egbert Posted 4 September , 2014 Author Share Posted 4 September , 2014 This entrance opens the world into a subterranean world in its own right ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 4 September , 2014 Author Share Posted 4 September , 2014 ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 4 September , 2014 Author Share Posted 4 September , 2014 Pretty quiet down here, I bet it was the opposite 99 years ago ...what appears to be the box of a field telephone in its original wooden framing Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 4 September , 2014 Author Share Posted 4 September , 2014 Exit Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 4 September , 2014 Share Posted 4 September , 2014 Astonishing. The work involved in creating these structures in the mountain terrain and in war conditions is extraordinary. The Massif des Vosges is the only mountain Front from between 1914 and 1918 on French soil. The difficulties of logistics, transport, construction of military buildings, managing an infrastructure and (in some areas) maintaining remnants of civilian life alongside the constraints of mountain terrain, altitude and climate were particular to this area. What you are revealing is a virtually an extremely interesting open air museum. Gwyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 4 September , 2014 Author Share Posted 4 September , 2014 Gwyn for the German soldiers the Alsace then was pure Germany not France. The Alsace was always German hemisphere from 814 until 1618 (German Kingdom of the Carolingian Empire and Holy Roman Empire of German Nation), when Louis XIII annexed it first time for France 1618. It was regained as everybody knows 1871 and re-integrated into Germany. France took it back 1918 and again since 1945. France possessed the Alsace for a total of 275years and Germany and their forefathers >900 years. Alsace belongs to France today and that will stay so. German was always official language during the centuries except 1674-1871 when German language was tolerated because the French could never suppress the original language. Maybe that is the reason why the Germans fought so intense for the Vosges mountains. But back to the picture thread...... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 4 September , 2014 Share Posted 4 September , 2014 Yes, I know it was Germany at that stage in history. (I'm blogging elsewhere about the 1871-onwards period when Alsace was separated from France by a frontier and was German.) I was saying that the WW1 Vosges front [that people can visit today, as you are describing] is [now] the only mountain front in France - therefore if visitors to France [now] want to explore a WW1 mountain front, this is it. I've slightly edited my text to make that clearer. Regardless of whether one is thinking about the experience of German soldiers or French soldiers, the challenges of constructing and maintaining a front in those conditions were so special to the area that the soldiers demand enormous respect. The German structures you are exploring are astonishing and they're still solid a century later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 4 September , 2014 Author Share Posted 4 September , 2014 Right Gwyn, thanks for your clarification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragon Posted 4 September , 2014 Share Posted 4 September , 2014 The tunnels in posts 776 &777: how high are they? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 5 September , 2014 Author Share Posted 5 September , 2014 The tunnels in posts 776 &777: how high are they? Gwyn, I did not need to bow my head, I assume max some 1,90meters high. Others are only 1,70, Remember in the early days of this thread I became a casualty of the war in Unterer Rehfelsen fortress. The caverns though where they lived and protected whole companies are really high and voluminous, I would say some 3 meters high plus plus Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 5 September , 2014 Author Share Posted 5 September , 2014 The fortress' upper level has a MG stand that dominates the slope and across the valley for enfilading firepower to the positions on the other side At far left side is an entrance to an observation post Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 5 September , 2014 Author Share Posted 5 September , 2014 Inside the observer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 5 September , 2014 Author Share Posted 5 September , 2014 The view downhill the slope that once was just a tor w/o trees, just barbed wires and trenches Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 5 September , 2014 Author Share Posted 5 September , 2014 Upper level Felsennest I Leaving the fortress through one of the corridors Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 5 September , 2014 Author Share Posted 5 September , 2014 After a few minutes climbing, I arrive at this junction. Even the Club Vosgien has posted the ancient German named locations. The question is- which direction? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andalucia Posted 7 September , 2014 Share Posted 7 September , 2014 Brilliant Egbert. Thank you for showing this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithjk Posted 7 September , 2014 Share Posted 7 September , 2014 Egbert, what I find striking about your photos is the comparative lack of leaves, dirt and other detritus in the trenches and fortifications. One would have thought that, after 100 years, they would have been full of rubbish. I assume that some organisation (Club Vosgien ?) devotes time to periodically cleaning them up ? In which case, good for them ! And thanks to you, once again, for your in-depth tours of probably the most fascinating area of the Western Front. Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 7 September , 2014 Author Share Posted 7 September , 2014 Thanks Ant and Keith, Keith the "Friends of Hartmannsweilerkopf" from Germany and France take good care to include the many work hours from i.e. (ex-military) German local reservist associations. I was thinking of somebody from you guys choosing which path to take, right or left one. I guess I must choose by myself. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keithjk Posted 7 September , 2014 Share Posted 7 September , 2014 Egbert, being a staunch Conservative, I always go to the right. Can I suggest you do the same ? Keith Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roel22 Posted 8 September , 2014 Share Posted 8 September , 2014 Great pics (as ever), Egbert. Keep them coming! Roel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 8 September , 2014 Author Share Posted 8 September , 2014 Right we go. "Kanzel" ,does not mean "cancel" but pulpit). Why? What appears to be a concrete arbor with adjacent balcony above the abyss, in fact is a formidable subterranean fortress with concrete parapet balconies, overlooking the valley. Kanzel was very much forward located, only some few meters from the front line. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 8 September , 2014 Author Share Posted 8 September , 2014 Above the entrance to subterranian galleries illustrates a beautiful ornament inscription. Concrete parapets start here and lead the way further along . NOW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 8 September , 2014 Author Share Posted 8 September , 2014 and the absolute same view THEN, covered all over with camouflage nets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 8 September , 2014 Author Share Posted 8 September , 2014 Constructor's sign above the main entrance shows 1./LIR 124. The text comes from well known Martin Luther's prayer verse and says "A mighty fortress is our God, a bulwark never failing......" THEN A Then & Now collage Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
egbert Posted 8 September , 2014 Author Share Posted 8 September , 2014 Inside the Kanzel Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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