Battle of Lützen (6 / 16 November 1632)

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Battle of Lützen (6 / 16 November 1632)

The Battle of Lützen (6 November / 16 November 1632) was one of the most important battles of the Thirty Years' War, which began with the Second Defenestration of Prague in 1618 and ended with the Peace of Westphalia in 1648. The battle pitted the Protestant Swedish King Gustav II Adolf (Gustavus Adolphus) against the Catholic German General Albrecht von Wallenstein. The battle was a Protestant victory, but cost the life of the Swedish King, which caused the Protestant campaign to lose direction. The battle was characterized by fog, which lay heavy over the fields of Saxony that morning. The phrase "Lützendimma" (Lützen fog) is still used in the Swedish language in order to describe particularly heavy fog.