The upper fort Kluže
Werk Hermann
Fort Hermann above the Kluže Gorge: Construction, Architecture, and Destruction
Fort Hermann, also known as Werk Hermann, Fort Hermann, or Wehr Rombon, stands roughly 114 meters above the lower Kluže Fortress, positioned on the steep slopes of Mount Rombon. It was conceived as an additional artillery stronghold designed to reinforce the defence of the Bovec basin. By the late 19th century, Austro‑Hungarian military engineers recognized that the lower Kluže Fortress had become vulnerable to modern high‑explosive shells, particularly after the introduction of melinite and other powerful explosives. A new fortification was therefore planned on higher, more defensible ground, where artillery could dominate the strategic route toward the Predel Pass.
Access Road and Early Construction
Access to the construction site was extremely demanding. Engineers first had to carve a 1,292‑meter military road into the nearly vertical cliffs above the lower fortress. The ascent included a 113‑meter tunnel, equipped with firing and observation slits, enabling control over the road leading toward the Predel Pass. This engineering feat, completed in 1897, allowed heavy materials and artillery components to be transported to the exposed ridge where the new fort would rise.
Architectural Design and Defensive Features
Construction of Fort Hermann began around 1900 and continued until 1906, when the fort was fully completed. Its layout followed an L‑shaped ground plan, allowing for an efficient distribution of artillery, observation posts, and internal service areas. Key architectural and defensive elements included:
• a southwestern wall built at a 45‑degree angle, reinforced with concrete and massive tonalite stone blocks,
• additional steel shields protecting artillery positions,
• two rotating armored gun turrets mounted on the roof, designed similarly to naval gun turrets of the period,
• interior rooms for the garrison, ammunition storage, and protected observation posts.
Fort Hermann was part of a broader defensive system of Carinthian fortifications intended to secure the approaches to Tarvisio and the interior of Austria. The fort was named after Johann Hermann von Hermannsdorf, commander of the Predel Fortress during the Napoleonic Wars.
The First World War and Italian Bombardment
By the outbreak of the First World War, Fort Hermann—like many Austro‑Hungarian fortifications—was already outdated. Advances in heavy artillery had surpassed the fort’s defensive capabilities. After Italy entered the war against Austria‑Hungary in May 1915, the fort quickly became a target.
On 18 July 1915, Italian artillery began a sustained bombardment from several directions:
• from the Nevejski Preval (Sella Nevea) area on Rombon,
• from long‑range positions behind Mount Kanin in the Reklanica Valley, approximately 13 kilometers away.
Italian batteries fired over 3,000 heavy‑caliber shells, including 305‑millimeter projectiles. Around 200 shells struck the fort directly, causing catastrophic structural damage. The garrison was forced to abandon the position, and the artillery pieces were removed and relocated to rock‑cut cavern positions on Mount Svinjak, where they remained in service until the end of the war.
Strategic Role and Later Fate
Fort Hermann was intended to serve as a key defensive point controlling the entrance to the Bovec basin, but rapid technological developments in artillery rendered it obsolete even before the First World War began. Its destruction in 1915 mirrored the fate of many Austro‑Hungarian fortifications: massive, carefully engineered structures unable to withstand the power of modern heavy shells.
The fort was never rebuilt. Today, its dramatic ruins—perched above the narrow Kluže Gorge—offer a striking insight into early 20th‑century military engineering and the destructive intensity of the Isonzo Front.