Dobrošov Fortress
New visitor centre
The Dobrošov military fortress lies near the town of Náchod, by the border with Poland. It used to be part of the Czechoslovak fortification system of our northern border. Its construction started in the autumn of 1937, but the fortress was never completed. The fortress holds an exhibition of the Czechoslovak fortifications, which introduces visitors to the sophisticated system of corridors and halls, and now also a multimedia visitor centre.
In the visitor centre, visitors will learn interesting facts about the development of Czechoslovak fortifications and know the events of the 1938 mobilisation period in a fun and interactive way. The exhibition also includes a collection of miniature soldiers of the Czechoslovak army from the First Republic by Lubor Šušlík, soldiers' uniforms and a model of the Dobrošov fortress.
The exhibition brings to life not only the history, but especially highlights the enormous efforts of the people who participated in the construction of the border fortresses in 1937 and 1938. These were intended to defend Czechoslovakia.
The history and life in the fortress will be presented not only in an engaging documentary film with played inputs, which brings the atmosphere of the mobilisation period in Dobrošov to life through the story of Lance Corporal Eduard Zicháček, but also in many interactive stops, which will allow visitors to experience the stories told first-hand.
An attractive exhibit is the 'cannon firing', which simulates shooting without being able to see the enemy. “The observation post personnel determined the coordinates of where the enemy was moving, they phoned those down to the underground, calculated where to aim, and relayed the message to the gunners, who set the traverse and elevation and fired,” Tůma says of the gunners’ station. In the exhibition, this is implemented as a cooperative game, in which one visitor is in the role of a navigator at the periscope, a second visitor enters the coordinates that the navigator tells him, and a third visitor shoots based on the coordinates. The task is to shoot as many tanks as possible within a given time limit.
Another attraction within the exhibition is the search for virtual mines in the terrain projected on the floor.
Dobrošov is not only a fortress, but also a wintering ground for bats. One part of the exhibition is dedicated to this flying mouse, as bats are also called. Visitors can become a bat in virtual reality for a small moment, get to know its life and fly through the underground corridors of the Dobrošov Fortress.
You can watch the report from the opening ceremony of Dobrošov Fortress in iVysílání of the Czech Television (time 2:21)
Be inspired
MUSEUM OF THE NÁCHOD DISTRICT
The Hradec Králové Region acquired ownership of the fortress in 2015. The reconstruction cost almost 100 million CZK. The aim is to make the fortress accessible to a wide number of visitors and to create a visitor attraction for the Hradec Králové Region.
