Siege of Gana
The siege of Gana was a twenty-day campaign by a German army led by King Henry the Fowler against a Slavic Glomacze fortification. It took place in early 929 at the fortress of Gana, named after the nearby Jahna river.
In early 929, King Henry launched a campaign along his eastern frontier against numerous Slavic strongholds. After capturing Brandenburg, he seized several more forts and constructed German ones to secure control of the territory. His second major target was the Glomacze fort at Gana, near modern‑day Hof/Stauchitz. Henry's army overcame the defenses after expending at least 110,000 man‑hours filling in part of the protective ditch. Upon its capture, the garrison was killed on Henry’s orders, while the young boys and girls were enslaved by his professional soldiers.
The subsequent establishment of a German fort at Meissen ensured lasting dominance along the middle Elbe and led to the creation of the Marca Geronis to administer the conquests. The siege of Gana, together with the many other sieges of Henry's 929 campaign, demonstrates the considerable resources the German kingdom could mobilize for extended warfare to conquer, control, and annex new territory.
Background
In the winter of 928, King Henry the Fowler of Germany launched a military expedition along his eastern frontier against a series of Slavic fortifications. His first objective was the princely seat of the Hevelli tribe at Brandenburg, situated on the Havel River. After weakening Hevelli military power through multiple engagements, the Germans stormed the Brandenburg fortress and occupied it. Upon occupation of the fort, Henry proceeded to take over all of Hevelli territory. With its capture, Henry extended control over all Hevelli territory. The next German campaign target was the Glomacze fortress of Gana near the Jahna river.The next target was the Glomacze stronghold of Gana near the Jahna River. En route, Henry's forces advanced through the Plane valley and into the Fläming hills, seizing additional Slavic forts at Belzig, Mörz, Niemegk, and Zahna. To consolidate these gains, German forts were established in 929 at Strehla—commanding a key ford across the Elbe—as well as at Osterburg and Dahlen, securing the newly conquered region.
Siege
Archaeological excavations in the 1990s and again in 2003 uncovered a fortress in the Jahna River valley near Hof/Stauchitz that may be identified with the Gana site. The fort's walls measured 15 meters thick at the foundation and rose to a height of 6 meters. It was surrounded by a ditch 15 meters wide and 5 meters deep. The circuit of the walls extended 700 meters, enclosing an area of 4 hectares, not including a possible outer fort.To storm the stronghold, Henry's men had to fill in a 200‑meter section of the ditch. This required excavating some 15,000 tons of earth, a task demanding at least 50,000 man‑hours. The soil then had to be transported and dumped into the ditch using wagons. Estimates suggest 750 carts and 30,000 wagon‑loads of earth were needed, requiring an additional 60,000 man‑hours of loading, transport, and unloading. With only eight hours of daylight in winter, 1,000 men would have needed two weeks to complete the operation.
When Gana finally fell at the end of the 20‑day siege, Henry ordered the defenders killed and the young boys and girls enslaved by his professional soldiers. The ferocity of the conquest suggests the Germans suffered heavy losses. Bachrach estimates more than 1,000 killed or wounded, based on a mathematical siege model applied to the Brandenburg fortification.