GCVYHB Death - Past and Present (Traditional Cache) in Skåne, Sweden created by Bolinder

This cache has been archived.

Toa Norik: [i]This cache has been archived by a Swedish reviewer.[/i]

Hej,

För ett tag sedan frågade jag dig om dina planer för denna cache och det är nu tid för arkivering.

Om du vill reparera/återställa den någon gång i framtiden är du välkommen att ta kontakt med oss, lämpligen via http://swedenreviewers.se/kontakt.aspx Om din cache då följer gällande riktlinjer så avarkiverar jag eller någon av mina kollegor den gärna åt dig.

Hälsningar,
Toa Norik (reviewer)

GCVYHB ▼

A cache by Bolinder Message this owner

Hidden : 5/7/2006

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: regular (regular)

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Geocache Description:

Watch your step - There's blood in the ground!

This is a place where death is central. People were buried here as early as the Bronze Age and the cemetary of today was opened in 1985. Two years earlier the remains of 2,100 medieval citizens of Lund were moved here from the area Repslagaren in central Lund. They were found during construction work and were reburied here under an outline of stones taken from the church S:t Stefan where they originally were put to rest.

A lot more people died here in the morning of December 4 1676 when one of the worst battles of all times was fought between Swedes and Danes in this valley. After crossing the stream at Rinnebäck by Kävlinge (see Skånska kriget - GCHDQV by 5M Lindgren) the Swedish centre arrived here about 10 am. The Swedish commander Martin Schulz von Ascheraden then noticed that the Danish centre were catching up and ordered his men to turn left and get ready to fight. His Danish colleague Joachim von Schack made a similar manoeuvre on the slope where the railroad runs today.

The fight began with an artillery duel and the superior Danish artillery with 56 guns compared to 8 Swedish caused severe losses among the Swedes. When the guns ceased fire the infantry on both sides attacked each other and during the fierce battle the Swedish guns were lost to the Danes. Most of the Swedes then had to pull back and were not able to break through the Danish lines until reinforcements arrived at noon. Supported by cavalry the Swedes managed to dissolve the remains of the Danish centre.

While the few survivors from both sides pulled back to regroup the battle continued with other forces South and later West of this area for a few hours. The valley was calm and the crying from wounded soldiers stopped as more and more of them froze to death when the darkness arrived in the afternoon. According to official Swedish reports 8,993 dead were found on the battlefields North of Lund which makes the Battle of Lund one of the bloodiest ever in Europe. More than 40% killed on the battlefield was an immense figure at that time, when losses above 10% were rare even at decisive defeats. Those figures were not reached again until World War One at the Western Front in Belgium and France.

The cache is a tribute to the people who fought and died here. It is also a tribute to the people buried here - Bronze Age men or women, medieval citizens of Lund, people from more recent times and my father. It is a one litre white plastic box hidden in a black plastic bag.

If the main gates to the area are closed there is a small gate next to the railway that is always open. Just follow the road along the fence to the Right from the main gates and you will find it.