Wartime powder magazine I

The building, erected before 1728, served as a powder magazine in times of war. It was built on the city side of the fortress so as not to be an easy target for attackers. In the middle of the 19th century, the building was divided into two floors and a staircase was added. During the 1860s, the powder magazine was encased in vaulted cavities and covered with earth. This increased the protection against bullets and at the same time weakened the effect of an explosion of the powder stores. Test blasts by the GDR's Ministry of State Security almost completely destroyed the building in the 1980s.