Obiekty wojskowe jako czynnik rozwoju przestrzennego wybranych miast ziemi chełmińskiej od końca XVIII do 1914 r. w świetle zachowanych źródeł kartograficznych

• Authors: Sieradzan Wiesław

Title variants

EN

Military sites and the elements of spatial development of selected cities of the Chełmno Land from the end of 18th c. To 1914

DE

Militärgebäude als Faktor der räumlichen Entwicklung der ausgewälten Städte des Kulmerlandes vom Ende des18.Jh. bis 1914 im Lichte der kartographischen Quellen

• Languages of publication: PL

Abstracts

EN

The common perception of the location of military sites fulfilling different military functions in a city is that it is a generally positive factor. Now just as in the past we can observe local authorities striving to have their own or allied military units stationing in their city or its vicinities. However, the benefits of such a presence in the urban space rather seldom outweigh the negative phenomena. Among the former there may be the participation of citizens in satisfying various social needs of soldiers, officers and their families. An important element is the increased sense of internal security in case of any armed activity, although, on the other hand, the cities located next to fortresses often became victims of the destructive activity of besieging troops. The author’s aim is to focus on yet another problem: the influence of constructed military sites on the spatial development of selected cities in the Chełmno Land from the end of 18th c. to 1914. The author argues that essentially, with certain reservations, these investments influenced the development of civil buildings in urban areas. Focusing on the end of the 18th c. results from the greater presence of the army in the urban space of this region as well as the beginning of developmental processes implemented until the beginning of the 20th c. For comparative purposes the choice fell on not all cities and towns of the Chełmno Land, but only on Chełmno, Grudziądz and Toruń to 1914. The comparative analysis of these cities is most appropriate because of the similar nature of the presence of the army, which means that in each of these cities there were military barracks designed for the various military units of the Prussian state; also, these cities were included in the category of the Vistula fortresses, although in different periods. The second reason for such a choice is the state of preservation of cartographic sources and the possibility of their acquisition for this study. Even a cursory comparison of these materials allows us to put up a thesis that the cartographic sources of Grudziądz, stored in Poland, Germany and Sweden, are best known today. These rich collections refer both to the intramural urban space and gradually developing suburbs with multiple military sites, and to the Fortress whose construction started in 1776. Despite the fact that it was Toruń’s cartography that started to be investigated earlier than that of Grudziądz, we are still lacking information on preserved and dispersed cartographic documents. This is particularly true of the Toruń Fortress, whereas the state of knowledge of Chełmno’s cartographic sources is among the poorest. The analyzed cartographic sources from the end of the 18th c. to 1914 make it possible to reconstruct not only the distribution of military sites in Chełmno, Grudziądz and Toruń, but also to observe, generally beneficial, coexistence of these sites and civilian buildings. Particularly, the second half of the 19th c. and the gradual modernization had an impact on the change of shape of these cities not only under the influence of industrialization, but also gradually implemented military investments in the form of many barracks and technical facilities. This has resulted in significant spatial outcomes that are clearly visible nowadays.

• Publisher: Muzeum w Grudziądzu
• Journal: Rocznik Grudziądzki
• Year: 2017
• Volume: 25
• Pages: 49-65

Dates

published

2017

Contributors

author

Sieradzan Wiesław

• Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika w Toruniu, Instytut Historii i Archiwistyki, Zakład Historii Nauki

Identifiers

ISSN

0080-3464