Fort Gonsenheim

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Fort Gonsenheim was part of the third phase of the mounting fortress Mainz , following the reorganization of Germany by the Congress of Vienna as a fortress of the German Confederation .

Geographical location

Fort Gonsenheim was built on the Hartenberg , where you can look down into the Gonsbachtal , next to the former road that led out of the Gonsenheimer Tor . It was strategically located so that it could cover the northernmost part of the province of Rheinhessen . At the time of construction it was an advanced fortress well in front of the bastions, capable of independent warfare. Gonsenheim itself was not incorporated into Mainz until April 1, 1938 for reasons of military policy.

history

Fort Gonsenheim was built between 1862 and 1865 according to plans by the Prussian fortress builder Hans Alexis von Biehler on behalf of the German Confederation in order to protect the interests of the sovereign princes and free cities of Germany on the Rhine . Its construction should do justice to modern artillery - protection from the effects of drawn artillery.

With the modernization of weapon technology, the cannons now reached so far that enemy troops could simply shoot over the bastions of the second ring of fortress. Fort Gonsenheim was to relieve the fortress to the west with other detached forts. At the end of 1861, as a result of the annual reports of the army inspection, the German Federal Military Commission applied to the Bundestag Committee for Military Affairs for the financing of several construction measures at the Mainz fortifications. At the forefront was the construction of two new forts. Firstly, Fort Gonsenheim, which was to be placed in front of the existing Fort Judensand, and Fort Bingen in front of the existing churchyard tower. The completion of the fort Gonsenheim, estimated at 279,000 guilders, was announced in the budget report of March 14, 1866.

Building description and armament

The Gonsenheim plant was described by the chief engineer Roessler in 1863. The area of ​​the site was around 55,500 m². The floor plan of the modern bastion fortress was in the shape of a pentagon . The artillery armament consisted of 26 guns. Fort Gonsenheim was armored both in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71 and in World War I , but was never actively involved in combat operations. On March 18, 1904, the Kaiser ordered the abandonment of the thirty-year-old Rheingau Wall . At the same time, all building restrictions were lifted and the way to the construction of extensive industrial plants was clear. The fort had lost its function and new plans for a fourth fortress belt, the Selzstellung, in the area of ​​localities in Rhine-Hesse, occupied the engineering corps.

Laying down

After the lost World War I that were razing the fortress Mainz made in three sections. Due to the provisions of the Versailles Treaty of 1919, all fortifications, including those that had already become useless, had to be destroyed. The Mainz Entfestigungsamt was created for this task. As a German agency and sub-commission for fortifications, it was entrusted with carrying out the razing work on the fortifications as determined by the Inter-Allied Military Control Commission. In 1920 and 1921 the forward outer line and the inner defensive belt on the left bank of the Rhine were laid down; in 1922 and 1923 the fortifications on the right bank of the Rhine and the main point followed. In the following years the parts of the fortress that were still in use by the French occupation until they left in mid-1930 were destroyed.

Fort Gonsenheim was blown up in 1921. In photos, five halls can be seen on the eastern edge of the site outside the actual fort, which are not shown on the construction plans. These halls were used by the French army as an ammunition depot until it was withdrawn.

Under the direction of Pastor Andreas Niklaus, the youth secretary of the diocese under Bishop Ludwig Maria Hugo and founder of the Catholic Youth Organization, from the Mainz parish of St. Boniface, a lot of debris was cleared from the fallow fortress area four months before the French left Redesign of the site operated.

The site of Fort Gonsenheim is now a new building area in Mainz-Hartenberg-Münchfeld .

literature

  • Manfred Göbel: The former Fort Gonsenheim . In: We planted the cross on rubble, ditches and hills (=  Mainz perspectives: From the history of the diocese ). Mainz 2005, ISBN 3-934450-20-2 , p. 14-17 .
  • Hedwig Brüchert: "Labor battle", "Aryanization", "work slaves" . Aspects of economic life in Mainz during the Nazi era. In: City of Mainz; Editor: Wolfgang Dobras (Hrsg.): Contributions to the history of the city of Mainz . tape 36 . Mainz 2008 (exhibition volume: National Socialism in Mainz 1933–45. Terror and Everyday Life. ).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Winfried Bliss: The fortress plans of the Prussian War Ministry: an inventory, Volume 2, Böhlau Verlag, Cologne-Weimar, 2008, ISBN 3-412-05006-7 .
  2. ↑ The structure of the Catholic Youth Office 1930-1936
  3. ↑ Fort Gonsenheim as part of the 19th century Mainz fortress
  4. ↑ Photos showing parts of the fort before and after the demolition as well as the subsequent demolition work have been preserved in the Mainz City Archives .
  5. ^ Rev. Andreas Niklaus - the founder of the Catholic youth organization

Coordinates: 50 ° 0 ′ 5.5 ″  N , 8 ° 14 ′ 13.5 ″  E