Atlas of Battles

battle, major, early modern

Battle of Breitenfeld

Battle of Breitenfeld was a battle fought on 17 September 1631 at Breitenfeld, in what is now Germany. It was part of the Thirty Years' War, which ran from 1618 to 1648. The recorded result: Swedish-Saxon victory.

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Kärtchen zur Schlacht bei Breitenfeld
Kärtchen zur Schlacht bei Breitenfeld. Unknown authorUnknown author, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
Fought17 September 1631
WhereBreitenfeld, Germany51.400N, 12.333E
OutcomeSwedish-Saxon victory
Part ofThirty Years' War1618 to 1648

Where it sits in the Thirty Years' War

Siege of Pilsen, 1618Siege of České Budějovice, 1618Battle of Lomnice, 1618Battle of Humenné, 1619Battle of Vienna, 1620Palatinate campaign, 1620Siege of Bad Kreuznach, 1620Capture of Oppenheim, 1620Capture of Bacharach, 1620Siege of Frankenthal, 1621Battle of Mingolsheim, 1622Battle of Wimpfen, 1622Battle of Höchst, 1622Siege of Heidelberg, 1622Battle of Fleurus, 1622Capture of Mannheim, 1622Battle of Stadtlohn, 1623Relief of Genoa, 1625Battle of Dessau Bridge, 1626Battle of Lutter, 1626Siege of Saint-Martin-de-Ré, 1627Skirmish near Barnim, 1627Battle of Heiligenhafen, 1627Siege of Stralsund, 1628Battle of Wolgast, 1628Battle of L'Anse-aux-Papillons, 1629Battle of St. Kitts, 1629Battle of Trzciana, 1629Siege of Wolgast (1630), 1630Battle of Falkenberg, 1630Assault on Greifenhagen, 1630Siege of Malchin, 1631Siege of Demmin, 1631Battle of Frankfurt an der Oder, 1631Sack of Magdeburg, 1631Battle of Werben, 1631Battle of Breitenfeld, 1631Battle of Rain, 1632Siege of Nuremberg, 1632Battle of Wiesloch, 1632Battle of Fürth, 1632Battle of the Alte Veste, 1632Battle of Lützen, 1632Siege of Schweidnitz, 1633Battle of Oldendorf, 1633Battle of Pfaffenhoffen, 1633Battle of Pfaffenhofen, 1633Relief of Konstanz, 1633Siege of Rheinfelden, 1633Siege of Nymburk, 1634Battle at Liegnitz, 1634Siege of La Mota, 1634Siege of Minden, 1634Battle of Nördlingen, 1634Battle of Strasbourg Bridge, 1634Battle of Les Illes Lerins, 1635Battle of Les Avins, 1635Siege of Leuven, 1635Battle of Dömitz, 1635Battle of Haselünne, 1636Battle of Tornavento, 1636Second siege of Corbie, 1636Battle of Wittstock, 1636Battle of Les Illes Lerins, 1637Battle of Martignat, 1637Battle of Cornod, 1637Siege of Saint-Amour, 1637Siege of Lons-le-Saunier, 1637Battle of Rheinfelden, 1638Siege of Saint-Omer, 1638Battle of Palafrugell, 1638Battle of Wittenweiher, 1638Siege of Breisach, 1638Battle of Thann, 1638Battle of Vlotho, 1638Battle of Chemnitz, 1639Relief of Thionville, 1639Siege of Salses, 1639Siege of Landsberg an der Warthe, 1639Siege of Salses, 1639Battle of Salses-le-Château, 1639Battle of Sant Celoni, 1640Siege of Turin, 1640Siege of Arras, 1640Battle of Riebelsdorf Hill, 1640Battle of Martorell, 1641Battle of Preßnitz, 1641Battle of Wolfenbüttel, 1641Naval Battle of Tarragona, 1641Siege of Dorsten, 1641Battle of Schweidnitz, 1642Battle of Breitenfeld, 1642Siege of Brno, 1643Battle of Tuttlingen, 1643Action of 16 May 1644, 1644Battle of Colberger Heide, 1644Battle of Freiburg, 1644Siege of Philippsburg (1644), 1644Battle of Jüterbog, 1644Siege of Pernštejn, 1645Battle of Jankau, 1645Battle of Herbsthausen, 1645Siege of Brno (1645), 1645Battle of Nördlingen, 1645Siege of Korneuburg, 1646Siege of Mardyck, 1646Siege of Hohentübingen Castle, 1647Siege of Eger, 1647Siege of Lens, 1647Battle of Triebl, 1647Siege of Memmingen, 1647Blockade of Eger, 1647Battle of Prague, 1648Battle of Zusmarshausen, 1648Battle of Wevelinghoven, 1648Battle of Lens, 1648Battle of Dachau, 164816181648Battle of Breitenfeld, 1631
119 placed engagements of the Thirty Years' War in time order; taller ticks are more widely documented. Each tick is a link.

Record

Date17 September 1631
PlaceBreitenfeld, Germany
51.400N, 12.333E
KindBattle, early modern
Battle of BreitenfeldBattle of BreitenfeldBattle of BreitenfeldBombing of Leipzig in World War IIBattle of LeipzigBattle of LützenBattle of LützenBattle of LützenBattle of LützenBerlinDresdenMagdeburgPotsdamGöttingenCottbusJenaHof100 km51.400N, 12.333E
The recorded site, with the nearest other engagements in the atlas. Present-day coastlines, rivers and borders; towns from Natural Earth.

The ground today

Relief of the ground around the site of Battle of Breitenfeld
Relief within about 10.0 km of the site, contours every 10 m. Copernicus DEM GLO-30, ESA.
Satellite view of the site of Battle of Breitenfeld today
The same ground from Sentinel-2 on 2023-09-10. Contains modified Copernicus Sentinel data 2023.

The recorded site stands at about 132 m; within 10.0 km the ground runs from 95 to 180 m, 85 m of relief, gently rolling country and today it is 37% cropland, 23% tree cover, 20% built-up.

cropland: 37%tree cover: 23%built-up: 20%grassland: 20%cropland 37%tree cover 23%built-up 20%grassland 20%
west to east, 10.0 km120 to 158 mnorth to south, 10.0 km99 to 135 m
Elevation from the Copernicus DEM GLO-30 (ESA, Airbus); land cover from ESA WorldCover 2021 (CC BY 4.0), within about 5 km of the recorded site. Computed, not recorded.

Nearest engagements

In the same war

Elsewhere in 1631

Combat data (CDB90)

Attacker: IMP & HOLY LEAGUE ARMYDefender: SW & SAX ARMY
Strength32,00037,850
Casualties13,600 (42.5%)6,100 (16.1%)
Mission accomplishment, 1 to 1049
Outcomedefender won
Duration1 day
Front width3.2 km3.6 km
Attacker advanced-2 km

From the US Army Concepts Analysis Agency Database of Battles (CDB90, battle 6), public domain, in the CC0 tidy edition by Jeffrey B. Arnold. Figures are the database's estimates, compiled in 1990 from published histories, and may differ from the Wikipedia infobox above.

Battle of Breitenfeld is one of 1,553 engagements of the 17th century in the atlas and one of 668 in present-day Germany.

Sources

Identity, coordinates, dates and the war from Wikidata Q205379, released under CC0. Result, belligerents, commanders, strength and casualties from the infobox of the English Wikipedia article Battle of Breitenfeld (1631), revision 1385584535, read 2026-11-14, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0; the article's text is not reproduced here. Present-day country and state from Natural Earth. Dates before 1582 follow the Julian calendar as recorded.