Kronprinz defense barracks
The elongated building of the Kronprinz defense barracks is a fortification system . It is located on the former Lithuanian Wallstrasse in Königsberg . The name of the barracks, which is still affixed in large letters to the huge defensive tower of the building, probably refers to the Old Prussian Infantry Regiment No. 2 from 1655/32 , which had Crown Prince Wilhelm as regiment chief and the 1st East Prussian Grenadier Regiment No. 1 was called "Crown Prince" in the German Empire. The draft plans for the Kronprinz barracks built in 1849 go back to General Ernst Ludwig von Aster . The barracks has a U-shaped, 150-meter-long main part, to which two side wings are attached at obtuse angles. Behind it there are two rectangular buildings, each 67 meters long, with a tower 20 meters in diameter between them. The building was once surrounded by a moat connected to the Oberteich. The entrance to the barracks was formed by a large gate made of oak and provided with a drawbridge, above which was written: Old my flags, old my honor, but young my feelings, sharp my defense. Do not rest on laurels, from great times, call me, my king, I am ready. In the place of the current windows there used to be gun slots of the casemates; the roof was laid out as an open defensive area with a jagged parapet. But from 1890, with the construction of the Grolman bastion, the tactical and military importance of the barracks faded more and more into the background. The guns of the casemates were dismantled and relocated to other fortifications, the casemates themselves were converted into accommodations for the crews. From 1933, the Königsberg police, the Wehrmacht paymaster's office and various departments of the Königsberg city administration were housed in the barracks. During the battle of Königsberg , an infantry division of the Wehrmacht took up position in the rooms of the Kronzprinz barracks and became part of the Königsberg fortress.
Today the building is no longer used for military purposes, but rented to small businesses. From 2015 exhibition rooms of the Kaliningrad branch of the State Center for Contemporary Art are to be set up here.
literature
- Robert Albinus: Königsberg Lexicon. City and surroundings . Flechsig, Würzburg 2002, ISBN 3-88189-441-1 .
- Richard Armstedt: history of the royal. Capital and residence city of Königsberg in Prussia. Hobbing & Büchle, Stuttgart 1899 ( German land and life in single descriptions . 2, city stories), (reprint: Melchior-Verlag, Wolfenbüttel 2006, ISBN 3-939102-70-9 ( historical library )).
- Fritz Gause : The history of the city of Königsberg in Prussia. 3 volumes. 2nd / 3rd supplemented edition. Böhlau, Cologne a. a. 1996, ISBN 3-412-08896-X .
- Jürgen Manthey : Königsberg - history of a world citizenship republic . Hanser , Munich 2005, ISBN 3-446-20619-1 .
- Gunnar Strunz: Königsberg, Kaliningrad region , Trescher Verlag, Berlin 2012, ISBN 978-3-89794-178-6 .
Web links
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 54 ° 43 ' N , 20 ° 32' E