The Nashville daily union. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1862-1866, 1864-02-25
The DannewerIr.

At- D44Ac acGAs tAt u4tWalA OF
HOlstsin, is thus described ia . letter
from Fiensburg: The DannsWerk Is Of
very ancient origin. Il is situate at the
extreme southern part of the Duchy Of
SchlesWig, and is now an enormous
earthWofk that stretches almost across
the entire country. The length Of the
peninsula of SchlesWig Holstein TO the
end Of JutlaRd, is said to be near three
hundred miles so that it extends al
most as far IS the base line Of our coun-
try from the North Foreland TO Lands
End. The breadth Of the peninsula.
however, Is but ons-third Of It's length,
and the DinneWerk is forii6cati0n that
reaches very nearly across the land from
the German Ocean 10 the Baltic. This
border wall" is said to have been erect
ed in the ninth century, aud according
70 the accounts given Of il in "Olaf
Tryggveson's Saga" it was built Of
wood, stone, and earth. In the year
937, the wall, we are told, was strength
ened By Queen Thyra, whom the people,
in their thankiulness for the national de-
fence, christenod Dsnab0d, which, liter
ally translated, means the pride Of TIE
Danes; and IS = proof Of the extreme
antiquity of the structure, / have myself
seen at Flensburg a splendid collection
Of flint arrow heads and axes, which
have been collected from the bAFroWs or
earth mounds in the immediate neigh
bOrhOod. There were spear points
wrought cot Of splinters of flint no thick
er than the best steel. Here, too, we
were shown the knuckle-bons-liks stones
which had been used TO separate the fine
layers Of siliceous earth from the solid
mass, and which were found embedded
in thrse same barroWs with the very
flint chip beside them that the people,
thousands Of years before, had broken
from the integral block. Here, mere
over, we saw the slabs Of stone that the
old Oelts had used to grind their spear
heads on the sharpest points, grOoVed
With the tolls Of the Wofkmen, and
seeming IS If they were destined to tell
the present age how this wonderfully
fine workmanship Of the hardest posBi-
bic materisl Was executed. Indeed, in
this collection Of works long precedent
to history, saw rrOwheads made out
OF flint, hardly thicker than mothpr-of-
pearl, and wrought as sharp as = needle.
The fortress consists % the present
day (wilhout going into al the niceties
of historical detail) Of three enormous
earthwoFks stretching across the entire
breadth Of the land. They are so AZ
ranged IS to form the neck, or funnel,
with long OutwOrk to protect the mar
row channel through which tho troops |
are ultimately intended TO be driven. |
Towards the Baltic, or East SEES, there |
runs the "Oster- Wolden," Cor east ram
part,) this lies towards the EckeBford," |
and is sometimes called the sOamel- !
Dannewerk." 1t is about two English |
miles long. Che earthWorks being from
four feet to five feet high, and sixteen
yards broad, and besst with ditch, the
depth Of which varies from six feet 70
ten feet. Beyond this is the great bay
formed by the river Sehley, which IS
so wide that no troops could possibly at
tempt to pass it Stretching immedi-
afely 10 front Of this is the Kurera
ben" which Is upwards Of . mile Ia
length, beginning 81 the end Of the Sell
ker Lake IL is from ten 20 twelve feet
broad, and from four to six feet high. |
Behind this lies the great "Dannewerk" |
itself, which consists Of "a earthwork |
not less than fourteen miles long. In /
some parts it is from thirty feet to thirty |
six feet high, and the rAmparts are
from sixteen feet 10 twenty feet !
broad. The whole Of these eArthWorks |
are immediately in connection, from one i
side of the peninsular to the other, with /
the river Schley on the eastern side, and /
with the river Treene, which falls into /
the Northern Ocean (; 80 that the Danish
forces have it within their power to food 4
no less than Ga square miles Of land 10
front Of the great bulWark Of SchlesWig /
at 4 moments notice. "But," said the
Saxon soldiers to the writer, "Whst are
the uses Of she sluice gates in this time
Of f'oslp Ga talking with the Danish
engineers, however, they told US they
had flooded The country > fortnight be-
fn4e with the thinnest psllicle Of ice, and
let the water out immediately sfterRard
80 that any troops attempting to cross
the country would be moved down By 1
the artillery Ike corn. Indeed, from
What heard during my star in 5chles- |
wig, there is not the least doubt that 10
600 men ccBld hold the DA0neWerk
against 100000 opposing troops and
from what l saw myself Of the f0rtidca-
ton, and heard from the engineers IS 10
the means Ofhooding the country, either
with thin sheet Of ice or sloDga Of water,
AN convinced that il would require 81
strong an army Is united Germany could
possibly muster 70 Wrsnt SchlssEig from
DsnmaFk.