Fortification Walls
Medieval walls, curbing the city's development, were demolished in the 18th century. Today only some scarce remains can be seen which are: 6m tall corner tower at Masztalarska and 23 Lutego Streets whose wall is 1,5m thick and its outer diameter is 8,5m, there are 8 loopholes in the wall. At Wolnica Street, from the Fire Brigade's yard another fragment of the inner wall can be seen, it was recently discovered and partly reconstructed. There is also St Cathrine's Sisters' tower which has survived until today only because it has been church property - now it is a part of a building on the courtyard of former St Cathrine's Sisters' Convent which currently belongs to Salesians of Don Bosco.
Thanks to the renovation works, it is possible to enter the Fire Brigade's yard and see the tower and the reconstructed fragments of the wall at its best.
There is also a fragment of the outer wall at Ludgardy Street. Between Chopin's Park and Wrocławska Street (where a city gate towards Wrocław once stood) there is a piece of fortification walls with loopholes. It was built in the 18th century to the south of the medieval walls, demolished during the construction of the Jesuit College. On the road surface of Wrocławska Street, the location of medieval walls is marked with red paving stones as well as in several other places, both on road and pavement surface e.g. Jaskółcza Street, Paderewskiego Street, Szkolna Street, Wroniecka Street, Wielka Street or Wodna Street. Besides, Murna Street was outlined in the line of the outer wall. The remains of the city fortification wall is also Marcinkowski Avenue - the first public promenade on Polish territory which came to existence to the west of the demolished medieval walls.
Poznań Fortress
The idea of fortifying eastern areas of Prussia appeared in 1815 as this land had become part of Prussia at the end of the 18th century. Poznan was located on the shortest way to Berlin, 60km away from the border. In 1816 Karl von Grolman, the Chief of the General Staff at that time, later the commander of many years' standing of the Prussian army corpus stationed in Poznan, believed: "Poznan must become a fortress. It will be a guarantee that Prussia shall never renounce such necessary territories and shall crush with one blow eternal Polish plotting and intriguing". In 1817 Grolman prepared the first draft of planned fortification of Poznan, paying special attention to the need of fortifying the Cathedral on the isle of Ostrów Tumski and the Reformed Franciscan Convent on the hill, both on the right bank of Warta river, apart from the left bank fortification. Nevertheless, the construction of the fortress was eventually started in 1829. The first stage was ended in 1839 and the fortifications surrounded then the city from the north, the north-east and the east. The second stage lasted between 1840 and 1869 and in the end a polygonal core was built with a radius of 1km, spreading throughout the whole left-bank of the city from the south and the west. The next stage was a construction of a citadel in Ostrów Tumski. In 1869 the construction of the first class polygonal fortress was finished. Considering the conditions of the époque, it was huge. The diameter of a circle circumscribed on the fortification exceeded 3km and inside there was also Fort Winiary.
At the end of the 19 century the city started to sense the limitation in construction around the fortress, this is why it began to be gradually liquidated. The demolition lasted between 1909 and 1912. However, the northern part (including Fort Winiary on the left bank) and the eastern part where three building areas of fortification were kept, remained untouched. The ring of new forts around the city still performed their function. The liquidation of the forts took place in the 1920s and 1930s . During World War II the rest of the fortification was destroyed.
Some remains of Poznan Fortress can be seen in different areas of the city:
Fort Winiary remains (today: Citadel Park) with a clear layout still preserved, quite long fragments of counterscarp walls and one section of casemated scarp, ruins of a few casemates, the western stockade and remains of the eastern stockade. At that time, it was the longest artillery fort in Europe. It is located on Winiary Hill (Wzgórze Winiarskie), on the continuation of Independence Avenue (Aleje Niepodległości). A monumental staircase leads to the top of the hill where the Heroes Memorial stands.
Part of the redoubt of Fort Roon, situated on the area of Garbary heat and power plant, bordering with Big Lock.
The Western wall of the Warta river scarp at Big Lock, the well preserved western abutment of Big Cathedral Lock and a section of wall towards the Śródka bridge.
Axiel blockhouse of gallery (chemin couvert) of the 4th Core Bastion.
Filled in ruins of the lowest level of Fort Prittwizt Gaffron Redoubt.
Fragments of Railway Caponier under Kaponiera Bridge (beneath the underpass of Kaponiera Roundabout built in 1970s)
A small blockhouse at the fork of the railroads to Torun and Stargard.
On a school building at Słowackiego Street there is a figure of the Archangel Michael, once decorating Dębińska Gate.
Something well-worth seeing: a fragment of an arsenal at Garbary.
In the barracks and storehouse complex at Solna Street: a section of several metres of Storehouse Cavalier wall, one storage building with half-timbered walls, once housing the Stock Office.
Outbuilding of 5th Corps General Headquarters (at former Cannon Square)
3-level counterscarp blockhouse, situated in Marcinkowski Park, remains of a bastion demolished in 1903, was dug out, dried and partly open to visits in 1998. The postern, being its lowest level, serves today as a reservoir of groundwater.
Four buildings of a barracks complex at Ratajczaka and Powstańców Wielkopolski Streets are preserved, among them a coach house and a storehouse. Besides, most barracks built in 1870s and later have been preserved too. There are also marks of an infantry shooting range on Warszawska Street.
Fort VII Colomb
A Prussian fort, one of 18 built at the end of the 19th century during the conversion of polygonal Poznan fortress into Fort Stronghold. During World War II it was used by the Nazis as a concentration camp, Gestapo prison and a transitory camp. Its location, far away from the city with convenient communications to the centre made it a perfect place for such purposes. This is why all Poles living nearby were displaced and c the amp's staff was settled in their place.
Since 1979 it has housed the Museum of Martyrdom of the People of Great Poland. One can find there documents, photographs, accounts and prisoners' drawings. Evidence of the prisoners' fate is collected. Temporary exhibitions are organized as well.
Fort Stronghold
At the end of the 19th century the polygonal Poznan fortress was qualified to be reconstructed and turned into a fort stronghold. The Poznan forts were built according to standard projects by general von Biehler, prepared for Strassburg fortress in 1870s. The ring of forts had a radius of 4-5 km away from the City Hall on the Old Market Square. Two similar types of forts were built around Poznan. Type 1 with a wider middle of neck barracks (forts: II, III, V, VII, IX) and type 2 with narrower ones (forts: I, IV, VI, VIII). They also have different pennants of barracks necks: type 1 has 9 rooms in its central part (and a bridge in the middle one), 4 rooms and earth closets in the annexe in the side wings; type 2 has 5 rooms in its central part and 6 rooms and earth closets in the annexe. In the caponier twists of the barracks both types have 3 rooms. Therefore, excluding the middle room with an entrance gate on the axis of the fort, type 1 and type 2 on each level of barracks have 16 rooms and 6 caponier rooms.
The forts can be visited and here is where you find them: main forts - fort I, Książęca Str. (Starołęka), fort II - Obodrzycka Str. (Żegrze), fort III - New Zoo area (Łączy Młyn), fort IV - Bartycka Str. (Karolin), fort V - Lechicka Str. (Naramowice), fort VI - Lutycka Str. (Podolany), fort VII - Polska Av. (Ogrody), fort VIII - Rumuńska Str. (Grunwald), fort IX - Skalna Str. (Świerczewo). Auxiliary forts - old type: fort IVa - Lechicka Str. (Wilczy Młyn), fort VIa - Golęcińska Str. (Golęcin), fort IXa - 28 Czerwca 1956 Str. (Dębiec); new type: fort Ia - Golężyńska Str. (Minikowo), fort IIa - Czecha estate (Chartowo), fort IIIa - cemetery (Miłostowo), fort Va - Lechicka Str. (Piątkowo), fort VIIa - Marcelińska Str. (Marcelin), fort VIIIa - Kopernika estate (Górczyn).
Poznan Citadel
The area of Winiary Fort, called Citadel, is situated next to the cemeteries on their south-side. It is one of the most significant war cemeteries in Great Poland. In different times there were the following cemeteries on the area of the Citadel: St. Adalbert of Prague Parish Graveyard, Old Garrison Cemetery, Cemetery of Honour, Garrison Cemetery, German Soldiers' Section, Soviet Soldiers' Section, Orthodox Cemetery, Common Wealth Soldiers' Cemetery, Polish Soldiers' Cemetery.
On the area of the park there are numerous monuments and memorials. Remains of the fortress are worth seeing: ravelin, redoubt, bastion and stockades of small and big lock. the Citadel houses two museums as well.
The Weaponry Museum has its seat in an original bunker. There are exhibited military items, documents, photographs connected with the battle of Poznan, February 1945. Various types of Nazi and Soviet arms can be seen there e.g. semi-automatic rifles, artillery missiles, as well as a collection of weapons and ammunition found in the area of the Citadel while planting the park. The greatest attraction is probably the open air exhibition of military equipment, including a Russian medium tank T-34 and a unique heavy tank IS-2 of the first lines produced in 1944, a rocket launcher BM-13N "Katiusha" with the American underbody of Studebaker truck, a ZiS-5/12 vehicle with the Amercian anti-aircraft searchlight Z-15-4/3 and three ZIS-151 vehicle, with a radar each one. The oldest exhibits come from the 19th century.
Poznan Army Museum is situated in the casemate corridor, on the west side of the stockade of Small Lock.
Cemetery of Distinguished Great Poland's People
In the midst of ancient forest, situated on the eastern slope of St. Adalbert of Prague's Hill, this cemetery-park covers an area of 1.8 hectares and is Poznan's oldest one. It was founded as St Mary Magdalene's parish graveyard and later it was called old parish cemetery when the parish had a new cemetery area at today's Grunwaldzka Street. In 1948 it was named Distinguished People's Cemetery. Near the entrance there is a figure of Virgin Mary (1771), moved there from a square in front of Franciscan Convent in Śródka. Some of the tombstones are pure works of art e.g. Aniela Dembinska's made in 1889 by Władysław Marcinkowski in Paris. The oldest tombstones come from 1813 and 1815. On the necropolis there are graves of distinguished citizens of Poznan and Great Poland, veterans of Napoleonic wars and national uprisings, social, science and culture activists. Some of the ashes were brought there from other cemeteries in the mid-20th century.
Katyń Monument
It memorializes the victims of Stalinism terror in Katyń, Charków and Miednoje. It is situated in the castle's gardens at the junction of Fredry Street and Independence Avenue (Aleja Niepodległości). Its form is irregular and there are human figures and some military equipment being pulled into the crack.
Polish Underground State Monument
The Monument of Polish Underground State and Polish Underground Army is situated opposite the Dominican Church, at the edge of Wieniawski Park, right behind the Poznan Opera House. It was unveiled in 2007 and consists of 6 pillars with memorial plaques. It is rusty and grey-stone coloured. Two eagles dominate the whole structure. The main inscription is To the Polish Underground State and its armed forces, the Polish Underground Army - Great Poland's People and it is supplemented by stone slabs with cast-iron plaques informing us about Great Poland's inhabitants who lost their lives during World War II i.e. while the Polish Underground Army operated.
Near the monument there is a multimedia kiosk where one can find information concerning the history of the Polish Underground State and the activity of the Polish Underground Army Members Association in Great Poland.
Monument of 15th Lancer Regiment of Poznan
It is situated at Ludgardy Street and represents a lancer fighting a dragon. The present monument is a reconstruction of the pre-war original from 1927, destroyed by the Nazis during World War II. The reconstruction was unveiled in 1982.
Great Poland's Uprising Fighters Monument
It was unveiled in 1964 at the edge of Izabela i Jarogniew Drwęski Park. It is 17-metre tall and decorated with granite relief ornaments. Beside it, there are two statues of insurgents - an officer with a sabre and a private with a rifle. The relief ornaments represent military scenes and scenes of the Poles fighting against germanization e.g Drzymała's Coach and Children of Września Strike.
Poznan Army Monument
Poznan Army Monument is the most modern Polish monument. It was unveiled on 1st September 1982 and consists of juxtaposed blocks, symbolizing Polish soldiers' defence against Nazi invasion.
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