Even if in terms of the highest intensity of construction and development of the modern military barracks, we may consider the period of dualist Austria-Hungary as the breakthrough period. The army played an important role in the process of formation of the common state of the Czechs and Slovaks as well. The military design office operating under the Territorial Military Building Directorate and established during the First Czechoslovak Republic had taken over the spatial and layout regulations from the monarchy era, however, due to the territorial repartitioning, it had to build a lot of new military structures in the newly originated border areas. Thus, several large barrack areas grew all around the country, often influencing the material structure of the cities and its subsequent construction development in a substantial way. Therefore (as a follow-up to the contribution published in the previous issue of the Vojenská história journal 4/2017), the study clarifies the architectural, historical and social development of the barracks after 1918 and analyses the impact of military architecture on the appearance of the selected Slovak cities. The text characteristics of individual settlements and barracks are accompanied by the graphic map schemes marking the spatial effect of the military buildings.
Karosta (Military Port) in the town of Liepāja used to be one of the strategically most important military objects in the Russian Empire. Its aesthetic aspect was implemented in high-quality forms of Historicist architecture, general planning and every building of Karosta, then dubbed the Port of Alexander III. After the failed Crimea War, the Russian Empire maintained its aggressive policy and decided to establish a new naval base to secure its presence on the Baltic Sea. Fearing growing German strength in these waters, Russian officials quickly devised an action plan. In 1890, the Tsar approved the decision to begin construction works in Liepāja. Engineer General Ivan Alfred McDonald designed a rational layout for Karosta consisting of four historical military port districts. From the direction of the sea, the first is the officers’ residential district. This is the most representative part of Karosta, containing not only officers’ dwelling houses but also administrative functions; the dominant object is St. Nicholas Naval Cathedral designed by Vasily Kosyakov in the Neo-Russian style. The most impressive and lavish building of Karosta is the Neo-Baroque Naval Officers’ Meeting House designed by Stefan Galenzovsky. The entire officers’ district is filled with decoratively rich, refined, Historicist-style buildings. Soon after the approval of the Karosta plan, construction works began on the Tsar’s Palace, the Naval Commander’s House along with other noteworthy objects, like the Naval Telegraph, the Gendarme Unit and the Naval Military Court House as well as the Post Office of Emperor Alexander III. Every two-storey officers’ house has a different décor. One reflects elements in line with Neo-Classicist style while others echo Neo-Baroque and Neo-Renaissance; even the new tendencies of Art Nouveau are present. The uniqueness of Karosta is revealed in its peculiar relationships with the Liepāja Fortress and its quick abolishment that cut development short. In seventeen years of rapid construction works, a modern, rationally structured port was created, intended as a significant element of the Russian Empire’s military policy. The entire complex and each particular building was adapted to the spirit of the epoch and the imperial taste.
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