Festung
Encyclopedia
Festung is a generic German
word for a fortress. Whilst it is not in common usage in English it is used in a number of historical contexts involving German speakers:
German language
German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....
word for a fortress. Whilst it is not in common usage in English it is used in a number of historical contexts involving German speakers:
- For historical fortresses in AustriaAustriaAustria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, GermanyGermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
or SwitzerlandSwitzerlandSwitzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition.... - As part of the excuse given by the German Army (Wehrmacht Heer) for the slow progress of the Siege of WarsawSiege of Warsaw* Siege of Warsaw – by Swedish forces during Deluge* Siege of Warsaw – by Swedish and Transylvanian forces during Deluge* First siege of Warsaw – by Russian and Prussian forces during Kościuszko Uprising...
- For German WWII strongholdsGerman WWII strongholdsGerman strongholds during World War II were the selected towns and cities so designated by Adolf Hitler to resist the Allied offensives where the defenders were ordered to defend them at all costs...
which were to be held at all costs, especially towards the end of the war:- Atlantic wallAtlantic WallThe Atlantic Wall was an extensive system of coastal fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the western coast of Europe as a defense against an anticipated Allied invasion of the mainland continent from Great Britain.-History:On March 23, 1942 Führer Directive Number 40...
or Festung Europa — Hitler's personal term for the fortifications he had erected to stymie any allied attempt at invasion of the continent. - Stalingrad (see Battle for Stalingrad)
- WarsawWarsawWarsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...
(Festung WarschauFestung WarschauFestung Warschau was the name applied in German language to Warsaw when the city was defended, which happened under various constellations in the course of history, with and without involvement of German-speaking troops....
) see also the Warsaw UprisingWarsaw UprisingThe Warsaw Uprising was a major World War II operation by the Polish resistance Home Army , to liberate Warsaw from Nazi Germany. The rebellion was timed to coincide with the Soviet Union's Red Army approaching the eastern suburbs of the city and the retreat of German forces... - PoznanPoznanPoznań is a city on the Warta river in west-central Poland, with a population of 556,022 in June 2009. It is among the oldest cities in Poland, and was one of the most important centres in the early Polish state, whose first rulers were buried at Poznań's cathedral. It is sometimes claimed to be...
(Battle of Poznan (1945)Battle of Poznan (1945)The Battle of Poznań during World War II in 1945 was a massive assault by the Soviet Union's Red Army that had as its objective the elimination of the Nazi German garrison in the stronghold city of Poznań in occupied Poland...
) - KolobrzegKolobrzegKołobrzeg is a city in Middle Pomerania in north-western Poland with some 50,000 inhabitants . Kołobrzeg is located on the Parsęta River on the south coast of the Baltic Sea...
(Battle of Kołobrzeg) - Wrocław (Festung Breslau)
- BudapestBudapestBudapest is the capital of Hungary. As the largest city of Hungary, it is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre. In 2011, Budapest had 1,733,685 inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2,113,645 due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter...
(Battle of BudapestBattle of BudapestThe Siege of Budapest centered on the Hungarian capital city of Budapest. It was fought towards the end of World War II in Europe, during the Soviet Budapest Offensive. The siege started when Budapest, defended by Hungarian and German troops, was first encircled on 29 December 1944 by the Red Army...
) - KaliningradKaliningradKaliningrad is a seaport and the administrative center of Kaliningrad Oblast, the Russian exclave between Poland and Lithuania on the Baltic Sea...
(Festung Königsberg)
- Atlantic wall
- For entire countries such as NorwayNorwayNorway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
which were heavily fortified in World War II. See Festung NorwegenFestung NorwegenFestung Norwegen was the German term for the heavy defense and fortification system of Norway during the occupation of Norway by Nazi Germany in World War II...
.