Great festivals of the Zegrze fortress

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Postern and trenches of the fortress
The big festival (red) with the connection to the small festival

The Great Festival of the Zegrze Fortress (Polish: Umocnienie Duże Twierdzy Zegrze ) is one of two festivals near Zegrze - on the northern bank of the Narew that once flowed here , now part of the Zegrze reservoir . The fortress was built by the Russian occupation forces from 1892 to 1895 as part of the fortress of the greater Warsaw area and - together with the associated Small Festival in the east - secured the greater area to the north. The facility, which was modernized before the First World War , was one of the most innovative festivals in the Russian Empire . It is overgrown, but in good condition to this day. The subordinate connection forts were the significantly smaller systems in Dębe (in the west) and Beniaminów (in the southeast).

history

The construction of two traditional brick forts in Zegrze was planned as early as the beginning of the 1880s. The project could not be realized for financial reasons. It was not until 1892 that the construction of a strong fortress on the north bank of the Narwe began. First the big festivals (also called western festivals ) were established, then the small ( eastern ) festivals . Then two barracks were built (one between the fortresses, one on the other side of the river) and various ammunition stores. The former Radziwiłł Palace was integrated into the complex and expanded into a summer residence for the commander of the Warsaw fortress. Finally two bridges were built across the Narew, one of which carried the tracks of the narrow-gauge railway used for military purposes . In 1895 construction work on the fortress was completed. After completion, it was also known as the Feste “Ordon”.

Around 1907 the facility was modernized and expanded. Additional shelters and ammunition stores were built. At the time, it was one of the most modern fortifications ever built by Russian engineers. A lot of knowledge from the construction of mountain fortresses was incorporated into the architecture of the facility.

During the First World War, the fortress was set up for defensive battles. After German troops began shelling on August 6, 1915, the Russian units left the facility during the night and destroyed both bridges as they retreated.

On November 28, 1918, the Polish artillery colonel, Olgierd Pożerski, was appointed as the fortress and garrison commander. In the interwar period, the Polish military was stationed in the fortress. A training center for officers of the field post and telecommunications force ( Obóz Wyszkolenia Oficerów Wojsk Łączności ) was established here. At the beginning of the 1930s, the name was changed to Centrum Wyszkolenia Łączności . Even after the Second World War , the facility was used by telecommunications operators for training purposes; it was not until 2002 that the Polish military gave it up.

The Polish National Bank (NBP) acquired the firm in 2002 in order to set up an IT and clearing center here. The new use should lead to the destruction of essential parts of the facility associated with the planned conversion. A change made in 2005 to tender for the reconstruction of the celebrations returned no results because the cheapest deals around three times more than 170 million expected by the NBP construction costs amounting to PLN were. The plans to change the use of the fortress were then dropped. The planned demolition of the plant has been stopped for the time being, the damage so far is manageable. On November 3, 2009, the NBP announced that it would put the festival up for sale at an asking price of PLN 28 million.

structure

The fortress has a dimension of around 400 × 800 meters, the main direction of the fighting is north / north-west. Today the winding road 61 leads along the east side of the fortress. The facility is surrounded by a dry trench with a 6 meter high, steep embankment. On the ramparts in the enemy direction there were positions for cannon batteries and infantry units. Under vaulted concrete ceilings and several meters of earthwork there are five large, ceiling-ventilated, multi-room casemates , which were connected to one another by a narrow-gauge railway. Remnants of this railway line can still be found today as an embankment.

Access to the fortress was provided by three gates. Two inlets are located on the east shoulder (road 61). A gate stands on the western flank facing the lake and was used for the passage of the narrow-gauge railway that crossed the bridge here. All entrances were secured by capons . At the northern tip of the trench there is a two-storey trench cut in the counter-mount , which can be reached via a 100 meter long postern .

  • Traditor at the northeast tip of the fortress

  • Inside in the northeast traditor

  • Entry of the narrow-gauge railway into the interior

  • Inside of the approx. 100 meter long access to the trench streak

  • Middle, covered entrance to the postern

  • The double caponier in the north

References and comments

  1. ↑ a b c d acc. Information Zaporowa Twierdza Zegrze from March 31, 2007 at Forty.waw.pl (in Polish)
  2. ↑ The German troops were probably the 21st Landwehr Brigade and the Regiment “Beyer” (Brigade “Pfeil”), according to Battles of the World War , Volume 8, Reichsarchiv (Ed.), G. Stalling, 1925, p. 36
  3. ^ For August 7, 1915, Die Grenzboten , Volume 74, Part 3, FL Herbig, reported the capture of the fortress in 1915
  4. ↑ Armin Mikos von Rohrscheit: Poland - the largest fortification open-air museum under the aspect of cultural tourism development. (PDF; 721 kB) p. 5
  5. ↑ Karl Ludwig von Oertzen, Heinrich von Löbell , and Gerhard von Pelet-Narbonne : Armament and Disarmament also refer to infantry and artillery crew . A survey of the army and warfare of all countries. Volume 19, ES Mittler & Sohn, 1892

Web links

Commons : Great celebrations of the Zegrze fortress  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 52 ° 27 ′ 56 ″  N , 21 ° 1 ′ 18 ″  E