Vallkärra

Stångby

Skälshög

Stångby church

Odarslöv

Svenstorp

Håstad

Väggarp

Lilla Harrie

V. HobyKävlinge River

Krutmöllan

Rinnebäcksvad

Lilla Harrie church

Oscars-hem

Nöbbelöv

Norra Nöbbelöv church

Gunnesbo

Annehem

Norra Fäladen

Lundagård

Lerbäckshög

LUNDKävlingevägen/Getingevägen

Monument Park

Norra Ringen

Kävlingevägen

104

E 22

◄ The monument to the Battle of Lund was erected in 1883 and is designed by ar-chitect Helgo Zet-tervall. The mon-ument is intended to commemorate the reconciliation and fellowship between Denmark and Sweden. De-spite their many wars in the past, the two countries can now live in peace.

THE BATTLE OF LUND

1676MAPS AND GUIDE TO THE BATTLEFIELD

Monument Park. Monument to the fallen. Sign summarising the battle. Lerbäckshög. The intersection of Kävlinge­vägen/Getingevägen. To the north of this intersection lay Väderkvarnshöjden (Windmill height) and the gallows hill. The battle began here. Lundagård. The Cathedral and Kungs­huset. Information about Bishop Peder Winstrup. Skälshög. The Danish camp lay here.  Svenstorp Castle. The Danish king had his headquarters here and Charles XI stayed overnight here after the battle. Lilla Harrie. The Swedish camp lay here. The sign is inside the cemetery. Rinnebäcksvad. This is where the Swedes crossed the Kävlinge River. Krutmöllan. Here the retreating Danes fled across the Kävlinge River. Norra Nöbbe­löv church. From the cemetery you can see out across the field where the final battle was fought. One of the mass graves from the battle has been found at the church.

INFORMATION SIGNS FOR THE BATTLE OF LUND

The Battle of Lund was a battle during the Scanian War that occurred on 4 December 1676 in an area north of Lund. The battle was between a Danish army under King Christian V and the Swedish army under King Charles XI. It is one of the bloodiest battles ever fought on Nordic soil. The war was an attempt by Denmark to regain the provinces of Skåne, Halland and Blekinge, which had been lost to Sweden by the Treaty of Roskilde in 1658.

Charles XI returning to the battlefield, a painting by Johan Philip Lemke. ▼

To retake Skåne, Halland and Blekinge, which had been lost to Sweden by the Peace of Ros kilde in 1658, Denmark declared war on Sweden in the

autumn of 1675. In June 1676 a Danish army landed near Råå south of Helsingborg and quickly recaptured Skåne and Blekinge. The only place that remained under Swedish control was Malmö, which had strong fortifications. The Swedish forces in Skåne were weak and had to retreat to Småland.

In August 1676 the Danish and Swedish forces met in battle outside Halmstad. The Swedes won and the Danish army retreated down into Skåne to set up camp there for the winter and avoid more fighting that year. The Swedes followed and in November the two armies were each camped separately north of Lund, in sight of each other but separated by the Kävlinge River.

At the end of November/beginning of December, the sit­uation for the Swedes was desperate. Their supplies were in great shortage and diseases were spreading among the soldiers. It was then decided to bet everything on one attack on the Danish camp. On the night of 4 December the Swedish army crossed the frozen river. The Swedish army consisted of about 8,000 men and the Danish army of about 13,000 men. Both armies were led by their kings: Sweden’s Charles XI and Denmark’s Christian V.

The monum

ent in Lund, photo by Ingemar D Kristiansen/Bilder i Syd. Front page: Painting by Johan Philip Lem

ke. Portrait of Karl XI by David Klöcker Ehrenstrahl.

If you would like to learn more about the battle and also enjoy a guided tour around the battlefield you can download the app “The Battle of Lund” which has

been produced by Katedralskolan. In it, both the battle and society in the 17th century are described via films, animations, pictures and texts. The app is currently available for iOS and an Android version will be launched in June 2018. The app is available in Swedish, English, Danish and Spanish.

This folder is published by Lund Tourist Center as a guide to the battlefield.

Text: Göran Larsson. Graphic design, maps and illustrations: Lönegård & Co.

For more information about the Battle of Lund see www.visitlund.se

AllhelgonaklostretVäderkvarnshöjden

Gallows hillLerbäckshög

0 1 2 km

Rinnebäcks-möllan

Krut-möllan

Nöbbelöv

Vallkärra

Skälshög

Odarslöv

Svenstorp

Örtofta

Benstorp

Lilla Harrie

Stångby

Håstad

Hoby

SWEDISH CAMP

DANISH CAMP

Kävlin ge River

Nöbbelöv

Vallkärra

Gallows hill

Kungs-högen

Swedishforces

Danishforces

Church

Village

Mill

Older burial mound

Castle

During the afternoon the Swedish forces are hard pressed and appear to be about to lose the battle.

At 15:15 Charles XI returns with 1,000 cavalry to the battlefield.

Charles XI breaks through the Danish lines and gets the Swedish troops at Väder-kvarnshöjden to surround the Danes.

To avoid being surrounded the Danish forces turn northwards.

In the late afternoon the final struggle occurred in the area near Nöbbelöv and Vallkärra.

At around ten o’clock the Danish left wing and the Danish King Christian V flee. Swedish troops led by King Charles XI go in pursuit. The Danes cross the Kävlinge River and con-tinue on towards Lands-krona.

During the night the Swedish army crosses the Kävlinge River. Not until 7:00 does the Danish army notice the approaching Swedes. The armies head south towards Lund.

At 8.30 the forces have reached Väder-kvarnshöjden (Wind-mill height) north of Allhelgonaklostret (All Saints Monastery).

During the morning heavy fighting occurs along Kävlingevägen between Vallkärra and Lund.

Lund

Lund

THE COURSE OF THE BATTLE (the times are approximate)

02:30: The Swedish army left its camp at Lilla Harrie.

04:00: The army began crossing the Kävlinge River on the ice at Rinnebäcksvad.

07:00: The first Swedish troops were close to Stångby church. At this time the Danes discovered what had hap­pened and quickly prepared for full combat. The Swedes then had to abandon their plan to attack the Danish camp and instead continued on towards Lund. The Danes also chose to march towards Lund from their camp to the east of the Swedes.

08:30: The two armies’ vanguards met at Väderkvarns­höjden (Windmill height) at what was then Lund’s north­ern city boundary. After a brief battle the Swedes seized the height of land. Immediately after this initial skirmish both armies’ main forces met, each with 2,000 cavalry, between Väderkvarns höjden (now the Bryggeriet area) and Lerbäckshög (at the monument).

10:00: After heavy fighting the Danes were pushed back and began to flee towards their camp at Skälshög and on towards the Kävlinge River, pursued by the Swedes led by King Charles XI. Most of the Danish troops, including King Christian V, escaped across the river and continued on towards Landskrona.

Despite the Danish superiority, the Swedish army had won the Battle of Lund but the loss of human life was terrible. The Danish losses amounted to at least 6,000 men and the Swedish ones to 2,500 to 3,000. Losing up to half of the total number of combatants is very rare in the history of warfare.

Due to the intense cold it was not possible to dig any graves. Instead the bodies had to lie at the church ceme­teries until the beginning of February 1677. The dead were buried in mass graves without any distinction between the Danish and Swedish soldiers. One such mass grave was discovered in 1995 in Norra Nöbbelöv church cemetery. A monument now marks the spot.

If the Swedes had lost the Battle of Lund, Denmark would probably have won the war. Instead the victory meant that the Swedes were able to stay in Skåne and continue what would be known as the Scanian War. The fighting continued until September 1679 when peace was agreed in Lund. The war changed nothing; the borders remained unchanged.

Finally the ice gave way and hundreds of Danish soldiers drowned. At this time Charles XI and the Swedish leader­ship were far away from the actual battlefield at Lund.

10:00–12:00: The remnants of the two armies began fighting along the road to Kävlinge between Vallkärra and Lerbäckshög. Here the Danes had the advantage and the Swedish forces were hard pressed. After fierce fighting both sides pulled back to reorganise their forces and then moved southwards towards Lund.

13:30–15:00: The fighting continued immediately north of Lund. The Swedes were hard pressed and Danes prepared a final attack to give the Swedes the final blow. Then some­thing happened that completely changed the situation.

At about 15:15 Charles XI surprisingly returned to the battlefield with about 1,000 cavalry. In order not to be surrounded the Danes turned northwards to encounter the Swedish forces. The Danes’ superior numbers stopped the Swedes but the king himself managed to get through the Danish lines to reach Lund. He got the Swedish forces there to attack northwards towards the Danes, who were now surrounded by Swedish troops.

15:30–16:30: The final struggle occurred in the terrain between Norra Nöbbelöv and Vallkärra. The Danish forces were now being squeezed from all sides by the Swedes. There followed brief but incredibly bloody hand­to­hand

fighting between the exhausted troops. The day drew to a close and in the growing darkness the remnants

of the Danish army managed to escape and retreat towards Landskrona.

Lund 1676. A detail from Erik Dahlbergh’s depiction of the battle. ▼

A Swedish cavalryman from the Battle of Lund. In his hat is the wisp of straw that was used to identify the Swedish soldiers; at this time there were not yet any consistent uniforms. The Danes wore a white armband. ►Pikemen were soldiers equipped

with four-metre-long pikes, which were mainly intended to stop cavalry attacks. ▼