Fort 49¼ "Grębałów"
Fortress Kraków
An armoured fort from 1897-1899, designed by Maurycy Brunner; it took part in the fighting of the First World War, in the so-called first Battle of Kraków. Between 1919 and 1939 it was part of the Kraków Fortified Camp, and during the Second World War the Wehrmacht used it as a warehouse. Since 1988 the fort has been run by the Friend of the Pony Physical Culture Society circle, which organises horse riding and hippotherapy for children and promotes the historical and natural heritage. A teaching exhibition and a training room are housed in the restored traditore, and the fort can be visited during the opening hours of the site. The entrance is from Kocmyrzowska Street, by the Wzgórza Krzesławickie tram loop.
History
Fort 49 ¼ "Grębałów" belongs to a later generation of the fortifications of Kraków Fortress. It was built in 1897-1899 as an armoured fort meant to close the eastern approaches to the city, that is the Vistula valley and the road to Proszowice. Four rotating armoured turrets stood in the barracks, there was also an observation turret, and the armament was completed by guns in the casemates of the traditor (a defensive structure protecting the entrance from the front) and about seventeen machine guns. The garrison consisted of five officers, including a doctor, and 184 soldiers.
The fort proved its worth in November 1914, in the first battle for Kraków, when it supported the Austro-Hungarian counter-attack that pushed the Russians back beyond the Nida line. Between the wars it was part of the Kraków Fortified Camp. During the Second World War the Germans first used it as a storehouse and later tried to turn it into a strongpoint; in 1944 they included it in the system of fortifications around Kraków known as the Henryk line. After the war the fort was stripped of its armoured turrets, and damp began to destroy the walls.
New life came in 1988, when the fort was taken over by the "Przyjaciel Konika" club of the Society for the Promotion of Physical Culture. It runs a riding school for children and young people, as well as hippotherapy for disabled children. The original armoured shields, doors and shutters of the traditor have survived. The restored traditor houses an educational exhibition and a training room, and lectures on the days of Kraków Fortress are held at the fort.
Did you know?
Right after Poland regained independence in 1918, some of the guns were removed from the fort and used to arm hastily prepared armoured trains, which set off to relieve the Poles fighting in Lviv.