egbert Posted 21 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 21 August , 2009 ...whilst this view is from the French lines up to the bunker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jesse Posted 21 August , 2009 Share Posted 21 August , 2009 Ah yes, Grave Profiteering! And they don't have to pay any royalties to the dead. I have letters from a couple of German kids who got thrown in to the fighting there with their training units in 1944. Just swallowed up and disappeared in the meatgrinder. Damn shame, really. Here is my next trip in the Vosges mountains. After we had climbed the Buchenkopf the next day was scheduled for a walk across 3 summits each connected by an anticline. The mountains were also the most hotly fought place in the Vosges. Originally I wanted to start at the Lingekopf, but arriving there I was discouraged by the many tourists. There is a museum and a very well preserved summit (Lingekopf) with trenches and blockhouses. Also there are grave markers and plaques hinting to dead/buried dead visible from the parking lot. When I discovered that the entrance to this heritage and the gravemarkers was commercialized by a hefty entrance fee I was appelled. I have never seen before that a battleground being a European heritage and the places were dead are still existent requires a fee to enter. Note that this is public ground and that we have paid the preservation works or whatever likely through EU subsidies already. Just consider, New Foundland Memorial Park rips you off with 5 euro+ each. Well the messenger dog did not appreciate the situation and called for duty. So consequently I changed my trip plan and took these pictures from the parking lot upon leaving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 22 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 22 August , 2009 Well, leaving the forest for a couple of minutes , I arrived at courtine, a place just below Barrenkopf where the French - German lines come as close as 15meters. It is said that the lines so close together were the safest with respect to artillery attacks, because both artillery could not guarantee exact fire on the opposing enemy lines Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 22 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 22 August , 2009 This is a contemporary picture of Courtine with my own appr. position from which I took the picture posted before. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanA Posted 24 August , 2009 Share Posted 24 August , 2009 Truly excellent photographs Egbert. Makes me want to go back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 25 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 25 August , 2009 Ian glad to hear you and the other two viewers to include Gwyn of course, liked them. Actually I wanted to close the picture thread as only some 10 interested viewers are looking as well (I believe the hundred views are from myself checking, cropping, editing the images). This thread cost me lot of time because the original pictures are >1.2mB large. Sigh- here are some more. German front line trench with messenger dog doing a brief EOD sweep before I enter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 25 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 25 August , 2009 All clear... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 25 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 25 August , 2009 ...and in perfect condition. Did they vacate the trenches only last year? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanA Posted 25 August , 2009 Share Posted 25 August , 2009 My impression of the Vosges trench systems were that many of them were carved out of the living rock, and shell or grenade explosions would have generated shards of rock just as lethal as shrapnel. Post #33 is a remarkable image. Thanks for posting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paul guthrie Posted 25 August , 2009 Share Posted 25 August , 2009 Keep em coming Egbert! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 25 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 25 August , 2009 Uh oh, we have another customer here, welcome Paul. Ian most trenches I saw were stone built , mixed with concrete. Havn't seen any carved-out-of-the-rock trenches so far. This one obviously shows a trench with dug-out entrance/exit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 25 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 25 August , 2009 Still Barrenkopf but approaching the anticline connecting to Kleinkopf. Trench with interconnecting bunker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HVD5677 Posted 25 August , 2009 Share Posted 25 August , 2009 Thanks for all this Egbert. It's fascinating. I went through the same general area on a 3 day backpacking trip with our boy scout troop in May, so couldnt do an in depth visit of the WWI sites (also a couple of WWII) , but caught a few as you will see at this site. http://vogesbackpackingtripmay2009.shutterfly.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 26 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 26 August , 2009 Nice pictures and nice weather -where are the other 100 pictures Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crunchy Posted 26 August , 2009 Share Posted 26 August , 2009 Thanks Egbert. Great shots of an area rarely discussed and, I suspect, rarely visited. Almost in pristine condition. Cheers Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterhogg Posted 26 August , 2009 Share Posted 26 August , 2009 Egbert, thank you for posting these magnificent photos. I've been captivated by the views and the trench/fortification photos. Please keep them coming. I've been busy just looking at them and simply to forgot to drop a note to say thanks for posting! peter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Ring Posted 26 August , 2009 Share Posted 26 August , 2009 Nice pictures and nice weather -where are the other 100 pictures Egbert Please keep them coming !!! A very impressive gallery from an area I know little about. Time to read up on this. Tony Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SiegeGunner Posted 26 August , 2009 Share Posted 26 August , 2009 Yes, please keep them coming, Egbert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MartinWills Posted 26 August , 2009 Share Posted 26 August , 2009 Fascinating - and so worthwhile to see pictures of an area most people know nothing about. I hope it encourages more visitors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roel22 Posted 26 August , 2009 Share Posted 26 August , 2009 Great pics, Egbert. Want to go there as well some day. A lot looks as if the war has ended only a week ago. Roel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steven Broomfield Posted 26 August , 2009 Share Posted 26 August , 2009 I have to confess I know nothing of the fighting in this region. Is there an English-language work anyone can refer me to? (Is Jack Sheldon working on one?) Great photos, though, Egbert. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 26 August , 2009 Share Posted 26 August , 2009 I have not yet come across an English language book, though someone suggested I write one, which I won't be doing because I can't read German. There are some helpful translated accounts on An Unfortunate Region (I think Marco is a member of the GWF). Battlefields > scroll to Vosges / Alsace. I'm afraid the books I use are in French. Great pictures, Egbert and thanks for taking the time to prepare them. I know you've asked me to add pictures, but my photos of Barrenkopf are on film and would need scanning. It's a very chilling place where you feel as if you must be the first person to visit these relics since 1916. I sincerely hope that there isn't a rush of tourism. One of the joys of the area is that it isn't crawling with visitors and blokes with buckets and metal detectors. It's possible to be there and think. Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 26 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 26 August , 2009 Thank you guys so much for your appreciations as well as to the gal. @Roel: Two speedy Dutch males overtook us the day before at Buchenkopf. I seriously thought of you hurrying up with your mine detector and shovel ready for action...... The next two images are from Barrenkopf. A cable car system supplied the troops on top of the summit with all the necessities Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 26 August , 2009 Author Share Posted 26 August , 2009 And these are today's remains of the summit station. The slope goes down directly to the road Hohrodberg-German cemetery Bärenstall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mandy hall Posted 26 August , 2009 Share Posted 26 August , 2009 Hello Egbert Don't give up posting photos I check in most days to look at this thread for new photos and have followed the other thread. Today I have received from Amazon (ordered through great war forum) IGN map of the area. Hopefully my chauffeur will take me next year. Looking forward to more photos Mandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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