Western fortress ring

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View of the double cape on the Ravelin II from the south
View of the flood-leading barn in front of the fortress

The western fortress ring is a preserved and listed part of the Magdeburg fortress in Magdeburg in Saxony-Anhalt .

location

It is located on the western edge of Magdeburg's old town between Maybachstrasse in the east and Magdeburger Ring in the west.

Architecture and history

The surviving components of the western fortress ring include several different works. For example, the cavaliers IV , V and VI on the city side with the ditch and wall in front, the circular corridor , the double caponier behind the cavalier V and the escapade wall and counter - cape wall that run between cavaliers IV and VI . In addition, there are barracks in the form of casemates , the upstream Ravelin II and a gate in the main wall, which is flanked by two-storey moat weirs.

The works were built from rubble and bricks between 1872 and 1874 . The work was carried out in connection with the renovation of the western front of the fortress. The buildings were partly covered with earth and are simply designed without major decorations.

The fortifications were never involved in fighting. The military uses were gradually abandoned as early as 1900 and replaced by civil uses for apartments and businesses. From 1921 allotment gardens for employees of the Deutsche Reichsbahn were operated on the buildings covered with earth .

In the local register of monuments , the fortress is listed as an architectural monument under registration number 094 06383 .

Due to its size and completeness, the complex is also considered to be of national importance in terms of urban and military building history and the most impressive testimony to Magdeburg Fortress, which was formerly the strongest fortress in Prussia. In 2014, the renovation association Ravelin 2 was founded , which is committed to maintaining the facility.

Cavalier IV

Cavalier IV
Service residence, 2017

The Kavalier IV at the southern end of Maybachstrasse was erected from 1871 to 1873 as an open cavalier with a length based on the ridge of the parapet of about 275 meters. The floor plan was laid out unevenly polygonal . It served to protect the Helmstedt railway gate . The railroad tracks were led into the city by the cavalier. A war powder magazine was located in the central and northern part. After 1900, the southern part was demolished together with the railway gate, whereby underground remains were preserved. The middle and northern parts were preserved, even if they were partly changed. The converted war powder magazine of the northern part, a crew casemate and the storey and storey casemate are still there. However, the facade of the storey casemate has changed significantly. The original floor elevator can still be seen, but its earth cover has been removed. The original eight cross members have not been preserved, the same applies to the original profile of the wall. Ramps and stairs leading to the wall have been preserved in the area of ​​the original storey casemate. In the otherwise undeveloped courtyard of Kavaliers IV there was a building with official apartments for military personnel, which is currently (as of 2017) still in a ruinous condition. Originally stables and gardens also belonged to the house. Another part of the Kavalier was a carriage house 4, which was originally located north of the residential building . If the fortress was to be reinforced, a stack of palisades was planned in the southern part.

Cavalier V and Ravelin II with double caponier

Cavalier V
Ravelin II, on the right the double caponier

After the construction of the open Cavalier V and the upstream Ravelin II between 1871 and 1873, it served as protection for the central section of the western front of the fortress. It had a casemate corps , crossbars and war powder magazines and took up a total area of ​​3.5 hectares, not including the glacis on the field side. The width was 350 meters, with a depth of up to about 210 meters. The length of the parapet reached about 280 meters. The upstream glacis could be shot at from the cavalier . For the construction of the upstream Ravelin II, the 50 to 60 meter wide glacis had to be moved to the west on the field side. Even today, the course of the Sachsenring and Adelheidring streets, which has shifted significantly to the west at this point, is due to this situation. In front of the ravelin were five meter wide trenches that were connected to the main trench. Drawbridges ran across the trenches north and south. At the southern gate, a casemate ready for use was arranged at right angles to the grave casemate. The ravelin was bordered by a covered path towards the field. Its parapet formed the ridge of the glacis.

A military depot existed in the complex until 1919. This was followed by uses as emergency housing and commercial space. During the construction of the Magdeburger Ring, the Saillant des Ravelins was destroyed between 1971 and 1973 .

In the eastern part of the Ravelin, the valley casemate , side gates and the double caponier of the main trench have been preserved. Furthermore, there are also the leading through the wall Poterne , the powder magazine and the Reverskasematte . The trusses , however, were largely removed. In this respect, only the cannon crossbars designed as hollow crossbars have been preserved.

The two-aisled lapel casemate is 110 meters long and 16.3 meters wide. It is made of bricks and is divided into two equal halves by the postern. The access corridor is 1.95 meters wide and spanned by a barrel vault. In an emergency it was planned that the defense teams of Kavalier and Ravelin would be accommodated in the casemate. A variable room division by means of partition walls was planned, whereby the current division does not correspond to the original. Since such an emergency never occurred, the casemate served as an engineer siege depot for the fortress artillery. If necessary, planks could be inserted in grooves in front of the windows and door openings as splinter protection.

The Kehlkasematte was inserted into the wall on a floor plan in the form of a segmental arch. It was built with a single nave with brick pillars and a ceiling height of three meters. The access was at the rear via a 0.96 meter wide corridor. This casemate should also be used to accommodate teams in an emergency. The facade length of the valley casemate of Ravelins II was 70 meters long, with the casemate 9.70 meters wide. It was spanned by a cross-shaped brick vault, which was reinforced with a layer of concrete applied over it . On the city side there were double-wing steel gates. The casemate latrine building bordered the main moat.

Stairs led from the court of the gentleman up to the wall, but they have fallen into disrepair. The original gun ramps are still used as paths.

The main trench is blocked by the double caponier on Ravelin II. It was used to be able to fight enemy troops in the area between Cavalier IV to VI with artillery and infantry fire if necessary. The caponier had a smoke extraction system that enabled continuous fire . The two parts of the caponier connected in the area of ​​the ground floor also protected the access from Cavalier V to the upstream Ravelin II. The caponier rests on a base made of rubble stones and is otherwise made of bricks. Its facade is structured by loopholes. There are windows in the form of round arches towards the passage . In the event of an emergency, a shutter made of sheet steel was provided. The main trench is led around the caponier.

For a long time the area of ​​the caponier and the Ravelin II was unused and fell into disrepair. In the 1990s, parts of the wooden beam ceiling of the double cape were lost due to arson . The originally existing chimneys, which largely determined the appearance, also disappeared around the end of the 20th century. The bridge leading from the caponier to the west over the main ditch into the courtyard of Ravelins II, which had taken the place of a former drawbridge, was also destroyed by vandalism . Security measures were taken in 2003/2004. Overall, the area is well preserved despite the impairments.

Cavalier VI

Cavalier VI

The Kavalier VI in the northern part of Maybachstrasse was built between 1871 and 1874 as an open Kavalier. It served to protect the central section of the western front. It has two-storey casemate corps with external ramps and stairs, wall trusses and postern with gates to the main moat. There were also two magazines for war powder.

The floor plan of the Kavalier is polygonal . The length of the parapet ridge, however, no longer preserved, was 290 meters. In the area of ​​the cavalier, the walls of the main rampart met at an obtuse angle. On the north and south sides there are two wings of the building, which are also at an obtuse angle. A centrally arranged gate was used as access. It was arranged in a low wall that ran parallel to what was then Neue Wallstrasse and was designed to be defensible. Originally there were nine trusses, of which four hollow trusses with sheet steel gates have survived. On Maybachstrasse there was a barracks courtyard framed by trees. An exit led from the courtyard through the rampart and wall, which is flush with the wall. To the side of the gate, which is closed with sheet metal gates, casemates were arranged for defense, which today are only in ruins. On the field side there was a glacis about 40 meters wide. It was landscaped, but was removed when the Magdeburger Ring was built in the early 1970s.

The two-storey casemate corps is inserted into the wall and has two aisles as a brick building. The pillars are connected transversely on the ground floor with segmental arches and on the upper floor with round arches. The false ceilings are arched and the floors are made of wood planks. The casemate is about 160 meters long, 18.50 meters wide and has a total height of about 17.50 meters. The facade is designed with yellow and red bricks in a block bond. The floors are separated from one another by a sawtooth band. As a horizontal panel layout also works with, the work of stones created Traufgesims . The building rests on a base, also made of ashlar, which, however, is partly below today's ground level. The facade is structured vertically by risalits in the area of ​​the entrances and by pilaster strips . Two segmental arched windows are arranged in the wall panels on each floor. The risalites are crowned with battlements and overhang the eaves. Arched windows have been added to the upper floor. The central projection is more elaborately designed. There is a damaged Prussian eagle on it and the dates 1873 and 1874. The entrance areas are connected by a 2.50 meter wide corridor on the wall side. The individual team rooms are designed with four bays and each have a pillar in the middle. Storey loading and storey rooms as well as supply powder magazines are each arranged at the ends of the center wing. In the peacetime, however, the powder was stored outside the fortress. The latrines were set up in the side wings below the stairs leading to the wall . There were a total of five staircases that led to the individual floors, the hollow traverse and the wall. There was also an elevator for floors in the north and south.

From 1874 to 1912, an artillery barracks for foot artillery was housed in the casemate corps. Residential and commercial uses followed. The facade of the ground floor is affected by the subsequent installation of garage doors.

Eskarpen wall and main ditch

View from the south of the fortress wall

The Eskarpen wall was made as a crenellated wall mainly from greywacke and partly from sandstone with a thickness of 1.26 meters. It rises above the ditch in front of it on the field side with a height of 4.08 meters. At a distance of 3.77 meters (12 feet) with brick-lined embrasures incorporated. The wall is covered by a clinker brick covering designed in the form of a gable roof . A rifle appeared on the city wall. Originally the wall had a total length of about three kilometers, with considerable parts being preserved.

The upstream wall of the main trench is carried out as to the sole of 12.55 meters wide dry trench, serving for drainage of the trench in it Künette runs. On the field side, the slope of the countercarp connects.

literature

  • List of monuments Saxony-Anhalt, Volume 14, State capital Magdeburg. State Office for Monument Preservation and Archeology Saxony-Anhalt. Michael Imhof Verlag, Petersberg 2009, ISBN 978-3-86568-531-5 , p. 417 f.
  • Bernhard Mai, Christiane Mai: Magdeburg Fortress. Verlag Janos Stekovics, Dößel 2006, ISBN 3-89923-098-1 , p. 173 ff.
  • Sabine Ullrich, Magdeburg - architecture and urban planning. Verlag Janos Stekovics, Halle an der Saale 2001, ISBN 3-929330-33-4 , p. 58.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Short question and answer Olaf Meister (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen), Prof. Dr. Claudia Dalbert (Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen), Ministry of Culture March 19, 2015 Printed matter 6/3905 (KA 6/8670) List of monuments Saxony-Anhalt , Magdeburg.pdf, p. 2597.
  2. ^ Bernhard Mai, Christiane Mai: Fortress Magdeburg. Verlag Janos Stekovics, Dößel 2006, ISBN 3-89923-098-1 , p. 150.
  3. ^ Bernhard Mai, Christiane Mai: Fortress Magdeburg. Verlag Janos Stekovics, Dößel 2006, ISBN 3-89923-098-1 , p. 173 ff.
  4. ^ Bernhard Mai, Christiane Mai: Fortress Magdeburg. Verlag Janos Stekovics, Dößel 2006, ISBN 3-89923-098-1 , p. 245.
  5. ^ Bernhard Mai, Christiane Mai: Fortress Magdeburg. Verlag Janos Stekovics, Dößel 2006, ISBN 3-89923-098-1 , p. 175.
  6. ^ Bernhard Mai, Christiane Mai: Fortress Magdeburg. Verlag Janos Stekovics, Dößel 2006, ISBN 3-89923-098-1 , p. 177.
  7. ^ Bernhard Mai, Christiane Mai: Fortress Magdeburg. Verlag Janos Stekovics, Dößel 2006, ISBN 3-89923-098-1 , p. 177.
  8. ^ Bernhard Mai, Christiane Mai: Fortress Magdeburg. Verlag Janos Stekovics, Dößel 2006, ISBN 3-89923-098-1 , p. 245.
  9. ^ Bernhard Mai, Christiane Mai: Fortress Magdeburg. Verlag Janos Stekovics, Dößel 2006, ISBN 3-89923-098-1 , p. 177.
  10. ^ Bernhard Mai, Christiane Mai: Fortress Magdeburg. Verlag Janos Stekovics, Dößel 2006, ISBN 3-89923-098-1 , p. 177.
  11. ^ Bernhard Mai, Christiane Mai: Fortress Magdeburg. Verlag Janos Stekovics, Dößel 2006, ISBN 3-89923-098-1 , p. 178 f.
  12. ^ Bernhard Mai, Christiane Mai: Fortress Magdeburg. Verlag Janos Stekovics, Dößel 2006, ISBN 3-89923-098-1 , p. 179.
  13. ^ Bernhard Mai, Christiane Mai: Fortress Magdeburg. Verlag Janos Stekovics, Dößel 2006, ISBN 3-89923-098-1 , p. 179.
  14. ^ Bernhard Mai, Christiane Mai: Fortress Magdeburg. Verlag Janos Stekovics, Dößel 2006, ISBN 3-89923-098-1 , p. 180.
  15. ^ Bernhard Mai, Christiane Mai: Fortress Magdeburg. Verlag Janos Stekovics, Dößel 2006, ISBN 3-89923-098-1 , p. 245.
  16. ^ Bernhard Mai, Christiane Mai: Fortress Magdeburg. Verlag Janos Stekovics, Dößel 2006, ISBN 3-89923-098-1 , p. 132.

Coordinates: 52 ° 7 ′ 34.5 ″  N , 11 ° 37 ′ 12.6 ″  E