Weichselmünde fortress
The Weichselmünde fortress (Polish Twierdza Wisłoujście ) is a historic fortress near Gdansk in the Polish Pomeranian Voivodeship .
Geographical location
The Weichselmünde fortress is located in the historical West Prussia landscape , on the Danzig Bay , northeast of Danzig, not far from the Westerplatte in the north.
construction
The oldest parts of the fortress date from the Middle Ages and show Gothic features. In the center of the fortress is a round tower that once served as a lighthouse . The tower is surrounded by the square Fort Carré with its four bastions. The outer fortifications are surrounded by the east hill with five bastions and two ramparts, only one of which has been preserved.
On the opposite bank of the Dead Vistula there used to be the Westschanze, demolished at the end of the 19th century. This hill was called Fort Montebello during the Napoleonic Wars . Fort Carré and the ski jump are surrounded by a moat that was watered by the Dead Vistula.
The round tower served as a lighthouse until 1758. The entrance gate is connected to Fort Carré by an underground passage (1609).
history
Already in the times of the Teutonic Order in the 14th century there was a wooden guardroom at the point of the mouth of the Vistula, which was burned down by the Hussites - Sirotci at the beginning of September 1433. In 1482 a brick lighthouse was built on the same site. A square fort with four bastions was later built around the tower. The Danzig architect Anton van Obberghen was involved in the construction work .
The fortress was contested several times. In 1577 it was besieged unsuccessfully by the Polish King Stefan Báthory , and the architect Hans Kramer was killed. From 1622 to 1629 the fortress served as a base for the Polish fleet. On the night of July 5th to 6th, 1628, the Polish ships were attacked by Swedish forces with cannon fire, with the ship Gelber Löwe and the galleon Saint George sunk. In the Polish-Swedish War during the sea battle of Oliwa on November 28, 1627, the Swedish fleet was shelled by the fortress. In 1734 the fortress was attacked by the Russian-Saxon army and in 1793 by the Prussian army. In 1807 it was besieged by Napoleon and again in 1814 by the Prussians.
The fortress has moved away from the shore of the Baltic Sea due to the washing up of sand. The defense of the mouth of the Vistula was taken over by the Prussian fortifications on the Westerplatte and the Möwenschanze at the end of the 18th century . The fortress then served as a prison; after the First World War a sailing club was established here.
In 1945 the fortress was damaged by the Red Army . In 1974 the Weichselmünde Fortress was taken over as a branch of the Historical Museum of Gdansk.
Because of its special importance as one of the two preserved fortresses on the south coast of the Baltic Sea (next to Pillau ) it was entered on the list of the World Monuments Watch . In 2009 the Gdańsk authorities decided to partially rebuild the Westschanze.
Bats
The Weichselmünde fortress is inhabited by bats. In 2005, 313 animals were counted. The genera fringed bat , water bat and pond bat were represented. That is why the fortress was recognized as a Natura 2000 nature reserve .
literature
- Karl Friedrich Friccius : History of the fortifications and sieges of Danzig. With special consideration for the East Prussian Landwehr, which stood in front of Danzig in the years 1813–1814. Along with a plan of Gdansk and its surroundings. Berlin 1854 ( e-copy ).
Web links
Coordinates: 54 ° 23 ′ 41.2 " N , 18 ° 40 ′ 51.1" E