[2] Minor additional works took place in the following years, but no major alterations were made; construction of a nearby flanked fort was begun but was quickly abandoned.

[4] The complex is located on the heights of the Sudety Mountains, a body which forms a natural border between the Kłodzko Valley and the Silesian Lowlands.

[2] It controls the passage through the Silver Valley (Polish: Przełęcz Srebrna, German: Pass von Silberberg).

[2] The fortress was intended to guard a route linking Prussian territories with Bohemian lands in the south, and thus help repel any possible incursions from Austria.

On 28 June 1807 it successfully resisted a siege by Napoleonic forces during the War of the Fourth Coalition; this was the only time the fortress was the site of an active battle.

Notable prisoners included Counter Admiral Stefan Frankowski, General Tadeusz Piskor and Rear-Admiral Józef Unrug.

[6] Seven escapees were soon captured by the Germans, while three made their way through German-occupied Czechia, Slovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Greece and Turkey to Mandatory Palestine,[6] where they joined the Polish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade.