In the 19th c. Poznań was one of the best fortified cities in Europe. Today we can admire what has left of several forts and Poznań Stronghold.

The idea of fortifying Poznań was put forward by General Carl Wilhelm Georg von Grolman, the Chief of the Prussian General Staff, in the early 19th c. The plan of transforming the city into a stronghold was the result of Poznań strategic location at the borderland of what was at that time Prussia and Russia. The border between the two countries lay just a few dozen kilometres east from Poznań. The stronghold was to fulfil two basic functions: to protect itself and Berlin from a prospective attack from the side of Warsaw which was then under Russian rule. Despite official declarations of friendship, Prussia and Russia did not trust each other. Surrounding the city with fortifications limited its territorial development and it was only in the late 19th c. that Poznań started to expand also beyond the city walls.

From the point of view of architecture, Poznań Stronghold was very much innovative. It was here that the fortifications of the so called New Prussian type were built for the first time. Construction work started on 23rd June 1828. Every facility, once built, was immediately staffed and armed. This allowed counting Poznań Stronghold among second class strongholds (prepared for protecting themselves) as early as in 1834. A few years later, the Citadel fortifications were built, becoming the heart of Poznań Stronghold.
The Citadel was built on a hill overlooking the city, a few hundred metres from Poznań city centre. It was surrounded by a moat, from a few to a few dozen metres wide and around 7 metres deep. All objects of the Citadel had walls which were almost 2 metres thick.

The late 19th c., however, saw the significance of the Citadel minimised as a result of the technological development. This led to a new external ring of forts being built at the outskirts of the city. It then took over the role of the older fortifications. Within the space of a few dozen years 18 forts were built around the city, 9 of them acting as main forts and 9 of them performing transitional functions. Today, the remains of the forts can be seen at different locations in the city. Most of them, however, are not open for visitors. 
During the I World War, the Winiary stronghold was excluded from military activities. Also during the Wielkopolskie Uprising in 1918, the insurgents took control over the Citadel without fight. In the interwar period, the Polish Army units were still stationed at the Citadel, while during II World War it was the Wehrmacht forces that were stationed there. Polish, British and Russian captives were also held there.

One of the forts played especially tragic role – in fort VII, in the Western part of Poznań,    the first concentration camp on the Polish territory was built. Over 18 thousand people were imprisoned there within the space of a few years. Today, the building hosts the Museum for Wielkopolska Martyrs.
Around the end of the war, the Citadel was the main point of resistance of a few dozen thousand soldiers of Festung Posen German army. Several hundred Red Army soldiers and Poznań citizens died in the battle for the stronghold. Their graves are on the cemetery on the slopes of the Citadel.
After the war, the Citadel was gradually demolished. Today it is most of all a very pleasantly situated park, one of the biggest Poznań parks, with military cemeteries, monuments and statues, including Magdalena Abakanowicz "Unrecognised", the Bell of Peace and two museums: the Museum of Arms and the Poznań Army Museum which are partly located in the restored fortification objects.

Photographs: Poznań City Hall