Fortini della Fame

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Fortini della Fame, Camorino
Fortifications of Bellinzona and the surrounding area around 1900

The Fortini della Fame (Eng. Hunger fortresses) belong to a military line of defense from the mid-19th century in the Swiss canton of Ticino . It leads through the Magadino plain from Camorino to Sementina and Monte Carasso . The two lines of defense ( Dufour fortifications ) along the Sementina and Morobbia rivers were built on behalf of the Swiss federal state founded in 1848.

prehistory

In the 1850s, the young Swiss federal state and the canton of Ticino threatened to be drawn into a conflict over the formation ( Risorgimento ) of an independent nation-state in Italy . The Lombardy-Venetian Kingdom belonged to the Habsburg Monarchy from 1815 ( Congress of Vienna ) to 1859/1866 . Because the Ticino population had given refuge to around 20,000 political refugees and revolutionaries from Lombardy despite extreme poverty , it was feared that Austria could attack the canton of Ticino as a retaliatory measure from Lombardy.

The Federal Council, which was only constituted in November 1848, was involved in dramatic disputes with Milan and Vienna because, for example, Giuseppe Mazzini continued to prepare his actions on Swiss soil. After the bloody attempt at uprising organized by Mazzini on February 6, 1853 in Milan, Austria imposed a trade blockade on Switzerland, closed the borders and expelled over 6,000 guest workers from Ticino. This affected 800 spinners from the Mendris bailiff , 600 chimney sweeps from the Verzasca valley , 400 coppersmiths and plumbers from the Valcolla, as well as chocolate manufacturers and chestnut sellers from the Blenio valley . In addition, a potato disease had spread in Ticino since 1845, causing food shortages and leaving many people starving.

Fortress construction

In view of the threat situation and to combat unemployment and famine, the federal state of Switzerland ordered the construction of a section of the fortification line south of Bellinzona in 1853 , which had been designed by General Guillaume-Henri Dufour (who became known during the Sonderbund War) . Around 500 unemployed people from Ticino, who had been expelled from the Lombardy-Venetian Kingdom in 1853 , built the fortresses for two years (1853–1854).

Camorino fortress section

  • Tower 1: Ai Scarsitt ⊙

  • Tower 2: Ai Munt ⊙

  • Tower 3: Ala Pélera ⊙

  • Tower 4: Al Sass del Camósc ⊙

  • Tower 5: Al Pian di Bur ⊙

Sementina fortress section, Monte Carasso

  • Torre della murata, observation tower, Sementina. The towers of Camorino can be seen on the opposite side of the valley. ⊙

  • Tower, Sementina ⊙

  • Wall and gate, Monte Carasso ⊙

  • Tower, Monte Carasso ⊙

  • Dufour line, Monte Carasso ⊙

Camorino lockout

During the First World War was the key space South the fortification Bellinzona expanded.

In the 1990s, Army 61 set up the Camorino locking point with two centi bunkers for anti-tank defense.

  • 10.5 cm Centi Bunker San Martino Nord A 8029 ⊙
  • 10.5 cm Centi Bunker San Martino South A 8030 ⊙

Web links

Commons : Fortini della Fame (Ticino)  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Homepage of the Fortini della Fame in Camorino
  2. ↑ Lockout Camorino TI