Salzerova Reduta: A Baroque Redoubt of Olomouc’s Fortress
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.7
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Czechia
- Primary era
- Early Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Early Modern, Modern
- Civilizations
- Habsburg, Holy Roman Empire
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Fort
On this page5 sections
History
Salzerova Reduta is a Baroque redoubt in Olomouc, Czechia, built during the 1750s as part of the expansion of the city’s fortress. A redoubt was a small, independently defensible fortification within a larger fortress system. The work formed part of a planned network of forts, earthworks, and floodable defenses designed to protect Olomouc and control the surrounding area.
Construction and the 1758 siege
The redoubt, also called Salzerova Reduta II, was constructed alongside Salzerova Reduta I, Salzerova Reduta III, and an advanced fortification identified as No. 38. These works followed plans by Pierre Philippe Bechade de Rochepin. Their construction required the relocation of Salzergut, the village whose name was preserved in the redoubt’s designation. The former village is now known as Nový Svět.
In 1758, Prussian forces under Frederick II attacked Olomouc from the southwest in an attempt to capture the fortified city. The siege failed, and Salzerova Reduta formed part of the defensive system during the assault. Only limited fire was directed from the redoubt during the siege.
Nineteenth-century military changes
Between 1834 and 1835, the redoubt was altered to meet higher military requirements. A small barracks for 80 men was added during this work. Further improvements followed in 1866, extending the fortification’s military use beyond its original 18th-century design.
Twentieth-century uses and protection
During the First World War, Salzerova Reduta became part of a military epidemic hospital, accommodating patients with typhus and cholera. After the war, the City of Olomouc took possession of the site and leased it to a local scouting organization. During the Second World War, the Wehrmacht, the armed forces of Nazi Germany, used the redoubt. After the war, Czechoslovak Civil Defence used it as a storage facility.
Salzerova Reduta has been protected as a cultural monument since 1958. In 2007, improvements to the water management of the Morava River altered its surroundings by creating an island through the excavation of a side channel.
Remains
Salzerova Reduta survives as a Baroque fortification built from brick and earth in the Hodolany area of Olomouc. Its defensive arrangement included a double moat designed to be flooded, placing the redoubt within a controlled water system associated with the city’s fortress. The water defenses helped connect the structure to the wider plan for flooding the area around Olomouc.
The site now stands on an island in the Morava River. This setting reflects a later change to the surrounding watercourse rather than the original construction alone, as the island was created in 2007 by excavating a side channel. The small barracks added in 1834 and 1835 formed part of the redoubt’s later military arrangement and provided accommodation for 80 men.
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