Johan Caspar von Cicignon (c. 1625 - 12 December 1696) was a

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

-born

soldier A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer. Etymology The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...

and

military engineer Military engineering is loosely defined as the art, science, and practice of designing and building military works and maintaining lines of military transport and military communications. Military engineers are also responsible for logistics b ...

who spent most of his career in the service of

Denmark–Norway Denmark–Norway (Danish and Norwegian: ) was an early modern multi-national and multi-lingual real unionFeldbæk 1998:11 consisting of the Kingdom of Denmark, the Kingdom of Norway (including the then Norwegian overseas possessions: the Faroe I ...

. He is most associated with the reconstruction of

Trondheim Trondheim ( , , ; sma, Tråante), historically Kaupangen, Nidaros and Trondhjem (), is a city and municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. As of 2020, it had a population of 205,332, was the third most populous municipality in Norway, and ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

after the great fire of 1681.

Biography

Johan Caspar von Cicignon was born in

Oberwampach Oberwampach ( lb, Uewerwampech) is a village in the commune of Wincrange, in northern Luxembourg. , the village had a population of 172. Oberwampach was a commune in the canton of Clervaux until 1 January 1978, when it was merged with the commun ...

, a village in the commune of

Wincrange Wincrange ( lb, Wëntger, german: Wintger) is a commune and village in northern Luxembourg, in the canton of Clervaux. The commune is the largest in Luxembourg by geographic area. Wincrange was formed on 1 January 1978 from the former communes ...

, in northern

. He was the son of Georg Friedrich de Cicignon til Mechern og Oberwampach and Marie de Lachen dite Wampach. Dating from 1657, he was in the Venetian military service. In 1662 he entered the Danish-Norwegian service and rose to the position of

Major General Major general (abbreviated MG, maj. gen. and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. It is derived from the older rank of sergeant major general. The disappearance of the "sergeant" in the title explains the apparent confusion of a ...

. He became commandant at the

Bergenhus Fortress Bergenhus fortress ( no, Bergenhus festning) is a fortress located in Bergen, Norway. Located at the entrance of Bergen harbour, the castle is one of the oldest and best preserved stone fortifications in Norway. History The fortress contains ...

in early 1664. As such he was involved in the

Battle of Vågen The Battle of Vågen was a naval battle between a Dutch merchant and treasure fleet; and an English flotilla of warships in August 1665 as part of the Second Anglo-Dutch War. The battle took place in Vågen (meaning "the bay, voe" in Norweg ...

in 1665, when an

English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...

flotilla attacked a Dutch treasure fleet sheltering in the bay of

Bergen Bergen (), historically Bjørgvin, is a city and municipality in Vestland county on the west coast of Norway. , its population is roughly 285,900. Bergen is the second-largest city in Norway. The municipality covers and is on the peninsula of ...

. During the

Scanian War The Scanian War ( da, Skånske Krig, , sv, Skånska kriget, german: Schonischer Krieg) was a part of the Northern Wars involving the union of Denmark–Norway, Brandenburg and Sweden. It was fought from 1675 to 1679 mainly on Scanian soil, ...

from 1675 to 1679, he served first in

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label=Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schwerin ...

, where he distinguished himself at the siege of

Wismar Wismar (; Low German: ''Wismer''), officially the Hanseatic City of Wismar (''Hansestadt Wismar'') is, with around 43,000 inhabitants, the sixth-largest city of the northeastern German state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, and the fourth-largest city ...

in 1675. Cicignon was commander in

Fredrikstad Fredrikstad (; previously ''Frederiksstad''; literally "Fredrik's Town") is a city and municipality in Viken county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the city of Fredrikstad. The city of Fredrikstad was founded in 15 ...

and engaged in the Battle of

Rügen Rügen (; la, Rugia, ) is Germany's largest island. It is located off the Pomeranian coast in the Baltic Sea and belongs to the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The "gateway" to Rügen island is the Hanseatic city of Stralsund, where ...

in autumn 1677. A fire in Trondheim on 19 April 1681 (''Hornemansbrannen'') led to an almost total reconstruction of the city. Johan Caspar von Cicignon laid out plans for the reconstruction of Trondheim and fortifications.

Kristiansten Fortress Kristiansten Fortress ( no, Kristiansten Festning, historically spelled ''Christiansten'') is located on a hill east of the city of Trondheim in Trøndelag county, Norway, named after Christian V of Denmark-Norway. It was built after the city fir ...

was built after his plans. Cicignon's

baroque The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...

style is still used as a guideline in much of Trondheim's city centre and in later years there have been quite the debate over whether or not the plan's intentions are being stretched by entrepreneurs trying to profit from infringing the plan's strict building boundaries.''Johan Caspar Cicignon (1625*-1696)'' (300 år med Cicignon. Trondhjems Historiske Forening, 1981

Honours

In 1686 he was appointed Knight of the

Order of the Dannebrog The Order of the Dannebrog ( da, Dannebrogordenen) is a Danish order of chivalry instituted in 1671 by Christian V. Until 1808, membership in the order was limited to fifty members of noble or royal rank, who formed a single class known a ...

Monument A monument is a type of structure that was explicitly created to commemorate a person or event, or which has become relevant to a social group as a part of their remembrance of historic times or cultural heritage, due to its artistic, his ...

s for Cicignon can be found in both

and Trondheim.

Personal life

Cicignon lived his later years on his farm Trosvik in Fredrikstad. He was married to Anne Sophie von Hagedorn (1636–1690) and they had a son Frederik Christoph de Cicignon (1667–1719) who became a major general and was commander of the

Fredrikstad Fortress Fredrikstad fortress (''Fredrikstad festning'') was a fortification in Fredrikstad, Norway. It was the base of the Østfold Regiment, with defence related responsibilities for the east side of Oslofjord. History Fredrikstad Fortress was construct ...

. Johan Caspar von Cicignon was also the grandfather of Ulrik Frederik de Cicignon (1698–1772) who was sheriff in

during the ''

Strilekrigen Strilekrigen was a farmer's rebellion that took place in Bergen in Norway (at the time in a union with Denmark) on 18 April 1765, when about 2,000 common people from Nordhordland poured into Bergen to protest against the harsh action of the ex ...

'' in 1765.

Kristiansten Fortress

Cicignon made the plans for the construction of Kristiansten Fortress in Trondheim in 1681–1685. It was built after the city fire of Trondheim in 1681 to protect the city against attack from the east. Construction was finished in 1685. It fulfilled its purpose in 1718 when Swedish forces laid siege against Trondheim. The fortress was decommissioned in 1816 by king Charles XIV John.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cicignon, Johan Caspar Von Luxembourgian soldiers Danish generals Norwegian Army generals 1620s births 1696 deaths People from Wincrange Knights of the Order of the Dannebrog Date of birth unknown People from Fredrikstad