Ouvrage Hochwald
Encyclopedia
Ouvrage Hochwald is a gros ouvrage of the Maginot Line
, one of the largest fortifications in the Line. Located in the Fortified Sector of Haguenau
in the community of Drachenbronn-Birlenbach
in the Bas-Rhin
department of northeastern France
, it was designed to protect the northern Vosges
region of France
. Ouvrage Hochwald is sometimes considered as two separate ouvrages because of its separation of the western and the eastern portions of the ouvrage. Uniquely, the original plans for the position included an elevated battery to the rear with long-range 145mm or 155mm gun turrets of a new kind. Hochwald is presently used by the French Air Force
as a hardened air defense coordination center.
, comprising one of the strongest points on the Line. The height of the Hochwald overlooks the area of Wissembourg
to the east, which forms a gap between the hills of the northern Vosges and the Palatinate forest on the west and the Bienwald
on the east. The landscape on the French side of the border is an open farmed plain for 24 kilometres (14.9 mi) eastwards to the Rhine. The ouvrage formed part of the "principal line of resistance", an element of defense in depth that was preceded by line of advance posts close to the border, and backed by a line of shelters for infantry. Hochwald's fighting elements were placed in the line of resistance, with the entrances and their associated supply lines protected by infantry in the third line, a kilometer or more to the rear. The entrances were served by narrow-gauge (60cm) railways that branched from a line paralleling the front and connecting to supply depots. The rail lines ran directly into the munitions entry of the ouvrage and all the way out to the combat blocks, a distance of nearly 2000 metres (6,561.7 ft).
Ouvrage Hochwald includes ten combat blocks and three entrance blocks: five combat blocks located on each side of the Hochwald massif, an ammunition entrance, a personnel entrance located on the back (south) side and an intermediate personnel entrance located in the middle of the principal gallery. Hochwald was equipped in 1940 with the following armament:
The planned réduit for long-range 145mm or 155mm guns was never built. Its entry was partially completed and never armed. Partially completed galleries run some hundreds of meters into the hill from the rear to the location of the planned combat blocks at the crest of the ridge.
Entry blocks 8 and 9 serve the main ammunition magazine, utility area (usine) and underground barracks. They are more than a kilometer from the west wing combat blocks and close to two kilometers from the east wing blocks, at a depth underground of approximately 30 metres (98.4 ft). The western underground barracks and the large "M1"-type magazine are just inside the entries. These areas were converted and expanded to form the basis of Base Aérienne 901 Drachenbronn in a manner similar to the adaptation of Ouvrage Rochonvillers
for the NATO CENTAG headquarters of the 1960s.
Block 20 is an isolated and unconnected observation block on the summit of the Hochwald with a VP cloche and a GFM cloche.
The generating plant was split into two units: the west generating plant comprised four Sulzer engines of 240 hp each, and the east four Sulzer engines of 165 hp each.
s and infantry shelters are in the vicinity of Hochwald, including
The two casemates are linked by an underground gallery.
Hochwald was one of the most active ouvrages during the Phoney War of 1939-1940. On October 8-9 1939, Hochwald fired in support of French patrols, revealing deficiencies in gun mounts and ammunition. In November the ouvrage fired on German minelayers. During the Battle of France
in June 1940, Hochwald remained unmolested until 16 June, when it fired on Germans moving toward Lembach
and received artillery fire and Stuka attacks in return. Attacks came again on the 20th, and Hochwald fired in support of Lembach
. More aerial attacks followed on the 22nd.
In 1944, the retreating Germans blew up blocks 1, 3 6 and 16, and all three entrance blocks, as well as all turrets. In 1944 Hochwald (renamed Werk Hochwald) was used as an underground factory.
With the formation of NATO, French interest in a renewed fortification system against a Warsaw Pact
invasion caused the renovation of most of the larger Maginot fortifications by the 1950s. Hochwald joined Schoenenbourg
, Four-à-Chaux and Lembach
in a system called the Môle de Haguenau, with work at Hochwald proceeding in 1952 to repair the war damage. However in 1956, Hochwald was transferred to the French Air Force for use as an air defense command center. New underground galleries were built in the rear (i.e., near the entrance blocks), and were even provided with an internal machine gun port. The facility was briefly known as Ouvrage H before its designation as Base Aérienne 901 Drachenbronn.
Hochwald is part of the French Air Force
's Drachenbronn Air Base
, and is used as a hardened command center. It is closed to the public except for the Pierre Jost Museum, which is open on days of national remembrance. Another Maginot ouvrage, Mont Agel
of the Alpine Line
, performs a similar function in southeastern France.
Maginot Line
The Maginot Line , named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, was a line of concrete fortifications, tank obstacles, artillery casemates, machine gun posts, and other defences, which France constructed along its borders with Germany and Italy, in light of its experience in World War I,...
, one of the largest fortifications in the Line. Located in the Fortified Sector of Haguenau
Fortified Sector of Haguenau
The Fortified Sector of Haguenau was the French military organization that in 1940 controlled the most easterly section of the Maginot Line, to the north of Strasbourg...
in the community of Drachenbronn-Birlenbach
Drachenbronn-Birlenbach
Drachenbronn-Birlenbach is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-References:*...
in the Bas-Rhin
Bas-Rhin
Bas-Rhin is a department of France. The name means "Lower Rhine". It is the more populous and densely populated of the two departments of the Alsace region, with 1,079,013 inhabitants in 2006.- History :...
department of northeastern France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
, it was designed to protect the northern Vosges
Vosges
Vosges is a French department, named after the local mountain range. It contains the hometown of Joan of Arc, Domrémy.-History:The Vosges department is one of the original 83 departments of France, created on February 9, 1790 during the French Revolution. It was made of territories that had been...
region of France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
. Ouvrage Hochwald is sometimes considered as two separate ouvrages because of its separation of the western and the eastern portions of the ouvrage. Uniquely, the original plans for the position included an elevated battery to the rear with long-range 145mm or 155mm gun turrets of a new kind. Hochwald is presently used by the French Air Force
French Air Force
The French Air Force , literally Army of the Air) is the air force of the French Armed Forces. It was formed in 1909 as the Service Aéronautique, a service arm of the French Army, then was made an independent military arm in 1933...
as a hardened air defense coordination center.
Design and construction
The Hochwald site was surveyed by CORF (Commission d'Organisation des Régions Fortifiées), the Maginot Line's design and construction agency, in 1928. Work began the next year, and the position became operational in 1933. The gros ouvrage is unique in size and extent. The reduit at the peak of the Hochwald would have provided heavy, long-range artillery cover for the entire sector.Description
Hochwald is flanked on the west by Ouvrage Four-à-Chaux and on the east by Ouvrage SchoenenbourgOuvrage Schoenenbourg
Ouvrage Schoenenbourg is a Maginot Line fortification. It is located on the territory of the communes of Hunspach, Schœnenbourg and Ingolsheim, in the French département of Bas-Rhin, forming part of the Fortified Sector of Haguenau, facing Germany. At the east end of the Alsace portion of the...
, comprising one of the strongest points on the Line. The height of the Hochwald overlooks the area of Wissembourg
Wissembourg
Wissembourg is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in northeastern France.It is situated on the little River Lauter close to the border between France and Germany approximately north of Strasbourg and west of Karlsruhe. Wissembourg is a sub-prefecture of the department...
to the east, which forms a gap between the hills of the northern Vosges and the Palatinate forest on the west and the Bienwald
Bienwald
The Bienwald is a large forested area in the southern Pfalz region of Germany near the towns of Kandel and Wörth am Rhein. The western edge defines the eastern extent of the Wissembourg Gap, a corridor of open terrain between the Bienwald and the hills of the Pfälzer Wald. In the northwest, the...
on the east. The landscape on the French side of the border is an open farmed plain for 24 kilometres (14.9 mi) eastwards to the Rhine. The ouvrage formed part of the "principal line of resistance", an element of defense in depth that was preceded by line of advance posts close to the border, and backed by a line of shelters for infantry. Hochwald's fighting elements were placed in the line of resistance, with the entrances and their associated supply lines protected by infantry in the third line, a kilometer or more to the rear. The entrances were served by narrow-gauge (60cm) railways that branched from a line paralleling the front and connecting to supply depots. The rail lines ran directly into the munitions entry of the ouvrage and all the way out to the combat blocks, a distance of nearly 2000 metres (6,561.7 ft).
Ouvrage Hochwald includes ten combat blocks and three entrance blocks: five combat blocks located on each side of the Hochwald massif, an ammunition entrance, a personnel entrance located on the back (south) side and an intermediate personnel entrance located in the middle of the principal gallery. Hochwald was equipped in 1940 with the following armament:
Eastern wing (O 720)
- Block 1: Artillery block with one 135mm gun turret, one 135mm gun embrasure, one automatic rifle cloche (GFM)GFM clocheThe GFM cloche was one of the most common defensive armaments on the Maginot Line. A cloche was a fixed and non-retractable firing position made of a thick iron casting which shielded its occupant...
and one observation cloche (VDP)VDP clocheThe VDP cloche was an element of the Maginot Line fortifications. A cloche was a fixed and non-retractable firing position made of a thick iron casting which shielded its occupant. By comparison, turrets could be rotated and sometimes lowered so that only the top shell was exposed. VDP cloches...
. - Block 2: A submerged (in the earth) block with one 81mm mortar turret, one GFM cloche and on machine gun cloche (JM)JM clocheThe JM cloche is an element of the Maginot Line. It is a non-retractable non-rotating cupola of steel alloy like GFM cloches, but are armed with twin heavy machine guns, as opposed to the lighter automatic rifles associated with the GFM. There are 179 JM cloches on the Maginot Line.JM is an acronym...
. - Block 3: A casemate block with two 75mm gun embrasures, two machine gun/47mm anti-tank gunAC 47 anti-tank gunThe AC 47 was a French anti-tank gun of 47mm caliber. It was principally used in the ouvrages and casemates of the Maginot Line in the late 1930s; another version was created for naval use....
embrasures (JM/AC47), two GFM cloches and two 50mm grenade launcher embrasures. - Block 4: unbuilt.
- Block 5: A submerged block with one machine gun turret.
- Block 6: A casemate with three 75mm gun embrasures, one grenade launcher cloche (LG)LG clocheThe LG cloche was a defensive element common to many Maginot Line ouvrages. The fixed cupola was deeply embedded into the concrete on top of a combat block, with only the top surface visible. The opening permitted the ejection of grenades from the interior of the cloche, providing a means of...
, one GFM cloche and one JM cloche. - Block 7: East entry block with two GFM cloches and two machine gun/47mm anti-tank gun embrasures (JM/AC47). A shaft connects to the galleries below and the eastern underground barracks.
- Block 7 bis: Submerged block with one 75mm gun turret and one GFM cloche.
Western wing (O 703)
- Block 12: A casemate block with two 75mm gun embrasures, one GFM cloche and one VDP cloche.
- Block 13: A casemate block with one 135mm gun embrasure, one JM/AC47 embrasure, one JM embrasure, one LG cloche and two GFM cloches
- Block 14: A submerged block with one 135mm gun turret, one GFM cloche and one VDP cloche.
- Block 15: A submerged block with one machine gun turret and one GFM cloche.
- Block 16: A casemate block with two 75mm embrasures, two JM/AC47 embrasures, two 50mm mortar embrasures and two GFM cloches.
Anti-tank ditch and casemates
A chevroned ditch runs over the ridge between the east and west wings with a series of casemates located to sweep the ditch with fire. The casemates are not connected to each other or to the ouvrage.- Casemate 1: Single-sided, firing to the west with one JM embrasure, one JM/AC47 embrasure and one GFM cloche.
- Casemate 2: Single-sided, firing to the west with two JM embrasures, one mortar cloche and one GFM cloche.
- Casemate 3: Single-sided, firing to the west with four JM embrasures and one GFM cloche.
- Casemate 4: Double-sided, firing east and west with four JM embrasures on two levels, two mortar cloches and one GFM cloche.
- Casemate 5: Single-sided, firing to the east with two JM embrasures, one mortar cloche and one GFM cloche.
- Casemate 6: Single-sided, firing to the east with four JM embrasures on two levels and one GFM cloche.
- Casemate 7: Single-sided, firing to the east with two JM embrasures, one mortar cloche and one GFM cloche.
- Casemate 8: Single-sided, firing to the east with two JM embrasures and two GFM cloches.
- Casemate 9: Single-sided, firing to the east with one JM embrasure, one JM/AC47 embrasure, one mortar cloche and one GFM cloche.
Entries, observation post and réduit
- Block 8: A munitions entry for the west wing with two JM/AC47 embrasures and two GFM cloches. The entry connects at the level of the gallery system.
- Block 9: A personnel entry for the west wing with one JM/AC47 embrasure, one LG cloche and one GFM cloche. The entry reaches the galleries below by a shaft.
The planned réduit for long-range 145mm or 155mm guns was never built. Its entry was partially completed and never armed. Partially completed galleries run some hundreds of meters into the hill from the rear to the location of the planned combat blocks at the crest of the ridge.
Entry blocks 8 and 9 serve the main ammunition magazine, utility area (usine) and underground barracks. They are more than a kilometer from the west wing combat blocks and close to two kilometers from the east wing blocks, at a depth underground of approximately 30 metres (98.4 ft). The western underground barracks and the large "M1"-type magazine are just inside the entries. These areas were converted and expanded to form the basis of Base Aérienne 901 Drachenbronn in a manner similar to the adaptation of Ouvrage Rochonvillers
Ouvrage Rochonvillers
Ouvrage Rochonvillers is one of the largest of the Maginot Line fortifications. Located above the town of Rochonvillers in the French region of Lorraine, the gros ouvrage or large work was fully equipped and occupied in 1935 as part of the Fortified Sector of Thionville in the Moselle...
for the NATO CENTAG headquarters of the 1960s.
Block 20 is an isolated and unconnected observation block on the summit of the Hochwald with a VP cloche and a GFM cloche.
The generating plant was split into two units: the west generating plant comprised four Sulzer engines of 240 hp each, and the east four Sulzer engines of 165 hp each.
Casemates and shelters
A series of detached casemateCasemate
A casemate, sometimes rendered casement, is a fortified gun emplacement or armored structure from which guns are fired. originally a vaulted chamber in a fortress.-Origin of the term:...
s and infantry shelters are in the vicinity of Hochwald, including
- Abri de Walkmühl: Subsurface abri-caverne for two infantry sections, with two GFM cloches.
- Abri de Birlenbach: Sub-surface abri-caverne for two infantry sections with two GFM cloches.
- Casemate de Drachenbronn Nord: SIngle block with one JM/AC37 embrasure, one twin machine gun embrasure and a GFM cloche.
- Casemate de Drachenbronn Sud: SIngle block with one JM/AC37 embrasure, one twin machine gun embrasure and a GFM cloche. Drachenbronn Nord and Sud are linked by an underground gallery.
Ouvrage Bremmelbach
Two casemates to the east of Hochwald comprise the remainder of the planned petit ouvrage Bremmelbach, canceled in 1929.- Casemate Bremmelbach Nord: Double casemate with two JM/AC47 embrasures, two JM embrasures and one GFM cloche.
- Casemate Bremmelbach Sud: Single casemate with on JM/Ac37 embrasure, one JM embrasure and one GFM cloche.
The two casemates are linked by an underground gallery.
Manning
The 1940 manning of the ouvrage under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Miconnet comprised 1022 men and 41 officers of the 22nd Fortress Infantry Regiment and the 156th Position Artillery Regiment. The units were under the umbrella of the 5th Army, Army Group 2. Interval troops covering the areas between and outside the fortifications were assigned to the 16th and 70th Infantry Divisions, 12th Corps. The nearby Casernement de Drachenbronn provided peacetime above-ground barracks and support services to Hochwald and other positions in the area.History
- See Fortified Sector of HaguenauFortified Sector of HaguenauThe Fortified Sector of Haguenau was the French military organization that in 1940 controlled the most easterly section of the Maginot Line, to the north of Strasbourg...
for a broader discussion of the Haguenau sector of the Maginot Line.
Hochwald was one of the most active ouvrages during the Phoney War of 1939-1940. On October 8-9 1939, Hochwald fired in support of French patrols, revealing deficiencies in gun mounts and ammunition. In November the ouvrage fired on German minelayers. During the Battle of France
Battle of France
In the Second World War, the Battle of France was the German invasion of France and the Low Countries, beginning on 10 May 1940, which ended the Phoney War. The battle consisted of two main operations. In the first, Fall Gelb , German armoured units pushed through the Ardennes, to cut off and...
in June 1940, Hochwald remained unmolested until 16 June, when it fired on Germans moving toward Lembach
Lembach
Lembach is a commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in north-eastern France.-Geography:Lembach lies in the Sauer valley, surrounded by the woods and sandstone cliffs of the North Vosges natural Park...
and received artillery fire and Stuka attacks in return. Attacks came again on the 20th, and Hochwald fired in support of Lembach
Ouvrage Lembach
Ouvrage Lembach is a petit ouvrage of the Maginot Line. Lembach is adjoined by petit ouvrage Grand Hohekirkel at some distance to its west and gros ouvrage Four-à-Chaux immediately to its east. It faces the German frontier, and was part of the Fortified Sector of the Vosges...
. More aerial attacks followed on the 22nd.
In 1944, the retreating Germans blew up blocks 1, 3 6 and 16, and all three entrance blocks, as well as all turrets. In 1944 Hochwald (renamed Werk Hochwald) was used as an underground factory.
With the formation of NATO, French interest in a renewed fortification system against a Warsaw Pact
Warsaw Pact
The Warsaw Treaty Organization of Friendship, Cooperation, and Mutual Assistance , or more commonly referred to as the Warsaw Pact, was a mutual defense treaty subscribed to by eight communist states in Eastern Europe...
invasion caused the renovation of most of the larger Maginot fortifications by the 1950s. Hochwald joined Schoenenbourg
Ouvrage Schoenenbourg
Ouvrage Schoenenbourg is a Maginot Line fortification. It is located on the territory of the communes of Hunspach, Schœnenbourg and Ingolsheim, in the French département of Bas-Rhin, forming part of the Fortified Sector of Haguenau, facing Germany. At the east end of the Alsace portion of the...
, Four-à-Chaux and Lembach
Ouvrage Lembach
Ouvrage Lembach is a petit ouvrage of the Maginot Line. Lembach is adjoined by petit ouvrage Grand Hohekirkel at some distance to its west and gros ouvrage Four-à-Chaux immediately to its east. It faces the German frontier, and was part of the Fortified Sector of the Vosges...
in a system called the Môle de Haguenau, with work at Hochwald proceeding in 1952 to repair the war damage. However in 1956, Hochwald was transferred to the French Air Force for use as an air defense command center. New underground galleries were built in the rear (i.e., near the entrance blocks), and were even provided with an internal machine gun port. The facility was briefly known as Ouvrage H before its designation as Base Aérienne 901 Drachenbronn.
Current condition
French Air Force
The French Air Force , literally Army of the Air) is the air force of the French Armed Forces. It was formed in 1909 as the Service Aéronautique, a service arm of the French Army, then was made an independent military arm in 1933...
's Drachenbronn Air Base
Drachenbronn Air Base
Drachenbronn Air Base of the French Air Force is located in the community of Drachenbronn-Birlenbach in the Bas-Rhin département. It houses the Centre de détection et de contrôle 05/901....
, and is used as a hardened command center. It is closed to the public except for the Pierre Jost Museum, which is open on days of national remembrance. Another Maginot ouvrage, Mont Agel
Ouvrage Mont Agel
Ouvrage Mont Agel is a work of the Maginot Line's Alpine extension, the Alpine Line, also called the Little Maginot Line. The 1930s ouvrage was built in and around the earlier mountaintop Fortress of Mont Agel. The ouvrage forms a backup to the main curtain of Alpine Line forts, and was not...
of the Alpine Line
Alpine Line
The Alpine Line or Little Maginot Line was the component of the Maginot Line that defended the southeastern portion of France...
, performs a similar function in southeastern France.
See also
- List of all works on Maginot Line
- Siegfried LineSiegfried LineThe original Siegfried line was a line of defensive forts and tank defences built by Germany as a section of the Hindenburg Line 1916–1917 in northern France during World War I...
- Atlantic WallAtlantic WallThe Atlantic Wall was an extensive system of coastal fortifications built by Nazi Germany between 1942 and 1944 along the western coast of Europe as a defense against an anticipated Allied invasion of the mainland continent from Great Britain.-History:On March 23, 1942 Führer Directive Number 40...
- Czechoslovak border fortificationsCzechoslovak border fortificationsThe Czechoslovak government built a system of border fortifications from 1935 to 1938 as a defensive countermeasure against the rising threat of Nazi Germany that later materialized in the German offensive plan called Fall Grün...
External links
- Base Aérienne 901 official site
- Hochwald (gros ouvrage du) at fortiff.be