Glatz Fortress

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The Glatz fortress

The fortress Glatz (Polish Twierdza Kłodzko , Czech Kladská pevnost ) is a military fortress in the town of Glatz , the capital of the former county of Glatz (since 1945 Kłodzko, Poland). It was built on the site of a Bohemian border castle, which was converted into a castle in the 15th and 16th centuries. The fortress is located on the 369 meter high castle hill on the western side of the Glatzer Neisse , above the Glatzer Ring ( Rynek ). The area is 17 hectares.

history

The "castellum Cladsko" was first mentioned in 981 by the Bohemian chronicler Cosmas of Prague . It was a border castle directed against Poland on the rocky hill, well suited for defense purposes, which later became the castle hill. It was built by the Bohemian Prince Slavnik , father of the Bohemian national saint Adalbert of Prague . This castle was fortified in 1129 under Duke Soběslav I to secure the important road Prague - Pass von Nachod - Hummelpass - Wartha - Wroclaw . Probably around this time the so-called Heidenturm and the Marienkapelle ( Heidenkirchlein ) were built on the castle hill , which was first documented in 1194. In 1349, the first Archbishop of Prague, Ernst von Pardubitz, built an Augustinian monastery canon on the slope of the castle hill . The former Gothic castle was converted into a palace over the years, where the Burgraves of Glatz , the Governors of Glatz and, from 1477, the Counts of Glatz resided. The first ruling Count von Glatz was Heinrich I von Münsterberg und Oels , a son of the Bohemian King Georg von Podiebrad . He resided with his family and his court at Glatzer Castle.

On his journey from his residence in Neuburg / Donau to Krakow in December 1536, Count Palatine Ottheinrich and his entourage lived at Glatz Castle. One of the fellow travelers was probably the court painter Matthias Gerung , who also noted the castle and town of Glatz in his sketchbook. This is the oldest view of the city with the castle hill, however, depicted too high and the complex that has not yet been destroyed. One of the important guests was the Bohemian King Ferdinand I , who was on his journey from Wroclaw to Prague from 21./22. September 1546 stayed overnight with his entourage at the Glatzer Castle and attended a mass in the Augustinian "Domstift".

During the reign of the Glatzer pawnbroker Ernst von Bayern , the palace was rebuilt in the Renaissance style in 1557 by the court architect Lorenz Krischke . In addition, the lower castle, which was also known as the "Lower Castle", was built and the older fortress was extended by several buildings. During the defensive battles after the Battle of White Mountain , the Augustinian monastery, which was located in the glacis area, was partially demolished in 1620 and destroyed in 1622. The Bohemian estates then had the castle restored by the castle captain Johann Georg Semling. In the 1680s, fortification bastions were built under the direction of the Italian master builder Jakob ( Jacopo ) Carove.

In 1742 the fortress was conquered by Prussia in the First Silesian War . In 1743, King Friedrich II initiated the modernization and reinforcement of the Glatzer fortress and the construction of another fortress east of the Glatzer Neisse on the Glatzer Schafberg. The main design comes from the fortress builder Gerhard Cornelius von Walrave . Major Christian von Wrede was commissioned with the further implementation and the royal governor Heinrich August de la Motte Fouqué was appointed commandant of the fortress. During the Seven Years' War , the fortress was conquered on June 26, 1760 by Feldzeugmeister Gideon Ernst von Laudon .

Since the fortress gained great importance during the Seven Years' War , it was modernized on the initiative of the king after the war was over. Although the drafts were already available in May 1763, the fundamental modernization by the Piedmontese military engineer Franz Ignatz von Pinto did not begin until 1770. At that time, the bastions and the three-storey donjon , in which there were up to 42 artillery casemates, were built.

In the coalition wars , the city and fortress were defended by the Prussian Lieutenant General Friedrich Wilhelm von Götzen during the siege by the French General Vandamme . In the German War of 1866, the Glatzer fortress no longer played a role. In 1877 it was lifted and in 1930 the castle hill slopes were reinforced with concrete. The fortress served as a prison until 1938. The people held in custody were taken to Ingolstadt. Before the Second World War , the Glatz fortress was converted into a Wehrmacht prison. This was relocated to the side fortress on Glatzer Schäferberg in the last months of the war. The main fortress was made available as an armaments factory to the AEG works, which manufactured parts for V-1 missiles as well as electrical systems for submarines and aircraft.

As a result of the Second World War, Glatz fell together with most of Silesia to Poland. Glatz Fortress was literally renamed Twierdza Kłodzko . It is one of the most important tourist attractions and can be reached from the Glatzer Ring. The circular route leads through some bastions, courtyards and casemates. The highest point of the fortress offers a view of the southern Kłodzko basin .

Governors and commanders

List of imperial commanders

List of Prussian governors

List of Prussian commanders

literature

  • Karl August Müller: Patriotic images, or history and description of all castles and knight palaces in Silesia and the county of Glatz. Second edition, Glogau 1844, pp. 88-99.
  • Grzegorz Podruczny: Frederick the Great and Prussian Military Architecture 1740–1786 . In: Friedrich II. And Eastern Europe . Berlin 2013, ISBN 3-8305-3155-9 , pp. 118-137 online
  • Hugo Weczerka (Hrsg.): Handbook of the historical places . Volume: Silesia (= Kröner's pocket edition . Volume 316). Kröner, Stuttgart 1977, ISBN 3-520-31601-3 , pp. 116-123.
  • Peter Güttler: The Glatzer Land. A travel guide to the landscape, art and culture of the Kłodzko Mountains / Ziemia Kłodzka in Silesia. Aktion West-Ost eV, Düsseldorf 1995, ISBN 3-928508-03-2 , pp. 37-36.
  • Arno Herzig , Małgorzata Ruchniewicz : History of the Glatzer Land. DOBU-Verlag et al., Hamburg et al. 2006, ISBN 3-934632-12-2 , SS 124, 193–196.
  • Karl August Müller: Patriotic images, in a history and description of the old castle festivals and knight castles of Prussia / 1: The castle festivals and knight castles of Silesia (both parts), such as the county of Glatz , Verlag Flemming, Glogau 1837, p. 88-99 online
  • Leopold von Zedlitz-Neukirch , The state forces of the Prussian monarchy under Friedrich Wilhelm III , p.200f List of the governors of Glatz
  • Eduard Köhl, The history of the fortress Glatz and Glatzer fortress stories , Marx Verlag, 1994, ISBN 978-3-87854-105-9
  • Archive for the artillery and engineer officer, Volume 12, S.15ff fortress Glatz

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Czech name ( Memento from January 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ).
  2. ^ City view of Glatz 1536/37
  3. ^ Georg Kabst: The Duke Ernst of Bavaria . In: "Grofschoaftersch Häämtebärnla", yearbook of the county of Glatz, ISBN 3-931019-44-6 , pp. 146–149
  4. ^ Dehio Handbook of Art Monuments in Poland. Silesia. Deutscher Kunstverlag, Munich et al. 2005, ISBN 3-422-03109-X , p. 458.
  5. ^ Eduard Köhl: History of the fortress Glatz, Marx Verlag Leimen, 1994, p. 141f.
  6. ^ Arne Franke and Katrin Schulze: Palaces and mansions in the county of Glatz , Bergstadtverlag, Würzburg 2009, p. 279
  7. ^ The nobility of the Glätzer Land from 1623–1742.

Coordinates: 50 ° 26 ′ 23.5 "  N , 16 ° 39 ′ 16.7"  E