Fortifying Kehl on the Rhine River

Finely executed plan of the fortifications at Kehl by G. Drescheribe, Captain of the Artillery and Engineer, in 1726.

The fortifications at Kehl were originally constructed by Vauban in 1688. Its strategic importance was such that it changed hands a number of times over the next 100 years, ceded to by France to Baden in 1697 and then taken by the French in 1703, 1733, 1793 and 1796, and later by the Austrians.

The village and fortress of Kehl was located near the Margraviate of Baden (now part of the German state of Baden-Württemberg, but then part of the Holy Roman Empire), just across the Rhine River from the French city of Strasbourg. The fortress at Kehl, and that at Philippsburg to the north, provided strategic military control over major crossings of the upper Rhine, which formed the boundary between French-controlled Alsace and the various principalities of the empire.

The responsibility to maintain and defend the fortress belonged to the Swabian Circle, which was largely dominated by the Duchy of Württemberg.

The maker of the map is likely Gottfried or Geoffrey Drescheribe, who was also an Architect in the employ of the Duke of Wurtemberg.