Fort I (Köln)

The origins of Fort I date back to 1830, when it was erected under the name Rheinschanze. Between 1841 and 1847, renovations transformed it into a fort. The plans for this were by Heinrich Ferdinand Schuberth, with modifications by Ernst Ludwig von Aster and Carl Ferdinand Busse. From the 1880s, it bore the name Fort Erbgroßherzog Paul von Mecklenburg and was integrated into the inner city walling between 1882 and 1891. In 1911, it lost its military significance. From 1914 to 1916, Fritz Encke designed the surrounding garden complex. After World War I, the fort served as a refectory for the University of Cologne from 1919. In 1926, a war memorial designed by Otto Scheib and crowned with an eagle sculpture by Georg Grasegger was erected.