Lock group Monte Brione

The blocking group Monte Brione was part of the Riva fortress and belonged to the system of Austrian fortifications on the border with Italy . It consisted of the plants Nordbatterie, Mittelbatterie and Garda with connection battery and was located on Monte Brione northeast of Riva del Garda .

The purpose of the barrier was to secure the plain between Riva and Arco , the area where the Rio Sarca flows into Lake Garda , and the road coming from Rovereto and Mori from the Adige Valley .

North Battery Monte Brione

Built in stone masonry in 1860/62, the battery (also called Sant 'Alessandro by the Italians after the neighboring hamlet) was originally equipped with four 12 cm M 61 field cannons. Between 1908 and 1911 it was modernized several times in some areas, the battery was disarmed in 1912, but again equipped with guns in 1913 . Two so-called block houses were built in the area of ​​the battery, which included cavernous ammunition magazines and a cistern . The whole thing was surrounded by an open wall on which six 9 cm field cannons M 75 were posted. Infantry protection was given by advanced field fortifications. After the completion of this work, the previous northern battery was renamed Reduit ; the entire facility was referred to as the Campedell base . The Riva fortress telephone switchboard and an optical signaling station were housed in what is now the Reduit. There was a radio station in the yard of the facility. At the beginning of the war without any combat value, it was only used as a troop accommodation next to the signal systems. Today the entire complex has fallen into disrepair and can hardly be found anymore due to the wild growth.

Central battery Monte Brione

Middle battery 2011

Central battery Monte Brione

Called "Batteria di Mezzo" by the Italians, the building was erected between 1898 and 1900. At the exposed points (gun front) already made of concrete, it consisted only of a battery block with the front facing east. The direct firing direction was on the Val di Loppio with the road coming from Rovereto (today state road SS 240). The area was reinforced with four 12 cm minimum chart guns M 96 and two 8 mm machine guns M 93 as well as two stands for projectors at both sides of the head of the block (the area of the lake was at night with several spotlights - searched - diameter of up to 120 cm to rule out a surprise amphibious attack). At the beginning of the war, the battery was disarmed and the guns set up in open field positions; the cannon slots were masked with sham guns.

The battery is located near the transmitter mast on the summit and is largely preserved.

Garda plant

Entrance to the Garda plant

The Garda plant was one of the three plants that were built in 1905–1907 in the form previously used, namely to combine accommodation and artillery in one block. It was intended to replace the Monte Brione south battery or to reinforce the Riva fortress, which was already obsolete in its substance, and its construction still corresponded to the findings from the fire tests with the 24 cm M.98 mortar in 1902 . Shortly after completion, however, the reinforcement was no longer deemed to meet the requirements, as attempts were made to fire the 30.5 cm M.11 mortar from 1912 and completely different results were achieved.

The Garda plant was provided with a reinforced concrete slab with a thickness of at least 2.5 meters. In contrast to the Italian tank works, in which the vaulted ceiling was only erected on formwork (which led to considerable problems during the war - see Forte Monte Verena ), from the construction phase, which also included the Garda plant, the Austrian Engineers prescribed a suspended ceiling of about 30 to 50 cm thick double T-beams that sat close together over the cavities.

The factory was armed with four 10 cm M99B tower howitzers in rotating armored domes, which were located twelve meters (center to center) on the factory ceiling. In addition, there were two 8-cm M 5 minimal-chart cannons in casemates and an unknown number of machine guns. At the beginning of the war, the turrets were expanded and used in dislocated field positions on Monte Brione. The gun wells were masked with concrete domes and provided with sham guns.

The Garda plant is relatively undamaged and freely accessible.

South battery Monte Brione

Before the construction of the Garda works, this facility had to carry out artillery sweeping to the east and south-east. It was built in 1897 and had four 15 cm M 80 mortars in an open arrangement.
After the construction of the Garda plant, the south battery was rededicated as the Garda connection battery from 1905 (also known as the howitzer connection battery) and lost its previous independence. The mortars were replaced by four 15 cm M 94 field howitzers. In addition, the battery received an armored observation tower, which is still there today.

All works were artillery, battled not infantry, with the shelling but by no means the dimensions (as in the works of the lock Lavarone-Folgaria work Verle , Lusern work , post Vezzena ) reached.

literature

• Erwin Anton Grestenberger: Imperial and Royal fortifications in Tyrol and Carinthia 1860–1918 . Verlag Österreich u. a., Vienna 2000, ISBN 3-8132-0747-1 .
• Wilhelm Nussstein: Dolomites. Austrian fortresses in Northern Italy. From the seven municipalities to the Flitscher Klause . Mittler, Hamburg a. a. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0496-0 , ( Military History Travel Guide ).
• Vienna War Archives

Web links

Commons : Batteria monte Brione  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Commons : Plant Garda  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 45 ° 53 ′ 3 ″  N , 10 ° 52 ′ 9 ″  E