Zegrze fortress

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The overgrown structures inside the large forts in Zegrze

The fortress Zegrze (Polish: Twierdza Zegrze , in German sometimes referred to as fortress Segshe or Segrshe ) is a fortress built at the end of the 19th century that, together with the fortresses in Warsaw and Modlin, formed the Polish fortress triangle in the greater Warsaw area . The two-part fortress Zegrze is now located on the Jezioro Zegrzyńskie reservoir, which was created in 1963, in the village of Zegrze in the Legionowo district .

history

The two structures, which in their dimensions resemble a - albeit very strongly fortified - bridgehead than an independent fortress, were built for the Russian army between 1892 and 1895 near the northern bank of the Narew . Tsar Alexander II had already ordered in 1873 that the wooden bridge over the Narew, which had been in place here since the beginning of the 19th century, should be secured. The complex was also integrated into the defense of the greater Warsaw area in a northerly direction and served to secure the flanks of the large fortress ( first-class fortress ) Modlin, almost 25 kilometers to the west . A start of construction originally planned for 1879 could not be realized for financial reasons. The construction of the two plants 13 years later turned out to be considerably smaller than originally planned by the Russian fortress builder Nestor Bujnicki.

The two fortifications in Zegrze are about 1000 meters apart and were connected by a defensive wall. The plant, which was already completely built in concrete , was one of the most modern buildings by Russian military engineers at the time. The asymmetrical ground plans of the two fortresses following the landscape are reminiscent of those of mountain fortresses. The facility designed in this way enabled a main defense in the north and north-east direction. A narrow-gauge railway, which ran along the connecting wall, connected the two fortresses.

“Zegrze is a right-sided bridgehead, consists of two strong, permanent works located very close to the Bug Narew (a main plant and a wing plant, connected by a connecting line set up for infantry defense) and a withdrawn position on the left Bug Narew bank. The extension is 2.5 kilometers on the right bank. "

- The border messengers. Journal for Politics and Literature , 1908, Volume 67, Part 1, FL Herbig-Verlag, Leipzig 1908

The connecting wall, which covered a connecting road in addition to the railway line, was equipped with a dry trench and infantry positions. There was also a self-contained battery with several guns here.

In addition to the two forts, other military buildings were built in the village of Zegrze. The two connecting forts built from 1901 in Dębe and Beniaminów , which closed the defense line to Modlin in the north-west and to the Warsaw fortress in the south-east, were also under the fortress command of Zegrze. Two more planned forts towards Warsaw (Fort Maciołki and Fort Pustelni) were no longer built. In contrast to the forts in Dębe and Beniaminów, the two structures in Zegrze are well preserved.

Large and small fortress with connecting wall in Zegrze
Access to the small work
Today used as a shooting range: the system of the former connecting wall
Parts of the system are for sale - here one of the two powder magazines on the lake shore
Barracks building in Zegrze South ( Zegrze Południowe )

First World War

After the lost Russo-Japanese War in 1904/05 , the financially weakened Tsar Nicholas II gave up - to the displeasure of his General Staff - the idea of ​​a further massive expansion of the Warsaw fortress triangle. Only the Modlin Fortress was expanded and modernized. Shortly before the beginning of World War I , the fort belt in Warsaw was partially reactivated. The very modern facilities in Zegrze, however, were no longer expanded.

In the course of the offensive on the Eastern Front , the fortress was attacked by German troops on August 6, 1915 . On the night of August 7, the Russian occupation abandoned the facility and destroyed the river bridge as they marched off. The fortress was occupied by units of the 21st Landwehr Brigade and the Pfeil Brigade (both: Army Group Beseler ) as part of the preparations for the attack on Modlin .

After the First World War, the Zegrze-Warsaw fort line was no longer realized except for three forts (Beniaminów, Wawer, Kawęczyn); From the 1920s, however, smaller bunkers and fortified shelters were also built here.

On November 28, 1918, Colonel Olgierd Pożerski was appointed commander of the fortress and garrison commander . In the interwar period, Polish troops were stationed in the fortress, which developed into a training center for the Polish telecommunications force . From 1919 the training camp for telecommunications officers was located here ( Obóz Wyszkolenia Oficerów Wojsk Łączności ). Ten years later the school was renamed the Telecommunication Training Center ( Centrum Wyszkolenia Łączności ).

On May 14, 1930 Ignacy Mościcki and in the mid-1930s Józef Piłsudski visited the fortress. In May 1937 Marshal Edward Rydz-Śmigły inspected the training center.

post war period

Even after the Second World War , the Polish military was stationed in Zegrze. In 1950 the Telecommunications Officers School ( Oficerska Szkoła Łączności ) was established here. In 1967 the institution received the status of a university ( Wyższa Szkoła Oficerska Wojsk Łączności ), which trained here for 30 years. In the meantime, Zegrze also housed the Military Telecommunications Institute ( Wojskowy Instytut Łączności ), which contributed to the development of telecommunications.

Today in Zegrze soldiers are trained at the telecommunications and IT training center named after Helidor Cepa ( CSŁiI - Centrum Szkolenia Łączności i Informatyki im. Gen. Bryg. Heliodora Cepy ). Since 2002 the army has not used the large fortress in Zegrze any more.

Controversial privatization

In 2002 the western, larger part of the fortress was sold to the Polish national bank NBP . According to experts, the sale of the listed and well-preserved complex and the plans for rededication violated existing law. Various Polish media took up the controversy surrounding the privatization and the incipient destruction of the facility, which is unique in Europe.

Components of the garrison

The military facilities of the garrison in Zegrze included the large and the small fortress, the connecting wall and several barracks and administrative buildings as well as an officers' mess . In addition, seven ammunition depots and the militarily important bridge belonged to the garrison.

Great fortress

Small fortress

Barracks in Zegrze

The barracks of the fortress headquarters were not only located in the village of Zegrze. At the beginning of the 20th century, another barracks complex was built in Białobrzegi , a town between Zegrze and Beniaminów. In Zegrze there was a barracks near the fortress, and another - south of the river - in the city. Both had several dozen masonry accommodation and administration buildings. A formerly Catholic church was adapted for Orthodox use.

The Radziwiłł Palace on the river bank was converted into the summer residence of the Russian fortress commanders.

Officers' mess

The well-preserved, former officers' mess is located in the immediate vicinity of the ramparts on the north side of the lake.

Narew Bridge

In connection with the construction of the fortress, Mieczysław Marszewski built a new wooden bridge over the Narew in 1894. Not only pedestrians and vehicles ran on this bridge, there was also a narrow-gauge railway to supply the fortress from the southern part of Zegrze . A bridge watchtower was built on both sides on concrete pillars that still exist today. In 1897 - again under the direction of Marszewski - a more robust bridge in a steel framework was built. This bridge stood until 1915 - then it was blown up by Russian troops in front of the approaching German units. The reconstruction took place in 1926. In 1939 it was destroyed by Polish pioneers . The bridge was renewed in 1947 and was used until a modern, four-lane concrete bridge was built in 2003. Today Droga krajowa 61 runs here .

References and comments

  1. ↑ according to Russia, I. Area and population according to governorates and areas , in: Brockhaus' Kleines Konversations-Lexikon , 5th edition, volume 2. Leipzig 1911, pp. 578-579 .
  2. ↑ Nestor Alojzewicz Bujnicki (1863-1914) was a Russian lieutenant general, engineer and university teacher.
  3. ↑ according to The border messengers. Journal for Politics and Literature ... , p. 308 .
  4. ↑ according to Casimir Hermann Baer, ​​Der Völkerkrieg: a chronicle of the events since July 1, 1914, Volume 12, J. Hoffmann, 1917, p. 147.
  5. ↑ according to Information PL-06-561 Pomiechowek-Czarnowo ( Memento of the original from January 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.weltkriegsopfer.de archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at World War II .
  6. ↑ Olgierd Pożerski (1880–1930), was a Polish general and later in command of the Vilna Fortress .
  7. ↑ Armin Mikos von Rohrscheit, Poland - the largest fortification open-air museum under the aspect of cultural tourism development (PDF; 721 kB) , page 5.
  8. ↑ Among others, Super Express (April 7, 2003), Gazeta Wyborcza (March 24, 2006) and Polska Zbrojna (April 30, 2006) reported on the process.
  9. ↑ Mieczysław Marszewski (1857-1917) was a Polish bridge engineer. He was the architect of the Poniatowski Bridge in Warsaw.

Web links

Commons : Zegrze Fortress  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 52 ° 27 '48.1 "  N , 21 ° 1' 40.9"  E