Fortress Mark

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Exterior view
Former side gate, today's entrance to the fortress

The Mark fortress , formerly known as the Mark barracks , is a former " defensive barracks " of the Magdeburg fortress . Today it is used as a center for cultural events in Magdeburg . The building is now a listed building. Due to the few defensive barracks that have survived in Germany , the Mark Fortress is of national importance for the history of military construction in the 19th century.

history

In the years 1863 to 1865, the Mark Defense Barracks was built for the 26th Infaterie Director. As the last obstacle on the city side, it served to defend the city. It was created in the last phase of expansion of the Magdeburg Fortress. Up to 800 soldiers were housed in it. It remained in military use until the end of the First World War .

The Mark barracks served as an employment office during the founding phase of the Weimar Republic . During the renovation, three new entrances with stairs and bridges were created on the north side of the building, according to the plans of the architect Thürmer and the Berner municipal building council, where two of these are still preserved. Several social institutions were housed here from the mid-1920s, u. a. towards the end of the 1920s the municipal health department.

The Mark barracks became a home for around 600 Italian workers during the Second World War . These worked in the Friedrich Krupp AG Grusonwerk Magdeburg. Some of the buildings suffered considerable damage when the air raid bombed them in January 1945 . The remains of the east wing were removed after the end of World War II.

From 1947 onwards, the first small and craft businesses moved into the western, undestroyed part of the building. Later followed u. a. a brush factory and a basketry. The idea of ​​converting the Mark barracks into a student cultural center was born in 1987. Due to the political change in 1989/90, these plans were dropped. The trades left the barracks.

In the 1990s, attempts were made several times to convert the "Kaserne Mark" or to sell it to investors. All efforts failed. On September 17, 2001, the city council overturned the resolution to sell the property. At the same time, the KulturSzeneMagdeburg e. V. presented the city council with a concept for the conversion to the “KulturFestung für Magdeburg”. The first clean-up work began at the end of the year and was continued in the following years.

Todays use

Since 2001 the KulturSzeneMagdeburg e. V. Sponsor of the initiative Kaserne Mark - the cultural fortress for Magdeburg . In cooperation with representatives from the city, university, colleges, student union, regional economy and cultural providers, the further expansion and renovation of the facility is carried out.

The "Fortress Mark" has been used for cultural events since 2002. These include guided tours that take place several times a year, annual festivals as well as concerts, weddings, company celebrations, trade fairs, private celebrations, parties, exhibitions, theater performances and markets.

The KulturSzeneMagdeburg e. V. represented in the non-profit KulturStiftung FestungMark, according to the source, via its board of directors. The association KulturSzeneMagdeburg e. V. occurs u. a. for the flourishing of general human, ethical and cultural values' (statutes of the KulturSzeneMagdeburg e.V., 2011).

Building

The Mark barracks had a four-wing, obtuse-angled curved floor plan. The original length of the facade was approx. 180 m, of which the 50 m of the east wing was demolished after the Second World War. Remains of the walls belonging to the barracks are still preserved on the south side. The north side, field side, of the three-story barracks building was built from red bricks and rubble stones, the south side facing the city from yellow bricks. In the north side were the arched gun corridors and the artillery and gun slots, which have now been replaced by large windows. The two entrances on the north side were created later. The team rooms and function rooms were on the side facing the inner courtyard. The roof vault was originally covered with a 1 m thick layer of earth against garnet impacts. There was a double side gate between the barracks and the city wall on the west side . In the park to the north there is a plastered square pillar with a crenellated wreath. This is a remnant of a gate system and was moved to this position after the gate system was demolished.

Web links

Commons : Kaserne Mark  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ a b c fortress mark , monument register city Magdeburg, accessed on May 22, 2019
  2. ^ History of Fortress Mark , accessed May 22, 2019
  3. ↑ The Fortress Mark Betriebsgesellschaft mbH , festungmark.com, sentence 1, accessed on September 5, 2019.
  4. ↑ KulturStiftung FestungMark , festungmark.com, sentence 4 in the section “Board of Directors and Curators”, accessed on September 5, 2019.
  5. ↑ festungmark.com: Articles of Association of KulturSzeneMagdeburg e. V. of April 3, 2011 (pdf; 14.7 kB) §2 Clause 1, accessed on September 5, 2019

Coordinates: 52 ° 8 ′ 15.4 "  N , 11 ° 38 ′ 45.2"  E