Caserma Interrotto

Caserma difensiva Interrotto from the northwest corner after being captured in May 1916

Inner courtyard, photo taken on June 5, 1916

The Caserma Interrotto , also Caserma difensiva Interrotto (only called Forte Interrotto on today's maps ), was an Italian defensive structure on the border with Austria-Hungary .

The structure, which can be classified as a defensive barracks, is located at an altitude of 1,392 meters in the province of Vicenza , at the confluence of the Valle di Galmarara into the Val d 'Assa about 2.5 kilometers north of Asiago . It belonged to the 2nd section of the first Italian fortification period and was completed in 1887 so that it could be occupied with troops. The crew consisted of about 350 men.

Building history

With its towering and completely free-standing stone walls, the building looks more like a medieval castle than a fortification from the late 19th century. The ground plan is a rectangle of casemated tracts, with a round flanking tower attached to each of the south-east and north-west corners. The 14 meter high front ( face ) contained three floors, which were lowered on the flanks in a step to two floors in the throat area. The roof was covered with a 2.5 meter thick pile of earth and could be prepared for rifle defense. The dimensions of the casemate block are 39 meters × 30 meters, the diameter of the flanking towers 10 meters. The fort was surrounded by a dry moat five meters wide and just as deep. In front of the ditch was a Contreescarpe with a four-meter-high embankment wall, glacis and a covered path . This protected the lower notch area against direct fire. The two flanking towers took on the tasks of trenching ; access to the inner courtyard was via an iron drawbridge . A total of 14 gun slots for 12 cm guns and 289 gun slots were available. Whether the plant was ever armed with cannons can no longer be clarified today. The LEINGG ( L'esercito italiano nella grande guerra (1915–1918) ), the official Italian publication on the First World War, describes the facility as disarmed on May 23, 1915 (start of the war with Austria-Hungary). For May 14, 1915, only two 7.5 cm field cannons are associated with the fort, although the exact location has remained unknown.

task

The task of the system, together with the Tagliata Val d'Assa road block and the Monte Rasta battery, built in 1892 , was to block the driveway in the upper Assa Valley and to secure the Asiago plateau. The slopes of Monte Mosciagh and Monte Dorole , as well as the northern area of Val di Grubach (called Val di Gruppach on today's maps) and the eastern slopes of Monte Verena were in the firing range of the Face . The left flank covered the area against the Monte Erio (1627 m), the right flank the area against the Monte Mósciagh (1556 m), the Valle di Galmarara and the space up to the battery Monte Rasta. The bottom of the Assa valley (Val d'Assa) and the road running through it could not be seen.

War events

At the beginning of the war and afterwards, the building was ignored by the leadership of the Austro-Hungarian armed forces . Only on May 23, 1916 ( on the occasion of the offensive over the seven municipalities ), when the Austro-Hungarian troops had already conquered the Italian Forte Campolongo and Forte Monte Verena , did the Monte Interrotto and with it the defensive barracks move into the focus of the kuk-III. - Corps . The commander of the 18th Infantry Brigade, Colonel Albori, was given the task of clearing up the roadblock in Val d'Assa and the Caserma Interrotto. At the same time, KArtKmdo No. 3 (Corps Artillery Command) commissioned a 35-man patrol , as soon as the area was determined to be free of the enemy, to proceed against the Interrotto and Monte Rasta batteries in order to make any cannon material and ammunition found useful check and ensure.
On the afternoon of May 23, 1916, a defector stated that the facilities were still occupied, which was confirmed by our own reconnaissance around 10 p.m. On May 24, 1916, the 18th IBrigKmdo (Infantry Brigade Command) learned that the Tagliata Val d'Assa road block belonging to the complex had been blown up and abandoned by the crew on May 23 at 8:45 p.m., which meant that the Interrotto system could now be bypassed and attacked from behind. This did not happen, however, as all forces concentrated on fighting the Italian forces entrenched on the southern slopes of the Val Galmarara .
On May 25 at 4 p.m., the Austro-Hungarian artillery command reported that a direct hit from a 30.5 cm mortar had struck the Forte Interrotto and the Italians were beginning to clear the structure. The evacuation of Italian prisoners was confirmed at lunchtime on May 28th. At 6:00 p.m. on the same day, the 12th Infantry Brigade reported the capture of the Val Galmarara slopes, Monte Interrotto, Monte Mósciagh and the villages of Bosco and Rodighieri. This meant that Interrotto was in the hands of the Austro-Hungarian troops without major fighting.

After the Austrians withdrew to a prepared containment line in June 1916, the Interrotto plant was about 750 meters behind the front on the Austrian side, with the throat now facing the enemy. Here taught Colonel Otto Baron Ellison of Nidlef his command post one. The plant remained in Austrian ownership until the end of the war and was used as a magazine and artillery observation post. The damage that exists today is due to fire from the Italian artillery .

Current condition

The building was in a ruinous state until 2004. From 2004 to 2011 it was extensively restored, clearing it of debris and vegetation, consolidating the masonry and protecting the complex from further deterioration. In addition, multilingual information boards on the history and building history were set up and indoor and outdoor lighting was installed.

Naming

Interrotto is derived from the Cimbrian Hinterknotto , which means "rear rock".

literature

• Carta Touristica Trento-Lévico-Lavarone. Compass Fleischmann S.ar. L. Istituto Geografico / Gardolo (Trento).
• Austria-Hungary's last war 1914–1918. Volumes I – IV, Verlag der Militärwissenschaftlichen Mitteilungen, Vienna 1933–1939.
• Rita Bernini: Il patrimonio storico della Prima Guerra Mondiale. Progetti di tutela e valorizzazione a 14 anni dalla legge del 2001 , Gangemi, Roma 2015, ISBN 978-88-492-9579-5 .
• Ministero della Guerra - Comando del Corpo di Stato Maggiore - Ufficio Storico (ed.) L'Esercito Italiano nella Grande Guerra (1915–1918) - Volume I – III , Roma 1929–1937.
• Robert Striffler: From Fort Maso to Porta Manazzo: History of the construction and war of the Italian forts and batteries 1883-1916. Book Service South Tyrol E. Kienesberger, Nuremberg 2004, ISBN 978-3-923995-24-0 .

Individual evidence

1. ^ Rita Bernini: Il patrimonio storico della Prima Guerra Mondiale. Progetti di tutela e valorizzazione a 14 anni dalla legge del 2001 , Gangemi, Roma 2015 pp. 56-59 on Google Books , accessed on March 5, 2017.

Coordinates: 45 ° 53 ′ 50 ″  N , 11 ° 28 ′ 50 ″  E