Dohna Tower
Dohna Tower
Until the beginning of the twentieth century, the Dohna tower, like the entire group of bastions, was subordinate to the military authority. Before World War II, in peacetime, the guard, who would be on duty in the tower, would be about 15-20 people appointed from the troops standing in close proximity.
Due to the creation of a new and more modern defence line - a fortified belt and the extension of the borders of Koenigsberg, the fortifications in the city began to be redeemed by the municipality. Even before the World War I, ramparts, water ditches and bastions were partially liquidated, and civilian buildings were built in their place. The facilities, which could be preserved, were declared the historical and architectural monuments, became museums; and a certain temperature and humidity regime used to be maintained there, and restoration work would be carried out. In the reduits of the former bastions, there used to be handicraft workshops, private shops and cafes.
The Dohna tower and the adjacent Rosgarten gate were also associated with tourism and excursions. As the historical and architectural monuments, they were open for inspection, and in combination with the picturesque landscape of the Upper Lake and forest on its shore represented a magnificent recreation area. There were many walking trails, observation platforms, a cafe, a souvenir shop and a small photo studio. Probably, a humpback bridge was built during that period.
With the outbreak of World War II, the Wrangel and Dohna towers became military targets again.
The embrasures, which were earlier bricked up, would be opened, and the engineering support systems would be set up, the casemate guns would be brought in and installed.
The former commandant of the Koenigsberg fortress Otto Lasch in his book So fell Koenigsberg stressed that, like the outer forts, the old fortifications of the inner ring were used in defense as the main strongholds.
Until the fall of 1944, both towers had the warehouses for light weapons, combat equipment and communications assets. The preserved aerial photography in 1944 shows that at the approaches to the Dohna tower a powerful trench of a broken outline was dug.
Another obstacle for the Soviet troops was to become various kinds of barrier works, such as hedgehogs, knife-rests, wire fences, Bruno spirals and spirals of loose wire placed in front of the trench.
In the first post-war years, the Dohna the tower did not have any permanent owner and was temporarily used by various organisations for storing containers and loose materials. It resulted in a regular destruction of structural elements, corrosion of mortar solution from constant dampness, violation of waterproofing, ventilation, drainage, vegetation on the cover, clutter of terrain and a water ditch. Until 1969, there had been a group of warehouses of the military organisation No 540 in the Dohna tower.
The works on the creation of the Amber Museum started in 1972 prevented an intensive destruction.
The information obtained from the official website of the Amber Museum - ambermuseum.ru