Eger and the Castle of Eger 1704 - Temporary exhibition of the drawings of Count Ferdinand von Zinzendorf, commander of the Castle of Eger
In 2016, in the Kriegsarchiv in Vienna, and in 2019 in the Czech National Library in Prague, pen drawings depicting the Castle of Eger were found. The drawings were made by Count Ferdinand Zinzendorf, the commander of the imperial garrison of the Castle of Eger, who illustrated his diary about the siege of Kuruc in 1703-1705 with them. To record the battles of the siege castle, the count drew an almost complete panorama of the castle buildings, the city of Eger and the surrounding countryside.
The pictures owe their unparalleled historical value to two things. On the one hand, these drawings are currently the oldest authentic depictions of the castle and the city, as we know that their creator was present and wrote down the actual view. On the other hand, although floor plans and floor plans remain from the 16th century. century, but we did not learn anything about the appearance and image of the castle from these. Ferdinand Zinzendorf's drawings, however, reveal that the Eger fortress was in some places even 2-3 meters higher than the ones visible today, with beautifully laid bastions, modernly built loopholes, and watchtowers. The work of the castle captain also has practical value, as the designers have already used his representations for the restoration of the Zárkándy bastion.
The drawings preserved similarly interesting and important data about the city of Eger. From them, we can learn about the route of the now-disappeared city wall, the location and construction of bastions and gates. We can see the churches that were still standing or were in ruins, and there were no less than five minarets in the city at that time. But the captain also immortalized the street structure of the northern part of the city, marking the neighborhoods that fell victim to the siege. We also learn a lot about the natural environment. The hills surrounding the city are surprisingly barren, trees, bushes or vines are only scattered are around the settlement.
That is why it is so surprising that there are still extensive forested areas inside the city. Some of the things immortalized in Commander Zinzendorf's drawings can still be found in Eger's cityscape to this day, but others have disappeared without a trace. Visitors can get to know the exciting details of the drawings that await further discovery at the temporary exhibition that will open on October 16, 2023, in Gárdonyi Géza square.
