Monument to Captain Hensel

Friedrich Hensel, captain of the Austrian Imperial Army Engineer Corps, built Fort Malborghetto, whose troops he commanded and where he died heroically fighting against Napoleon's troops in 1809.
In 1808, the Archduke John of Austria, General of Engineers and the fortification system, decided to build a fort at Malborghetto in Canal Valley and appointed the then twenty-seven-year-old engineer Captain Friedrich Hensel as construction manager. Canal Valley and Predil Pass were key points at the southern border of the Empire, from where the Archduke left to fight the French troops deployed by the Isonzo river.
During the winter of 1808-1809, the works were interrupted until, following the battle of Eggmühl, the strategic situation changed dramatically, and it became necessary to retreat the southern army toward inner Austria. Thus, the fort became extremely important for the Empire’s defence.
Hensel, who had been in Malborghetto since 11 May 1809, did his best for the progress of the works and was appointed fort commander by Archduke John. The French troops, 15,000 men under the orders of Viceroy Eugène de Beauharnais, tried in vain to pass for three days, from 14 to 17 May, kept at bay by the tough defence put up by 390 Austrians wielding no more than 10 pieces of artillery, including howitzers and cannons. In the end, despite enormous French losses (1300 men on 17 May alone), the small garrison was overwhelmed and 350 of its men killed, among them, Commander Hensel and four more officers.
Johann Hermann von Hermannsdorf, engineer captain and Hensel’s comrade, was killed in action at Predil Pass the very next day.
Years later, Emperor Ferdinand I dedicated a monument to the two young heroes, now looked after by the Italian Government, for the victory of Aspern was made possible thanks to their heroic resistance.

The monument consists of a pyramid of stone slabs with a written commemoration. At its base is the statue of a great metal alloy lion resting on fasces and a shield pierced by a spearhead on its side, symbolizing the Habsburg empire struck to death in the war of 1809. It was erected in memory of captain Hensel and the defenders of Fort Malborghetto, whose remains may be viewed.