The fort at Predel was built to defend a strategic incursion against the interior of Austria during the Napoleonic Wars. The 1797 fort was demolished in the first incursion of the French army, so the Austrians began building a new fort in 1808 under the leadership of engineering captain Johann Hermann. In May 1809, several thousand soldiers of the combined Italian-French army attacked the fort, which was defended by 222, mostly Croatian soldiers. Despite complete encirclement, the defenders were unwilling to surrender and inflicted heavy losses on the advancing French troops. Only eight defenders survived. A monument was erected at the foot of the fortress in memory of the fallen (Croatian) soldiers, and the upper fortress of Kluže - Werk Hermann - was built in 1909 in honor of Johann Herman.
A new fortress was built on the site of the fortress demolished in 1809, but it became obsolete in 1880 due to new warfare techniques and was abandoned as a fortress. Instead, in 1882, a fortress was built under the Loška Koritnica valley above the Loška Koritnica riverbed - the fortress of Bovška Kluža (Flitscher Klause). During the First World War, the fortress in Predel was a military warehouse and a station for carrier pigeons.
More information about the location: Fortification Predel - The Walk of Peace
