|
|
FORTRESS STUDY GROUP
|
Casemate 77 |
Towards the end of the Second World War Vienna began to suffer heavily from bombing raids, especially as the Soviets approached the city from the east; anyone who is familiar with the classic film 'The Third Man' will remember the shots of bombed bridges and buildings. In anticipation of the raids the Nazis built three groups of coupled towers (one mounting guns, the other radar) to protect the historic centre of the city, and these remain (see Casemate 71). Hitler, who had studied art in Vienna intended, on retirement from his role as Führer, to return to his homeland. Two sets of towers are in the Augarten and Arenberg parks, whilst the remaining two are close to the city centre: the flak tower in the parade ground of the Maria Theresia Stiftskaserne, and the radar tower in the Esterhazy Park. Although the Augarten radar tower shows signs of Soviet shelling, the towers, unlike those in Berlin, do not appear to have taken a particularly active role in the battle for Vienna.
|
This was over by the 13 April 1945 after a week's heavy fighting. Some remains of the fighting can be seen in the bullet holes surrounding one of the windows of the technical university in Lehàrgasse, otherwise there are few signs of the wartime fighting in the city centre.
Like many other Viennese buildings, the military museum, part of the great Austro-Hungarian state arsenal, was devastated in a bombing raid in September 1944. The museum had been built according to plans drawn up by Theophil Hansen and Ludwig Foerster between 1850-56 and it was the first Viennese museum. Composed of a range of architectural styles (Byzantine, Hispano-Moorish and Gothic), the museum has risen phoenix-like from its wartime destruction and houses a magnificent collection of material covering the Habsburg times and up to the end of WWII. Perhaps the most significant and poignant exhibit is the car in which the Archduke Franz Ferdinand and his wife were assassinated at Sarajevo in 1914.
Of possibly more overwhelming interest to members of FSG are the different types of artillery on exhibition including, a WWI 38cm heavy artillery piece. There are also two armoured cupolas on display. One, from one of the Antwerp forts, has a shell from a 30.5 cm mörser M1911 still embedded in its armour. Ouch!
Cupola with embedded shell. (Author). |
On the other hand, a Skoda cupola for an 8cm panzerkanone from the Przemysl fortress retains the evidence of a glancing blow from a Russian 28cm gun. From WWII is a curious pre-fabricated concrete 'ball' position. This must have relied on supplementary protection such as earth or rubble.
Concrete 'turret'. (Author). |
One curious feature is that this one-man position did not come with a ready-made embrasure: one had to be knocked out. For those interested in earlier periods there are plenty of plans of the fortified cities of the empire, as well as information on the siege of Vienna in 1683.
At the time of my visit there was an exhibition on the post-war Austrian army. This included images of anti-tank rails being erected on the country's borders to protect its neutrality. In addition there were images of US M47 and British Charioteer tank turrets in concrete emplacements, as well as photographs of unidentified artillery weapons also in concrete bunkers.
The Vienna Army Historical Museum, which also contains a tank park (not open in winter), is open daily except Fridays and admission is free.
