Grauerort fortress
The Fort Grauerort (Fortress is technically and historically incorrect) was in the years 1868-1873, with interruptions of Prussia on the Elbe to protect against enemy ships on the Elbe near the villages Barnkrug and Abbenfleth built. The site on the high Altmarsch near the fairway, which was already used by the Swedes , was ideal, along with other positions on the Elbe, for a permanent defense structure. During the period in which tensions with France increased, the permanent construction was interrupted and the fort, as well as a second temporary battery Grauerort II., Were provisionally completed in order to quickly have an effective protection of the port of Hamburg . The fort was ready for use as early as the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71. However, the fortress was never engaged in combat.
construction
The Hochwallfort Grauerort is a type of Prussian fortress architecture from the second half of the 19th century. With its rhombus-shaped hexagonal ground plan, which is formed by a 10 m high earth wall, the fort nestles against the Elbe dike. The walls are casemated towards the Elbe . On each of the two 68 m long flanks, five modern breech-loading recoil guns of 28 cm caliber were set up.
Towards the Elbe, the fort is secured with a 3 m high Escarpe or Carnot wall, which can be defended with guns and rifles from two throat bunkers. The remaining walls are secured by a 20 m wide trench. The entrance is formed by a bridge, it leads through a hollow passage into the interior of the fort and is secured by a rifle caponier and guard bunker. The bridge was designed as a drawbridge at the time; the passage was secured by an assault protection grille .
history
The fort was built by the Prussian army from 1868 to 1873 near Abbenfleth near Stade . In 1875 and 1877 the ramps and the ammunition supply were improved again. The fort was provisionally ready for use during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71. However, there was never any fighting over the fort.
Due to the further development of weapons, the fort was deleted from the list of active fortresses in 1888. From 1917 the facility was converted into a temporary mine depot for the Imperial Navy . For this purpose, a storage area for ammunition was set up in the following period northwest of the facility outside the fortress wall . The use as a mine depot became permanent after the explosion of the mine depot Cuxhaven-Groden in 1922 and lasted until the end of the Second World War . In 1926 a 250 m long jetty was built into the Elbe, which could be used to load and unload ships directly. Two anti-aircraft guns were used on the fortress during World War II .
At the end of the war, the British Army confiscated the fortress, which was not destroyed and was used as an emergency shelter until the late 1950s.
From 1960, the dismantling company Kaus & Steinhausen dismantled ammunition in the property. In 1985, Kaus & Steinhausen moved their business to the former Dragahn explosives factory for safety reasons.
Grauerort then fell into disrepair until an association began to look after the maintenance of the facility in 1997. The subsequent fixtures are now being removed in order to restore the listed complex to its original state and use it as a modern museum.
museum
The Grauerort Fortress has been supported by the “Grauerort Fortress” association since 1997. V. prepared again. It has been open to the public again since 1998. Today it is used as a venue and museum .
See also
Web links
- Homepage Grauerort Fortress
- Homepage Reservists Working Group (RAG) fortress Grauerort
- On the history of the fortress
Individual evidence
Coordinates: 53 ° 41 ′ N , 9 ° 29 ′ E