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64-452: The first set of fortifications was a tight defensive ring around central Poznań, including the main citadel called Fort Winiary (now the Cytadela park). Construction of these fortifications began in 1828. Later, beginning in 1876, an outer defensive ring was built around the perimeter of the city, consisting chiefly of a series of "forts", which mostly still survive. The term Festung Posen

128-509: A Nazi concentration camp , where up to 20,000 Poles died. Between 1940 and 1945, Fort Grolman and Fort Rauch formed the nucleus of the Stalag XXI-D PoW camp. In the later part of the war Poznań was declared one of the stronghold cities ( Festungen ) which the Nazis intended to defend at all costs, and so the name Festung Posen was revived. The outer forts were used to defend the city during

192-411: A castle , fortress , or fortified center. The term is a diminutive of city , meaning "little city", because it is a smaller part of the city of which it is the defensive core. In a fortification with bastions , the citadel is the strongest part of the system, sometimes well inside the outer walls and bastions, but often forming part of the outer wall for the sake of economy. It is positioned to be

256-670: A city, but with the citadel still held by the former rulers, could by no means regard their tenure of power as secure. One such incident played an important part in the history of the Maccabean Revolt against the Seleucid Empire . The Hellenistic garrison of Jerusalem and local supporters of the Seleucids held out for many years in the Acra citadel, making Maccabean rule in the rest of Jerusalem precarious. When finally gaining possession of

320-653: A committee of officers headed by Rauch, and then supplemented by Rauch himself (it was due to Rauch that Grolman's proposed additional line in front of the main defences was excluded from the plans). The king gave his final approval on 14 August 1828, ordering Hake to begin construction with the Winiary fort and the weirs on the Warta and on the Wierzbak ( Wierzbach ) stream. On 14 March 1828 Captain Moritz von Prittwitz und Gaffron , who had been

384-512: A decree of 15 May 1913 ordered the construction of new forts to create a wider ring, but this never occurred. However over a hundred shelters of various types were built around existing forts. The main forts in the outer ring are as follows: The following are the intermediate forts: The inner ring of fortifications was now redundant militarily, and hampered the city's development. Mayor Richard Witting , coming to office in 1891, tried to have it liquidated. The army demanded 18 million marks from

448-427: A decree of 23 January 1900. Festung Posen was again placed in the highest category, this time of "large fortresses". It needed to be strengthened following the removal of the inner ring on the left bank. New shelters were built in the southern and eastern sections, ten for infantry, three for artillery and three for ammunition. Other modernization work also took place, completed around 1907. With rising political tensions,

512-480: A decree on 5 November 1871 ordering the commission to prepare plans for necessary changes to fortifications in the united Germany . A further decree of 24 June 1872 reduced the number of fortress cities to 49. Festung Posen was among 17 strongholds which were to be modernized so as to be able to withstand a siege. Preparations for new building had begun in 1869, resulting in two preliminary plans. One provided for 11 main forts and 8 intermediate forts ( Zwischenwerk ) at

576-535: A large number of small settlements (the castros ), but also settlements known as citadels or oppida by the Roman conquerors. These had several rings of walls and the Roman conquest of the citadels of Abobriga, Lambriaca and Cinania around 138 BC was possible only by prolonged siege . Ruins of notable citadels still exist, and are known by archaeologists as Citânia de Briteiros , Citânia de Sanfins , Cividade de Terroso and Cividade de Bagunte . Rebels who took power in

640-413: A member of Rauch's committee, was appointed chief of construction of Festung Posen . In May, he and five subordinate officers began marking out the outline of the first fortifications – the defensive barracks of the Winiary fort (later the reduit ). Building began on 23 June 1828 (the fort would be completed in 1839). Fortification also soon began north of Poznań Cathedral and in the south-western part of

704-421: A monument). The outer forts were generally left unchanged (apart from the undoing of certain work carried out during the war) and continued to form the basis for the city's defence plans. However they were not kept battle-ready, and some were left unattended, where they were used by locals for storage or even housing (which was tolerated by the military). In the late 1920s and early 1930s the city negotiated with

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768-472: A new director, Reichel (replaced by Lange in the 1850s). Bastions III and V were first to be built. Work was interrupted in 1848 due to the Greater Poland Uprising and " Spring of Nations ". Later Bastions IV, VI, II and I were constructed, and in 1860–1861 connecting roads were built, as well as a number of brick blockhouses . This completed the ring ( enceinte ) around the left-bank city. Each of

832-512: A radius of 6–7 km, the other for 6 main and 3 intermediate forts at a radius of 3 km. Decrees of 24 June 1872 and 29 May 1873 laid down plans for fortifications in the Empire and permitted the confiscation of land for that purpose. A preliminary plan was completed on 1 June 1873, containing 8 main forts and 3 intermediate forts. This was presented to the Commission by a decree of 31 March 1874;

896-509: A ring of diameter 9.5 km at regular intervals of 3–4 km, forming a defensive line about 30 kilometres (19 mi) long, located 2.0–4.5 km from the inner ring. Gaps in the ring at the Bogdanka and Warta valleys were filled with intermediate forts (Forts IVa and IXa in the Warta valley, and VIa between the Bogdanka and Wierzbak). The easternmost Fort III, quite distant from the others,

960-689: A seven-span defensive bridge. In 1832–1837 the Kleine Schleuse on the Wierzbak was built. The Dom Schleuse weir on the east side of Ostrów Tumski was built in 1834–1838, with the Dom Flesche lunette to the north. On 1 October 1834 Festung Posen was classified as a "Fortress Second Class", and completed parts of the fortifications were armed. Around 1837–1838 the Magazin Cavalier and Ziegel Flesche were built south of Fort Winiary. Work also proceeded on

1024-464: The Battle of Poznań (1945) , and Fort Winiary was the defenders' last point of resistance, the reduit incurring significant damage. After the war the site of Fort Winiary was converted into the Cytadela park. 52°25′19″N 16°56′07″E  /  52.4219°N 16.9352°E  / 52.4219; 16.9352 Citadel A citadel is the most fortified area of a town or city . It may be

1088-532: The Mycielskis , Va General Ludwik Mierosławski , VI Kazimierz Mielęcki , VIa General Ludwik Bogusławski , VII Florian Dąbrowski , VIIa General Zygmunt Zieliński , VIII General Kazimierz Grudzielski , VIIIa General Michał Sokolnicki , IX Edmund Taczanowski , IXa General Wincenty Axamitowski ). These names did not come into wide use. During the World War II Nazi occupation , Fort VII gained notoriety as

1152-753: The Parc de la Ciutadella . A similar example is the Citadella in Budapest , Hungary. The attack on the Bastille in the French Revolution – though afterwards remembered mainly for the release of the handful of prisoners incarcerated there – was to considerable degree motivated by the structure's being a Royal citadel in the midst of revolutionary Paris. Similarly, after Garibaldi 's overthrow of Bourbon rule in Palermo , during

1216-649: The Spanish Civil War , in which the Nationalists held out against a much larger Republican force for two months until relieved, shows that in some cases a citadel can be effective even in modern warfare; a similar case is the Battle of Huế during the Vietnam War , where a North Vietnamese Army division held the citadel of Huế for 26 days against roughly their own numbers of much better-equipped US and South Vietnamese troops. The Citadelle of Québec (the construction

1280-454: The "continuous intrigues and plotting" on the part of the Poles. A preliminary plan sketched by Grolman on 9 July 1817 provided for fortification of Winiary Hill north of the city, as well as the area of St. Kazimierz's Church in Śródka to the east. Army engineers added to these plans a weir on the river Warta ( Warthe ), which would enable the river to be used as part of the defences. Building

1344-509: The 1860 Unification of Italy , Palermo's Castellamare Citadel – a symbol of the hated and oppressive former rule – was ceremoniously demolished. Following Belgium gaining its independence in 1830, a Dutch garrison under General David Hendrik Chassé held out in Antwerp Citadel between 1830 and 1832, while the city had already become part of independent Belgium. The Siege of the Alcázar in

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1408-618: The Commission completed its work on the plan on 7 April 1874, and it was approved by the War Ministry in a decree of 17 November 1874. The final plans were approved 24 February 1876, providing for 9 main forts (designed by Hans Alexis von Biehler ) and 3 intermediate ones. An act of the Reichstag of 30 May 1873 allocated over 7 million thalers for the project (the fifth largest amount granted for fort modernization). French prisoners-of-war were also used as free labour. The main forts were built in

1472-666: The Engineering Committee of the Chief Inspectorate of Forts to consider, in the 1860s, the possibility of modernization. It was decided to build an outer ring of artillery forts, spaced at 2–6 km, and 6 km from the existing inner ring. Following work by the Landes-Verteidigungs-Kommission and a report from Field Marshal von Moltke concerning the Franco-Prussian War , King Wilhelm issued

1536-507: The Warsaw road near Fort IIIa, as well as two new shooting ranges near Forts IIIa and VII. At the same time all main forts and the three oldest intermediate forts underwent modernization. The work required an increase in the size of the Poznań garrison, which led to the building of a barracks complex in the area of today's Bukowska and Grunwaldzka streets. A further change in concept was laid down in

1600-606: The boundaries of a country. These modern citadels are built to protect the command centre from heavy attacks, such as aerial or nuclear bombardment. The military citadels under London in the UK, including the massive underground complex Pindar beneath the Ministry of Defence , are examples, as is the Cheyenne Mountain nuclear bunker in the US. On armoured warships, the heavily armoured section of

1664-641: The city had fallen. For example, in the 1543 Siege of Nice the Ottoman forces led by Barbarossa conquered and pillaged the town and took many captives, but the citadel held out. In the Philippines , the Ivatan people of the northern islands of Batanes often built fortifications to protect themselves during times of war. They built their so-called idjangs on hills and elevated areas. These fortifications were likened to European castles because of their purpose. Usually,

1728-417: The city in compensation for the land, finally reduced to 12 million (the city's total budget in 1898 was 3.77 million marks). The amount was eventually paid to the army by the central government, which became the owner of the land. Demolition was confirmed by a decree of Emperor Wilhelm II dated 3 September 1902. The names which had been given to elements of the inner fortifications were transferred to forts in

1792-454: The demolition of Forts Prittwitz and Rauch. A central order of 20 June 1920 forbade the continuation of such work without consultation. Names of elements of the fortifications were changed or replaced with existing Polish equivalents, while the outer forts returned to their numbering as pre-1902. On 27 January 1921 unemployed demobilized soldiers were assigned to continue demolition of Reduta św. Rocha and Reduta Reformatów, aiming to leave only

1856-608: The early 19th century to facilitate the city's growth. The Prussian authorities first made plans to build new fortifications in December 1815. The city lay on the shortest route from the border with Congress Poland (and hence with the Russian Empire ) to Berlin , and was also an important point on the route from West Prussia to Silesia ; therefore, according to General Karl von Grolman , its fortification would show that Prussia had no intention of giving up those lands, and would defeat

1920-502: The fort sites (with stones marked F.G. for Festungs-Grenze ). Work then began with the forts on the Berlin road, to make up for the weakening of the inner ring caused by the new railway station. Next the southern and eastern forts were built. The northern Forts V and VI, were built last, and were modified by the addition of a second embankment. Each fort took about four years to build, the last (Fort V) being completed in 1886. The circular road

1984-434: The fortifications were also strengthened. Ritter Thor was built in 1881–1882 to improve access to the city's new rail station. By the 1890s the outer ring of forts had been built around the perimeter of the city, and much of the inner ring began to be demolished (see below). However the main forts remained in use. In 1910 reinforcement work took place at Fort Winiary, Fort Steinäcker and Cavalier Aster . The following were

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2048-576: The forts. The forts were generally taken over by Polish forces by negotiation, sometimes preceded by exchange of fire or brief combat. The new Polish authorities continued the demolition of the inner fortifications. In 1919 demolition began of the Great Lock and Cathedral Lock, and in 1920 that of the Fort Rauch embankments and the fortifications leading to the Bydgoszcz Gate, and preparations were made for

2112-642: The god and a royal palace . The most well known is the Acropolis of Athens , but nearly every Greek city-state had one – the Acrocorinth is famed as a particularly strong fortress. In a much later period, when Greece was ruled by the Latin Empire , the same strong points were used by the new feudal rulers for much the same purpose. In the first millennium BC, the Castro culture emerged in northwestern Portugal and Spain in

2176-401: The introduction of new types of armaments and ammunition, and the building of railway and tram lines. In 1869–1872 the north-eastern fortifications were rebuilt to allow the building of a railway to Toruń (Thorn). Powder stores were built and strengthened; in 1873–1874 the embankments around powder stores were widened. In 1875–1877 wooden bridges were mostly replaced with steel, and the gates in

2240-461: The island, and Dom Lünette in the north-west. Around 1862 the moat of Dom Redoute was completed. In 1864 the Poznań Fortress was declared completed and reclassified as a fortress "of the first class". King Wilhelm I issued a decree renaming many of the elements of the fortifications in honour of Prussian generals. Later alterations to the central ring of fortifications mainly resulted from

2304-524: The land formerly occupied by the fortifications. Demolition of the left-bank inner fortifications ended in 1912. There remained only the redoubt of Bastion III Grolman and a blockhouse at Bastion IV Colomb. Fort Winiary, and the fortifications of Ostrów Tumski and the right bank, also remained. In the Wielkopolska Uprising (1918–1919) the German forces largely stayed in their barracks or took refuge in

2368-520: The last line of defence, should the enemy breach the other components of the fortification system. Some of the oldest known structures which have served as citadels were built by the Indus Valley civilisation , where citadels represented a centralised authority. Citadels in Indus Valley were almost 12 meters tall. The purpose of these structures, however, remains debated. Though the structures found in

2432-599: The main defensive line. Work was carried out by the 5th Pioneers Division, re-stationed from Glogau ( Głogów ). Following the Polish November Uprising against Russia in 1830, the unfinished fortifications were manned temporarily for defensive purposes. In 1829–1832 the Große Schleuse weir was built on the Warta. In October 1832 the main stream of the Warta was moved westwards, the former stream being closed off with an overfall weir ( Große Überfall ), connected to

2496-542: The main elements of the ring of fortifications on the left bank of the Warta (listed in anti-clockwise order): The following were the main elements of the fortifications on the right bank of the Warta: The following were the main elements of the fortifications on Ostrów Tumski (the cathedral island): Gates had to be built to allow access into and out of the area enclosed by the ring of fortifications. The following four gates, in

2560-641: The military to have building restrictions around the outer forts lifted, which was done, although a proposal to transfer the forts to the city for civil defence, and move the military line of defence further out (as the Germans had previously planned), was rejected. In 1931 a committee renamed the outer forts in honour of Polish patrons, mostly military (I Krzysztof Żegocki , Ia General Krzysztof Arciszewski , II Aleksander Kraszewski , IIa Kazimierz Więckowski , III General Józef Niemojewski , IIIa General Józef Sułkowski , IV Henryk Dembiński , IVa Augustyn Brzeżański , V

2624-401: The new outer ring, although some of the forts received new names. Even before the official decision some demolition work had begun, including the replacement of Cemetery Gate by a blockhouse by the new railway in 1889–1894. Under the next mayor, Ernst Wilms , in 1903 a Royal Commission was set up to oversee the development of the city, under Joseph Stübben . Efforts were made to put in order

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2688-485: The northerly parts of the fortifications, were built in the 1830s: The following other gates were built in later periods: The Siege of Sevastopol (1854–1855) and that of Dybbøl during the Danish War of 1864 showed the concept of a tight ring of fortifications to be outdated, as it could be broken relatively easily by modern artillery. The ring was also weakened by the need for railway lines to pass through it. This led

2752-437: The only entrance to the castles would be via a rope ladder that would only be lowered for the villagers and could be kept away when invaders arrived. In times of war, the citadel in many cases afforded retreat to the people living in the areas around the town. However, citadels were often used also to protect a garrison or political power from the inhabitants of the town where it was located, being designed to ensure loyalty from

2816-682: The place, the Maccabeans pointedly destroyed and razed the Acra, though they constructed another citadel for their own use in a different part of Jerusalem. At various periods, and particularly during the Middle Ages and the Renaissance , the citadel – having its own fortifications, independent of the city walls – was the last defence of a besieged army, often held after the town had been conquered. Locals and defending armies have often held out citadels long after

2880-606: The region extending from the Douro river up to the Minho , but soon expanding north along the coast, and east following the river valleys. It was an autochthonous evolution of Atlantic Bronze Age communities. In 2008, the origins of the Celts were attributed to this period by John T. Koch and supported by Barry Cunliffe . The Ave River Valley in Portugal was the core region of this culture, with

2944-448: The right bank, where there were to be two forts connected by embankments. The northern embankment, containing Bydgoszcz Gate, was completed in 1839. On 16 March 1839 the king ordered a renewal of work on the fortifications, which had been suspended. Brese produced working plans on 1 February 1840, and the king approved an annual budget of 300,000 thalers . Work began again in March 1840, under

3008-565: The ruins of Mohenjo-daro were walled, it is far from clear that these structures were defensive against enemy attacks. Rather, they may have been built to divert flood waters. Several settlements in Anatolia , including the Assyrian city of Kaneš in modern-day Kültepe , featured citadels. Kaneš' citadel contained the city's palace, temples, and official buildings. The citadel of the Greek city of Mycenae

3072-436: The ship that protects the ammunition and machinery spaces is called the armoured citadel . A modern naval interpretation refers to the heaviest protected part of the hull as "the vitals", and the citadel is the semi-armoured freeboard above the vitals. Generally, Anglo-American and German languages follow this while Russian sources/language refer to "the vitals" as цитадель "citadel". Likewise, Russian literature often refers to

3136-650: The six bastions had a large caponier shielded by embankments connected to the cavaliers . There was also a separate caponier on Grobla (Graben) island, beyond the Graben Schleuse weir. Work also continued on the right bank, with the Reformaten Fort completed in 1842, and the Warsaw Gate in 1845, as well as the Cybina Cavalier , Cybina Schleuse , Cybina Flesche , and Fort Rochus (and adjacent embankments) to

3200-471: The south. The section containing the Kalisz Gate was last to be built. Around 1850 it was decided to make an independent fortress on Ostrów Tumski. Canals were built east and west of the island, partly for flood prevention ( Vorfluth Canal I and II), completed by 1864. Defences were built in the second half of the 1850s: Dom Redoute at the southern end of the island, embankments on the east and west sides of

3264-556: The stone foundations of the slopes, prepared for possible re-use. In July 1921 demolition began of the Cathedral Fort and the embankments of Reduta Rusa. Finally on 30 January 1923 the military authorities agreed to the general demolition of the inner fortifications, which mostly took place between 1924 and 1927. Fort Winiary survived, as did the gunneries at Reduta Marcinkowskiego (formerly Sw. Rocha), Reduta Radziwiłła and Reduta Reformatów, as well as Reduta Czecha, and Kalisz Gate (left as

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3328-515: The town as well as on the sea approaches. Barcelona had a great citadel built in 1714 to intimidate the Catalans against repeating their mid-17th- and early-18th-century rebellions against the Spanish central government. In the 19th century, when the political climate had liberalized enough to permit it, the people of Barcelona had the citadel torn down, and replaced it with the city's main central park,

3392-587: The town that they defended. This was used, for example, during the Dutch Wars of 1664–1667, King Charles II of England constructed a Royal Citadel at Plymouth , an important channel port which needed to be defended from a possible naval attack. However, due to Plymouth's support for the Parliamentarians , in the then-recent English Civil War , the Plymouth Citadel was so designed that its guns could fire on

3456-413: The turret of a tank as the 'tower'. The safe room on a ship is also called a citadel. Lunette (fortification) In fortification , a lunette was originally an outwork of half-moon shape; later it became a redan with short flanks, in trace somewhat resembling a bastion standing by itself without curtains on either side. The gorge was generally open. One noted historical example of

3520-721: Was also used by the Nazi German occupiers during the Red Army 's advance in the closing phases of the Second World War , to refer to Poznań's status as one of the "strongholds" ( Festungen ) which were to be defended at all costs. It fell in the Battle of Poznań (1945) , with Fort Winiary the last point of resistance. Poznań ( Posen ) came under Prussian rule with the Second Partition of Poland in 1793. Its medieval city walls were obsolete by that time, and were mostly taken down in

3584-409: Was built atop a highly-defensible rectangular hill and was later surrounded by walls in order to increase its defensive capabilities. In Ancient Greece , the Acropolis , which literally means "high city", placed on a commanding eminence, was important in the life of the people, serving as a lookout, a refuge, and a stronghold in peril, as well as containing military and food supplies, the shrine of

3648-450: Was completed in the same period. New missiles using nitrocellulose , introduced in 1883, were shown in tests at Kummersdorf to be effective against standard fortifications. A still stronger explosive material – melinite – was introduced in 1886 by France and 1888 by Germany. As a consequence, the commission worked from 1885 to 1887 on strengthening the Prussian fort system. The conclusion

3712-408: Was formed, with alternating main and intermediate forts, spaced at around 2 km. Between Forts VIa and VII was a permanent battery ( Bogdanka ), of a similar size to the intermediate forts. The ring was reinforced by 43 shelters for infantry, ammunition and artillery, mostly in the north between Forts IV and VIII. South of Fort III a weir was built on the Cybina. A peacetime powder store was built on

3776-519: Was instructed to prepare a detailed plan. The result, dated 23 March 1828, included the large fort on Winiary Hill, fortifications on the cathedral island ( Ostrów Tumski ) and the right bank, and the core defensive line surrounding the left-bank city. The plan was approved by General Gustav von Rauch (chief inspector of forts), and then presented by General Karl von Hake to King Frederick William III , who approved it in principle, asking Rauch to make some improvements. These were agreed on 18 June 1828 by

3840-407: Was one of the 17 fort systems "of the highest importance" designated for modernization. A decree of 13 May 1887 had already provided for expansion of the fortified areas around Poznań, Metz and Strasbourg , and work in Poznań began the same year. Over a few years the intermediate forts Ia, IIa, IIIa, Va, VIIa and VIIIa were built, completed in 1896 according to official records. Thus a regular ring

3904-426: Was planned to begin in 1817, but initially no funds were available for the work (due to the costs of fortifying Cologne and Koblenz ). Planning continued, however: in 1823 Grolman proposed a line of defences surrounding the left-bank (main) portion of the city, with additional fortifications 500–1000 metres in front of the main line. In 1827, Johann von Brese , then working in the War Ministry's engineering section,

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3968-414: Was reinforced by three permanent artillery batteries. All the forts were to be connected by a road network, based on a circular road a few hundred metres behind the forts, and radial roads leading to the inner ring. Large shooting ranges were built at Komandoria and Główna in the north-east of the city, and two training grounds at Górczyn and Karolin. Work began in 1876, with the marking of the boundaries of

4032-427: Was started in 1673 and completed in 1820) still survives as the largest citadel still in official military operation in North America . It is home to the Royal 22nd Regiment of the Canadian Army and forms part of the Ramparts of Quebec City dating back to 1620s. Since the mid 20th century, citadels have commonly enclosed military command and control centres, rather than cities or strategic points of defence on

4096-437: Was that the artillery had to be more distributed rather than being concentrated in forts, and the forts themselves were to be defended from attack from all sides, serving as strong points of infantry resistance, largely using machine guns . The role of linear fortifications was reduced to a minimum. A decree of 10 December 1888 ordered a review of the fortification system, leading to a decree of 9 May 1889, in which Festung Posen

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