Kagran shooting range

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The Kagran military firing range (also known as the “elementary firing range” or “kuk garrison firing range”) was built in Kagran in 1871 for the military's target practice .

Establishment

On July 28, 1871, a lease agreement was signed between the Austro-Hungarian military , signed by the administrative commission of the Imperial and Royal Military Building Directorate in Vienna and Klosterneuburg Abbey , for a plot of land measuring 182,400 square meters (along today's Arbeiterstrandbadstraße between Wagramer Straße and Donauturmstraße ). April 1871 became valid. This contract initially ran for 15 years. After this period, the pen had to extend it if necessary, but the lease should be adjusted to a possibly changed property value. The wood that had to be felled for the construction of the shooting range was used for the pen.

Until 1918

The shooting range was equipped with 51 lines of fire for distances of 200 to 600 paces and 6 pistol shooting ranges . The structures were made of wood so that they could be dismantled quickly and easily.

The shooting range was not only used by the military , private shooting clubs were also active here. For example, the throwing pigeon club "Hubertusrunde" set up throwing facilities for clay pigeon shooting here .

On the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the reign of Emperor Franz Joseph I , the VI. Austrian Federal Shooting, a shooting festival, took place, which the Kaiser honored with his visit.

Ten years later he again attended an event organized by the “Wiener Schützenverein”, which in 1872 had rented part of the facility.

Interwar period

Adjacent to the so-called Russian church (built on the Wagramerstraße during World War I by Russian and Italian prisoners of war and in 1922 consecrated as a church "to divine Savior") is a sports ground for Army athletes was built.

The armed forces used the elementary shooting range in the interwar period . But it also served the shooting training of the youth organization "Young Fatherland" of the home guards . Army officers acted as trainers.

On July 5th, 1936 the already mentioned "Hubertusrunde" organized an international throwing pigeon shooting with numerous sub-competitions (Austrian championship, international match Austria - Czechoslovakia , ...) on the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Association of Litter and Clay Pigeon Shooters in Austria .

time of the nationalsocialism

Shooting competitions were held here during the Nazi era between 1938 and 1945.

However, the Kagran military firing range gained sad fame because of the executions carried out here between 1940 and 1945 as one of the Vienna execution sites . The exact number of those executed here cannot be determined exactly, but it is now assumed that there are at least 129 people. Mainly members of the German armed forces were executed here , the reasons for this were " decomposition of the armed forces " (self-mutilation), desertion , theft and so on.

The execution of five firefighters from Vienna who had been convicted of “preparation for high treason ” and “ favoring the enemy ”, ordered for October 31, 1944, was intended as a special deterrent . Apart from the firefighters, who were on standby in their offices, all other firefighters had to compete in uniform on the firing range. Special tram trains were organized to transport them. Failure to show up or appearing late was a criminal offense. The first two firefighters, Hermann Plackholm and Johann Zak, who were tied to stakes, were executed in front of the comrades . The three others - Franz Pascher , Johann Perthold and Oskar Schlaf - were then informed of their pardon and imprisonment for life . They were taken to the Mauthausen concentration camp , where they had been waiting to be executed.

According to reports, homosexuals from the ranks of the Vienna police were also executed here.

On November 5, 1944, during an air raid on Vienna , the army clothing station, which was located on the area of ​​the firing range, was also badly hit. Four members of the Wehrmacht, two (presumably) civilian employees and four Serbian prisoners of war were killed.

Second republic

After the Second World War , numerous corpses were exhumed on the area around the firing range, the origin of which could not be clearly established.

Parts of the former k. and k. Garrison shooting range was included in the international garden show WIG 1964 as " Donaupark Wien " and the Austrian Federal Railways had started building a company sports facility on another part in 1949.

On November 5, 1984, a memorial stone was unveiled in memory of those murdered here .

literature

Coordinates: 48 ° 14 ′ 19 ″  N , 16 ° 24 ′ 46 ″  E