page_title: Petersberg Citadel
section_title: Defense Barracks (Defensionkaserne)
hierarchical_section_title: Petersberg Citadel / Main buildings and structures / Defense Barracks (Defensionkaserne)
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: Denkmalgeschütztes Kasernengebäude (Defensionskaserne) der Zitadelle Petersberg in Erfurt
context_page_description: Petersberg Citadel in Erfurt, central Germany, is one of the largest
  and best preserved town fortresses in Europe. The citadel was built on Petersberg hill, in the north-western part of the old town centre from 1665, when Erfurt was governed by the Electorate of Mainz. It is surrounded by over two kilometres of stone walls and is 36 hectares in size.
  Erfurt has also been ruled by Sweden, Prussia, Napoleon, the German Empire, the Nazis, and post-World War II Soviet occupying forces, and it was part of the German Democratic Republic. All of these regimes used Petersberg Citadel and had an influence on its development. The baroque fortress was in military use until 1963. Since German reunification in 1990, the citadel has undergone significant restoration and it is now open to the public as a historic site. Its maze of underground passageways are also open to visitors and the fortress bakery is again in working order.
  The fortress is also known by its French name, Citadelle Petersberg, as French troops were stationed there from 1806 to 1814, when Erfurt was under Napoleonic occupation.
context_section_description: The Defense Barracks, by far the largest building on Petersberg Citadel, was built from 1828 to
  1831 by the Prussian administration, on the site of the former monastery building which had been
  damage by fire in 1813 and later demolished.
  The building is 167 metres long and 18.8 metres wide. The external walls are up to 2 metres
  thick. It could accommodate approximately 500 soldiers and was built primarily as an artillery
  position to hinder enemy access to the upper plateau of the citadel from the north.
  After the unification of Germany in 1871, the building was mainly used for housing soldiers and
  for storage. In 1912-1913 it was remodelled and expanded with a neo-Baroque style mansard roof and the addition of large dormer windows on both sides of the building. After this it was then able to accommodate 750 soldiers.
  After the end of World War I in 1918, as a result of the Treaty of Versailles in 1919, there was gradual decline in use of military facilities in Germany. The barracks was used as residential building and as quarters for the civil police and the Freikorps Thüringen, a civilian militia army unit.
  During the rearmament of the army during the Nazi period, there was renewed military use
  of Petersberg citadel. From 1936 to 1938 part of the barracks was used to house the new
  established Motorized Infantry Regiment no. 71, and from 1938 to 1939 as the headquarters of the army's administrative offices. In 1944 a transit camp for displaced people was established
  in the Defense Barracks, and this was continued by the occupying Soviet administration after the
  war.
  When the German Democratic Republic (East Germany) was founded in 1949, the citadel again
  was used by the military. The Defense Barracks was used to accommodate a police school, the
  Kasernierte Volkspolizei (a precursor to the Nationale Volksarmee - NVA), and after 1956 newly formed NVA. After 1963 the citadel became the property of the city of Erfurt and the Defense Barracks were used for storage. It has been vacant since 2000 and there is on going discussion about how it will ultimately be restored and used.
caption: Defense Barracks, 2014
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