Kraków fortress ( Polish: ''Twierdza Kraków'',

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

: ''Festung Krakau'') refers in the narrow sense to the 19th century

Austro-Hungarian Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

fortifications, and in the larger sense - to the interconnected fortifications in

Kraków , officially the Royal Capital City of Kraków, is the List of cities and towns in Poland, second-largest and one of the oldest cities in Poland. Situated on the Vistula River in Lesser Poland Voivodeship, the city has a population of 804,237 ...

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

, including 18th century Kościuszko Insurrection fortifications, and the medieval

Wawel Castle The Wawel Royal Castle (; ''Zamek Królewski na Wawelu'') and the Wawel Hill on which it sits constitute the most historically and culturally significant site in Poland. A fortified residency on the Vistula River in Kraków, it was established o ...

and city walls. Festung Krakau 1881

List of Fortifications

Citadel

* Wawel Citadel Fortress

The Inner Ring

Bastions

* Bastion III "Kleparz" – a standard

reduit A reduit is a fortified structure such as a citadel or a keep into which the defending troops can retreat when the outer defences are breached. The term is also used to describe an area of a country that, through a ring of heavy fortifications or ...

fortification from the 1856-1866 period. The live music venue Forty Kleparz is located here. It features a 200-person concert hall as well as two bars.

Citadel forts

* Fort citadel 2 "Kosciuszko" - Built surrounding the

Kościuszko Mound Kościuszko Mound () is an artificial mound in Kraków, Poland. It was erected by Kraków, Cracovians in commemoration of the Polish national leader Tadeusz Kościuszko, and modelled after Kraków's prehistoric mounds of Krakus Mound, Krak and Wa ...

in 1850–56, and designed by Franz von Pidoll Quintenbock, Felix Księżarski and Bernard von Caboga. Today, the fort houses a museum devoted to

Tadeusz Kościuszko Andrzej Tadeusz Bonawentura Kościuszko (; 4 or 12 February 174615 October 1817) was a Polish Military engineering, military engineer, statesman, and military leader who then became a national hero in Poland, the United States, Lithuania, and ...

, the radio station

RMF FM RMF FM (abbreviation to ''Radio Muzyka Fakty FM'', translation: ''Radio Music Facts FM''; previously: ''Radio Małopolska Fun FM''; translation: ''Radio Lesser Poland Fun FM'') is the first commercial radio station in Poland, currently broadca ...

, a hotel and cafes.

Tower forts

* Fort 31 "St. Benedict Fort" (Polish: ''Fort św. Benedykta'') - the only one of three surviving fortresses built in

Podgórze Podgórze ( German: ''Josefstadt'') is a district of Kraków, Poland, situated on the right (southern) bank of the Vistula River, at the foot of Lasota Hill. The district was subdivided in 1990 into six new districts, see present-day districts o ...

in the mid-19th century to protect the

Vistula River The Vistula (; ) is the longest river in Poland and the ninth-longest in Europe, at in length. Its drainage basin, extending into three other countries apart from Poland, covers , of which is in Poland. The Vistula rises at Barania Góra ...

and the road to

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

. It is located atop the Krzemionki cliffs on Lasota Hill, and takes its name from the adjacent St. Benedict's church. The fortress quickly lost its usefulness in the 1890s. Since, it was used as an Austrian military barracks and converted into apartments in the 1950s. Today, it lies in general dereliction, filled with abandoned furniture and building materials. The fort has recently been transferred back to the property of the city of

, with plans for its renovation awaiting approval. * Fort 32 "Krzemionki" - The only other tower fort constructed in addition to the Fort 31 "St. Benedict" within the Krakow Fortress. In the 18th and 19th century, the fort was adapted to serve as barracks. Around 1954, the fort was demolished to make way for the construction of the Television Krakow building.

Reduit forts

* Fort 7 "Bronowice" * Fort 12 "Luneta Warszawska"

The Outer Ring

Artillery forts

* Fort 45 "Zielonki", today a hotel * Fort 47 "Łysa Góra" * Fort 48 "Batowice" * Fort 49 "Krzesławice" - During the

German occupation of Poland German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, it was the site of German massacres of

Poles Pole or poles may refer to: People *Poles (people), another term for Polish people, from the country of Poland * Pole (surname), including a list of people with the name * Pole (musician) (Stefan Betke, born 1967), German electronic music artist ...

committed as part of the ''

Intelligenzaktion The ''Intelligenzaktion'' (), or the Intelligentsia mass shootings, was a series of mass murders committed against the Polish people, Polish intelligentsia (teachers, priests, physicians, and other prominent members of Polish society) during the ...

'' and ''

AB-Aktion The ''AB-Aktion'' ( , ) was the second stage of the Nazi German campaign of violence in Poland early in World War II, taking place between March and September 1940. As with the previous ''Intelligenzaktion'', during the 1939 invasion of Poland, i ...

''. In 1945, 29 mass graves were discovered, with 440 victims, which were murdered from November 1939 to November 1940. In the forest of Fort 49, the German security police murdered around 1,300 Poles. Among the victims of the massacres in the fort and forest were Poles arrested in various towns and villages of the region, including Kraków,

Nowy Sącz Nowy Sącz (; ; ; ; ) is a city in the Lesser Poland Voivodeship of southern Poland. It is the district capital of Nowy Sącz County as a separate administrative unit. With a population of 83,116 as of 2021, it is the largest city in the Beskid S ...

and

Wadowice Wadowice () is a town in southern Poland, southwest of Kraków with 17,455 inhabitants (2022), situated on the Skawa river, confluence of Vistula, in the eastern part of Silesian Foothills (Pogórze Śląskie). Wadowice is known for being the bir ...

.Wardzyńska, p. 257, 269 * Fort 50 "Prokocim" * Fort 51 "Rajsko" * Fort 52 "Borek" * Fort 53 "Bodzów"

Armoured forts

* Fort 44 "Tonie" * Fort 44a "Pękowice" * Fort 45a "Bibice" * Fort 48a "Mistrzejowice" * Fort 49a "Dłubnia" * Fort 52a "Łapianka" * Fort 53a "Winnica"

Gallery

File:Krakow Luneta Warszawska 3.jpg, Fort 12 "Luneta Warszawska" File:616296 małopolskie gm Zielonki fort 45 Marszowiec 3.JPG, Fort 45 "Zielonki" File:KRAKÓW fort Krzesławice 4.JPG, Fort 49 "Krzesławice" File:Łapianka 1.jpg, Fort 52a "Łapianka" File:Kraków, fort 53a WINNICA3.JPG, Fort 53a "Winnica" File:Festung Krakau - Kleparz.JPG, Bastion III "Kleparz"

References

External links

Fortress Kraków
* http://www.twierdza.art.pl/index.html * http://www.wawel.net/wojsko_forty.htm
Skandal wokół Fortu św. Benedykta
* http://www.fortyck.pl/
Twierdza Kraków - panoramy sferyczne
* http://fortykrakow.prv.pl/ * http://www.twierdzakrakow.kgb.pl/

Fortress A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from L ...

Tourist attractions in Kraków Sites of World War II massacres of Poles Intelligenzaktion massacre locations Military history of Kraków {{Poland-struct-stub