Category: News
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Celebrating 100 Years of Guided Tours in Josefov’s Underground (CZ)
In 2026, Josefov proudly celebrates a remarkable milestone: 100 years since the first official guided tours of its underground corridors began.
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A New Year for FORTE CULTURA: From Fortresses to Community
A new year is a good moment to pause and ask where we are going as a network. For FORTE CULTURA, 2026 will be important: we are preparing our application to become a Cultural Route of the Council of Europe and, at the same time, we want to grow as a real community, not just a list…
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Giżycko (PL): LTPL00354 FORT-UNION – cross-border interreg project
The cross-border interreg project FORT‑UNION is carried out by a coalition of partners: Municipality of Giżycko, Kaunas City Municipal Administration, Kaunas Fortress Park, Army Museum in Białystok, Boyen Fortress in Giżycko, Varėna District Municipality and associated organizations: Biebrza National Park, and Varėna’s Entrepreneurship Education Centre (among others).
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Funding opportunity for Czech-German partnerships
The Czech-German Future Fund supports joint projects between Czech and German partners, with the aim of strengthening good neighbourly relations, mutual understanding, and cooperation. The fund finances a wide range of activities – cultural and educational initiatives, exchanges, expert cooperation or community projects. This option would be great for Czech and German FORTE CULTURA members,…
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Christmas Gift for Josefov (CZ): Restoration of the Pipe Organ in the Fortress Church Completed
After two years of work, the restoration of the pipe organ in the Church of the Assumption in Josefov has been successfully completed. The project, launched in July 2024, was carried out under a contract with the renowned organ builder Ivan Bok from Krnov. All restoration works were undertaken with full respect for the church’s…
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FORTE CULTURA Online Member Meeting 2025
Sharing Tools, Strategies and Good Practices On 16 December 2025, FORTE CULTURA held its annual Online Member Meeting (OMM), bringing together fortress managers, researchers and partners from across Europe to focus on communication tools, the EICR certification path and inspiring local projects. Speaker from 8 countries informed each other about current projects and activities in…
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Coming soon: URBACT IV Action Planning Networks (APN) new call
In April 2026, a new call will be launched under the URBACT IV programme, with possilbe involvment of fortress-related topics and members of FORTE CULTURA and EFFORTS Europe.
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EFFORTS Travelling Congress 2025 (BE-FR-NL)
The first cross-border EFFORTS traveling network congress was organized from 2 to 4 December 2025. The theme of the congress was ‘Inspiring across borders’. On a three-day travelling congress, 50 EFFORTS-members met each other in the EFFORTS member cities of Oudenaarde (BE), Arras (FR) and Bergen op Zoom (NL).
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A Call to All Members: Let’s Meet at the FORTE CULTURA Online Member Meeting 2025
Our network is built on connection — across borders, across disciplines, and across experiences. The Online Member Meeting (OMM) is where those connections come alive.
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FORTE CULTURA Expands Its Presence in Spain at the VII Congress on Fortifications and Military Heritage
FORTE CULTURA participated in Spain’s leading congress on fortifications, presenting its vision for sustainable cultural tourism and building new partnerships with national heritage organizations.
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Portugal (PT): FORTE CULTURA pilot and study trip successfully completed
Group photo of the tour participants in front of the bastioned castle in Marvão Photo: H.-R. Neumann, 25 September 2025 Military architecture is an important part of Portugal’s architectural and artistic heritage. Both medieval and modern fortifications can be found along the coast and in Portugal’s border regions. At 1,214 kilometres, the border between Spain…
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Ohrid (MK) wins Živa Award 2025
We are happy to inform you that National Institute for Protection of Monuments of Culture and Museum – Ohrid (FORTE CULTURA member) is the winner of the prestigious Živa Award 2025 for the “Best Slavic Heritage Site”.
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New Book: Castles and Towers in Alicante (ES)
The historical dynamics of the Alicante region between the 11th and 15th centuries resulted in the proliferation of castles and towers in the mountains.
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Discover Reveel: A New Digital Tool for Fortified Heritage
FORTE CULTURA is proud to announce a new partnership with Reveel, a digital platform designed to transform the visitor experience at cultural and heritage sites. After a fruitful meeting with the Reveel founders, Sebastian Mellblom and Robin Kanerva, and our network members, we are excited to invite all FORTE CULTURA members to explore this innovative…
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Dracula Journey: A Case Study of a Family-Oriented Dark Tourism Event in Josefov (CZ)
The Dracula Journey is one of the most successful history-oriented events organized in the fortified ideal city Josefov (CZ). The event takes place in early November and spans two evenings, capturing the spooky and eerie emotions associated with this time of year.
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FORTIC Scientific Conference in Brijuni (HR): Strengthening the Culture of Peace through Fortified Heritage
From September 15 to 16, 2025, the National Park Brijuni in Croatia served as the backdrop for the international scientific conference titled “Fortified Architecture for the Culture of Peace – European Best Practice in Fortified Heritage Management”.
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Portsmouth (UK): „Fortifications at Risk” Conference, Fortress Study Group
To mark the 50th anniversary of the Fortress Study Group (FSG), an international symposium with excursions was held in Portsmouth, UK. FORTE CULTURA was represented by Natasa Urosevic, Olha Tikhonova and Dirk Röder, who enriched the conference with specialist contributions and best practices. On 5 September 2025, experts from Europe and the United Kingdom gathered…
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Alessandria (IT) becomes sixth FORTE CULTURA Station in Italy
The Citadel of Alessandria was designed by Ignazio Bertola on behalf of Vittorio Amedeo II of Savoy after the Treaty of Utrecht. Built between 1728 and 1732 by King Charles Emmanuel III, it was intended to serve as a barrier on the old Spanish military road between Genoa and Savona and to support the defence…
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The Fortress Königstein (DE) as Cultural Ambassador in China – our exhibition in Nanjing is opened!
We made it! On June 21, 2025, our exhibition “Königstein: The Safest Fortress of Germany” was solemnly opened in the City Wall Museum of Nanjing – and we were present there with a small delegation.
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Belfort (FR): Belfort fortress system becomes FORTE CULTURA station in France
Belfort was fortified from 1687 according to Vauban’s plans and subsequently extended. The fortress played a particularly important role in the 103-day siege of Belfort in 1870/71, one of the last major battles of the Franco-Prussian War. The centrepiece of the fortress is the Belfort Citadel on a rocky outcrop above the old town, with…
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Walcz (PL): German-Polish conference on the Pomeranian Wall
At the end of May, Polish and German experts on the fortress heritage of the 20th century met in the tranquil town of Walcz. A two-day conference with excursions shed light on the history of the Pomeranian Wall and the possibilities of valorisation and international networking. FORTE CULTURA and the Liberation Route Europe presented their…
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