Battle of Nördlingen

Overview

The Battle of Nördlingen, fought over two days from 5 to 6 September 1634, was a major battle of the Thirty Years' War. An Imperial-Spanish force led by the Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand and Ferdinand of Hungary inflicted a crushing defeat on the Swedish-German army led by Gustav Horn and Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Battle of Nördlingen on 5 September 1634 resulted in a decisive engagement between a combined Spanish-Imperial force of 33,000 and a Swedish army of 25,700. The disparity in casualties — 3,500 on the Spanish-Imperial side against 12,000–14,000 Swedish — indicates a severe Swedish defeat. The Swedish commanders present included Gustav Horn and Bernhard of Saxe-Weimar, while the opposing side was led by Cardinal-Infante Ferdinand, Ferdinand of Hungary, Matthias Gallas, Ottavio Piccolomini, and others. A Swedish loss of this scale, coming more than two years into the Swedish phase of the Thirty Years' War, would have significantly weakened Swedish military capacity in the German theater and affected the broader Protestant position within the conflict.

Forces & casualties

Commanders (9)