Fort Gorgast

The Fort Gorgast located in the village Gorgast on the federal highway 1 between Seelow and Küstrin-Kietz

Outside gate

history

After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/1871, the construction of fortresses was forced in the German Empire . The Küstrin fortress was to receive a strong defensive ring made up of four forts. In 1883 the Prussian Minister of War Georg von Kameke issued the very highest cabinet order for the establishment of a fort belt around Küstrin .

Fort Gorgast, built between 1883 and 1889, is the best preserved outer fort of the former Küstrin fortress . It was supposed to be the only fort to control the western bank of the Oder and to provide a retreat for troops. The fort was built on exposed brick farmland and is surrounded by a 42 meter wide and 3 meter deep moat. When building also were prisoners of the penitentiary Sonnenburg used.

It was designed for a crew of up to 310 men (200 to 300 infantrymen and 60 artillerymen ) and consists of single-storey exposed brick buildings. These include u. a. the so-called block house (with weapons place, the gatehouse with obstacle bars, drawbridge and guard casemates), the war powder magazine (in the middle barracks), barracks and a well system with an artesian well with tank, which is still functional today.

The living and working rooms of the fort were provided with stove heating. As early as 1892 and 1893 the vaulted ceilings of the powder magazine and the ammunition magazine were reinforced with a layer of concrete. Nevertheless, when it was completed, the fort was already militarily obsolete due to the advanced weapon technology (especially the artillery ) and changed military strategies, and in the years and decades that followed it was mainly used as a depot and barracks.

The fort survived the razing of the fortress Küstrin after the First World War undamaged. Even at the end of the Second World War this was u. a. Fort Gorgast, used as an auxiliary hospital , was not destroyed in the spring of 1945, despite the hardest fighting for the Seelow Heights . The fort was occupied by the Red Army , who destroyed parts of the fort by blowing up after 1945.

Initially the Red Army used Fort Gorgast before it was later left to the East German NVA , who u. a. used as an ammunition store . After German reunification, the fort became the property of the community of Gorgast, which, together with a support association, strives to preserve and use the fortress in accordance with the heritage. Fort Gorgast has been a listed building since September 9, 1997 .

Fort Gorgast can be visited all year round, Monday to Friday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. and from May to October also Saturday and Sunday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Guided tours are always possible by appointment, regardless of the number of people.