Tank in the rain
After over four decades of German occupation, Spicheren returned to France in 1919. However even before the start of Word War II, the Germans were back, building military fortifications on French soil as part of the Siegfried Line. During the war it remained in German hands until liberated by the Americans in 1945. In 1995, an American infantry regiment gave the village this tank.
The village and its military relics are now used by the French and German authorities as a means to remember the past while celebrating the current lack of frontiers. Around 30% of the inhabitants of Spicheren are German citizens and since 2005, teaching in the primary school has been bilingual.
