Casemates du Bock - Luxembourg
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Becktracker
N 49° 36.691 E 006° 08.179
32U E 293133 N 5499377
The casemates du Bock are part of the original city defence of Luxembourg from the 17th century onwards
Waymark Code: WM13HHW
Location: Luxembourg
Date Posted: 12/19/2020
Views: 5
from wikipedia:
The casemates of Luxembourg consist of an underground military fortress belt in the Luxembourg capital Luxembourg. They were part of the Luxembourg Fortress, which was partly demolished in 1867.
The fortress of Luxembourg is seen as a textbook example of military architecture in Europe and has changed occupation many times in the course of its existence. Spanish, Belgian, French, Austrian, Dutch and Prussian engineers contributed to the construction and furnishing of this defense belt.
The first casemates date from 1644, when the Spanish ruled in Luxembourg. The French military fortification builder Vauban further expanded the underground passages to a length of 23 kilometers. In the 18th century, the Austrians continued the construction work. The defense system was spread over several floors and consisted of galleries. These had been excavated to a depth of 40 m. The casemates provided shelter for thousands of soldiers, as well as horses, artillery and weapon workshops, kitchens, bakeries and butchers.
In 1867 the fortress was dismantled as a result of the Treaty of London. The complete decommissioning took 16 years. The casemates were shortened to 17 km. Because the underground system is located in the middle of the city, it was not possible to destroy the entire network.
During the two world wars, the casemates served as a shelter. About 35 thousand people found protection against attacks and bombardments.
Although there was already interest in exploiting these casemates for tourism in 1898, they have only been open to the public since 1933. Before that, there were sporadic events. The reason for this is that it was not until 1925, after the First World War and after the fall of the German Empire, that the original floor plans were available and before that nobody in Luxembourg had a concrete view of the extent and layout of the corridors. Before that, these original plans were in the secret archives of the Prussians.
In 1994 the casemates were added to the World Heritage List by UNESCO. The casemates of Luxembourg consist of the Bock casemates and the Petrus casemates.
Era: Pre-Napoleonic
Related web site: [Web Link]
General Comments: Not listed
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