Toruń Fortress (, ) is a historic fortress located in

Toruń Toruń is a city on the Vistula River in north-central Poland and a World Heritage Sites of Poland, UNESCO World Heritage Site. Its population was 196,935 as of December 2021. Previously, it was the capital of the Toruń Voivodeship (1975–199 ...

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 ...

, one of the largest

fortresses 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 La ...

in Central and

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

. It was built in 1872–1894 by the

Kingdom of Prussia The Kingdom of Prussia (, ) was a German state that existed from 1701 to 1918.Marriott, J. A. R., and Charles Grant Robertson. ''The Evolution of Prussia, the Making of an Empire''. Rev. ed. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1946. It played a signif ...

, when the city was part of the

Prussian Partition The Prussian Partition (), or Prussian Poland, is the former territories of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth acquired during the Partitions of Poland, in the late 18th century by the Kingdom of Prussia. The Prussian acquisition amounted to ...

of Poland. The fortress complex – a chain of forts surrounding the city, as well as numerous smaller fortifications supplementing it – was intended to defend the eastern border of Prussia (with the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

). Despite much planning and investment, the fortress did not play a significant role in the

First World War World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

nor in any later conflict. 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 ...

, Germany established and operated a prison for

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 ...

and the

Stalag XX-A Stalag XX-A was a German World War II German prisoner-of-war camps in World War II, prisoner-of-war camp located in Toruń in Occupation of Poland (1939–1945), German-occupied Poland. It was not a single camp and contained as many as 20,000 men ...

prisoner-of-war camp A prisoner-of-war camp (often abbreviated as POW camp) is a site for the containment of enemy fighters captured as Prisoner of war, prisoners of war by a belligerent power in time of war. There are significant differences among POW camps, inte ...

for Polish,

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

, French,

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Aus ...

and

Soviet The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

POWs in the fortress. It was the site of German massacres of Poles 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 ...

''.

History

Toruń was an important city, which following the

Partitions of Poland The Partitions of Poland were three partition (politics), partitions of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth that took place between 1772 and 1795, toward the end of the 18th century. They ended the existence of the state, resulting in the eli ...

was located just north and west of the border between Prussia and Russia, which runs from southwest to northeast, in the north along the

Drwęca The Drwęca (; ; ) is a river in northern Poland. It becomes a tributary of the Vistula river near the city of Toruń, forming a part of the city's administrative boundary. It has a length of 231 km and a basin area of 5,697 km2, all in ...

tributary of 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 ...

which passes through Thorn. With improvements in

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

techniques, including the introduction of rifled barrels and

smokeless powder Finnish smokeless powder Smokeless powder is a type of propellant used in firearms and artillery that produces less smoke and less fouling when fired compared to black powder. Because of their similar use, both the original black powder formula ...

), the old medieval

city walls A defensive wall is a fortification usually used to protect a city, town or other settlement from potential aggressors. The walls can range from simple palisades or earthworks to extensive military fortifications such as curtain walls with to ...

, dating from the 13th-15th centuries, and bastion fortifications from the 17th century, even if modernized at the beginning of the 19th century, no longer provided sufficient protection for the town. The Prussian government started the construction of fortifications in 1872, at first using French

prisoners of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

taken during the

Franco-Prussian War The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the War of 1870, was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the North German Confederation led by the Kingdom of Prussia. Lasting from 19 July 1870 to 28 Janua ...

. The goal was to build a chain of forts surrounding the city of Toruń. The initial plans called for five main forts and two medium ones to be constructed. In the period of 1877–1884, forts II and XI were constructed, followed by forts IV, V, VII, XV, XIII and IX. Continuing changes in artillery and siege techniques, especially the introduction of an anti-building shell in 1883, rendered some of the plans for the fortress obsolete even before it was finished. For that reason, the importance of the main artillery forts was lessened in favor of infantry forts; some artillery forts were redesigned into infantry forts and more small fortifications were constructed. Over time the number of objects to be built increased. In the years 1888–1893, forts III, VI, VIII, X, XII and XIV were added. The last to be constructed was fort I, which was the most technically advanced one. Within 32 years, about 200 fortifications were constructed. Primarily the fortress consisted of seven main forts, six medium-sized ones, six artillery batteries, 32 infantry shelters, and 52 mid-field shelters (used for artillery and ammunition sheltering). The Toruń Fortress complex would be constantly modernised by the Prussian government, for the last time in 1914 – just before the start of the

. The majority of the forts were equipped with wing artillery batteries – armor artillery batteries between forts XI, XII, XII and XII, XIII, XIV, and an experimental artillery battery in fort XI. New observation points for infantry and artillery were also added. Exits from them were designed in a labyrinthine scheme, to reduce the effects of the explosions'

blast wave In fluid dynamics, a blast wave is the increased pressure and flow resulting from the deposition of a large amount of energy in a small, very localised volume. The flow field can be approximated as a lead shock wave, followed by a similar subsonic ...

s. The fortress was commissioned by the

Prussia Prussia (; ; Old Prussian: ''Prūsija'') was a Germans, German state centred on the North European Plain that originated from the 1525 secularization of the Prussia (region), Prussian part of the State of the Teutonic Order. For centuries, ...

n government; it would cost over 60 million

German gold mark The German mark ( ; sign: ℳ︁) was the currency of the German Empire, which spanned from 1871 to 1918. The mark was paired with the minor unit of the pfennig (₰); 100 pfennigs were equivalent to 1 mark. The mark was on the gold stand ...

s until 1914. About 30% of Toruń's infrastructure was related to the fortress, and about 25% of the city's population were employed by the fortress. Despite that investment, it was never besieged by Russian forces and took no significant part in the First World War. After the war it became a part of the

Second Polish Republic The Second Polish Republic, at the time officially known as the Republic of Poland, was a country in Central and Eastern Europe that existed between 7 October 1918 and 6 October 1939. The state was established in the final stage of World War I ...

. During the

(

), from October 1939, Fort VII housed a German police prison for

arrested in the city and county in the ''

''. In the overcrowded prison, the Germans interrogated the Poles, who were then either deported to

concentration camps A concentration camp is a prison or other facility used for the internment of political prisoners or politically targeted demographics, such as members of national or ethnic minority groups, on the grounds of national security, or for exploit ...

or murdered in large massacres carried out in nearby forests. Among the victims were local activists, teachers, priests, and farmers. In the spring of 1942, the Germans murdered 30 Polish boy scouts aged 13–16 in Fort VII. In the seven southern forts (XI-XVII), the Germans operated the

for Polish, British, French, Australian and Soviet POWs. In 1971 the fortress was officially declared a monument by the Polish government.

The complex

The Thorn Fortress complex is currently composed of 15 forts (seven artillery and eight infantry) as well as many smaller fortifications.

References

External links

15 forts as seen from satellite
(Google Earth) *

on the pages of historical department of University of Toruń * At Toruń's Fortification Friends page: ::

::

::

::

::

*
Heritage Fortress Park AB IV Battery / Skansen Fortyfikacji Pancernej Twierdzy Toruń
{{DEFAULTSORT:Torun Fortress Forts in Poland Buildings and structures in Toruń Military history of Toruń Toruń in World War II