Fort Friedrichsau (Werk XLI)

Fort Friedrichsau, or Werk XLI, stands in Friedrichsau Park in Ulm, opposite the Donaustadion. The Danube runs about a hundred metres away. Built between 1852 and 1854, the work served as a forward post against troops advancing from Pfuhl. It formed part of the Ulm fortress and had room for 113 soldiers.

The design sets a reduit in the middle of the gorge, a gorge wall, and a four-sided rampart with a wet ditch. Flanking towers stand at the shoulder points, reached by poterns from within. A 1914 modernisation added reinforced concrete, an answer to artillery that could crack older defences. The First World War turned the place into a fuel depot, and the Second into an air raid shelter.

Peace brought humbler uses: potatoes went into store after the wars, and the 1960s added a bear enclosure. A youth group from the Förderkreis Bundesfestung Ulm does the upkeep. You can walk the grounds free of charge, and the park green suits an evening hour. On Naturtheater in der Au nights, an audience gathers behind walls built for a garrison of 113.