Fort Wawer

Today's forest park “Las Matki Mojej” in place of the fort. Remains of the ramparts of the old complex can still be seen

The Fort Wawer (also called Fort "Suvorov") was one of 17 forts of the Warsaw Fortress . It was located on the east side of the Vistula and was built in the 1890s in the area of ​​what was then Wawer (now a district of Warsaw ). The fort no longer exists; today there is a forest park in its place.

history

The fort was located between today's Łysakowski, Bychowski, Strus and Akwarelowa streets. It covered an area of ​​about 20,000 square meters within the trench. The fort was one of the defenses of the fortress of the greater Warsaw area , which secured the east. It was part of the eastern flank of the fortress triangle Warsaw, Zagrze and Modlin , and connected the Warsaw fortifications with those in Zegrze . It also served to secure the Vistula Valley railway line running in the immediate vicinity.

The date of construction and the architect of the fort cannot be determined with certainty. It is believed that it was built between 1892 and 1894 under Konstanty Wieliczko . The facility was built on a former cemetery of the Augsburg Evangelical Lutheran religious community there, which, according to existing documents, sold the property to the Russian authorities. After completion, the defense system was called Fort Suvorov .

As a result of the decision of January 31, 1909 to give up the Warsaw fortifications, the fort in Wawer was cleared in the summer of 1919 and the demolition began soon afterwards. The demolition was stopped the following summer so that the remaining fortifications could be used to defend against the Red Army . The fort thus became part of Warsaw's third line of defense for a short time . The temporary restoration was supervised by General Wladyslaw Wejtko and completed on August 13, 1920. Polish troops remained stationed here until October 1920; other fortification work was also carried out. On October 22, 1920, General Wacław Iwaszkiewicz-Rudoszański issued an order to finally leave the facility and destroy it.

In 1936, by decree of the Polish President Ignacy Mościcki of September 29, the entire area (fort plus esplanade and surrounding area) was rededicated. 7 hectares were given to the village of Wawer for the benefit of the general public, 13 hectares were sold to companies and private individuals. The part that fell to Wawer at the time forms the core of the "Las Matki Mojej" forest park, which was created later and is now 14 hectares in size.

During the occupation of Warsaw in World War II , the place served as a secret training facility for officer candidates of the Polish underground army . Today's forest was created as a result of planting work on these units. The name of the forest park ("forest of my mother") refers to the mothers of the resistance fighters.

References and comments

1. ↑ Konstanty Iwanowicz Wieliczko (1856-1927) was a Russian army engineer and general who had specialized in fortress construction
2. ↑ Władysław Wejtko was (1859-1933), a Polish major general of the Russian and later the Polish Army
3. ^ Wacław Teodor Iwaszkiewicz-Rudoszański (1871-1922) was a Polish major general in the Russian and later the Polish army
4. ↑ according to Information board at the park

• 

  Information board on the history of the forest park "Las Matki Mojej"

• 

  Sign indicating the use of the fitness trail in the forest

Web links

Commons : Fort Wawer  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 52 ° 13 ′ 59 ″  N , 21 ° 8 ′ 44 ″  E