Toruń Fortress
Fortification in Toruń, Poland / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Toruń Fortress (Polish: Twierdza Toruń, German: Festung Thorn) is a historic fortress located in Toruń, Poland, one of the largest fortresses in Central and Eastern Europe.
Toruń Fortress | |
---|---|
General information | |
Type | fortification |
Town or city | Toruń |
Country | Poland |
Construction started | 1872 |
Completed | 1894 |
It was built in 1872–1894 by the Kingdom of Prussia, when the city was part of the Prussian Partition of Poland. The fortress complex – a chain of forts surrounding the city, as well as numerous smaller fortifications supplementing it – was intended to defend the eastern border of Prussia (with the Russian Empire). Despite much planning and investment,[1] the fortress did not play a significant role in the First World War nor in any later conflict.[2] During the German occupation of Poland in the Second World War, Germany established and operated a prison for Poles[3] and the Stalag XX-A prisoner-of-war camp[4] for Polish, British, French, Australian and Soviet POWs in the fortress. It was the site of German massacres of Poles committed as part of the Intelligenzaktion.