Caponier 8 (Caponniere 8)

Architecture, patrimoine et histoire · Landkreis Neu-Ulm

Caponier 8 is part of the main enceinte that the German Confederation built at Neu-Ulm, on the Bavarian bank of the Danube, as part of the Federal Fortress of Ulm. This vast defensive system, designed to protect southern Germany, was among the largest fortified places in Europe in the 19th century. Built between 1844 and 1849, the caponier projects from the outer face of the rampart and extends into the ditch, which it allowed defenders to sweep with flanking fire so that no attacker could take cover there. The work, built entirely of brick, has an arrow-shaped plan and rests on a limestone base. The tip houses an artillery casemate, while lateral sally courts allowed the defenders to make sorties; a massive covering protected it from fire. Caponier 8 is one of the surviving elements of the Neu-Ulm enceinte, listed as an ensemble on the Bavarian list of monuments. Today it can be seen from the surroundings of the fortifications, on a walk along the former rampart.