Fårösund Fortress: A Swedish Coastal Fortification on Gotland
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4
- Popularity
- Low
- Country
- Sweden
- Primary era
- Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Modern
- Civilizations
- Swedish
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Fort
On this page9 sections
History
Fårösund Fortress is a decommissioned Swedish coastal fortification in Fårösund on the island of Gotland, built from 1885 to 1886 to defend the inlet at Fårö. Its construction followed concerns about Sweden’s ability to protect its neutrality after the Crimean War of 1854 to 1856, a conflict involving Russia and an alliance that included Britain, France, the Ottoman Empire, and Sardinia. England and France encouraged Sweden to strengthen the inlet with artillery batteries and naval mines, explosive devices placed in water to obstruct or damage vessels.
Construction and military service
Fårösund Fortress entered service in 1886 as three permanent artillery positions, known as fixed batteries. These were Central Battery I, Northern Battery II, and Southern Battery III. Around the turn of the twentieth century, the batteries were reconstructed, and Central Battery I and Northern Battery II each received four modern quick-firing 57 mm guns.
From 1915, the fortress formed part of a coastal position. Its military use ended on 30 September 1919, when the coastal-artillery detachment was transferred to Vaxholm Fortress and the weapons and equipment were removed. The fortress had therefore served as a military installation from 1886 to 1919.
Closure and later administration
After its closure, the fortress was transferred to the Swedish Prison and Probation Service. It was intended to become a detention center for socially dangerous offenders if new legislation authorized that use, but the legislation was never introduced and the plan did not proceed.
The entire fortress was designated a listed building in 1935. This legal protection recognizes a historic structure’s architectural or cultural value and limits alterations intended to preserve it. Administration of the batteries passed from the Swedish Fortifications Agency to the National Property Board of Sweden in 1993.
Conversion of Central Battery I
In 2004, Fårösund Fästning AB began constructing a hotel in and around Central Battery I. The company, owned by businessman Peter Alvérus, went bankrupt on 15 September 2004 before the work was complete, and the National Property Board finished the construction. The resulting facility became a hotel and conference complex.
The facility was leased to Björn Gustafsson during 2005 and 2006. In 2008, restaurateur and entrepreneur Pontus Fritiof, through the Pontus Group, took over the hotel and conference operation together with its tenant. Fårösunds fästning hotell och restaurang AB filed for bankruptcy at Stockholm District Court on 17 October 2012. The proceedings returned operation of the business and its inventory to Peter Alvérus, after which Fårösunds Fästning AB was operated by Alvérus and Cian Bornebusch.
Remains
Fårösund Fortress is organized around three fixed artillery batteries, permanent fortified positions designed to mount guns for the defense of a harbor, inlet, coastline, or other strategic waterway. Central Battery I, Northern Battery II, and Southern Battery III formed the principal physical elements of the fortress. Reconstruction around the turn of the twentieth century altered at least the central and northern batteries, which were equipped with modern quick-firing guns.
Artillery batteries
Central Battery I
Central Battery I was one of the fortress’s three permanent artillery positions. During the reconstruction around the turn of the twentieth century, it received four quick-firing 57 mm guns. A hotel was constructed in and around the battery from 2004, incorporating the former military structure into the later hotel and conference facility.
Northern Battery II
Northern Battery II was also reconstructed around the turn of the twentieth century and received four modern quick-firing 57 mm guns. These guns formed part of the battery’s artillery equipment before the fortress was disbanded in 1919 and its weapons and other equipment were removed.
Southern Battery III
Southern Battery III completed the fortress’s arrangement of three fixed artillery batteries. Together with the central and northern positions, it constituted the coastal fortification that entered military service in 1886.
