Construction of the Poznań Citadel is conventionally agreed to have commenced on 23 June 1828 – the same time work started on Fort Winiary. The Poznań Citadel was the Prussian forces’ main command centre in this part of Wielkpolska and was incorporated into the Hohenzollern monarchy in 1815.
The main réduit of the fortifications was the “kernwerk”, a pentagonal redoubt with two entrances to the barracks. Today, all that remains is a ring of hills covering the ruins of the barracks. The quondam main courtyard of the Citadel is now a place of fun and festivals in the middle of a huge meadow. The fortifications at Fort Winiary eventually took up 100 ha. and covered the entire hill. The 1870s was the highpoint in the development of the Poznań Citadel, thanks to an influx of money from the newly created German Empire, cashed up with reparations from a vanquished France. It was then that the decision was taken to surround the city with a ring of forts and gates linked together with embankments. The city was eventually surrounded by 18 forts.
Life in the city-citadel back then was anything but pleasant. The military discipline in force severely hampered the city’s development. Emperor William II only authorised the destruction of the ramparts around Poznań in 1902. This decision was meant to convey the impression that the monarch truly cared for his subjects and was propagandistically so interpreted. In reality, however, it was the first stage of modernising the citadel, which soon began to fall into obsolescence in terms of military usefulness. Another ring of modern fortifications was built around Poznań and connected with a firing system. The former embankments, modelled on those of Vienna and Cracow, now constitute a peculiar sort of greenbelt around the city centre. The main forts connected with Fort Winiary survived and most of them were put to use by the Polish Army after the country regained independence in 1918. The obsolete Citadel was not tested under fire until January and February 1945, when it withstood the combined wrath of the Red Army and the mobilised citizenry of Poznań for more than a week.
Fort Winiary being a symbol of Prussian domination in the eyes of most people, the Citadel was demolished after the war. It was only in the 1980s that the remaining ravelins and casemates began to be appreciated for their historic value. The fate of the surviving forts has been mixed. The main obstacle to implementing plans to maintain and preserve these relics of 19th-century fortification craftsmanship (many of which are unique) is, as usual, lack of funds. Some of the erstwhile forts remain empty while others are used as storerooms. Fort VII, converted into a torture chamber during the Nazi occupation, is now a martyrological museum.
