Siege of Kolberg (Seven Years' War)

For other uses, see Battle of Kolberg.

Siege of Kolberg
Part of Seven Year's War
Date 1761 Location Kolberg, Prussia Result Russia occupies Kolberg
Belligerents
Prussia	Russia

Heinrich Sigismund von der Heyde (second from right), depicted on a memorial of Frederick II of Prussia in Berlin. Heyde, Prussian commander during the battle of Kolberg, is holding a map of the fortress.

The Siege of Kolberg took place between August and December 1761 in Kolberg, Brandenburg-Prussian Pomerania (now Kołobrzeg) during the Seven Years' War. Russian forces besieged and captured the city from the Prussians, after two previous sieges in 1759 and 1760 (26.8.-18.9.) had been unsuccessful. As a consequence, Prussia had lost her last major port on the Baltic Coast.

Many saw the loss of Kolberg foreshadowing the total collapse of the Prussian war effort, though this did not prove to be the case. The unexpected death of Empress Elisabeth of Russia led to Russia making peace and returning Kolberg to Prussia.

See also

• Pomerania during the Early Modern Age
• Province of Pomerania (1653-1815)

Bibliography

• Simms, Brendan. Three Victories and a Defeat: The Rise and Fall of the First British Empire. Penguin Books (2008)
• Buchholz, Werner, ed. (2002). Pommern (in German). Siedler. ISBN 3886807800.
• Burk, Kurt (1995). Handbuch zur Geschichte der Festungen des historischen deutschen Ostens. Biblio. ISBN 3764824549.
• West, Fred. Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766. Faber and Faber, 2001