essay feature interview reviews 27

garrison towns in the baltic se a are a BY beate feldmann

Islands are symbols of both pleasure and danger. land that would have belonged to the Balto-German ven them urban values and ways of life. What, then, is Their function in surveillance and defense has influ- Baron von Buxhoevden. Dranske is on the northern a garrison town, and what kind of infrastructure can enced people’s daily lives for decades. The historian part of Rügen, and has a history both as a center of fish- be called “military”? According to ethnologist Aida John Gillis has illuminated how Alcatraz and Robben ing and as a military base. After having been, during Hachaturyan-Kisilenko, this specific type of town or Island, two of the best-known examples of historically the First World War, a fishing village with only a minor municipal construction includes guarded border areas controversial island landscapes, have been transfor- military presence, a “garden city” for German military around a military base with residential blocks, schools, med into attractive sites to visit and explore. I, myself, personnel and their families was built between 1936 daycare centers, commercial activities, and some kind have chosen to focus on some arenas connected with and 1941. In the 1960s, the garrison town was once of hospital or smaller healthcare center near the base. threats and unease in the Baltic Sea area — Gotland, again transformed, when the East German Nationale The Soviet garrison town from between 1950 and 1980, Rügen, and Saaremaa. Large areas of land on these Volksarmee built a large number of homes for both the she writes, islands were cordoned off for long periods because army families and civilian inhabitants. of military activity, and it was only after the end of the Islands are dynamic landscapes. They have mutual constituted a specific urban mode of life- Cold War that they became available for foreign visitors interaction with the mainland as well as with other is- style, the task of which was to guarantee the — when the islands’ geographical location in the cen- lands, while they also shape and are shaped by the life military and their families safe and satisfac- ter of the Baltic Sea no longer represented a military- playing out in people’s everyday existence. The posi- tory conditions of life. strategic borderland. Gotland’s role as a Swedish tion that islands have as borderland areas in the Baltic outpost to the east was greatly diminished when the Sea has been highlighted by social anthropologist Ina- The importance of the military activity in the commu- island’s four large regiments were phased out. Because Maria Greverus. From a mainland perspective, these nities manifests a clear continuity — in the case of Fårö- of Estonia’s independence from the Soviet Union, the islands have a peripheral location. But if the perspec- sund, starting with the Crimean War in the 1850s, in the military bases that existed on the island of Saaremaa tive is oriented towards the sea, the dual position of the case of Dranske, starting with the First World War. But it were dismantled. For Rügen, the structural chan- islands emerges: as national outposts, and as central is the world-historical events of the 1930s and ’40s that ges meant that the island was no longer a part of the nodes in the Baltic Sea: most strongly came to characterize all three communi- Eastern Bloc, but now belonged to the reunified Germany. ties in matters of urban planning and everyday life, and Until the beginning of the 20th century, Fårösund, on Insularity is the synthesis of particular col- this occurred in similar ways. After the Nazi takeover in northern Gotland, was a community centered mostly lective experiences which draws from all 1933, Rügen was seen as a strategic bridgehead for Bal- around the lime quarries and ship-piloting operations. the domains where humans shape their tic Sea domination. Gotland’s position in the middle of In connection with the Crimean War, Fårösund had be- lives and judge the future, based not only on the Baltic Sea, equidistant from the Soviet coast and the come a strategically important location as the English the present, but also on the past. Swedish mainland, meant that the island came to be in and French fleet base that was used against Russia. At the immediate line of fire, and it thus strengthened its the beginning of the 20th century, the Swedish Armed readiness when, in 1941, Germany attacked the USSR Forces bought up land in the area, and in 1938 a coastal on all fronts. In 1939, Saaremaa prepared itself fully artillery division, KA 3, was set up. In 1941, Estonia’s I have chosen to call these small communities with the arrival of Soviet troops, when thousands of largest military base was built next to one of Saaremaa’s garrison towns. The military presence has affected all soldiers were stationed in newly built garrisons around larger lakes on the northwestern part of the island, on three places both physically and culturally and has gi- the island.

No island is sufficient unto itself. They are all dependent on one another and the mainland. 28 essay feature interview reviews 29 garrison towns i n th e ba ltic s e a a r e a

The expansion of the Luftwaffe at Bug, a peninsula ad- ergy, but in the end result was the construction of some housing for an estimated 6,000 soldiers in four stone tenbau) in the 1960s and ’70s have been razed. Among plans had been put on ice. According to CEO Joacim references jacent to Dranske, began in 1934, and, during the next 60 houses with 125 apartments in the years 1939–1941, barracks, along with six two-story buildings for 1,000 those living here, despair is mixed with the hope that, Kuylenstierna, this was because of “the unwieldy build- five years before the start of the war in 1939, resulted in, both in the community and next to the regiment area. officers and their wives. The plans included, in addi- in the future, Dranske will be able to attract interna- ing permit bureaucracy”. That claim is contradicted by 1 Ina-Maria Greverus, “Islands as Borderland: Experiences and Thoughts on Rügen and Usedom”, Anthropological Journal on among other things, five hangars, ten barracks, a large The architecture was later described as functionalist tion, canteens, stables, ammunition storage facilities tional tourism because of its location on the Baltic Sea, the Housing Committee President, who interprets the European Cultures, 1997: 1, pp. 7–28. swimming center with 50-meter lanes, an officers’ ca- in a way that fit the period, with a design that posses- and roads. Electricity, telephone lines, and running and thus also attract new residents who could support shelving of the plans as a sign of the ongoing economic 2 Aida Hachaturyan–Kisilenko, “An Attempt to Describe Life sino, and housing for unmarried officers. Up to 3,000 sed a civilian character. In addition to creating flight water had already been set up — a house in the vicin- themselves in the district. In the fall of 2007, a planning downturn. For the approximately 960 residents of in a Soviet Military Garrison through Biographical Material” soldiers were active on these 500 hectares. Along with hangars, airfields, and a swimming center, the esta- ity of the lake with three beds, a kitchen, and a toilet workshop took place in Dranske. The aim was to gather Fårösund, the situation is precarious, with threats of in Pro Ethnologia. Eesti Rahva Muuseumi: publications of the expansion, there were plans for a sweeping physi- blishment of the regiment attracted private investors was already there, presumably put there by the von ideas and suggestions, in cooperation with residents, school closures and cuts in social services. Although Estonian National Museum,Tartu 2003:16, pp. 99–112. cal and cultural change in Dranske. The local popula- to the community. Among the major business esta- Buxhoevden family. Whether or not these plans were local politicians and planners, about the sustainable there is hope for the future, the confidence and trust 3 Sören Sörensen, Öarna i Östersjön: Förr och nu [The Islands in tion, which for the most part consisted of fishermen blishments, a modern cinema center, together with a fully realized cannot be determined. According to development of Dranske. The result was a vision for the in the private investors, compared with the previously the Baltic Sea: Then and Now], Visby 1992. 4 It should, however, be emphasized here that the and farmers, were informed that the existing buildings gathering-place, was opened in 1940. In an article in information in the Estonian newspaper Meie Maa, al- future centered on the restoration of the place as “eine existing trust in KA 3, is relatively weak. Several inform- ideology and construction style of the garden city cannot (thirteen single-family houses and four detached ho- Gotlands Allehanda, a local newspaper, from the fall of most 240 women and children lived in Dejevo as late Gartenstadt am Wasser”. ants manifest an awareness that the responsibility of unproblematically be linked to National Socialism. For mes) would be demolished — without any possibility 1940, we find a description of the bustling activities un- as when the rocket base was closed in the 1990s, and The vision implies, interestingly, an unproblematic the survival of the area depends, to a much greater further reading on the international history of the garden of appeal, and with minimal compensation. In 1936, derway in Fårösund at the time: in a conversation with Marko Trave at the Estonian For- look back at the townscape that was formed by the Nazi degree than before the closure of KA 3, on the residents city, see, e.g., Thomas Paulsson, Stadsplaneringen under construction of a garden city that would be inhabited est Agency, RMK, it was revealed that the total number military hierarchy in the community at the end of the themselves. 1800- och 1900-talet [City Planning During the 19th and mainly by the dependents of military personnel began. When it was made known at that time that of soldiers, officers, and dependents of Dejevo should 1930s. The plan is just one in a series of previous pro- 20th Centuries], Stockholm 1970, and for research on the As art historian Bernfried Lichtnau has shown, 31 semi- Fårösund would be the location of an air have amounted to around 2,000 at most. Several in- posals for Dranske’s cultural and economic survival. significance of the garden city in Germany, and, specifically, detached homes in tradition-bound style — including and coastal artillery, people began to pre- formants on Saaremaa state that, besides the military An earlier example is “Bug Baltic Sea Resort”, a holiday The communities I investigate in my dissertation on its significance for the city planning ideals of National Socialism, see Sven Rolf, Die Konstruktion totalitärer Räume: the garden designed to help make self-sufficiency pos- pare the community to accommodate the operations in Dejevo, there was also a school with three resort with luxury hotels and water sports facilities, work can be described as small places with strong me- Am Beispiel des Generalbebauungsplans für Berlin im Dritten sible — were soon ready for occupation. Up until 1940, new settlements. And it is still not complete, classrooms, a nursery, and two shops. Later, the Marat which was intended to be Germany’s largest tourism mories of major world events. The ways in which the Reich, München 2008. Dranske’s town plan, guided by National Socialist ideo- although housing construction almost textile factory was set up in one of the barracks for the project. past is highlighted and pushed aside in visions and de- 5 Bernfried Lichtnau, “Siedlungen in Dranske und Wiek auf logy, was expanded with an additional nineteen two- doubled over the past few years. Most of manufacture of underwear — the purpose was to ad- cisions about the future of these small communities, as Rügen: Bauten des deutschen Nationalsozialismus”, in family houses, three eight-family houses, and one four- the residential buildings are finished, but dress the need for jobs for women in Dejevo. During the parts of the new order of the Baltic Sea Region, is part Stier und Greif. Blätter zur Kultur- und Landesgeschichte in family house. the painting and various installation work 1950s and ’60s, around ten houses for officers and their In Dejevo, a more or less total dismantling of the of the debate about the politics of memory and com- Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, 1997:7, pp. 24–31. Town planning was affected both physically and remains to be completed. In addition, new families, along the road to the base, were also built. military buildings is being planned. Only a few people munity planning in the new Europe in which I want 6 Gotlands Allehanda, “Fårösund = öns livligaste samhälle just nu” [Fårösund = The Most Lively Community on the Island], socially by the military hierarchy, and there were clear construction projects will arise later. are still living in the area; the Russian name Dejevo to engage. Which stories about the Cold War fit into 1940.10.15. instructions about who would live where. has been changed back to the Estonian Karujärve. No the history of the Baltic Sea as a sea of reconciliation, While the garrison towns 7 http://www.architektenkammer-mv.de/gruen_veranst.htm. Five years later, life in Dranske changed radically yet With an area totaling 110 hectares, KA 3 came to be the of Fårösund and Deje- new housing will be built; it is rather the vision of the a history canonized by the EU? What happens when Accessed 2008.01.10. again with the end of World War II. The military popu- largest employer in northern Gotland. Ten years after vo largely retained the city structure that was establis- remains of the rocket base in the landscape, as a hilly the position of the islands in a strategic defensive cen- 8 http://www.wenzel-consulting.de/pdf/reftourismus/bug_auf_ lation fled and the military facility at Bug was destroyed the start of construction of the garrison town of Fårö- hed during World War II, and which remained until the terrain in a future recreational area, which has left its ter belongs to the past, and the political and military, ruegen_baltic_sea_resort.pdf. Accessed 2008.01.10. or dismantled. Shortly thereafter, a new era in the his- sund, Bunge Parish reached its highest population ever, closure of the garrisons approximately 60 years later, mark on the plans for the area. One of the bunkers has and also cultural and social significance of the former 9 http://www.dok.se/vision.html. Accessed 2008.04.28. tory of Dranske commenced when around a thousand with over 1,650 inhabitants. An inventory of culturally Dranske ended up undergoing yet another major trans- been preserved, and can be rented as a space for par- garrison towns thus risks being erased from the collec- refugees, mainly from Pomerania, Sudetenland, and and historically significant buildings in Fårösund that formation, when the NVA appropriated the communi- ties. What will happen to the dilapidated officers’ hou- tive memory of the 21st century? In what way can this Prussia, moved into the vacant homes during the final was conducted in 1986 shows that KA 3 had 360 em- ty and the Bug peninsula for military activities in 1965. sing along the main road towards Dejevo is still unclear. come to affect the people whose identity continues weeks of the war. ployees in 1970, while the population statistics of that The massive expansion of the naval base at Bug meant Perhaps the location at Lake Karujärve can attract buy- to be connected in some way to the previous military same year show almost 1,250 inhabitants in the parish. increased demand for housing. From 1965 to 1969, eight ers looking to renovate the houses and use them for presence? Which history can they relate to if the me- However, the population would gradually shrink to 925 high-rises were built in what at the time were the out- summer homes. mory of the Cold War is pushed aside, and thus ta- This pioneering spirit, with a military infrastruc- people in 2000, when the regiment was finally phased skirts of Dranske, a built-up area which, over the years, In Fårösund, the previous KA 3 area, as well as the ken away from them? And what consequences would ture of both a physical and social form, arose in roughly out completely. until 1989, was made into a city district in socialist sty- training area at Bungenäs — like Bug peninsula in Dran- this collective loss of a local heritage from the Cold the same time period in both Fårösund and Dejevo. The same year that the town plans for Fårösund le, with fifteen modern high-rises, shopping centers, ske — were bought up by private investors after having War have for the ongoing construction of a common Because of a national defense resolution in 1936, the began to be implemented, the Baltic German officer schools, and daycare centers. It was mostly dependents been owned and developed by the state housing cor- socially and economically tenable Baltic Sea Region? ¯ coastal artillery defense on Gotland was enlarged with Wilhelm Aleksei Joa received a request from Stalin’s of the military who lived in the high-rises, and for them, poration, Vasallen. The former regiment area was now “permanent defense establishments” in Fårösund. Ac- government asking whether he would want to take the district came to represent the modern East German called Kustparken and the construction of fifty or so cording to the leadership of the Swedish Administration responsibility for the construction of the garrison town community, in contrast to the older, traditional garden coastal row houses and apartments was begun. Here, for Naval Equipment (Marinförvaltningen), the number and training area for the Red Army at Karujärve Lake, city, which for the most part was populated by civilian there are visions of a “vibrant Fårösund, with more of existing dwellings in Fårösund was sufficient for the on the island of Saaremaa. In his unpublished notes, workers and peasants. From having had about 1,500 people and more business activity than we see today”. military personnel, which the first head of KA 3, Gösta Joa describes how he took on this task with some hesi- inhabitants in the 1950s, the population increased The entire regiment area and several military build- Möller, contested. It was Möller’s firm view that the tation, since he, like many Baltic Germans in Estonia, continually in the years between 1965 and 1989. At the ings are protected by historical building legislation, and best placement for the new dwellings was not next to had intended to flee to Germany. Construction of time of the termination of the military presence, nearly thus designated as part of the national cultural heritage. the barracks area, but together with the built-up areas “Städtchen Karujärve” commenced in the fall of 1940, 4,000 people lived in Dranske, a figure that shrank by In February 2008, the new owners, Diös and Kuylen- of the community. Negotiations with the Administra- and, according to the contract, would be completed almost 75 percent during the ten years that followed. stierna AB, held a kick-off release for special guests, tion for Naval Equipment about building officer hou- nine months later. When Joa arrived at the site, 3,000 Today, just over 1,300 people live here. Nine of the where the development plan DK2020 for Fårösund sing in Fårösund ended up taking much time and en- people were busy constructing a military base with 15 residential blocks that were built in concrete (Plat- and Bungenäs was presented. Nine months later, the

A military-strategic dream. The last outpost for nations. Small places with strong memories of major world events.