 Aerial view of TerezinTerezin
is the Czech name for a fortress town built in 1780, which
is located roughly 35 miles north of Prague. When it was constructed,
the political situation in the area was quite different from
today, and certainly very different from what it would become
during WWII. In the late 18th century, neither
Czechoslovakia nor the Czech Republic existed. This part of
Europe instead consisted of ethnic regions such as Bohemia
and Moravia, along with the areas of present-day Hungary and
Romania—all part of the expansive Austrian Empire governed
by the Hapsburgs. Of chief concern to the Hapsburg emperor
of the time, Joseph II, was encroachment by the Prussians
from the North into Bohemia. As a security measure, Joseph
II declared that the garrison town should be built for protection
from such an invasion.
Named
Theresienstadt (Theresa’s Town) after Joseph’s mother Empress
Maria Theresa, the city is comprised of two parts—the Large
Fortress and the Small Fortress—which took ten years total
to construct. The Large Fortress is best explained as a fortified
town, outfitted with a number of buildings intended as army
barracks, administrative offices, private residences and the
like. Located within star-shaped ramparts—two sets of brick
walls and bastions with a moat in between—the area was intended
to sustain a constant population of about six thousand, with
capabilities of up to around fourteen thousand if necessary.
Situated between the rivers Ohre and Elbe with a view towards
the Sudeten mountains, the city contains a non-descript geometric
layout with a large square, or “market place”, at its center
and three smaller rectangular parks among the uniform blocks
of buildings.
Original plan of the Theresienstadt fortressesThe Small
Fortress is located just one kilometer down the road to the
East on the other side of the Ohre River. This served as 18th-century
Theresienstadt’s true military center from a defensive standpoint,
and was designed as a miniature version of the larger garrison
town. Underground tunnels link entrances in and out of the
fortress and the land between the ramparts is replete with
storage areas and prison cells. Though equipped for defense,
the Small Fortress was never needed as Joseph II had anticipated.
Its role and purpose in history shifted over the coming centuries
to a high security military prison, and would eventually hold
its most famous inhabitant, Gavrilo Princip, the assassin
of Archduke Francis Ferdinand. This 1914 assassination is
commonly believed to be the impetus for World War I. However,
Gavrilo Princip would not be the only prisoner of note as
the 20th century continued…
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