Schwedenschanze: A Coastal Fortress in Stralsund, Germany
Site at a Glance
- Rating
- 4.1
- Popularity
- Very Low
- Country
- Germany
- Primary era
- Modern
- Eras represented
- Modern
- Civilizations
- German, Kingdom of Prussia
- Site type
- Military
- Remains
- Fort
On this page8 sections
History
Schwedenschanze is a coastal fortress in Stralsund, Germany, built in 1870 in the nineteenth-century New Prussian school of fortification. It was intended to secure the sea route and protect the northern part of the city as part of a new defensive ring.
Construction during the Franco-Prussian War
When construction began, Stralsund was still formally a fortress, although its existing defenses were no longer maintained and plans had already been made to abandon and dismantle them. The outbreak of the Franco-Prussian War, the 1870–1871 conflict between France and Prussia and its allies, changed the immediate strategic situation. A small French squadron operated in the Bay of Stralsund, leading to the decision to create a ring of forts around the city.
The work was first known as the Pomeranian Battery. It belonged to a wider defensive system that included the Rostock Werk, Fort Paschenberg, older fortifications on Dänholm, and Fort Grahlhof on Rügen. Together, these positions were planned to defend the coast against enemy ships and to cover the northern approaches to Stralsund.
Testing and changing names
Stralsund’s fortress status was abolished in the early 1880s, after which its fortifications were removed. The Pomeranian Battery acquired a different role and was used for firing exercises connected with the testing of concrete, then a relatively new building material in military construction. In 1886 it was renamed the Pomeranian Redoubt. The name Schwedenschanze was adopted in 1902. Although the name evokes Swedish military history, it refers neither to the Thirty Years’ War nor to Sweden.
Later use and condition
After the Second World War, a restaurant operated on the site until the 1980s. Information signs now identify the location, while dense vegetation makes the remains difficult to locate and explore. Raspberry bushes and other overgrowth cover much of the site, which is in medium to poor condition.
Remains
Fort layout and construction
The Pomeranian Battery followed the form of a lunette, a detached fortification with a projecting front and an open or recessed rear side, belonging to the New Prussian school developed for modern artillery and earth-covered defenses. It had seven fronts and a broken gorge. The structure was built with concrete and granite, and a surviving black-and-white reproduction of a watercolour showing the construction also depicts additional shelters for ammunition and personnel.
A dry ditch about 10 metres wide surrounded the fort. Its caponiers, protected structures projecting into the ditch so defenders could fire along it, have disappeared, leaving substantial gaps in the rampart. The ditch itself remains clearly recognizable. The artificial ramparts were largely removed, although their lines can still be traced, and indications of a palisade survive within the ditch.
Gun positions and defensive structures
Three gun emplacements for 15-centimetre ring cannons occupied the seaward side, while a fourth ring emplacement stood on the northern front. The central cross-shaped reduit, a fortified inner structure for troops and a final defensive position, formed the heart of the battery and also helped protect the entrance.
Overgrown paths lead towards several stairways and surviving concrete fragments. The remains of the ring emplacements can be seen only within the dense vegetation, where they form part of the scattered traces of the former artillery position.
Barracks and later traces
A clearing marks the former barracks area. Slight rises in the ground suggest that foundations may remain beneath the grass, although the barracks was probably demolished. Nearby, remnants of the terrace structures belonging to the former restaurant survive from the site’s postwar use.
The large amount of granite incorporated into buildings of the university of applied sciences is considered unusual for the surrounding area. This may indicate that stone from the demolished fortifications was reused in later construction projects, linking the former defensive complex with the subsequent development of Stralsund.
