Presanella plant

Presanella plant after the first bombardment

The Presanella plant was part of the Austro-Hungarian defense system against Italy.

It locked together with the works Tonale , Mero and Strino as blocking group Tonale the street from the Tonale Pass through the Val di Vermiglio over the Val di Sole in the Adige valley and thus into the back of the Fortress Trento or in the direction of Bolzano .

It is located in Subrayon II of the defensive barriers of the Austrian fortifications on the border with Italy on a ridge (1884 m) north of the Croz di Stavel (2635 m) and Cima die Pozzi (2890 m) and was therefore also known on the Italian side as "Forte Pozzi Alti" or "Forte Stavel". In today's official maps of Italy, only the name "Ex Forte Presanella" can be found.

history

Construction and armament

The plant was built in the years 1910 to 1912 following the same pattern as the Verle and Lusern plants northeast of the plateau of the seven municipalities (Altopiano dei Sette Comuni). For this reason, when it was completed it was no longer up-to-date with the current state of the fortification technology, as the development in the field of fortress artillery had overtaken the construction plans of these works (among other things, the battery block and the casemate block were not yet separated). Due to its location above a steep wall, there was no trench; however, the complex was surrounded by a steel mesh fence. The system was equipped with three 10 cm M 9 tower howitzers in armored turrets, two 8 cm casemate cannons behind front armor, as well as eight M 07/12 machine guns and an armored observation dome. The complex was laid out in such a way that the longitudinal axis pointed almost directly to the neuralgic point of the barrier, the Passo Tonale. Due to the design, the turret guns were therefore also in a line one behind the other, flat fire (direct fire) was therefore not possible in an attack from the Tonale Pass in this direction, as the guns would have hindered each other. The cuboid building had received a wedge-shaped embankment as reinforcement in front of the narrow front.
There was line of sight to the other Tonale Sperrgruppe plants.

First World War

During the entire period of fighting , the plant was shelled by the Italian batteries set up at Ponte di Legno and in the Valle Seria. The 149-mm field guns, which were used alone until mid-August 1915, had almost no effect, while bombardment with 30.5-cm howitzers caused severe damage with only a few hits from August 23, 1915. From the end of this month, the guns were removed from the factory and used in field positions. However, the facility was still manned and was used in June 1918 by the Lawine company as the headquarters of the 1st Infantry Troop Division. In total, Presanella was shot at with around 450 medium and heavy caliber shells, with a hit rate of only four percent. The serious damage resulted solely from the exposed location of the plant, which sat like a medieval castle completely uncovered on a mountain ledge.

swell

• Erwin Anton Grestenberger: Imperial and Royal fortifications in Tyrol and Carinthia 1860–1918 . Verlag Österreich ua, 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 et al. 1997, ISBN 3-8132-0496-0 , ( military history travel guide ).
• Vienna War Archives

Web links

Commons : Werk Presanella  - collection of images, videos and audio files

Coordinates: 46 ° 15 ′ 44 ″  N , 10 ° 38 ′ 35 ″  E