How I Spent My Summer Vacation: MAGINOT LINE

Reaganite Republican ^ | 27 August 2015 | Reaganite Republican

[Reaganite Republican]

Always wanted to see this, finally had me a look...

This particular section of France's 1930s-era defensive Maginot Line fortifications -a marvel of engineering at the time- has been extensively restored by enthusiast groups in the area, some of whom I was able to meet with on the visit. This entrance is known as 'Fort de Shoenenbourg', located in a hilltop forest near the German frontier (the Rhein) in the Alsace region of France, about 40 minutes north of Strasbourg.

They did a great job keeping it authentic, really takes you back in time as you wander the 4-5 kms of tunnel and facilities now open to the public. One local involved with the rehabilitation of this part said it was in very, very bad shape when they first got hold of it (from the government), as the installations were last manned as defensive positions against any possible Warsaw Pact invasion in the early 50s -before France possessed nuclear weaponry- and had sat abandoned ever since...

-click any to enlarge-

Retractable gun turrets guard entrance, narrow-gauge rail
line for groups, cargo runs into main gate

All tunnels in fort shared can run the trains,
which run ferried troops, ammo, etc to the
various gun/observation positions

Gallery at Reaganite Republican

[Reaganite Republican]

***PING***

[TexasBarak]

That’s awesome! (in the actual sense of the word). Thanks for sharing this- if only they’d thought to do the same thing on their border with Belgium...

[Gamecock]

Toured a section back in the early 1990s. The section I saw wasn’t as restored as this.

Very cool. Thanks for sharing!

[DCBryan1]

awesome. Next summer crawl through some Vietnamese?Laos tunnels and take pics for us ;)

[marktwain]

Impressive. Make a great fallout shelter.

[PROCON]

Wow, a great many pictures, thanks.

Absolutely fascinating underground facility, interesting 20th century technology.

[Does so]

With time, nothing sets-solid like concrete!

[FatherofFive]

Amazing, but what a waste of resources. Government spending at its ‘best’

[WorkingClassFilth]

That’s cool - but I would’ve passed it by. Then again, I’m part German.

[wally_bert]

Great stuff to look at. That is part of France that I would like to visit. Saw drawings in some books as a kid.

[To Hell With Poverty]

Oooooh I want one of those shell racks to keep my wine in!

[Tijeras_Slim]

Beyond cool, thanks for posting.

[Old Sarge]

I wonder how quickly they’d be converted to shelters for billisonaires, like they’re doing to the old Soviet sites in eastern Germany?

[oldvirginian]

Belgium was supposed to build similar fortifications along it’s border.
I don’t think they even started the project.

Hitler hated the idea of assaulting fixed defensive positions.

“Fixed fortifications are monuments to the stupidity of man.”
Gen. George S. Patton

What If.
What if Belgium *had* completed their section of fortifications?

Would Hitler have then thrown his entire military might against a weak Soviet Union?

He could have made an agreement with Poland to transport the army through Poland.
Or he could have invaded from Finland, whom he was allied with.
That would have left the western allies without a cause for war.

If so, could he have won?

I enjoy wondering about the what ifs of history.

[Reaganite Republican]

I understood that the French dragged their feet along the Belgian frontier because if they built the fortifications there it violated official Belgian neutrality, so politicians can be thanked for lack of completion in that sector

[tet68]

Thanks for the pics. Glad you had a good time.

[oldvirginian]

Ahhh.
I had thought the Belgians were supposed to build along their eastern border and link up with the French.

France would have been better off backing up and continuing the fortifications well inside their own border.
I don’t know the geography of the area, but I assume it could have been done.

Politicians, the bane of mankind since the first government was instituted.

[Vendome]

Kewel

[GreyFriar]

Yep, I visited a couple of the Maginot line forts back during tours with the old 3d Armd Div.