Fort Wilczy [the Wolf Fort]

Napoleon's army, which attacked the fortress from the north-east in May 1807, were surprised unpleasantly as they saw a newly built fort with 9 cannons and 200 soldiers. The French command followed the footsteps of the Russian army, which found a weakness there during the Seven Years' War, and occupied with impunity the northern outskirts of Kołobrzeg, thereby cutting off the town from the sea. The Prussian commandant of the fortress also knew about that weakness in defence and learnt from previous failures. The north-eastern flank was bolted in the nick of time before the arrival of Napoleon's army by, among other things, the Wolf Hill fort. It was built in a hurry, the blockhouse from the town side was not finished, hence the fort was a form of telescope facing the east. It was surrounded by a dry moat with a depth of 2.5 m and a width of 7 m with three rows of pits. A frontal attack of the French forces; that is the army of, inter alia, the Italian, Polish and of the state of Württemberg, was unsuccessful. The subsequent siege, of course, took effect, and the first soldier who broke into the fort was a Pole named Sokołowski.  The Wolf Fort passed from hand to hand repeatedly; it was conquered e.g. by Poles. The Napoleonic war ended in the destruction of Kołobrzeg due to artillery fire (the town hall burnt down, among other things), but also in a success that made history as the town defended itself. Thinking about the year 1807 in Kołobrzeg, one should primarily keep in mind this war and the battles of the Wolf Fort, in particular. It was a key position. Captain Waldenfels his numerous grenadiers were killer there. In addition, Gneisenau, a new commandant of the fortress (then only a major) could demonstrate his mastery of war. However, new needs in the defence system were discovered, so the system still required improvement. To support the Wolf Fort, Kamienny Szaniec [the Stone Lair] was built in the 1830s. The fort itself, called Gneisenau's Fort, was also enlarged; the moat became filled with water. Not wars, but peace time proved to be decisive for the fate of military facilities. In the 1970s, the residents of Kołobrzeg no longer wanted to have this military 'corset' such as ditches, moats and fortifications, which impeded the development of the resort. The decision to dismantle the fortress came up in 1872, and the Wolf Fort took it over from the army five years later. In the years 1925 - 1945, an amphitheatre with a stage and the auditorium operated there. Again, the fortress was forced to be used militarily in March 1945 as it was the basis of the German second line of defence. It was seized by Poles for the third time in history. In fact, the connection of this place with the military lasted until the early 1990s, in a different form, though. A venue for Soldier Song Festival was needed. The event was inaugurated in Połczyn Zdrój in 1967 and took place in Kołobrzeg the following year, and it was a huge success in Poland. The amphitheatre on the Wolf Fort was renovated in 1968 to worthily receive artists. Some of the walls of the fortress were used for that purpose. Kołobrzeg was known for the Festival until 1990, when it was suspended for financial reasons and it has not been reactivated so far despite some attempts. The remnants of the Wolf Fort are noticeable outside the amphitheatre. The moat is still there, flooded with water in wet periods. While walking outside the building, You can notice the entrance to the casemates, and even penetrate a several-metre-long corridor.