2009-05-27

bunker, war, woods

Bunker 316

Part of the Westwall (Siegfried Line), the series of over 18,000 bunkers, tunnels and tank traps built by Hitler in the 1930s from the Swiss to the Dutch borders. Most have now disappeared and this is the only one left in Saarbrücken. The interior can be seen in the Saar Lorraine Location Guide.

9 comments:

  1. How fascinating! It looks the picture of innocence now. Somehow I am pleased that it was not flattened.

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  2. The history of these bunkers are very interesting. Very cool. I would love to learn more about these bunkers.

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  3. Thank you about the comments re my Winchester blog.
    I have made the pictures bigger now so hopefully you can see them better.
    please let me know
    Mandy

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  4. I would love to learn more about these bunkers.

    The military and foreign policy significance of the bunker system is the scope of whole books. From the practical side, it would seem a bunker of this type was intended for 10 to 12 men with about 1.3 m² living space each. Normal soldiers only had a stool to sit on, the commanding officer a chair. They were built to withstand gas and tank attacks as experienced in the World War I and had food and water provisions to hold out for a week to 10 days, I think. This bunker is on the east of the city of Saarbrücken, so I guess they planned to sacrifice the city to the enemy.

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  5. I have made the pictures bigger now so hopefully you can see them better.

    Thanks a lot. I see your entries are very informative. I am impressed. I can only manage a few lines at most to accompany my photos.

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  6. (Would you be so kind as to delete the previous comment of mine? My attempt left behind a trace.)

    Leaving aside the question of efficacy, Switzerland also has a lot of bunkers. Most of them still exist (memento mori, of a sort?) and some have been converted to various uses. For example, as data storage sites, or even hotels (!). See here: Why bankers go bonkers for bunkers.

    Many examples dot the countryside. I guess I haven't shown any from Villigen, though I have mentioned the tank traps (the Toberone line, it was called).

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  7. (Would you be so kind as to delete the previous comment of mine? My attempt left behind a trace.)

    Now, if I could only find a way to delete the trace of you asking me to delete the trace...

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  8. Quel sujet intéressant!
    Pour rester dans ce domaine (mais dans une autre époque): dans les environs de Cracovie et dans la ville meme il y a beaucoup de traces d'anciennes fortifications autrichiennes du XIXe s. Festung Krakau. Je vais essayer d'en présenter qqs exemples sur mon blog, avant qu'ils ne disparaissent.

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  9. Ada: J'ai envie de voir des photos de Festung Krakau.

    De mon part, je vais essayer de présenter d'autres traces de la guerre en Saarbrücken. La rivalité militaire franco-allemande et la coopération actuelle de ces pays est le thème plus importante de l'histoire de Saarland.

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