The baroque town fortification
In 1667, the Schanzenbau in Solothurn started laying the foundation stone of the Riedholzschanze. The suburban hills followed from 1685/1686 (Fig. 1). First the three bastions Kuhschanze, Kornhausschanze and Turnschanze were tackled, from 1689 also the outer Berntor. Finally, around 1700, the construction of the last bastion - the Krumturmschanze - followed. Technical and financial problems delayed the start of construction on the ditches and works surrounding the Schanzenring until around 1714. By 1727 - after about 60 years of construction - the work on the hill was largely completed in Solothurn (Schubiger 1994, 192-215). ,
The reason for the construction of the ski jump was the numerous wars of the 17th century - the Thirty Years 'War of 1618-1648, but also the Peasants' War of 1653 and the 1st Villmerger War of 1656. It is worth noting that Solothurn is a complete fortification in the bastion system as only larger cities such as Zurich and Geneva did (Schubiger 1994, 217). Seven full bastions and four half-bastions with the enclosed walls (curtain walls) surrounded the city. A 30 to 50 meters wide and 5 meters deep ditch included the monumental complex. In the left-bank old town, the Vorwerke in the west extended far beyond today's Westbahnhofstrasse, in the north to Werkhofstrasse and in the east to Baselstrasse. In the suburb, on the right side of the Aare, the Schanzengürtel stretched from Krummturmstrasse in the west to Rötibrücke in the east. Towards the south, the Vorwerke carried about as far as Zuchwilerstrasse and the main station.
While the baroque ramparts in the Old Town, north of the Aare, closely followed the medieval city fortifications, they covered an area south of the Aare that was much larger than the former suburb. Here, a city expansion on the Kreuzacker was intended especially for new citizens. However, this "neuwe Vorstatt" could not be realized. Despite the newly built Kreuz- ackerbrücke around 1698/99, the new citizens, with a few exceptions, also preferred to live in the old town (Schubiger 1994, 86-88).
Without ever having served the defense of the city, the hills were demolished between 1835 and 1905 for economic, town planning and traffic engineering reasons. The demolition took almost as long as the construction! The railway line Herzogenbuchsee - BieI initiated in 1856 the hill break in the suburbs. At that time the curtain between the cow and the crooked tower was breached and the trench was filled up. 1861-1863 was followed by the demolition of the outer Berntor and in 1875-77 the demolition of the Kuhschanze and the Kornhausbastion. With the grinding of the ski jumping hill around 1905, the hill break was completed in Solothurn (Schubiger 1994, 91-95, 103, 105).