Building No. 1 of the Barracks Complex in Zegrze Południowe

Building No. 1 is one of the few surviving buildings of the former barracks complex of the Zegrze Fortress. The complex was built at the end of the 19th century in Zagroby, today’s Zegrze Południowe, on the initiative of Tsar Alexander III. It was intended to be an important point in the defence of the western borders of the Russian Empire.

The red-brick building housed Russian soldiers of the 1st Zegrze Fortress Infantry Regiment. The barracks formed a self-sufficient military town with its own bakery, slaughterhouse, bathhouse, smithy, stables and hospital.

In 1915 the complex was taken over by German troops. Two years later it held interned officers of the Polish Legions who had refused to swear allegiance to the German Emperor. After Poland regained independence, the barracks were named after Tadeusz Wyrwa-Furgalski, and the 1st Signals Regiment was stationed here.

Building No. 1 is included in the municipal register of historic monuments. It recalls the many layers of Zegrze Południowe’s history – from the tsarist fortress to the story of the Legions and the reborn Polish Army.