The Inn at Schirlenhof

I have made a model of the inn in the Alsacian hamlet of Schirlenhof that came to fame in 1870 in the early stages of the Franco-Prussian War as a result of the reconnaissance of Count Ferdinand von Zeppelin...yes that Zeppelin...the one who invented and built the famous dirigibles. 

A Württemberger, Zeppelin was born in 1838 and entered the Württemberg Army in 1855. In 1862 he took leave and travelled to the United States and joined the Army of the Potomac as an observer where he witnessed the efforts of Professor Lowe and his observation balloon in the Peninsula Campaign.  The next year he travelled north to Minnesota where he experienced his first ascent in a balloon, an experience that started him on his path to develop dirigibles.

In 1865 he was appointed adjutant to the King of Württemberg. The next year he served in the Austro-Prussian War as a staff officer, a position he continued to hold in the War against France.

In the first days of the war in 1870 General von Beyer, commanding the Baden Division, was responsible for the observation of the Rhine Frontier which was within III Army's intended zone of operations. Since most of the cavalry was still in the process of mobilisation, Beyer was struggling to gather detailed information in the situation west of the Rhine. The only enemy activity observed had been that of the customs guards so on 24 July he ordered Zeppelin to make a reconnaissance with three Baden officers and three dragoon troopers.  Moving swiftly across the Frontier near Lauterbourg Zeppelin’s patrol rode through northern Alsace noting French encampments, monitoring telegraph lines, and counting unit strengths around Wissembourg and along the Vosges foothills. Zeppelin quickly determined that French forces were still largely disorganised, dispersed, and unprepared for an immediate offensive across the border. 

However, both horses and men were exhausted after nearly 48 hours in the saddle and riding nearly 70 kilometers. They were in need of  rest and at around 8:00 AM on 26 July the patrol stopped at an inn in the hamlet of Schirlenhof. Zeppelin ordered a brief pause to feed the horses and gather fresh provisions from the innkeeper.

While the officers were inside eating breakfast and discussing their return route, French forces caught wind of their presence. A squadron of French 12th Chasseurs à Cheval, alerted by local villagers, silently surrounded the inn courtyard.

French troopers charged into the courtyard, blocking the exits. The Baden officers dashed outside to reach their tethered mounts. Lieutenant von Winsloe was shot and killed during the initial volley, while two other officers and several troopers were wounded or overpowered. However, Zeppelin, who had stepped out toward the rear stables to check on the horses just moments before the attack, made his escape. He sprang onto a saddled French horse, slashed his way past two closing Chasseurs, and broke through the surrounding ring at a full gallop.

Pursued for several miles by French cavalry, Zeppelin outpaced his pursuers through the dense Niederbronn forest. Exhausted, riding solo, and navigating solely by map and compass, he successfully re-crossed the German frontier later that afternoon and reported to Beyer that there were no significant enemy forces north of Wœrth. This now largely forgotten episode bought Zeppelin national renown entering him into German military lore, establishing a reputation for personal daring.

Zeppelin continued to serve with the Württemberg Division for the duration of the war. Later he commanded the 19th Uhlans before taking a position as Württemberg's envoy to Berlin. Returning to  army in 1890 he commanded a cavalry brigade in the manoeuvers of that year, but handled them so poorly that he was forced to resign. He dedicated the rest of his life (he died in 1917) to the development of the Zeppelin dirigibles.

Parts of the inn remain today, with its basic form much as it was at the time of the skirmish.

A contemporary illustration of the skirmish

A post war photograph from the front, around 1900, that was possibly the reference for previous image. 

 

An drawing of Zeppelin escaping through the back of the Inn 

The rear of the inn also around 1900, a gabled extension has been added on the left

From these images I have sketched a footprint for my model. The intended base size may change a little once the basic buildings have been dressed. 

Having made that sketch I found two more aspects that confused me a little. 

This postcard of the action confuses the issue by showing what appears to be a barn in the photograph as a dwelling (I like the touch in the lower left of the chasseur leading a little girl away from the action to the safety of her mother). 

Then there is this image of the property in March 2023 (a screen capture from Google Street View). The dwelling/barn shown in the other images is gone and the rue principe runs through where it stood, but it clarifies something that I wasn't sure about in the first and second images which was whether the stables were actually connected to the main building, which they clearly are/were and that the main part of the inn was actually longer than I had designed. So the inn was extended another 30mm and the stables were then physically connected to it. The other building would continue to be just an open barn.

So here is the finished item.