gbillington Posted 27 February , 2014 Share Posted 27 February , 2014 Evening Great news. I'm about to start plans for a visit to the Vosges area. probably May time. Cheers Guy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 28 June , 2014 Author Share Posted 28 June , 2014 On August 4th, 2014 the two presidents of France and Germany meet on HWK to commemorate the outbreak of WW!. The news is that the countries will build a new visitor center as can be read here. Impressive building. So hurry up if you want to visit a yet relative unspoiled piece of battleground. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 30 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 30 August , 2014 As the interest in the Vosges mountain warfare rises here, I will start my next climb up the Hartmannsweilerkopf (HWK) . This time it will be the northern flank that changed sides after intense, casualty rich battles in 1915 and stayed in German hands until the end of the war. Here is the 6 hour tour. The trails and paths are very strenuous, extremely steep and you need to be in good physical shape Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 30 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 30 August , 2014 The climb covers 500m difference in altitude and runs all the way up just paralell to the combat trench/no-mans-land of the 1916+ front line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 30 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 30 August , 2014 The main features to explore are the huge multi level fortresses with capacities for whole battalions. They are lined up like a string of pearl pointing and protecting the front line trenches, leading to the top of the HWK. They are : Felsennest I Kanzel Felseneck Beskid Adlerhorst Veilchenstein Doppelkopf Bastion Bischofshut Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 30 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 30 August , 2014 The climb starts in the small and sheer rock walled valley of the "Guttenbachrunz". Some 50 m after the start, the first fortress appears at the right hand slope, difficult to access due to very slippery ground. Name is Feste Weber. Note the beautiful preserved inscription above the entrance to underground galleries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 30 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 30 August , 2014 Another 50m further to wards the front line is fortress Limburg. It's purpose was to block the entrance/exit of the valley to the German rear lines.right side a mighty fortress with bored underground galleries and left side of the trail a concrete bunker that housed one of only 2 revolver canons employed on HWK. The reason was to be able to counter a tank attack coming from the nearby French lines through this small valley. Until 1918 though there was never a tank attack executed by the French. Note the beautiful inscriptions above the entrance. This photo from before destruction of the iron cross by careless Czech forestry workers in 2013 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 30 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 30 August , 2014 Today, the iron cross is missing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 30 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 30 August , 2014 The constructors names are still in good shape as can be seen on the left side of the fortress entrance. Feste Limburg was built by L.I.R 87 from state of Hesse Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 30 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 30 August , 2014 This picture shows the fortress from the other side of the valley , the valley itself stretches from left to right. Right side the revolver canon bunker, pointing to the left where the French lines start some 150m further away. NOW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 30 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 30 August , 2014 THEN Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 30 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 30 August , 2014 ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Evans Posted 30 August , 2014 Share Posted 30 August , 2014 Thanks Egbert, It is good to see the "Northern" tour is up and running. Do you think the planned developments will lead to any deterioration of the HWK and its treasures? You sound very wary in your June post. Phil Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 30 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 30 August , 2014 Phil good to see you are catching up. All the tours with pictures I will show you are in remote parts of HWK, with difficult and strenuous access and -you have to know where you want to research. No I do not think at all that these pristine parts will be visited more often in the future. On this 6 hour trip to the top of the mountain we have not met one single soul! it is different though with the top mountain trenches; they are just 1km foot walk from a car parking lot at the national cemetery. There are always people visiting the trenches and fortresses on top. With the erection of the new Franco-German museum I anticipate more traffic, but reasonable. It is and always will be a special semi-alpine battleground that is attractive for tourists but only the directly accessible parts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spconnolly007 Posted 31 August , 2014 Share Posted 31 August , 2014 Good to see your tour up and running again Egbert and as usual some great 'now and then' images to start us off. Best wishes, Sean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 31 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 31 August , 2014 Vestibule of Feste Limburg with view to wards the bored galleries. ....and here it goes. But this is not my target for this trip, I have entered the Feste on a later trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 31 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 31 August , 2014 Standing in the vestibule of said fortress, now turned by 180 degrees, this photo shot shows the revolver canon bunker outside left;. the enemy line was to wards the right. Beyond the canon bunker and the Guttenbachrunz also known as Neuwegbächle (water stream) you see already the steep banks of the HWK North flank. That's where my ascend starts to wards the string of fortresses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ph0ebus Posted 31 August , 2014 Share Posted 31 August , 2014 These photos are outstanding, Egbert! I look forward to 'walking along' on your trip with you. -Daniel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johntanner Posted 31 August , 2014 Share Posted 31 August , 2014 Egbert Stunning once again and really looking forward to sharing the climb. John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andalucia Posted 31 August , 2014 Share Posted 31 August , 2014 Once again Egbert you have captured my attention. Excellent my friend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 31 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 31 August , 2014 Ok guys, buckle up sit back and relax. It was not always like this at the point where I start my steep ascend. along the trail where the most fierce battles in the year of 1915, until the Germans permanently regained the section of HWK from the French. Uphill and downhill battles were the norm with thousands and thousands of casualties. The trail that starts from the valley is called Zick-Zack Pfad (Zig-Zag trail). Interestingly all the ancient German trail names are still used today by the French. After 1915 the trail was one of the communication trails uphill/downhill from/to the front line trenches nearby (some 100-300m distance). I have read many accounts when the Lieutenants rushed with their platoons to reinforce combat troops in distress using this very trail. All along the trail are deep galleries and bunkers like this:. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 31 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 31 August , 2014 As my faithful messenger dog Chester went over the rainbow bridge, Mia the fennec is my new buddy, who is eager to explore deep galleries which I do not dare to enter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 31 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 31 August , 2014 A perfect evidence how steep the bluff along the Zick-Zack trail actually is. This was the section of heavy uphill/downhill fighting. Imagine the German soldiers storming uphill in December 1915 to regain this area from the French forces. Horrible losses on both sides! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 31 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 31 August , 2014 A few meters nearby this photo was taken when Germans repaired the wires. This section of HWK was called "Jägertanne" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 31 August , 2014 Author Share Posted 31 August , 2014 French attacking somewhere here in early/mid 1915 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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