Travel Guide "Remembrance Connects Region Oder-Warta"

25 A h i stor i ca l ly common cultura l area A h i stor i ca l ly common cultura l area After Driesen passed into the posses- sion of the Teutonic Knights as part of Neumark in 1402 , the Renaissance for- tress of Driesen was built by the Dutch fortress builder Nicolas de Kamp on the The Driesen Fortress The Driesen Fortress and Museum tell the story of this former Renaissance fortress. instructions of the Brandenburg Elector Joachim Friedrich, starting from 1603 . To this end, an old castle was replaced by a fortress with five bastions. During the Thirty Years‘ War, the fort- ress was occupied by Swedish troops. Their withdrawal was followed by setting fire to the entire city. During the Seven Years‘ War, troops of the Russian Empire captured the fortress in 1758 , after which it fell back into Prussia‘s possession, was neglected as militarily insignificant, and later razed to the ground. Today in Drezdenek, the Museum Franciszek Graś in the historic armoury and later granary building, provides information about the town and regional history. It came into being thanks to the enthusiastic collector, teacher and entrepreneur Franciszek Graś in the 1970 s as a space for local history, which was followed by a regional museum, beginning in 1985 . It houses an ethnographic, historical and natural history exhibition and is aimed at young visitors. With over two hundred animal specimens, the natural history museum illustrates the region‘s natural biodiversity, while the ethno- graphic and historical section exhibits objects from history and daily life in the former Driesen, which can also be interactively explored. to 10 outer forts constructed around all important fortress towns. Unlike Königsberg or Posen, Küstrin was to receive only 4 outer forts. Between 1883 and 1889 , Fort Gorgast was built – the only fort west of the Oder River. The fort survived the First and Second World Wars relatively unscathed. However, it was not until after the German reunification that it was used for tourism. Today, a funding association takes care of the museum‘s fortress de- velopment, which is open all year round. Some areas of that can be freely visited. The mostly under- ground sections of the building can be visited on guided tours. The history of Fort Gorgast is closely linked to the Küstrin fortress. After Küstrin was elevated to the status of a royal seat in 1535 , the first extensive measures to build a fortress followed. These complexes would be modernised several times over the following centu- ries. However, the fortress construction was usually inferior in the face of further weapons development. After the end of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 / 71 , France had to pay the victor rather high compensation pay- ments, which were also used in the German Empire to modernise the now obsolete fortifications. One of the initiatives that was decided on was an advanced fortress belt of up Fort Gorgast Fort Gorgast is one of the best-preserved outer forts of the historic Prussian fortress of Küstrin, which recalls the multifaceted history of the region like no other place. Address: Bahnhofstraße 15328 Küstriner Vorland, Deutschland www.fort-gorgast.de Open: January-December GPS : 52 ° 33 ’ 37 . 3 ”N 14 ° 32 ’ 44 . 8 ”E Fort Gorgast i 24 Address: Plac Wolności 11 66 - 530 Drezdenko, Polen www.muzeumdrezdenko.pl Open: Mon-Fri 8 . 00 - 16 . 00 Sat 10 . 00 - 16 . 00 Nov-Mar: Mon-Fri only GPS : 52 ° 50 ‘ 23 . 2 “N 15 ° 50 ‘ 17 . 7 “E The Driesen Fortress i