Drawing Brest Fortress. Brest Fortress: the history of the building, a feat during the Second World War and a modern memorial

At first glance, every tourist imagines appearance fortresses. But, according to the author-compiler of the "Atlas", an expert of the Brest Fortress Development Fund Vladimir Orlov, its area is much larger than it seems, writes tut.by

Vladimir Orlov, namesake famous writer, is the head of the Lithuanian Military Heritage Center, author and co-author of the books “History of the Kovno Fortress”, “Fortification of the 20th century in Lithuania”, “Atlas of the Kovno Fortress” (Kaunas, Lithuania).

According to Orlov, the system of the Brest Fortress is not only the Citadel and the surrounding islands - Kobrin, Terespol and Volyn, but also two dozen forts encircling the bastion part of the fortress with two rings + a dozen auxiliary fortifications (powder magazines, intermediate barracks, batteries). AT this moment most objects of the fort period are not used. According to the author of the Atlas, the forts are more like a "stalker zone" that has been lost.

The eighth fort practically does not exist, it is presented in fragments. At the fifth fort, the façade was buried, and the back side was excavated. It means you don't see what you want to see. Some of the forts today are littered with debris or not at all safe for visitors. They are lost for cultural use and even for artistic photography. Consequently, this object will not fall into any artistic calendar, will not be included in any tourist route. And what if these bricks are still standing? The object has already been lost. You can try to return it, but as an object cultural heritage it doesn't exist today.

According to Vladimir Orlov, only the fifth fort is currently in use. Wherein most of surviving forts is located on the territory of Poland.

Remains open question: what to do with the rest of the objects?

It is clear that the troops no longer need these facilities, it is inconvenient to store potatoes in them, so one of the possible uses is cultural use. This is difficult task, which has not yet been resolved. But there is no solution not only in Brest or Terespol, it is not everywhere - in Novogeorgievsk (Ukraine), and in Kovna (Kaunas), and near St. Petersburg (Russia) there are also forts and few people know what can be done with them . Even five kilometers from Berlin there are abandoned German forts. And the Germans don't know what to do with them either. Although there are no questions about where to get money, where to find specialists, where are the archives - here they are, right across the road.

Two million visitors and new jobs

Five years ago, the Foundation began its work. And in 2013, he developed and presented the concept of "Brest-2019". According to the author of the concept, an expert museologist Dieter Bogner, it is able to attract up to two million visitors a year, create new jobs, and become a new center of cultural leisure and recreation for Brest residents.

The concept was developed in partnership with the Brest City Executive Committee. Representatives of local and regional authorities, the Ministry of Culture, as well as the Ministry of Sports and Tourism, the Academy of Sciences were invited to participate in its discussion. Since 2013, a package of documents developed within the framework of the Brest Fortress development strategy has been under consideration by the Brest Regional Executive Committee.

In addition to developing the concept, the Foundation began to explore the forts of the fortress (before that, they were explored exclusively at the local level). In December 2017, the Atlas of the Brest-Litovsk Fortress began to appear. The third volume appeared first: "Volume 3. Fort period (1876−1915)". The Hermitage Hotel in Brest helped with the printing of the publication, and the US Embassy Fund for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage and the US Embassy in Belarus helped with the project itself.

Now the fund's employees are working on the second volume (“The History of the Brest-Litovsk Fortress”), later work will begin on the first volume (“The History of the Origin of the City of Berestye”).

The third volume of the "Atlas" includes 54 maps of projects, plans and profiles of the fortress, its barracks and forts with their detailed drawings. 63 contemporary photographs with forts, facades of barracks, interiors of caponiers (a caponier or niche is a structure for flanking fire in two opposite directions. - approx. TUT.BY) and potern (underground corridor or gallery for communication between fortifications, fortress forts or strongholds of fortified areas. - approx. TUT.BY) taken in 2017. As well as 56 black and white historical photographs with strategic objects of the fortress, forts, weapons and key personalities.

Most of the maps and drawings are published for the first time, because for 150 years they have been classified as "secret" in Russia. And in order not to frighten the reader and not overload him with technical information, the "Album" was supplemented with photographs.

Base - for 10 thousand materials

But main result the work of the fund's employees is not only the publication of the Atlas. While working, Vladimir Orlov studied several thousand materials on the fortification heritage of the fortress in the military-historical archives of Moscow and St. Petersburg. As a result of three years of archival and field research, the Foundation's staff selected the most interesting of them (more than a thousand), processed and received 128 drawings, maps and over 500 professional photographs.

Most of them, not included in the Atlas, are located in the open electronic database "Heritage of the Brest Fortress". Any picture is accompanied by an archival cipher (link to the original storage source). The articles are also based on archival materials.

Users will be able to get an idea of what the forts of the Brest Fortress are. These data will help researchers in their work. For example, now there is a partial restoration of the powder cellar of the Kobrin fortification in order to create a museum there and show how the soldiers' club looked like. With the help of the database, the quality of the restoration of the object could be improved. And if someone decides to draw up a layout of a separate fortification, it will not be difficult to do this according to the drawings.

Vladimir Orlov also hopes that the database will improve the quality of restoration work.

Any interested organization will be able to see, for example, drawings or photographs of doors or defensive bars. In addition, it obliges such organizations to comply with certain standards. Tomorrow any schoolboy can come to them and say: “Sorry, why don’t your gates match historical photography, which I saw yesterday in the database."

But the value of the Atlas is not only in the publication of archival documents and access to them. According to Vladimir Orlov, some objects of the fortress disappeared even during the period of his work.

It is not a fact that in 10-15 years all these forts will remain in the form in which we see them today. Therefore, it is still fixing and documentation of disappearing historical objects. But still, I would like to hope for the best.

In order to publish Atlas for everyone, its creators launched a crowdfunding campaign at the Uley site. Part of the money raised is planned to be spent on the publication of the following volumes.

Bought on occasion german photos Brest fortress in 1941.
Since the photos have not yet arrived - I give them in the byline version.
1. Radio T-37A of late modification opposite the western (?) reduit of the Kobrin fortification. Reprints from this negative are known. Notable: skis next to the tracks, a shovel placed next to the tank, a torn stern and a turret turned towards the reduit.

2. Ba-10 in the area of the Brest Fortress. The car is famous. Here is her story http://rkka.pskov.ru/Brest/brest_11.htm

3. Citadel. Church, he's a club. View from the south. I have never seen such a photo before. It is interesting that here the church looks like a church, and then for some reason, until the reconstruction of the early 90s, it stood in ruins, but looked like an Orthodox church. Was it specially beaten off from him after the war?

4. Citadel. The building of the 17th border detachment (border command) opposite the Terespol Gate. The photo was taken from the northwest from building 333 SP. Interestingly, on famous photos of this building, the wall facing us is still intact.

5. Kobrin fortification. Houses commanding staff. Unfortunately we missed this photo.

6. Unknown casemate. There is a suspicion that it was filmed in Brest. Maybe someone can attribute? We missed this photo too.

Brest Fortress took upon itself the very first blow of the Nazis. At 04:15 am on June 22, 1941, heavy artillery fire fell on the fortress, then German assault groups went on the attack. Despite the unexpected blow, the garrison of the fortress offered heroic resistance to the invaders. In conditions of continuous bombing and shelling, left without water, food and communications, organized resistance to the superior enemy continued until June 30. After that individual groups The defenders of the fortress and individual heroes fought the Nazis for another month, hiding in the ruins and dungeons. The destruction that we see in the photographs allows us to imagine the degree of fierce fighting for the citadel.
It is clear that our fighters and commanders had no time for photographs, and we can only use German photo chronicle, and she, as you know, is always one-sided. Nevertheless, I tried to restore a small picture of events and tie it to today.

Brest Fortress 1941-2013. The Nazis on the Kholmsky bridge.

Brest Fortress 1920s-2013. Kholmsky bridge before reconstruction.

Brest Fortress 1941-2013. A German PAK-38 cannon fires at the Kholmsky Gates of the Brest Fortress.

Brest Fortress 1941-2013. Kholmsky bridge, repair.

Brest Fortress 1930s-2013. Pre-war volleyball in the fortress. This photo could also have been taken near other sections of the Ring Barracks, most of which has not been preserved.

Brest Fortress 1941-2013. The Germans at the Terespol Gate and the barracks of the 333rd Infantry Regiment.

Brest Fortress 1940-2013. Terespol gates and barracks: on the left - the 9th outpost of the 17th Red Banner border detachment, on the right - the 333rd rifle regiment.

Brest Fortress 1941-2013. Terespol Gate from the Bug. The ground level at the gate was one and a half meters higher than it is now.

Brest Fortress 1941-2013. The Germans at the Terespol Gate. You can clearly see the difference in the height of the soil at the gate then and today.

Brest Fortress 1941-2013. Bronze border guards engage in battle with the Nazis at the walls of their outpost.

Brest Fortress 1941-2013. German soldier at the walls of the citadel.

Brest Fortress 1941-2013. Bridge at the Three-arch Gate. From the wall of the Ring Barracks in this place, only the mothballed foundation has been preserved. Bullet holes remained on the fence of the bridge, which made it possible to accurately bind according to the old photograph.

Brest Fortress 1941-2013. Bridge at the Three-arch Gate. Behind the bridge you can see the restored cathedral and the unpreserved wall of the Ring Barracks.

Brest Fortress 1941-2013. The unpreserved Three-arch Gate. On the right is visible the main monument of the memorial - "Courage".

Brest Fortress 1941-2013. Three arched gates

Brest Fortress 1941-2013. Captured soldiers at the South Gate of the fortress. I had to shoot from the thickets, so the quality is not very good. And the shrub grows the same.

Brest Fortress 1941-2013. Captured Soviet officer.

Brest Fortress 1941-2013. The wall of the Ring Barracks from the side of the Bug, the Terespol Gates are visible in the distance.

Brest Fortress 1941-2013. Cannons on the territory of the fortress after the end of the fighting.

Brest Fortress 1941-2013. Hitler and Mussolini in the fortress in August 1941 In the background is St. Nicholas Garrison Cathedral.

Brest Fortress 1910s-2013. St. Nicholas Garrison Cathedral. The cathedral was built in 1876, consecrated in 1878. Rebuilt beyond recognition under the Polish authorities, and then turned into a garrison club, the cathedral was badly damaged during the defense of the fortress. Now completely restored to its original form.

Yesterday there was a war, but here are some photos for you - this is the Brest Fortress in June 1941. You may not have seen some of these photos. Surely you haven't seen it. And some more facts of those days that you may not know ....
This photo, in which the Germans hang a banner with a swastika on the Brest Fortress, is dated June 23, 1941. This is a mistake, of course. But imagine on June 22, on the very first day of the war, 70 Nazis broke into the very heart of the fortress - the citadel and captured the church there. In fact, they controlled all the courtyards of the citadel - and locked ours tightly - there were no internal passages between the barracks. Only later it turned out that they were interfering with their own - bombing the fortress - their own there! So the Germans tried to evacuate their people from the fortress for a couple of days ....

Already by 7 am the Germans took Brest - the fortress did not interfere with them. More problems was from those who sat down in the basements of the Brest railway station - they controlled railway communication, than the Germans were very annoyed.

Fortress cleanup

And here the photographer chose a very good angle. One might have thought that this was not a dilapidated Brest Fortress, but an inn with a garden

Major Gavrilov is the one who lasted the longest. Films should be made about him - the terminator Bezrukov is resting - there are snot, and tears, heroism .... Well, let's say, on June 27, the consideration of the personal case of the communist Gavrilov for "spreading panicky rumors about the war with Germany" was scheduled. Where on the 27th were those who were going to judge the major, it is not established. And what would happen to the major if the war started on June 28, for example?
Until July 23, the major hid in the crevices of the fortress, in a pile of horse manure - there were stables in the eastern fort. At night he went hunting for the Germans. After being released from German captivity estesstno expelled from the ranks of the CPSU, well, "in exile" - the commandant of the camp of Japanese prisoners of war in Siberia. He's still very lucky!
Gavrilov lost his family in Brest - no trace of his wife after the war. In Siberia, he married again. And suddenly, 15 years later, when he is already a hero Soviet Union arrived in Brest, a woman came to the hotel and told him that his wife was alive! Gavrilov took his paralyzed wife Ekaterina Grigorievna from the nursing home with him to Krasnodar. She didn't live long...

And two years before the Great Patriotic War, the Brest Fortress was besieged by ... the Red Army. The fortress with the unfinished Poles defenders was kindly handed over to us by General Guderian himself. And the shameful fascist-Soviet military parade in Brest…. So, after the parade, ours stormed the Brest Fortress for a few more days. And the Poles fought courageously, just like our border guards, repelling the attacks of the same German general Guderian in June 41st.

Here the last details of the parade are discussed - who salutes whom ....
And here are a couple more interesting excerpts from the diary of General Guderian:
“Observation of the Russians convinced me that they did not suspect anything about our intentions. In the courtyard of the Brest fortress, to the sounds of an orchestra, they carried out the guards. The coastal fortifications along the Western Bug were not occupied by troops. The prospects for maintaining a moment of surprise were so great that the question arose whether it was worthwhile to carry out artillery preparation for an hour, as ordered by order.
... At 6 o'clock. 50 min. I crossed the Bug in an assault boat. Moving in the footsteps of the tanks of the 18th tank division, I reached the bridge over the Lesna River, the mastery of which was important for the further advance of the 47th Panzer Corps, but there, apart from the Russian post, I did not meet anyone. At my approach, the Russians began to scatter in different sides. Two of my commission officers, contrary to my instructions, rushed to pursue them, but, unfortunately, were killed in the process.

Surrendered prisoners were of course. The Nazis several times stopped the fire for a couple of hours - they offered to surrender. On the North Island there was a camp for recruits called from Western Belarus, recently joined. They all surrendered without a fight. The Eastern Fort fought the longest until June 28, when the Germans dropped a half-ton bomb on the ammunition depot, the garrison was left without weapons - surrendered. All except the commander, Major Gavrilov. And all the memories of the fortress defenders end standard phrase: "Then it exploded nearby, I lost consciousness, woke up in captivity ....". This did little to help them - after liberation, almost all of them were resettled far away to the east - this is in best case. Usually - to the camps, from where they were pulled out after 10 years, but as heroes.

Hitler's August visit to the Brest Fortress is also window dressing. Especially for the Fuhrer, guns and tanks were brought there.
But this letter was almost sold to me a few years ago by the general who now commands the fortress. Not a letter, of course, but the right to re-photograph it. But because the Brest Fortress has a plan for paid services! The Ministry of Culture, his mother, earns!
Well, God be with him. The letter was written a month before the war. It's very touching, I think. The guy (he died on the very first day) writes to his girlfriend Ira, flirts with her. He ends the letter very snobbishly, but it's still touching - especially if you know what's next. And the soldier writes that the officers danced tap dance, foxtrot, tango in the fortress, he himself waltzes with the junior commander .... Read it!

Memorial complex "Brest Fortress - Hero" is a truly great place. The place covered military glory. A place that has become for many years to come an example of perseverance, courage and boundless courage. We must always remember those days. But, despite this, in our today's article there will not be a word about the history of World War II or the history of the fortress itself. In this article, I will tell you about something completely different - about what constitutes " Museum Brest Fortress» in terms of tourism. Why is this place often called the main attraction of Brest, and why did it surprise us personally? Yes, probably, one trip to the city over the Bug is too little to understand and feel it to the end. But we tried. Therefore, I hope this article will be of interest to you.

Memorial complex "Brest Fortress - Hero" as the most perfect attraction of Belarus

To be honest, going to the south of our country, I did not expect anything special from the Brest Fortress. But, this huge military memorial complex really surprised me. The feeling that you are approaching something majestic, significant and grandiose begins to emerge in the soul long before the gates of the fortress. The famous stone star, the Kholmsky Gate and the stern giant of the Courage monument flicker in this city almost everywhere - on trolleybuses, kiosks, street billboards ... And the closer you get to this place, the clearer and sharper you feel the spirit of the Brest Fortress, hovering in air somewhere near you.

First, road signs with the words “Brest-Fortress” appear on your way (which, you see, is very atypical for our country, which is not at all spoiled by the attention of tourists). Then, right along the road, a long line of scarlet “flags” of the Brest Alley of Heroes appears.

The understanding that we were already somewhere very, very close came to me along with the screams of some local boys who were cheerfully sledding down some old military pillboxes (well, or bunkers, I don’t know how they name). Well, then somewhere right on the horizon she appeared. A huge stone star at the gates of the Brest Fortress. And from this view, some strange feeling of inspiration covered me from the head.

A little later, another thing surprised me - rather a large number of tourists who cheerfully chapal to the fortress, even despite the vigorous Epiphany frost. By total guests who come to this place, the Brest Fortress firmly holds one of the leading places in the country. In 2014, more than 400,000 tourists visited this complex. According to this indicator Museum "Brest Fortress" is firmly included in the TOP-3 sights of Belarus, losing only to Nesvizh and Mir castles in terms of the number of tourists. And such popularity is quite understandable. The Brest Fortress is really worth seeing.

Graffiti in the passage next to the Brest Fortress. And some lady with a dog.

How to get to the Brest Fortress

(If I'm wrong somewhere, please correct me)

The memorial complex "Brest Hero Fortress" is located at some distance from the main part of the city. You can get here by buses 17 and 33. In principle, you can drive a little by other transport (in fact, by any trolleybus or bus that goes straight along Masherov Avenue). The city transport timetable is presented on the websites kogda.by and ap1.brest.by. The route (list of stops) of buses 17 and 33 is presented below.

You can also get to the fortress by taxi. In January 2016, the fare was in the region of 20,000 rubles (just over $1). The distance from the bus station is 3.5 kilometers. Just do not "catch" taxi drivers on duty right at the station. It is better to call the operator and order a taxi by phone.

Another card public transport with the designation of Masherov Avenue. Click to enlarge.

Personally, Tanya and I got to the Brest Fortress on foot. The apartment we rented in Brest was located near Masherov Avenue. We drove two stops on a trolley bus (to the building of the local Central Department Store). And the rest of the way (something about 2 kilometers) was covered on foot.

Outside the gates of the museum

When you pass inside the huge stone gates, the atmosphere of the war years falls on you with all the oppressive power of hundreds of sound decibels. I was mentally prepared for something like this (because I previously opened the official website of the Brest Fortress, which greets visitors with the same words). But the words “Attention, attention says Moscow” reflected from the stone vaults still tremble. I don't know if my short video can convey this atmosphere. But any words here will definitely be powerless. Look at the entry. I hope you can feel it too.

As for the complex itself, it is worth, first of all, to note the fact that the Brest Fortress is a museum simply huge in scale. This place is often presented as a kind of single attraction, but in fact there are a large number of iconic places inside the fortress, each of which can be called a full-fledged " must see" for tourists. In fact, these are such sights within the sights. And it takes a lot of time to find them all.

Personally, we never got to half of the places. Although what I personally saw was enough in full. Well, look. Monument "Thirst" ("Smaga").

mini museum military equipment.

The Mukhovets River, which turned out to be surprisingly picturesque in winter.

Eternal flame.

Memorial plaques with the names of fallen soldiers.

Orthodox Church.

The bayonet is an obelisk, which for some reason reminded me of a huge space rocket.

Memorial "Cities-Heroes".

Most of all, I was personally struck by the huge stone giant of the gigantic monument "Courage". Against its background, a group of people who came to Brest on an excursion looked like the most ordinary bunch of ants. A very impressive sight.

By the way, if you walk around the monument, then with reverse side monument, you can also see a beautiful picture carved in stone. The only thing that really spoiled the shot was a chimney, some kind of local thermal power plant, which persistently loomed on the horizon. But I will tell you about this a little later. In the meantime, here are some more photos from Museum of the Brest Fortress.

If you, like us, do not have much time to see the fortress, pay attention to at least three main attractions of the complex - the Courage monument, the War Museum and the famous Kholm Gate. Yes, yes, the very ones that once flaunted on a bill of 50 rubles. They are located on the left side of the complex - right behind another improvised installation of military equipment. So inside they look somehow strange (like a dotted cow). But from the outside - a complete waste. Against the backdrop of pure white snow the fiery red bricks looked very impressive. I like it.

Honestly, memorial complex "Brest Fortress" generally made me very pleasant impression and along with Belovezhskaya Pushcha became one of the highlights of our recent trip to Brest region. The only thing that really bothered me during the whole weekend was a severe frost. But of course, this is my own fault. However, because of this frost, we constantly hid in various museums. In warm weather, I usually avoid them. However, this time everything turned out even for the better.

The "Museum of War", in which we hid from the cold during a trip to Brest, turned out to be a real interesting place- with an abundance of interactive installations, interesting exhibits and a special atmosphere that perfectly conveys the surroundings of those years. There are also very nice staff working in this museum. But I will tell you more about this place in a separate report. In the meantime, just one photo as an announcement.

It looks very surreal, you will agree.

Museum "Brest Fortress" Main results.

I'll start with the main thing: is it worth going to Brest to see this complex? Yes!!! I would even say so: definitely. Some time ago, the Brest Fortress was brought to perfection. Therefore, now it is a very interesting and atmospheric place.

More detailed information about memorial complex"Brest Fortress", about the museums operating here, expositions and main attractions, you can see on the official website of the complex www.brest-fortress.by. Just be careful. The site, so to speak, "talking". So don't be afraid.

What else did I like and remember in the Brest Fortress?

War Museum.
Lots of good souvenirs (at quite reasonable prices).

A shooting gallery equipped in an old military bunker.

The presence of free toilets (well, damn it, to be honest - for Belarus this is a rarity).

What did I NOT like about the Brest Fortress memorial complex?

Not cleared snow.
Special price for "photographing" in museums.
A system in which you need to buy a separate ticket to each of the museums located on the territory of the fortress.
The police who look at you like a wolf when you walk around the complex. As if a person with a camera is, by default, a foreign spy.

As a separate point, I would like to say a few words about the architectural context, which kills the impression of many historical sights of Belarus.

Museum "Brest Fortress" is no exception. Therefore, do not be surprised at the smoking factories, which are a gloomy ruin, towering just a hundred meters from the complex. Welcome to Belarus, ladies and gentlemen! Let's wish our country the best. But learn to appreciate her for who she is.

How to find accommodation in Brest?

It's really not that much simple task. There are few hotels in Brest, so I personally recommend that you look for and rent accommodation on the AIRBNB website. On this site, apartments and rooms “from the owners” are rented. Therefore, for relatively little money, you can get comfortable housing with home comfort.

Not registered with AIRBNB yet? Do it on this link and immediately get a small bonus from the system.

If classic hotel rooms are still closer and dearer to you, you can search for them on the Going to visit website or on the RoomGuru aggregator. This site allows you to compare offers different systems and immediately shows you where a particular room is the cheapest. This is a very easy way to save money. After all, the same room often costs differently, for example, on Booking and Ostrovka, on Hotels.com and on the Agoda website. Prepare for travel carefully. And then they will bring you only positive emotions.