Dieler Schanzen, Medieval fortress in Weener, Germany

Dieler Schanzen is a fortress in Weener along the Ems River, extending across several kilometers with a network of ramparts, ditches, and fortified positions. The complex demonstrates different defensive elements that worked together as a coordinated system.

Construction began in the 14th century as a defensive response to regional threats, and the site was later abandoned in the 17th century. The fortification evolved over time to meet changing military needs.

This fortification marked a regional boundary and remains important to local identity and memory today. Visitors can still see the remaining earthworks and understand how the defensive system shaped the area's character.

The site lies about a kilometre south of Diele and is now farmland, so the double rampart and ditches of the Jemgumer Zwinger survive only as shallow hollows in the grass. Two steles by the artist Frouke Roukema, placed at the nearby fire station at the entrance to the Schanzenweg, explain the fortification's history since 2015. The grounds are still barely accessible and are to be opened up for visitors.

The main redoubt, the Jemgumer Zwinger, had two ring-shaped moats about 16 metres wide and a double earth rampart three to four metres high, with four corner bastions for guns. Two sluices allowed the surrounding land to be flooded deliberately. Up to 400 soldiers were once stationed here, though in the 17th century the garrison sometimes numbered only seven men.