Fort Napoleon in

Ostend Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...

is a

polygonal fort A polygonal fort is a type of fortification originating in France in the late 18th century and fully developed in Germany in the first half of the 19th century. Unlike earlier forts, polygonal forts had no bastions, which had proved to be vulnerab ...

built in the

Napoleonic era The Napoleonic era is a period in the history of France and history of Europe, Europe. It is generally classified as including the fourth and final stage of the French Revolution, the first being the National Assembly (French Revoluti ...

. It has recently been restored and is open to the public.

War of the Fifth Coalition

France had occupied the

Austrian Netherlands The Austrian Netherlands was the territory of the Burgundian Circle of the Holy Roman Empire between 1714 and 1797. The period began with the acquisition by the Austrian Habsburg monarchy of the former Spanish Netherlands under the Treaty of Ras ...

(a territory roughly corresponding to the borders of modern

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

) during 1792 and 1793 in the Flanders Campaign of the

French Revolutionary Wars The French Revolutionary Wars () were a series of sweeping military conflicts resulting from the French Revolution that lasted from 1792 until 1802. They pitted French First Republic, France against Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain, Habsb ...

. During the

War of the Fifth Coalition The War of the Fifth Coalition was a European conflict in 1809 that was part of the Napoleonic Wars and the Coalition Wars. The main conflict took place in Central Europe between the Austrian Empire of Francis I and Napoleon's French Emp ...

Napoleon Bonaparte Napoleon Bonaparte (born Napoleone di Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French general and statesman who rose to prominence during the French Revolution and led Military career ...

expected a United Kingdom, British assault from the sea on the port of Ostend, and the fort was constructed in the sand dunes close to the mouth of the harbour in 1811. The British attack never materialised and the fort was used for troop accommodation and as an arsenal until the end of the French occupation in 1814 when it was abandoned.

World War I

During World War I, the fort was used as accommodation for a German headquarters, and decorated with murals by Germans, German soldier Heinrich Otto Pieper. The heavy coastal artillery battery "Hindenburg" was stationed nearby; it had been transferred there from Fort Heppen, Wilhelmshaven in 1915, and it was armed with four 280 mm (11 inch) guns of 1886-1887 vintage in heavily armored gun turret, turrets on semi-circular concrete platforms. It was captured by the Belgian army in 1918.

World War II

The fort was also used as German artillery headquarters during World War II. After the war, it served as a museum and then a children's playground before falling into decay. In 1995, the fort came into the care of ''Erfgoed Vlaanderen vzw'' (the Flemish Heritage Association) and following a five-year restoration programme, was opened to the public in April 2000. File:Dia17.JPG, Aerial view File:HindenburgbatterijFort Napoleon1918.jpg, Hindenburg battery in 1918 File:Fort Napoleon030 kopie.jpg, German murals inside the fort File:Fort Napoleon009.jpg, Mural by Heinrich Otto Pieper, painted during World War I. File:FortN.caponnière03.jpg, The caponier, straddling the Ditch (fortification), ditch

References

External links

Website in Dutch and French

History in Dutch
by the Flemish Heritage Institute (:nl:Vlaams Instituut voor het Onroerend Erfgoed) {{Coord, 51, 14, 19.74, N, 2, 56, 5.96, E, display=title, type:landmark_region:NL 1811 establishments in Europe Military installations established in the 1810s 19th-century fortifications Forts in Belgium, Napoleon, Ostend Military and war museums in Belgium Buildings and structures in West Flanders Museums in West Flanders Ostend Castle museums War of the Fifth Coalition