Feste Obergentringen

Fort de Guentrange

Useful Information

Location:	Chem. du Fort, 57100 Thionville. (49.3754518, 6.1329766)
Open:	MAY to SEP, Sat, Sun 15. Reservation recommended. [2023]
Fee:	Adults EUR 5, Children EUR 3. [2023]
Classification:	Casemate Route des Fortifications Européenes
Light:	Incandescent
Dimension:	L=1.8 km, T=13 °C.
Guided tours:	D=2.5 h.
Photography:	not allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Feste Obergentringen, Chemin du Fort, 57100 Thionville, Tel: +33-382-88-12-15. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

1899	begin of construction.
1906	completed.
1912	modernization started.
1916	modernization completed.
1930s	integrated into the Thionville fortified sector of the Maginot Line, new artillery installed.
1940	taken over by the German army and used as a depot.
1944	after the liberation by the American army the artillery was destroyed.
1944	reused by the French army as an ammunition depot.
1971	abandoned by the army.
1989	renovated by the nonprofit association Amicale du Groupe Fortifié de Guentrange and opened to the public.

Description

photography — Feste Obergentringen, France. Public Domain.

The Feste Obergentringen was built from 1899 to 1906 when this area was German, and the nearby village was named Diedenhofen. When it became French again, after World War I, the village was renamed Thionville and the fortress was Fort de Guentrange, the second is obviously just the French writing and is spoken almost the same. The fortification was intended to protect the railway line and the bridges across the Moselle river, which were of great strategic importance. It was so important, it was visited by Kaiser Wilhelm three times during its construction. The three main buildings were fortified baracks big enough to house 2,000 infantry soldiers. They were surrounded by numerous defences including two batteries with four 100 mm guns, which were scattered over a large area and enclosed chiefly by barbed wire. The reason why we listed this fortress on showcaves.com is the fact that all those different parts of the site are connected by 1.8 km of tunnels. The barracks as well as the batteries are semi-underground.

The tour begins in the central barrack. Beneath the sleeping quarters of the soldiers, there are also the bakery, heating, kitchens, electricity generation, ventilation and drinking water supply. The tour follows an underground gallery to the north battery with the command center and a renovated turret, which is equipped with a 10 cm cannon and ammunition reloading equipment. The last stop is the museum with exhibits from 1870 to 1945, including the local history of the town of Thionville.

At the beginning of the 20th century, artillery was the key technology in warfare. The increasing power of artillery ammunition forced the German army to design a new fortification system. The forts were built deeper inland because the guns had a greater range. The guns, which had been installed in the open since their invention, were now mounted under turrets and behind concrete walls. Those systems were called artillery battery. The batteries were underground, with small openings, just big enough for the cannon, and were manned and supplied with ammunition from underground. For this purpose, the new forts had a system of underground passages which connected the quarters and the ammunition storage and all the batteries. The Germans called such modern castles Feste, the French Fort, and the english name was fortified group.

The Feste Obergentringen, the Fort of Guentrange in Thionville, is one of them. Built between 1899 and 1905, it was already outdated at the beginning of World War I. The outbreak of the war was not actually a surprise, the people ware aware that war was looming, and so the modernization and extension was planned since 1911 and finally started in 1912. It went on well into the war, until 1916. At the same time, the fort was in use and manned.

The fort was one of the most modern forts of Germany. The Krupp cannons had a firing range of over 9 kilometres. It was equipped with central heating, hot water which supplied the operating room, the kitchens and the showers. Electricity was provided by AEG generators driven by DEUTZ diesel engines. It was needed for ventilation and light, as the whole structure was underground. To improve the quality of the air, ozone generators were used. The telephony and the alarm system were made by Siemens. But the whole comfort was actually a strategic necessity.

After World War I, the Germans had lost the war and the whole area was French again. The French army used the huge fort for storage, and from the early 1930s it was integrated into the Thionville fortified sector of the Maginot Line. New artillery with a length of 3.20 m was installed, which had a firing range of over 13 kilometres. In 1940 the Germans occupied the area and took possession of the fort, they again used it as a depot. In September 1944 it was seized by the American army, and as they were not certain whether it could be held, it was decided to blow up the cannon barrels. The fort went back to the French army who used it until 1971 as an ammunition depot. It was renovated by the nonprofit association Amicale du Groupe Fortifié de Guentrange and opened to the public in 1989.