Fortifications Am Winterhafen (Linz)

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air-raid shelter
Access to the air raid shelter
Access to the air raid shelter of the Ister rowing boat club

The fortification system Am Winterhafen in Linz in the Lustenau district is part of protective systems against air raids in World War II . These were built into the dike between the winter harbor and the Danube . The centrally visible bunker at the beginning of the winter harbor is an air raid shelter and the whole complex is listed. The facility consists of an air raid shelter, several fuel and lubricating oil bunkers, workshops and security facilities (buildings) of the former Danube flotilla. The history of these fortifications in Linz is still largely unexplored and little has been published about it.

location

The winter harbor and the fortifications are located in a former branch south of the Danube, just below the VÖEST bridge , and are part of the harbor area of ​​the Lustenau district of the Upper Austrian capital Linz . The winter harbor is around one kilometer long and between around 60 and 150 meters wide. Total about 6.5  hectares of water. The fortifications are oriented towards the winter harbor and distributed over the entire length between the Danube and the harbor basin of the winter arm.

history

At the end of the 19th century, as part of the regulation of the Danube, the winter harbor was largely created in its current form to protect the Danube ships from ice. The winter harbor was a naval base in both World War I and World War II . The fortifications that are still visible today were built during the Second World War. Existing buildings were also demolished for the construction of the fortifications. The extent to which forced laborers and concentration camp prisoners were used for the construction has not yet been investigated in depth. It can be shown that those were forced to build other fortifications in Linz.

During the Second World War , the shipyard in the Winterhafen was founded in 1840. U-boats , Schnell- , Räum- u. Minesweepers equipped and upgraded after their transfer from the North Sea and the Baltic Sea for use in the Black Sea (weapons operational capability).

After the end of the Second World War, the fortifications were used by rowing clubs and motor sports clubs and, among other things, adapted to become boathouses , which still exist today.

purpose

During the Second World War, these fortifications were used to store or load fuel and lubricants for the warships and this was the main berth for the Danube Flotilla, which was a small part of the German Navy (see: Danube Flotilla of the Navy ). Part of the command of this unit was also housed in the winter harbor:

  • Naval site management
  • Marine construction department
  • Kiel Marine Intendant

The command itself including berths on the land is said to have been in the former naval barracks on the "Upper Donaulände" in the St. Margarethen district of Linz .

The bunkers themselves are integrated into the dam as high- rise structures and, presumably because of a possible flood of the Danube or the water pressure, could not be deepened into the ground. A standard gauge track for the supply of the naval facilities was laid at street level up to the Hafenspitz .

Allied air raids on Linz

The bunker systems in Linz were necessary because the Allies carried out several air raids . From July 1944 to April 25, 1945 Linz was bombed 22 times. The main target was the area of ​​the Hermann Göring works in Linz. Despite the air raid precautions, 1679 people were killed in Linz in the bombing raids in 1944 and 1945.

Examples:

  • July 25, 1944, attacks on Linz ( steelworks )
  • October 16, 1944, target of benzene production in Linz.
  • November 4th, 11th to 15th, 25th, 30th 1944, target of benzene production in Linz (485 BG and 32 BS).
  • December 16, 1944, target of benzene production in Linz.
  • January 8, 1945, attacks on Linz (South Main Marshalling Yard).
  • January 20, 1945, attacks on Linz (464 BG).
  • February 17, 1945, target of benzene production in Linz (32 BS).
  • February 25, 1945, attacks on Linz and benzene production (North Main Marshalling Yard, 485 BG).
  • March 31, 1945, attacks on Linz (North Main Marshalling Yard).
  • April 25, 1945, attacks on Linz (464 BG) and last heavy air raid on Austria. On May 4, 1945, Linz was liberated from the Nazi dictatorship.

For this reason there are so many tunnels and bunkers in Linz, which were expanded as air raid protection facilities from the beginning of 1944. Some of the existing cellars were used for this . They offered more than 20,000 people protection from air raids.

Well-known tunnels in Linz are z. E.g .: harpsichord cellar, connection harpsichord cellar, Kapuzinerkeller (in Kapuzinerstraße, opposite Steingasse), March cellar, connection March cellar, lemon cellar, sand alley tunnel, share (brewing) cellar, young farmer's tunnel, Lasingerkeller, Rudolfkeller, tank farm Margarethen, tower storage Pöstlingberg, cellar Schweitzerhausgasse below the Capuchin monastery), cellars in the Kellergasse, central cellar, Lasingerkeller, forest cellar and the Schlossbergstollen. The kilometer-long underground connecting passages between the huge hall complexes of the Hermann-Göring-Werke (today: Voestalpine ) have been expanded or reinforced as air raid tunnels. Well-known bunker systems are: Bunker system Andreas-Hofer-Platz (capacity: 1120 people), today's Bernaschek-Platz (420 people), high bunker Hermann-Göring-Werke ( Voestalpine ), high-rise bunker Hermann-Göring-Werke ( Voestalpine sports field ).

Some of the tunnels were already extensive wine, beer and ice cellars that were expanded during the war years from 1944 onwards to form an extensive system of tunnels and connected to one another by tunnels.

literature

  • Marcello La Speranza: explosive architecture. Ares Verlag, Graz 2016, ISBN 978-3-902732-40-8 .
  • Michael Ellenbogen: Gigantic Visions: Architecture and High Technology in National Socialism. Ares-Verlag, Graz 2006, ISBN 978-3-902475-25-1 .
  • Fritz Mayrhofer, Walter Schuster: National Socialism in Linz. Linz 2001, ISBN 3-900388-81-4 .

Web links

Commons : Bunker Am Winterhafen, Linz-Lustenau  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ ObjectID: 110958.
  2. ↑ Comprised in accordance with the ordinance of the Federal Monuments Office of October 15, 2009 regarding the statutory city of Linz in Upper Austria (Linz 2), § 1, the EZ 1995, GSt 1423/10 (air raid shelter) and in accordance with § 1 of the ordinance ("2nd supplementary ordinance") of the Federal Monuments Office of December 15, 2009, regarding the federal states of Burgenland, Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Vorarlberg, Vienna, the fortifications, buildings and bunkers of the former Danube flotilla , EZ 141, with the address Am Winterhafen 21 (GSt 1423/9) and 27 (1423/7), the GSt 1423/1 and 1423/8 (buildings without house numbers).
  3. ↑ a b Future use and design of the Winterhafen area , press release by the City of Linz's municipal authorities on September 24, 2014.
  4. ↑ As a satellite camp of the Mauthausen concentration camp, the Linz II camp had existed since 1944 with a maximum number of prisoners of 285 people who were mainly used for the construction of tunnels ( The Mauthausen concentration camp subcamps , website of the Mauthausen Committee Austria). Camp II was located in the March cellar under the Bauernberg ( Linz under the swastika ).
  5. ^ Bertrand Perz: Concentration camp in Linz
  6. ↑ The History of the RV Wiking. In: wikinglinz.at. Website of the rowing club Wiking in Linz, accessed on February 6, 2020 .
  7. ↑ Christa Kochendörfer: THE TIME HISTORY MUSEUM OF VOESTALPINE AG .
  8. ↑ Upper Austria 1918 to 2008, From the Archduchy to the Future Region , Upper Austria History Places, A selection of striking places in the history of the region, p. 16.
  9. ↑ A Bombardment Group or Bomb Group (BG) was a group of bombers of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF).
  10. ↑ Bomber Squadron .
  11. ↑ a b Ernst Gansinger: The dark history under the earth of Linz. In: kirchenzeitung.at. November 14, 2012, accessed February 6, 2020 .
  12. ↑ Ernst Kollros: The Linz "Führerbunker". Dark relic of contemporary urban history. In: Upper Austrian homeland sheets . Linz 2012, p. 67, PDF on land-oberoesterreich.gv.at
  13. ↑ Part of the Linz air raid police was also housed in the March cellar.
  14. ↑ In a separate part of this annex were command posts for the Gauleitung , party ( NSDAP ), police and city administration.
  15. ↑ LS - tunnel and bunker in Linz. In: unterirdisch.de. Retrieved February 6, 2020 .

Coordinates: 48 ° 19 ′ 12.8 ″  N , 14 ° 18 ′ 19 ″  E