Northern Vosges, France
Syndicate
So we continue our journey North past Strasbourg to Niederbronn-des-bains in the Northern Vosges National Park. A very nice little town with its own casino (which we wondered why being a small town), we stayed here to have a bit of a rest and visit part of the Maginot Line and one of the local castle ruins. Like the Vosges further South this area is built with half-timber houses and look likes something from a fairy tale. We found we were certainly off the normal English speaking tourist track as no one in town spoke English except the Mercure Hotel staff, where we were staying. It was a very friendly and relaxing town to stay in and Kane finally got that haircut he needed.
Nearby are some sections of the Maginot Line, built by the French from 1929-1939 from Switzerland to Belgium at the cost of 3 billion francs during the great depression. A vast network of bunkers to keep the Germans out, unfortunately as those who know their WWII history the Germans simply went round it, a bit like the Great Wall in China. The Germans did attempt to destroy the line but failed, with most of the forts only surrendering after France had in 1940. We visited three sites, two of the smaller bunkers and the large command centre of Fort Schoenenbourg, which was very interesting (even the women enjoyed it).
Fort Schoenenbourg is located 30 meters underground (down stairs as the lifts don’t work anymore) and used to house 640 men in a completely self contained environment, similar to a submarine at sea. It was spread over a kilometre underground with the guns being located 1 km closer to the German border than all the barracks, generators, water supply, and other support rooms. Yes it was huge and with the 1 km walk in the tunnel it felt like it when visiting. The artillery and machine guns were located in turrets that hide in the ground when not in use and then raised out of the ground when required to fire on the enemy. They look like large metal mushrooms on the surface, with each of the gun placements weighing 100 tonnes and could be raised in seven seconds. If the power failed the French devised a system where each one was connected to a counter weight and a simple hand crank could also raise the turrets into place.
The castle we visited in the area was Chateau de Fleckenstein, Built around a huge volcanic spire on the borders of Germany. It’s a ruin now but is one of the most popular sites visited in the area for its views and location. Built during the middle ages, it was finally destroyed during the 30 year war in the 15th century and fell into disuse after that time, till its resurrection as a tourist attraction.