3A General Field Marshal Rumyantsev Street, Kaliningrad, Kaliningrad Region, Russia, 236022
The Astronomical Bastion (Sternwarte Bastion - Bastion-Observatory) was built during the construction of the Second Defensive Ring of Königsberg in 1852-1862.
It got its name (German Sternwarte) from the adjacent Königsberg Observatory, founded in 1813 by the outstanding German astronomer and mathematician Friedrich Bessel (1784-1846). The observatory itself was destroyed in 1944 during the bombing of Königsberg by the British Royal Air Force, but the bastion was not damaged.
In 1910, during the construction of the railway, the front part of the bastion was demolished, leaving only the semicircular caponier reduit and the reduit for flanking fire of the moat, both two-story, with sturdy brick vaults and earthen covering.
During the Third Reich, the reduit of the Astronomical Bastion was occupied by the Gestapo.
The bastion "Astronomical," located on the western side, formed one of the last defensive positions of the German troops during the battles in April 1945. The bastion’s typical pointed outer wall and parts of the wall facing east have now been demolished; the semicircular central structure, rising above the entire bastion, has been preserved. It is built on two floors and has a massive brick vault. It still has an earthen covering. The adjoining reduit from the east (also covered with earth) is shown only partially. Its window openings have now been enlarged. There are also basement rooms.
In the horseshoe-shaped reduit are classrooms, a forensic laboratory, and possibly a residential section. There are also basements. The rectangular reduit houses administrative offices, a coal storage, and a shooting range.
The wall around the bastion was built after the war.
In the post-war years, the bastion was used as a conscription point; from 2000 to 2008 it served as a base for OMON (special police units); since March 2008 it has been private property.
Sources:
https://www.prussia39.ru/sight/index.php?sid=539
https://day-off39.ru/otdykh-v-kaliningrade-i-oblasti/kaliningrad/376-astronomicheskij-bastion
