Berlin Wall had, are now rare. In September 2014, Ukraine announced

5481-467: The like, tend to be referred to as ramparts or banks. From very early history to modern times, walls have been a near necessity for every city. Uruk in ancient Sumer ( Mesopotamia ) is one of the world's oldest known walled cities. Before that, the proto-city of Jericho in the West Bank had a wall surrounding it as early as the 8th millennium   BC. The earliest known town wall in Europe

5568-546: The main church remained. In July 1581, during the Eighty Years' War , Breda was captured in a surprise attack and siege by Spanish troops then under the command of Claudius van Barlaymont , whose sobriquet was Haultpenne. Although the city had surrendered upon the condition that it would not be plundered, the troops vented their fury upon the inhabitants. In the resulting mayhem, known as Haultpenne's Fury , over 500 citizens were killed. In March 1590, Breda fell back into

5655-432: The maximum distances are 10 kilometer. The equestrian sports event ‘Outdoor Brabant’ started out as ‘Military Breda’ in the woods around Galder and a Four-in-hand Combined driving competition, near the village Princenhage. Later these merged and both moved to the southwest of Princenhage where the event changed into ‘Breda Hippique’. The event consists of Dressage , Eventing , Show jumping , and Combined driving. For

5742-607: The modern age, such as the walled towns of Austria , walls of Tallinn , or the town walls of York and Canterbury in England, as well as Nordlingen , Dinkelsbühl and Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Germany. In Spain, Avila and Tossa del Mar hosts surviving medieval walls while Lugo has an intact Roman wall. The founding of urban centers was an important means of territorial expansion and many cities, especially in central and eastern Europe, were founded for this purpose during

5829-507: The natives experienced great difficulty in uprooting European invaders. In China, Sun Yuanhua advocated for the construction of angled bastion forts in his Xifashenji so that their cannons could better support each other. The officials Han Yun and Han Lin noted that cannons on square forts could not support each side as well as bastion forts. Their efforts to construct bastion forts, and their results, were limited. Ma Weicheng built two bastion forts in his home county, which helped fend off

5916-669: The nearly complete preservation of many monuments such as the Rothenburg ob der Tauber , Nördlingen and Dinkelsbühl . The countless small fortified towns in the Franconia region were also preserved as a consequence of this edict. Walls and fortified wall structures were still built in the modern era. They did not, however, have the original purpose of being a structure able to resist a prolonged siege or bombardment. Modern examples of defensive walls include: Additionally, in some countries, different embassies may be grouped together in

6003-406: The only German war criminals ever to be imprisoned in the Netherlands for their war crimes during the Second World War. Known as " The Breda Four ", or "Vier von Breda", they were Willy Paul Franz Lages , who was released in 1966 due to serious illness, Joseph Johann Kotalla , who died in prison in 1979, and Ferdinand aus der Fünten and Franz Fischer, who were both released in 1989 and died later

6090-400: The period of Eastern settlement . These cities are easy to recognise due to their regular layout and large market spaces. The fortifications of these settlements were continuously improved to reflect the current level of military development. While gunpowder and cannons were invented in China, China never developed wall breaking artillery to the same extent as other parts of the world. Part of

6177-528: The plot to recapture the city of Breda from the Spanish during the Eighty Years' War . In February 1590, he approached Prince Maurice with a Trojan Horse -type plan. In February 1590, during the Capture of Breda a nobleman from Cambrai, Charles de Heraugiere, under orders from Maurice of Nassau, was to make a covert reconnoiter of Breda. Disguised as a fisherman he was hoping to enter Breda and to study its weaknesses, garrison strength, and general conditions. Heraugiere contacted Adriaen van Bergen, loyal to

6264-409: The plug and cancelled future editions of the event. In 2011 not all people heard of the cancelling so around 400 motorcycles and their owners visited the city anyway. Supporters who did know about it came up with the idea of the ‘No(n)-Harley-Dag’. Despite the official cancelling, coincidentally several of Breda’s motor tour clubs held their annual tour on the third Sunday of August and drove through

6351-504: The reason is probably because Chinese walls were already highly resistant to artillery and discouraged increasing the size of cannons. In the mid-twentieth century a European expert in fortification commented on their immensity: "in China ... the principal towns are surrounded to the present day by walls so substantial, lofty, and formidable that the medieval fortifications of Europe are puny in comparison." Chinese walls were thick. The eastern wall of Ancient Linzi , established in 859 BC, had

6438-435: The same year. The municipality of Breda is divided in 11 sectors: [REDACTED] Topographic map image of the city of Breda, March 2014. Click to enlarge. Historically, economic activities were mainly industrial. Breda was a center of the food- and drink industry. Companies like Hero (lemonade), Van Melle ( Mentos ), De Faam (liquorice) and Kwatta (chocolate) are famous throughout Western Europe . Breda also had

6525-535: The size and number of cannon placements because the rooms could only be built so big. Notable surviving artillery towers include a seven layer defensive structure built in 1480 at Fougères in Brittany , and a four layer tower built in 1479 at Querfurth in Saxony. The star fort, also known as the bastion fort, trace italienne , or renaissance fortress, was a style of fortification that became popular in Europe during

6612-452: The status and independence of the communities they embraced. Existing ancient walls are almost always masonry structures, although brick and timber-built variants are also known. Depending on the topography of the area surrounding the city or the settlement the wall is intended to protect, elements of the terrain such as rivers or coastlines may be incorporated in order to make the wall more effective. Walls may only be crossed by entering

6699-621: The time of Silla until the end of the Joseon dynasty . Throughout the period of the Joseon dynasty eupseongs were modified and renovated, and new eupseongs were built, but in 1910 Japan (the occupying power of Korea) issued an order for their demolition, resulting in most being destroyed. Studies of the ruins and reconstructions of the ancient city walls are currently being undertaken at some sites. In ancient Greece , large stone walls had been built in Mycenaean Greece , such as

6786-606: The top of the walls occasionally had a roof. In addition to this, many different enhancements were made over the course of the centuries: The defensive towers of west and south European fortifications in the Middle Ages were often very regularly and uniformly constructed (cf. Ávila , Provins ), whereas Central European city walls tend to show a variety of different styles. In these cases the gate and wall towers often reach up to considerable heights, and gates equipped with two towers on either side are much rarer. Apart from having

6873-533: The tournament in the De Grolsch Veste in Enschede. Religions in Breda (2014) In 2014, the largest religion in Breda was Christianity , comprising 50.4% of its population. The next largest faith is Islam adhered to by 3.6% of residents. Religiously unaffiliated people made up 44.9% of the population. The ethnic make-up of Breda, in 2020, was as follows: Defensive wall A defensive wall

6960-447: The wall. The morning came with most of our unit still behind us, but we were beyond the wall. Behind the gate great heaps of sandbags were piled up. We 'cleared them away, removed the lock, and opened the gates, with a great creaking noise. We'd done it! We'd opened the fortress! All the enemy ran away, so we didn't take any fire. The residents too were gone. When we passed beyond the fortress wall we thought we had occupied this city. As

7047-569: The walls of the Forbidden City in Beijing were established in the early 15th century by the Yongle Emperor . According to Tonio Andrade , the immense thickness of Chinese city walls prevented larger cannons from being developed, since even industrial era artillery had trouble breaching Chinese walls. Eupseongs (Hangul: 읍성), 'city fortresses', which served both military and administrative functions, have been constructed since

7134-404: The walls of the marketplace of Chang'an were thicker than the walls of major European capitals. Aside from their immense size, Chinese walls were also structurally different from the ones built in medieval Europe. Whereas European walls were mostly constructed of stone interspersed with gravel or rubble filling and bonded by limestone mortar, Chinese walls had tamped earthen cores which absorbed

7221-597: Was "almost impervious to the efforts of horizontal fire." In fact twentieth century explosive shells had some difficulty creating a breach in tamped earthen walls. We fought our way to Nanking and joined in the attack on the enemy capital in December. It was our unit which stormed the Chunghua Gate. We attacked continuously for about a week, battering the brick and earth walls with artillery, but they never collapsed. The night of December 11, men in my unit breached

7308-487: Was built in Brabantine Gothic style with an elegant 97-metre-high (318 ft) tower, called Grote Kerk (main church) or also Onze Lieve Vrouwe Kerk (Church of Our Lady). In 1534 Henry III of Nassau-Breda rebuilt the modest medieval fortifications in impressive style. In 1534, a fire destroyed over nine tenths of the city, close to 1300 houses, churches, and chapels, and the town hall. Only 150 houses and

7395-431: Was the greatest advantage enjoyed by the star fort. As a result, sieges lasted longer and became more difficult affairs. By the 1530s the bastion fort had become the dominant defensive structure in Italy. Outside Europe, the star fort became an "engine of European expansion," and acted as a force multiplier so that small European garrisons could hold out against numerically superior forces. Wherever star forts were erected

7482-618: Was the main defense for Gelgel . For cities that did not have city walls, the least it would have had was a stockaded citadel . This wooden walled area housed the royal citadel or aristocratic compounds such as in Surakarta and Aceh . Large rammed earth walls were built in ancient China since the Shang dynasty ( c.  1600 –1050   BC), as the capital at ancient Ao had enormous walls built in this fashion (see siege for more info). Although stone walls were built in China during

7569-438: Was to build relatively low and thick walls of packed earth, which could both withstand the force of cannon balls and support their own, defensive cannon. Chinese wall-building practice was, by happenstance, extremely resistant to all forms of battering. This held true into the twentieth century, when even modern explosive shells had some difficulty in breaking through tamped earth walls. The Chinese Wall Theory essentially rests on

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