Intermediate plant VIII a

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To the east: intermediate plant VIII a with Elbe, today industrial port, west: Fort VIII and Vogelgesangpark, today partly Magdeburg Zoo

The intermediate plant VIII a was a fortification system belonging to the Magdeburg Fortress . It was located in today's Magdeburg district of Magdeburg-Industriehafen and served to secure the northern front of the fortress.

history

The intermediate plant was built in 1890/91. At the same time, another five similar intermediate works were built in the Magdeburg fortress belt. With the advancement of weapon technology, the fortress, which had existed for several centuries, had to be modernized repeatedly. In 1866 an extensive belt of forts 1 to 3 kilometers from the actual fortress was created. To strengthen this belt, it was decided to build the intermediate works between the forts. These construction measures were the last major modernization of the Magdeburg Fortress.

The fortress had already lost significant military importance due to the changed weapon technology. Strategically, the expansions only served to prevent a surprise attack on the Magdeburg traffic junction and to enable sustained resistance. Parallel to the construction of the intermediate works, the northern front of the fortress was abandoned as early as 1888. The laying down of the southern and western fronts had already taken place in 1869.

It was named VIII a after Fort VIII to the west .

The intermediate plant was not involved in a military conflict. As early as January 23, 1900, the fortress was abolished by a cabinet resolution. With the lifting of the fortress compulsory in 1912, the history of the fortress finally ended. From 1904 the forts and intermediate works are given up. The military use of the intermediate plant VIII a ended after only a little more than a decade. The work was acquired by the city of Magdeburg and completely removed. Since then, the site has been used as part of an industrial park. The naming of a street further south as Zwischenwerkstraße reminds of the intermediate plant .

architecture

The intermediate plant had an approximately oval floor plan. It was about 160 meters long and 100 meters wide. An inner courtyard was surrounded by a wall, which was only cut on the throat side by the entrance. The yard was 30 by 6 meters. Ramps led from the courtyard to the wall 6 to 6.5 meters above courtyard level. A trench 2.5 meters deep ran on the wall in front of the casemates . The wall was surrounded by a moat. The distance between the top of the building and the ramparts was approximately 3.30 meters.

The casemate accessible from the courtyard was set up in the wall. It had an area of ​​approximately 125 m². The ceiling was designed as a brick vault. Above this was 1.20 meters of concrete, which in turn was covered with 0.5 meters of earth. The facade of the casemate facing the courtyard was also shaped by concrete, which was depicted as regular stone upholstered masonry. The facade was also faced with yellow clinker bricks. Red clinker bricks were used for the door and window openings. Shutters and doors were made of sheet steel.

In the casemate there were four crew rooms , an officers room , a latrine and two rooms on the side for ammunition and tools. The rooms were connected to one another, but each was also separately accessible from the courtyard. There was a 0.96 meter walkway to the outside.

literature

  • Bernhard Mai, Christiane Mai: Magdeburg Fortress. Verlag Janos Stekovics, Dößel 2006, ISBN 3-89923-098-1 , p. 209 ff .; P. 249.

Individual evidence

  1. May: Magdeburg Fortress. 2006, p. 197.
  2. May: Magdeburg Fortress. 2006, p. 282.
  3. May: Magdeburg Fortress. 2006, p. 283.

Coordinates: 52 ° 9 ′ 54 ″  N , 11 ° 39 ′ 57.6 ″  E