Hill 400 is the name given by Allied forces during World War II to a 400 metres (1,312.3 ft) high hill located one kilometre east of the village center of Bergstein, Germany (near Brandenberg). Today this hill is predominantly called by its civil name Burgberg (castle mountain or castle hill). This small mountain provides a view over the entire Hürtgen Forest

Hurtgen Forest

The Hürtgen forest is located along the border between Belgium and Germany in the southwest corner of the German federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia. Scarcely in area, the forest lies within a triangle outlined by Aachen, Monschau, and Düren...

 (German

German language

German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union....

: Hürtgenwald

Hürtgenwald

Hürtgenwald is a municipality in the district of Düren in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany. It is located in the Eifel hills, approx. 15 km south-west of Düren...

) area and was strategically important as a vantage point and German artillery station during the Battle of Hurtgen Forest

Battle of Hurtgen Forest

The Battle of Hürtgen Forest is the name given to the series of fierce battles fought between U.S. and German forces during World War II in the Hürtgen Forest, which became the longest battle on German ground during World War II, and the longest single battle the U.S. Army has ever fought...

 in 1944.

The Hürtgen Forest occupies a wooded plateau and its deep, heavily forested valleys between treeless ridgelines. Hill 400 dominates the area and is at the end of the Brandenberg–Bergstein ridge, next to the Rur

Rur

The Rur , — not to be confused with the Ruhr — is a river which flows through portions of Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. It is a right tributary to the river Meuse...

 valley.

On Thursday, December 7, 1944, the New York Times reported that the 2nd Ranger Battalion

2nd Ranger Battalion

2nd Ranger Battalion is the name of two distinct units of United States Army Rangers. The first was part of the six Ranger battalions of the Second World War...

 had captured Bergstein, and castle hill. In a follow up report on the December 11 the Times reported that “enemy attempts to regain Hill 400 east of Bergstein have been repulsed.”

Dramatization

• The Battle for Hill 400 was featured as a singleplayer mission in Call of Duty 2
  Call of Duty 2
  Call of Duty 2 is a first-person shooter video game and the second installment in the critically acclaimed Call of Duty series. It was developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. It was released on October 25, 2005 for Microsoft Windows and on November 22, 2005 as a launch game for the...
  
  .
• The Battle for Hill 400 is a multiplayer map in the Red Orchestra
  Red Orchestra
  The Red Orchestra was the name given by the Gestapo to an anti-Nazi resistance movement in Berlin, as well as to Soviet espionage rings operating in German-occupied Europe and Switzerland during World War II.-Name:...
  
  mod Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45
  Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45
  Darkest Hour: Europe '44-'45 is a free modification developed by Jackboot Games for Tripwire Interactive's multiplayer first-person shooter video game Red Orchestra: Ostfront 41-45, It is based on the Western Front during World War II between 1944 and 1945, depicting the conflict between Allied...
  
  .
• The battle was featured on the History Channel series Shootout!
  Shootout!
  Shootout! was a documentary series featured on The History Channel and ran for two seasons from 2005 to 2006. It depicts actual firefights between United States military personnel and other combatants. There are also occasional episodes dedicated to police or S.W.A.T. team firefights, as well as...
  
  , in the episode "WWII Assault on Germany".

External links

• Hopes Dashed in the Hürtgen By Edward G. Miller and David T. Zabecki, August 16, 2005, originally an article in World War II magazine
• Hill 400 photos
• Google maps hybrid view of Bergstein and Hill 400 directly east of it

See also

• Hill 400 in Vietnam was a position alongside the Ho Chi Minh Trail
  Ho Chi Minh trail
  The Ho Chi Minh trail was a logistical system that ran from the Democratic Republic of Vietnam to the Republic of Vietnam through the neighboring kingdoms of Laos and Cambodia...
  
  ; its role in the Vietnam War
  Vietnam War
  The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...
  
   is addressed in the Vietnam in HD
  Vietnam in HD
  Vietnam in HD is a 6-part American documentary television miniseries that originally aired from November 8 to November 11, 2011 on the History Channel. From the same producers as WWII in HD, the program focuses on the firsthand experiences of thirteen Americans during the Vietnam War...
  
  episode featuring Karl Marlantes