Stairs in an abandoned fort by Eus Driessen

About "Stairs in an abandoned fort"

by Eus Driessen

About the artwork

Fort La Chartreuse is a fort founded for the defense of the Belgian city of Liège. It was built by the Dutch on the Mont Cornillon in 1817 and came into the hands of the Belgians in 1830 after the Belgian Revolution. The hill Mont Cornillon in Liège was since 1124 the location of a monastery of Premonstratenzers. In 1360 the Carthusian monks took over the monastery, which also gave the name to the later fortress. Because of its location on a hill, the Carthusian monastery had a strategic interest during the French bombardment of Liège in 1691. The Carthusians left the monastery in 1793. In 1794 the strategic hill was still used by the Austrians in the defense line along the Meuse during the First Coalition War. Ourthe during the French advance. In 1817 the current fort was built by order of the King Willem Frederik Prince of Orange-Nassau,King of The Netherlands. The fort played a role in the defense of Liège in the First World War. On August 5, 1914, the Germans harassed the eastern forts around Liège with infantry and artillery. The attackers were mown away, the shells of the artillery did not touch the reinforced concrete of the forts. Nevertheless, the Germans managed to penetrate through spaces between the forts. After intense street fights in Queue-du-Bois, on 7 August 1914, the hills to the east of Chartreuse were conquered, empty villages were found, the population had fled. The next morning, Chartreuse was occupied and the Germans entered Liège via two unspoiled brid