Description of the attraction
One of the twelve main forts of the defensive ring of the fortress city of Königsberg, named after the Prussian general Paul Bronzart, is located near Kaliningrad. Fort No. 2 was built in 1875-1879 to cover the Königsberg-Tilsit highway and was part of the Königsberg Night Feather Belt. Fort "Bronzart" is located on a hill and is an elongated hexagon (255 by 110 meters), surrounded by a dry moat more than five meters deep with a slope cut off at a large angle and enclosed on top by a two-meter metal lattice with pointed tops.
Paul Bronzart von Schelendorf, after whose name the defensive fort of Königsberg (Kaliningrad) is named, was a reformer of the Prussian army, minister of war and general who went through the war with France (1870-71).
In the 1890s, fort # 2 was modernized and the number of garrisons reached 250 people. The barracks for soldiers and officers were located on the first and second floors of the gorse part of the fort and were connected from the side of the central porch by spiral and marching stairs. Also on the second floor of the "Bronzart" fort there were: a dining room, a kitchen, a laundry room, bathrooms, an infirmary and other auxiliary rooms. Inside the defensive structure there is a courtyard with side exits under earthen ramparts and gentle ramps for transporting guns. Side porches (underground corridors from the courtyard side) lead to the ammunition depots. All underground casemates of the fort were equipped with traverses with traveling hoists and lifts for ammunition, protected by an earthen embankment (up to 6 meters thick) and had vaulted ceilings (1.5 m thick) made of fired ceramic bricks.
During the assault on Königsberg, the fort was not subjected to massive heavy artillery fire and is now quite well preserved. In the 1990s, part of the defensive structure was occupied by the vegetable storehouse of the artillery regiment, and the ZKP was located in several rooms. In March 2007, Fort No. 2 "Bronzart" received the status of an object of cultural significance (regional significance) and is protected by the state. Nowadays, partial restoration work and repair of the drainage system of the fort have been carried out.
