Fort VIIIa in Poznań: A Detached Fort of the Poznań Fortress
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.4
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Poland
- Primary era
- Modern
- External website
- Open
- Eras represented
- Modern
- Civilizations
- German, Kingdom of Prussia
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Fort
On this page11 sections
History
Fort VIIIa w Poznaniu is a detached fort in Poznań, Poland, built between 1887 and 1896 during the second construction phase of the Poznań Fortress, a permanent defensive system. It was one of the fortress’s 18 forts and cost approximately 1 million marks. The Engineering Committee of the Main Inspectorate of Fortresses designed the work.
Construction and names
The fort was originally known as Rohr, in honour of Ferdinand von Rohr. Until 1902, however, that name belonged to Redoubt III Rohr. In 1931, the fort received a Polish patron and was renamed Fort Mikołaja Sokolnickiego after the Polish general Michał Sokolnicki.
The Battle of Poznań
During the Battle of Poznań in January 1945, Fort VIIIa and Fort IX in Górczyn were not equipped with artillery. On 27 January, batteries of the 128th Light Artillery Brigade, commanded by Colonel Anatolij Kozub, began shelling the two forts.
The 27th and 74th Guards Divisions had suffered heavy losses while approaching the fortifications. Major General Anastasij Szemienkow, commander of the 29th Guards Army Corps, therefore ordered the 27th Guards Division to attack the area between the forts and strike them from the rear. The entire Górczyn area was captured on 28 January 1945.
Postwar use and protection
After the Second World War, the fort was used by the Polish People’s Army. It later became a warehouse, including for the WSS “Społem” cooperative. Since 2009, it has been leased for use as a motorcycle showroom and workshop.
The City of Poznań owns the fort. It entered the heritage register as A-245 on 25 May 1983. Its grounds also form part of the Natura 2000 protected area “Fortifications in Poznań” (PLH300005), a European Union network designation for places important to biodiversity and habitats. The fort occupies the Jasiński Park area between the Mikołaj Kopernik and Raszyn housing estates in Poznań’s Grunwald South district. A park and a church of the Holy Family parish lie on the forefield, the area beyond the outer defensive works, while the railway line and Poznań Górczyn station are about 500 metres to the south.
Remains
Moat and defensive circulation
Fort VIIIa is enclosed by a dry moat approximately 9 metres wide and 6 metres high. High groundwater influenced its design. Instead of a postern, a protected passage connecting the fort with an exterior area, running beneath the moat, the reverse caponiers, defensive structures serving the inner side of the fortification, were linked by a corridor through the counterscarp wall, the outer wall or slope of the moat.
Left caponier
A left caponier projects into or alongside the moat and provided a position for defensive fire. It forms part of the fort’s surviving defensive arrangement.
Entrances and later additions
Rebuilt entrances
Several entrances were rebuilt and fitted with new doors in 1913 and 1914. These alterations belong to a later phase of the fort’s use and changed parts of its access arrangements.
Counterscarp shelters
Two small concrete shelters were built on the counterscarp in 1913 and 1914. In August 1939, three further concrete shelters were added, together with an armoured observation position protected by a steel-and-concrete cupola. Such a cupola provided a raised, protected place for observation.
Surviving condition
Part of the barracks and the main postern were destroyed by fire in 2006. The fort is described as being in good condition, with its moat, defensive structures, entrances, shelters, and observation position forming the principal surviving elements of its physical fabric.
