Kaunas Fortress

Kaunas Fortress
Lithuania
Fortress plan from the 19th century
Site information
Controlled by	Russian Empire (1882–1915)  German Empire (1915–18)  Lithuania (1918–40, 1990–present)  Soviet Union (1940–41, 1944–90)  Nazi Germany (1941–1944)
Site history
Built	19th–20th centuries
In use	1882–present
Materials	Bricks, reinforced concrete
Battles/wars	World War I World War II

Kaunas Fortress (Lithuanian: Kauno tvirtovė, Russian: Кοвенская крепость, German: Festung Kowno) is the remains of a fortress complex in Kaunas, Lithuania. It was constructed and renovated between 1882 and 1915 to protect the Russian Empire's western borders, and was designated a "first-class" fortress in 1887. During World War I, the complex was the largest defensive structure in the entire state, occupying 65 km² (25 sq mi).^[1]

The fortress was battle-tested in 1915 when Germany attacked the Russian Empire, and withstood eleven days of assault before capture. After World War I, the fortress' military importance declined as advances in weaponry rendered it increasingly obsolete. It was used by various civil institutions and as a garrison.^[2]

During World War II, parts of the fortress complex were used by the Nazi Germany for detention, interrogation, and execution. About 50,000 people were executed there, including more than 60,000 Jewish victims of the Holocaust.^[3] Some sections have since been restored; the Ninth Fort houses a museum and memorial devoted to the Jewish victims of Holocaust mass executions. The complex is the most complete remaining example of a Russian Empire fortress.^[4]