Fort de Koenigsmacker
Encyclopedia
The Fort de Koenigsmacker (Koenigsmaker, Königsmachern or Kœnigsmacker) is a fortification located to the northeast of Thionville
in the Moselle department of France
. It was built by Germany next to the town of the same name
in the early 20th century after the annexation of the Moselle following the Franco-Prussian War
. The Fort de Koenigsmacker was part of the Moselstellung, a group of eleven fortresses surrounding Thionville and Metz
to guard against the possibility of a French attack aimed at regaining Alsace
and Lorraine
, with construction taking place between 1908 and 1914. The fortification system incorporated new principles of defensive construction to deal with advances in artillery. Later forts, such as Koenigsmacker, embodied innovative design concepts such as dispersal and concealment. These later forts were designed to support offensive operations, as an anchor for a pivoting move by German forces into France.
The Feste Koenigsmacker, as Fort de Koenigsmacker was called by the Germans, with Fort de Guentrange
and Fort d'Illange
, assured the protection of Thionville against French attack. Positioned to the rear of the principal lines of combat in the First World War, the fort never saw combat in that war, but posed a significant obstacle to advancing American forces in World War II
.
, Koenigsmacker features an armored battery, originally armed with four short 100mm guns in single turrets. Four separate fortified barracks housed troop, with underground galleries connected the battery, barracks, and infantry positions. A ditch, defended by a counterscarp
and three caponier
s, is located on the south and east sides.
The dispersed, un-walled nature of the later Moselstellung was a significant innovation. Compared to the French Séré de Rivières system
forts of the same era, later German fortifications such as Koenigsmacker were scattered over a large area and enclosed chiefly by barbed wire. While certain individual elements presented imposing walls to an attacker, these walls were not continuous. The dispersed nature is evidenced by the official French name: the Groupe Fortifié de Koenigsmacker (Fortified Group of Koenigsmacker). These arrangements were studied and improved upon by the French in the construction of the Maginot Line.
Koenigsmacker's fairly compact arrangement includes four dispersed fortified barracks built into a hillside so that their rears are shielded by earth, while the tops and fronts are protected by three or four meters of concrete, and are surmounted by parapets. The south barrackst is constructed as an infantry shelter, or abri, with no living accommodations. The single battery is similarly constructed and linked to the barracks by underground tunnels. The four 100mm guns in the battery were protected by Schumann turrets and controlled by an armored observation cupola on top of the western barracks. The whole was surrounded by deep networks of barbed wire, which were swept by fire from small perimeter blockhouses, also linked via the tunnel system. The interior of the position was equipped with trenches for infantry. The barracks and batteries were further armored with reinforced concrete and armored windows. A variety of blockhouses and infantry shelters were also built in the intervals between forts. Underground tunnels total 2600 metres (8,530.2 ft) in length.
Two additional armored batteries were planned for the hill to the northeast of the fort, but were never built. The barracks wer eprovided with central heat, while a central utility plant generated electricity using five 40hp diesel engines.
, required that the Moselstellung deter an advance by French forces into Lorraine while the German forces mobilized.
, Lorraine was returned to France and the fort became French property. The three Thionville forts became known as the Fortified Group of Thionville.
The Fort de Koenigsmacker was integrated into the Fortified Sector of Thionville
of the Maginot Line
in the 1930s, serving as a sub-sector command post and backing up the newer Maginot ouvrages that were built about halfway between Thionville and the border with Luxembourg
. The short 105mm guns were replaced by 105mm long guns removed from the German fortifications of Metz. The artillery range was thus increased from 9700 metres (6 mi) to 12700 metres (7.9 mi). In 1940 Koenigsmacker was the command post for the 167th Fortress Infantry Regiment (RIF), which manned the nearby Maginot ouvrages. During the Battle of France
the Thionville area was bypassed and encircled by German forces, with the Maginot and earlier fortifications seeing little action.
Koenigsmacker overlooks the crossing of the Moselle at Cattenom. During the Lorraine Campaign
of World War II
, the U.S. 90th Infantry Division crossed the flooded Moselle early on 9 November 1944. Fire from Koenigsmacker destroyed bridging equipment and harassed boat-borne troops, but elements of the 358th Infantry Regiment established a lodgement on the east bank and infiltrated the area of the fort before daybreak. The initial American assault took the German garrison, manned by the 74th regiment of the 19th Volksgrenadier Division, by surprise, but German resistance quickly became more effective. American combat engineers took over the assault, using explosives to destroy or seal openings and ventilation shafts. The engineers used such a quantity of explosives that they ran out, and had to be replenished by an airdrop. The fort's 100mm guns could not be depressed to deal with the close-in attackers, but kept up fire on nearby U.S. formations. By nightfall the Americans had occupied a portion of the fort's surface. The next morning, Company C of the 358th attacked from the south, encountering a fortified ditch. Companies A and B meanwhile occupied the fort's surface and continued with attacks using demolition charges, while the fort kept up artillery fire on American units trying to pass by the fort. On the 11th much of the fort had been suppressed, but its guns continued to fire. A relief patrol of 145 Germans attempting to relieve the fort was ambushed and captured. On the 12th an assault by G Company of the 358th coincided with a decision by the German garrison to evacuate. Surrounded, the Germans surrendered. More than 300 Germans were captured or casualties, with 111 American casualties.
After the war the site remained military property, but was not used. The fort is abandoned and partly stripped.
.
Thionville
Thionville , is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France. The city is located on the left bank of the river Moselle, opposite its suburb Yutz.-Demographics:...
in the Moselle department 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...
. It was built by Germany next to the town of the same name
Kœnigsmacker
Kœnigsmacker is a commune in the Moselle department in Lorraine in north-eastern France.Kœnigsmacker was the birthplace of Father Jean-Vincent Scheil , a French Dominican scholar and Assyriologist, who was one of the discoverers of the Code of Hammurabi in Persia. The area was the scene of fighting...
in the early 20th century after the annexation of the Moselle following the Franco-Prussian War
Franco-Prussian War
The Franco-Prussian War or Franco-German War, often referred to in France as the 1870 War was a conflict between the Second French Empire and the Kingdom of Prussia. Prussia was aided by the North German Confederation, of which it was a member, and the South German states of Baden, Württemberg and...
. The Fort de Koenigsmacker was part of the Moselstellung, a group of eleven fortresses surrounding Thionville and Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
to guard against the possibility of a French attack aimed at regaining Alsace
Alsace
Alsace is the fifth-smallest of the 27 regions of France in land area , and the smallest in metropolitan France. It is also the seventh-most densely populated region in France and third most densely populated region in metropolitan France, with ca. 220 inhabitants per km²...
and Lorraine
Lorraine (province)
The Duchy of Upper Lorraine was an historical duchy roughly corresponding with the present-day northeastern Lorraine region of France, including parts of modern Luxembourg and Germany. The main cities were Metz, Verdun, and the historic capital Nancy....
, with construction taking place between 1908 and 1914. The fortification system incorporated new principles of defensive construction to deal with advances in artillery. Later forts, such as Koenigsmacker, embodied innovative design concepts such as dispersal and concealment. These later forts were designed to support offensive operations, as an anchor for a pivoting move by German forces into France.
The Feste Koenigsmacker, as Fort de Koenigsmacker was called by the Germans, with Fort de Guentrange
Fort de Guentrange
The Fort de Guentrange dominates Thionville in the Moselle department of France. It was built by Germany in next to the town of the same name the late 19th century after the annexation of the Moselle following the Franco-Prussian War...
and Fort d'Illange
Fort d'Illange
The Fort d'Illange is a fortification located to the south of Thionville in the Moselle department of France. It was built by Germany next to the town of Illange in the early 20th century after the annexation of the Moselle following the Franco-Prussian War...
, assured the protection of Thionville against French attack. Positioned to the rear of the principal lines of combat in the First World War, the fort never saw combat in that war, but posed a significant obstacle to advancing American forces in World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
.
Description
The Fort de Koenigsmacker is located about 4 kilometres (2.5 mi) to the northeast of Thionville on a hilltop overlooking the salient formed by the Cattenom forest and the northern crossings of the Moselle. It was defended by a garrison of 1180 men. Like the Fort d'IllangeFort d'Illange
The Fort d'Illange is a fortification located to the south of Thionville in the Moselle department of France. It was built by Germany next to the town of Illange in the early 20th century after the annexation of the Moselle following the Franco-Prussian War...
, Koenigsmacker features an armored battery, originally armed with four short 100mm guns in single turrets. Four separate fortified barracks housed troop, with underground galleries connected the battery, barracks, and infantry positions. A ditch, defended by a counterscarp
Counterscarp
A scarp and a counterscarp are the inner and outer sides of a ditch used in fortifications. In permanent fortifications the scarp and counterscarp may be encased in stone...
and three caponier
Caponier
A caponier is a type of fortification structure. The word originates from the French word "caponnière" - which strictly means capon-cote i.e. chickenhouse.The fire coming from the feature A caponier is a type of fortification structure. The word originates from the French word "caponnière" -...
s, is located on the south and east sides.
The dispersed, un-walled nature of the later Moselstellung was a significant innovation. Compared to the French Séré de Rivières system
Séré de Rivières system
The Séré de Rivières system was an ensemble of fortifications built from 1874 and first used at the beginning of the First World War along the frontiers and coasts of France...
forts of the same era, later German fortifications such as Koenigsmacker were scattered over a large area and enclosed chiefly by barbed wire. While certain individual elements presented imposing walls to an attacker, these walls were not continuous. The dispersed nature is evidenced by the official French name: the Groupe Fortifié de Koenigsmacker (Fortified Group of Koenigsmacker). These arrangements were studied and improved upon by the French in the construction of the Maginot Line.
Koenigsmacker's fairly compact arrangement includes four dispersed fortified barracks built into a hillside so that their rears are shielded by earth, while the tops and fronts are protected by three or four meters of concrete, and are surmounted by parapets. The south barrackst is constructed as an infantry shelter, or abri, with no living accommodations. The single battery is similarly constructed and linked to the barracks by underground tunnels. The four 100mm guns in the battery were protected by Schumann turrets and controlled by an armored observation cupola on top of the western barracks. The whole was surrounded by deep networks of barbed wire, which were swept by fire from small perimeter blockhouses, also linked via the tunnel system. The interior of the position was equipped with trenches for infantry. The barracks and batteries were further armored with reinforced concrete and armored windows. A variety of blockhouses and infantry shelters were also built in the intervals between forts. Underground tunnels total 2600 metres (8,530.2 ft) in length.
Two additional armored batteries were planned for the hill to the northeast of the fort, but were never built. The barracks wer eprovided with central heat, while a central utility plant generated electricity using five 40hp diesel engines.
Operational concept
From 1899, the Germans viewed Metz as a secure position that could provide an anchor for a pivoting movement into France from the Low Countries. This strategy, which would become known as the Schlieffen PlanSchlieffen Plan
The Schlieffen Plan was the German General Staff's early 20th century overall strategic plan for victory in a possible future war in which the German Empire might find itself fighting on two fronts: France to the west and Russia to the east...
, required that the Moselstellung deter an advance by French forces into Lorraine while the German forces mobilized.
History
Begun in 1908, Koenigsmacker was incomplete at the outbreak of war in 1914. It saw no action during World War I, as Thionville remained well within German lines for the duration of the war. With the Compiègne armistice of 1918Armistice with Germany (Compiègne)
The armistice between the Allies and Germany was an agreement that ended the fighting in the First World War. It was signed in a railway carriage in Compiègne Forest on 11 November 1918 and marked a victory for the Allies and a complete defeat for Germany, although not technically a surrender...
, Lorraine was returned to France and the fort became French property. The three Thionville forts became known as the Fortified Group of Thionville.
- See Fortified Sector of ThionvilleFortified Sector of ThionvilleThe Fortified Sector of Thionville was the French military organization that in 1940 controlled the section of the Maginot Line immediately to the north of Thionville. The sector describes an arc of about , about halfway between the French border with Luxembourg and Thionville. The Thionville...
for a broader discussion of the Thionville sector of the Maginot Line.
The Fort de Koenigsmacker was integrated into the Fortified Sector of Thionville
Fortified Sector of Thionville
The Fortified Sector of Thionville was the French military organization that in 1940 controlled the section of the Maginot Line immediately to the north of Thionville. The sector describes an arc of about , about halfway between the French border with Luxembourg and Thionville. The Thionville...
of the Maginot Line
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,...
in the 1930s, serving as a sub-sector command post and backing up the newer Maginot ouvrages that were built about halfway between Thionville and the border with Luxembourg
Luxembourg
Luxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany. It has two principal regions: the Oesling in the North as part of the Ardennes massif, and the Gutland in the south...
. The short 105mm guns were replaced by 105mm long guns removed from the German fortifications of Metz. The artillery range was thus increased from 9700 metres (6 mi) to 12700 metres (7.9 mi). In 1940 Koenigsmacker was the command post for the 167th Fortress Infantry Regiment (RIF), which manned the nearby Maginot ouvrages. 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...
the Thionville area was bypassed and encircled by German forces, with the Maginot and earlier fortifications seeing little action.
Koenigsmacker overlooks the crossing of the Moselle at Cattenom. During the Lorraine Campaign
Lorraine Campaign
Lorraine Campaign is a term used by U.S. Army historians to describe operations of the U.S. Third Army in Lorraine during World War II from September 1 through December 18, 1944. Official U.S. Army campaign names for this period and location are Northern France and Rhineland. The term was...
of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the U.S. 90th Infantry Division crossed the flooded Moselle early on 9 November 1944. Fire from Koenigsmacker destroyed bridging equipment and harassed boat-borne troops, but elements of the 358th Infantry Regiment established a lodgement on the east bank and infiltrated the area of the fort before daybreak. The initial American assault took the German garrison, manned by the 74th regiment of the 19th Volksgrenadier Division, by surprise, but German resistance quickly became more effective. American combat engineers took over the assault, using explosives to destroy or seal openings and ventilation shafts. The engineers used such a quantity of explosives that they ran out, and had to be replenished by an airdrop. The fort's 100mm guns could not be depressed to deal with the close-in attackers, but kept up fire on nearby U.S. formations. By nightfall the Americans had occupied a portion of the fort's surface. The next morning, Company C of the 358th attacked from the south, encountering a fortified ditch. Companies A and B meanwhile occupied the fort's surface and continued with attacks using demolition charges, while the fort kept up artillery fire on American units trying to pass by the fort. On the 11th much of the fort had been suppressed, but its guns continued to fire. A relief patrol of 145 Germans attempting to relieve the fort was ambushed and captured. On the 12th an assault by G Company of the 358th coincided with a decision by the German garrison to evacuate. Surrounded, the Germans surrendered. More than 300 Germans were captured or casualties, with 111 American casualties.
After the war the site remained military property, but was not used. The fort is abandoned and partly stripped.
Manning
Under German occupation in 1944, Koenigsmacker was garrisoned by the 74th Volksgrenadier Regiment of the 19th Volksgrenadier Division19th Grenadier Division (Germany)
The 19th Grenadier Division of the German Army in World War II was formed from remnants of the 19. Luftwaffen-Sturm-Division and was renamed 19...
.
Present status
A proposal has been made to clean up the site and make it accessible with paths and a parking area in the manner of the park at Fort d'Illange. The site remains dangerous and is not open to the public.External links
- Fort de Koenigsmacker at Les Amis du Père Scheil
- Le Groupe Fortifié Koenigsmacker
- The forts of Thionville
- Plan of the Fort de Koenigsmacker