Weserforts Brinkamahof

Two Prussian forts once guarded the Weser estuary on the Bremen side. Built between 1867 and 1881, Brinkamahof I and II stood on artificial islands in the marshland near Weddewarden. The forts were meant to stop ships from reaching Bremen’s harbours, but they never fired a shot in anger. The forts were part of a larger system that included four islands on both sides of the river. After the First World War the military removed their guns, and in 1928 the first fort disappeared when the Nordhafen was dug. Brinkamahof II survived longer, serving as an anti-aircraft battery in the Second World War before being blown up by occupying troops. By 2000 even its ruins had gone, replaced by a container terminal. Visitors today see only the flat landscape of the harbour edge. A single brick magazine from 1875 survives in Speckenbütteler Park, its thick walls and watchman’s house now silent witnesses to the past. The old artillery barracks still line the street once used by the gunners on their way to the forts.