Fort Schoenenbourg-Maginot Line

Quick intro to the Maginot Line. The line is a series of forts and fortifications that formed a defensive “line” between France and Germany, Luxembourg, Italy, and with some light fortifications along Belgium. The Ardennes region was also lightly armed as no attack through that area was suspected. (Hum, remember the Battle of Ardennes and WW1???)

Named after Andre Maginot, the Minister of War 1928-1932, the line was a result of WW1 and the attacks made by Germany. It was thought that a line of fortifications would delay a German or Italian attack long enough for reserve troops to arrive. It was not envisioned as a long term battle defense system.

Building this system was a result of numerous actions, one of which was the default of Germany’s reparation payments to France. After WW1, Germany was forced into a very difficult economic position with reparation payments. In 1919 that amount was 132 Billion gold Marks! Many plans attempted to adjust the payments but the results were still beyond the economic capabilities of Germany.

In 1927, the Allied Control Commission was abolished to show “good faith” to Germany. However, the last report published by this commission noted that Germany had never committed to upholding the Treaty of Versailles and had secretly been building up armaments since 1920. No one seemed to care, least of all Frances nearest ally, England. (France did have an alliance with Belgium but we all know how that went in 1914)

1929-1930 France begins to build this defensive structure known as the Maginot Line in the event Germany decides to remilitarize the Rhineland. It would be the first line of defense for the Alsace-Lorraine region, funneling the German troops towards Belgium where the Army would engage them.

In reality this is more than a line. The Maginot Line was ~25 kilometers deep, as in wide, (15 miles) and was composed of hundreds of bunkers, border guard posts, communications centers, infantry shelters, barricades, artillery, machine gun and anti-tank gun emplacements, supply depots, infrastructure facilities and observation posts. There were 45 main forts about 15 kilometers apart, 97 smaller forts and 352 casements. The largest guns were 135mm fortress guns, with most armaments being mortars, smaller anti-tank guns and machine guns.

The design of the Maginot Line is quite advanced for the 1930’s. Built some 30 meters (98 feet) below ground, it could withstand a direct hit from any bomb during that time. The line also had modern conveniences such as all power generating stations, electric kitchens, medical facilities, early form of air conditioning, modern communications system, dispersed fighting, command and housing sectors to limit possible damage from attacks. Turrets on the forts were able to be raised and lowered within seconds of attack and were virtually impenetrable. Sounds foolproof!

So what happened? As we all know, Germany invaded France via Belgium and the Ardennes forest, the weakest sections of the Maginot Line, rendering it of little use. There were battles fought along the Line, Schoenenbourg Fort was one of them. They refused to surrender to Germany after the invasion and engaged in a 5 day battle that resulted in 1,500 German casualties and 1 French casualty.

Today the Line is open for tourists. A guided tour takes you through some of the sections of Schoenenbourg Fort, including command and battle sections. The technology from that era is truly amazing. Trains moved ammunition and supplies, elevators connected ground level with the base 30 meters below, interchangeable guns were at some defensive posts, turrets were counter-weighted so they could be raised by hand in seconds, and much more.

Our tour was guided by “Michel” who had extensive knowledge of the building, operation, and history of Schoenenbourg Fort. The tour was listed as 2.5hrs but we went well over that, close to 45 minutes longer listening to his descriptions and viewing areas not generally included in the tour. Well worth the cost, 8EU each.