Fortress Koblenz-Feste Kaiser Franz

The Feste Kaiser Franz, also known as Feste Franz, was part of the Prussian Fortress of Koblenz and the main work of the Feste Kaiser Franz system. The fortress on the so-called Petersberg in today's Koblenz district of Lützel was completed in 1822. After its demolition in 1922, large remnants of the fortress were blown up in 1959. The two lateral ends of the semicircular reduit and the gorge tower at the foot of the Petersberg have been preserved. It was named after the Austrian Emperor Franz I, an ally of Prussia in the Holy Alliance against Napoleon in the Wars of Liberation.

Construction and further expansion

The work, already projected in 1814 by General Ernst Ludwig von Aster, was built between 1816 and 1822 according to plans by the Prussian engineer officer Claudius Franz Le Bauld de Nans. In November 1818, the fortification on the Petersberg was named after Emperor Franz I. The fortress was garrisoned with troops in 1823.

Due to damage to the structure and risk of collapse, the left gorge wall was moved about six meters towards the inner courtyard in 1834-1835. The passage to the reduit courtyard was moved from casemate block 1 to block 2. Further measures followed in 1841-1843 with the stabilization of the slope-side wall of the postern by bricking up nine pillars, as cracks appeared in the vault, and in 1861 with the drainage of the left caponier.

During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870/71, prisoner-of-war camp II for French soldiers was established on the Petersberg. The prisoners who died here were buried at the foot of the Petersberg in the newly created French cemetery in the area of the Marceau Monument.

As the last major reconstruction measures, the reduit was provided with a mantle towards the working yard in 1876-1877, which was accessible internally through two hollow passages. With this, the military reacted to the improvements in artillery technology that had occurred up to that point.

As a result of the Franco-Prussian War, the Fortress of Koblenz, due to the gain of the French fortresses in the Imperial Territory of Alsace-Lorraine, moved into the second rank. After the left-bank parts of the Fortress of Koblenz were classified as less important in January 1886, the fortress in Lützel was finally abandoned in 1890 along with the entire Feste Kaiser Franz system, but the facilities remained under military administration for the time being.

Demolition

After the First World War, the Feste Kaiser Franz, like the other Koblenz fortresses, had to be de-fortified in execution of Article 180 of the Treaty of Versailles. Before that, it was still occupied by American troops in 1919. Far-reaching works were planned, such as the removal of the three caponiers, the destruction of various hollow passages and powder magazines. Except for the counterscarp in the right face and part of the wall in the front, all ditch walls were destroyed, the ramparts were largely removed and filled into the ditches. The de-fortification work on the Feste began at the end of November 1920 and was approved by representatives of the Inter-Allied Military Control Commission on November 25, 1921. With the blasting of the ceiling of war powder magazine I and the filling of the open cavity, the work was finally completed on July 20, 1922. Impressive remains include the reduit including the gorge tower (reverse caponier), the main gate with the adjoining postern, the mortar battery in the working yard, and the outer wall of the communication to the Bubenheimer Flesche, which still serves as a retaining wall today due to the height difference to the underlying terrain.

Further use and demolition

After 1930, the city of Koblenz took over the area. Already at this time, homeless people had settled in the reduit. Various plans for redesigning the de-fortified area were not implemented. During the Nazi era, a labor camp for foreign forced laborers was established on the site, while Sinti and Roma were interned in the reduit in 1938, who were deported to Auschwitz via the main train station in 1943 and gassed there. During World War II, the hollow passages of the Feste served the people of Koblenz as air raid shelters to protect against air raids on Koblenz. An anti-aircraft gun was set up on the first casemate block to protect the freight station. On December 28, 1944, a bomb struck the communication to the Moselflesche, killing 35 (?) people.

After the war, one of many Koblenz slums developed here. The city dissolved this in 1958, after the residents had been relocated to a residential block specially built for this purpose in the nearby Mittelweiden. The reduit was blown up between January 19 and 23, 1959, as part of a Bundeswehr pioneer exercise, to make it uninhabitable. The rubble remained on site. Today, only the two lateral ends of the semicircular structure bear witness to its former size. The caponier (gorge tower) at the foot of the Petersberg with the only still completely preserved fortress oven of the entire Fortress of Koblenz, the communication to the Bubenheimer Flesche, and the main gate with the adjoining postern were spared.

Renovation measures

A first initiative to secure the fortress remains arose from the interest in the Koblenz fortresses in the early to mid-1980s, which had been awakened by the efforts of Hans-Rudolf Neumann. As part of an ABM program in 1984-1985, mainly clearing work was carried out, among other things, in the area of the work entrance, with the aim of transforming the area of the former Feste from a wasteland into a park landscape. However, these works were soon stopped and further plans were not implemented.

In February 1997, committed citizens interested in fortresses, who founded the Förderverein Feste Kaiser Franz e.V. on June 27, 1997, began initial clean-up work at the work entrance. These works continued for over two years, during which the postern was opened, cleared out, and cleared of rubble, and the forecourt and surrounding area were cleared of vegetation. In 1999, the gorge tower of the Feste could finally be taken over, whereupon the association shifted its work here, also due to a lack of personnel. In the following years, the structure was made accessible and cleared of rubble, and the inner courtyard was opened and partially uncovered. From 2001 to 2004, the Bauhütte Koblenz participated in the gorge tower, further uncovering the courtyard, cleaning the tower's banquet of vegetation, and carrying out further work in the tower, such as attempting to reconstruct a wooden ceiling in the entrance area. After the dissolution of the Bauhütte, Carmen gGmbH, a Caritas institution, was able to continue the work until the end of 2010. This mainly focused on earth removal on the banquet in preparation for the renovation measures, as well as further earthworks in the inner courtyard of the reduit.

Since 2006, increased efforts have been made to secure the gorge tower. In 2009, the renovation work received an enormous boost through funding from a federal program for German World Heritage sites. By the end of 2011, an emergency roof could be erected on the gorge tower, the underlying, severely damaged vaults could be injected, a large part of the dilapidated ceilings on the first floor could be replaced, and the subsoil in the tower area could be additionally stabilized. These measures were carried out under the direction of the Monument Office of the City of Koblenz. The association then shifted its work to the area between the work and reduit entrance. Extensive green cutting work was carried out here, further areas of the facility were cleared of rubble, and the postern forecourt was prepared for the reconstruction of the paving. To protect the facility from further vandalism and illegal waste disposal, the association had a new gate system installed at the driveway in 2009. Since 2011, it has also been working on uncovering the covered path between the work entrance and the reduit.