Photos from my 2012 European Trip

The 773rd TD Bn was attached to the 90th ID at the time the forts guns were reduced. The TD and tank guns were ineffective agains the fortress. The division used 155mm guns of the Battery C/558th FAB to silence the fort. A few lines from the 90th's Nov, 44, AAR on the 16th:

In the 357th Infantry zone the self-propelled guns positioned under the cover of darkness methodically went about the work of reducing the HACKENBERG guns from a range of approximately 2000 yards. Teaming with 8" howitzers, these potent weapons effectively silenced the enemy fires. Thus relieved of the flank threat 1st and 2nd Battalions attacked across the valley and captured the steep wooded ridge running from BUDING to VECKRING. A coordinated infantry-tank assault secured BUDING while 2nd Battalion elements seized HELLING.

More from the 17th:

1st and 2nd Battalions 357th Infantry attacking against moderate resistance had secured by noon ELZING and the ridge line to the east. 3rd Battalion moved through BUDLING and cleaned out the HACKENBERG fortifications. Inspection indicated that the direct fire of the 155 mm self-propelled guns had demolished the walls and turrets, torn the guns loose from their mountings and had killed all occupants of the turrets and casemates.

No real info on the M-10 itself. The 773rd did lose one in Distroff, about five miles west of the fort.

Sorry about the font changes, pulling excerpts out of documents can be a hassle!

 

Thanks for the info Steve. As far as I know, the only part of the fort that actively resisted the American advance was 'Block 8'. I'll hopefully post the pictures of it today. In the meantime, here's the next set:

Inside the Hackenberg:

The Hackenberg is a vast array of tunnels. The 'key' areas (barracks, command center, etc) are under nearly 100m of rock. As you walk in you pass by several machine gun nests -- even breaching the fort's external defenses wasn't enough to end the fighting: you would still have the clear the massive tunnel network.

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The main 'train station'. The Hackenberg has a 3.5km long electric railway used for hauling ammunition to the fighting blocks. Today its used to transport visitors from the 'French side' (entrance blocks) to the 'German side' (fighting blocks)

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Looking down one of the tunnels. The wires are original, and still carry electricity.

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One of the rooms in the ammunition magazine. The fort's guns could lay down four tons of munitions per minute, requiring a large supply of ammunition! The fort was expected to be entirely self-sufficient, so bringing in ammunition from outside during battle was not an option. These ammunition cases were popular with French farmers after the war, who used them as wine racks.

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More rooms in the magazine. In 1944, just before the Germans surrendered the fort, they blew up the magazine. It didn't have the desired effect: the French countermeasures (a large container of water on the ceiling to quickly dampen the explosion) were still in place and worked as expected. However, the magazine was severely damaged, as you can see in this photo.

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Another tunnel. This is not the 'main' tunnel, but a side tunnel going to the kitchens.

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The officer's kitchen. For the time, this was very advanced. The tour guide boasted that it was the most advanced kitchen outside of Paris during the 1930s.

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Another view of a tunnel. The fort is in good condition, with the exception of a few isolated spots like this where the concrete is falling off. However, a portion of the eastern part of the fort (my french isn't good enough to understand which) is sealed off because it is on the verge of collapse.

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One of the diesel engines in the fort. The Hackenberg 'power station' was the largest in the Maginot line, and supplied all the required electricity without a connection to the outside grid. Today the fort still gets its power from the original engines, but new generators were installed after the war.

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One of the gas filters. As you might expect, the French put a heavy emphasis on anti-gas measures in light of WWI experiences.

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(If I recall correctly) this used to be the hospital. Today its houses an extensive collection of small arms. Its a very good collection, rivaling that of the West Point Museum with the exception of a few rare guns. It would be great to spend half an hour in here, but you are rushed through in a few minutes.

Next Part: the fighting blocks

 

I'm impressed with how well Hackenberg has been maintained. Is it a French/German or private effort?

 

Wonderful George! The display of weapons , kitch etc... the deco makes this place quite exceptionnal.

If the museum allows some constructive critiscims, a few details could be arranged in the kitchen. It has a one person WW1 French mess tin on the foreground instead of a collective one (these were massively used in the 1930s , but why just one while you'd expect the large model in the first place. Finally the linnen bucket had no use in a kitchen. Those items should be replaced by a collective "bouthéon" like this one (the 1935 model is aluminium, before they use dthe WWI models)

 

The fort itself is still owned by the Defense Ministry. A French volunteer organization, AMIFORT, has an agreement with the Army to restore it and run tours in it.

 

Same goes for the Eben Emael fortress in Belgium

 

Here's the final set of Hackenberg photos:

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Another view of the 'arsenal'.

After being led through the 'museum', you board the train to go to the fighting blocks.

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Walking up the nearly 200 stairs to Fighting Block 9. The elevator here was used to raise munitions to the guns, and was not available for use by the troops.

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Walking into one of Block 9's gun turrets. These turrets mounted howitzers, and operated in the indirect-fire role. The entire system is remote-controlled: the gunner works a controller that turns the turret and elevates the guns after receiving firing coordinates from the fire control center. The gun crews made no independent decisions, and didn't even have a way to see where their shots were landing.

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The 'control unit' for the gun turret. The lights indicate various stages of the firing process.

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Looking up towards the turret. You can see the turret ring. The entire assembly was elevated up by a large counterweight when ready to fire, and then lowered down between shots.

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One of the more conventional gun positions in Block 9. These still received directions from the fire control center, but the guns are horizontally mounted and can fire directly on targets.

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A close up of the gun breach. I believe this was a 37mm.

 

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The exterior of Fighting Block 9.

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Block 9's gun turret -- the same one shown in my previous post. The two 135mm howitzers could fire on any target within a 10km range. The 10km range put Germany just out of reach -- apparently intentional so as not to 'offend' the Germans in the interwar period.

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The gun turret in the (mostly) down position. In the fully-down position the turret would be flush with the base.

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Looking over Block 9 towards the German border. You can see more turrets (another Fighting Block) in the center of the photo.

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Headed to Fighting Block 8. This block was the only part of the fort that offered any notable resistance when the Third Army came through the area -- the German garrison was greatly understrength, and they could only muster enough men to man one Fighting Block. The block was heavily damaged by American fire (M12 SPGs were brought in to neutralize it), and the Germans surrendered.

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Despite the serious exterior damage, the interior remained largely intact. You can see some of the 'conventional' gun positions in this photo.

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Another view of the damaged Block 8. The door provides a good scale for the shell holes.

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One last view of the Hackenberg tunnels, taken from the train on the way back to the entrance.

The tour lasts about 2.5 hours and is worthwhile to do. Tours are offered in three languages (English, French and German) and run on most weekends. There is a lot of walking to do, and the temperature is around 15 degrees -- bring a jacket! The tour only covers one part of the fort -- I'd gladly take an 'extended tour' if it was offered. I was very impressed. I was also planning on visiting a abandoned ouvrage nearby to see how it compared, but was short on time so had to bypass it. After leaving the Hackenberg I had a three hour drive to Stuttgart. After one spending the night there, I was headed to Bavaria.

Next Set: Berchtesgaden and the Obersalzberg

 

Hmmm! I can't open any of these, the old "Invalid Attachment specified"?

I get this in a dialog box:
Invalid Attachment specified. If you followed a valid link, please notify the administrator

 

I can open them, but instead of photos I get links to attachments. Is anyone else having this problem?

 

same for me the links do not work

 

Ok. I'm looking into it now. It looks like I may have used up all of my upload space. I could us an external site for hosting, but I prefer the direct upload. I'll see if I can delete any photos in my old messages.

Can anyone see the photo I attached to this message?

 

Yes, this one works fine

 

Let's try that again:

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The exterior of Fighting Block 9.

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Block 9's gun turret -- the same one shown in my previous post. The two 135mm howitzers could fire on any target within a 10km range. The 10km range put Germany just out of reach -- apparently intentional so as not to 'offend' the Germans in the interwar period.

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The gun turret in the (mostly) down position. In the fully-down position the turret would be flush with the base.

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Looking over Block 9 towards the German border. You can see more turrets (another Fighting Block) in the center of the photo.

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Headed to Fighting Block 8. This block was the only part of the fort that offered any notable resistance when the Third Army came through the area -- the German garrison was greatly understrength, and they could only muster enough men to man one Fighting Block. The block was heavily damaged by American fire (M12 SPGs were brought in to neutralize it), and the Germans surrendered.

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Despite the serious exterior damage, the interior remained largely intact. You can see some of the 'conventional' gun positions in this photo.

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Another view of the damaged Block 8. The door provides a good scale for the shell holes.

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One last view of the Hackenberg tunnels, taken from the train on the way back to the entrance.

The tour lasts about 2.5 hours and is worthwhile to do. Tours are offered in three languages (English, French and German) and run on most weekends. There is a lot of walking to do, and the temperature is around 15 degrees -- bring a jacket! The tour only covers one part of the fort -- I'd gladly take an 'extended tour' if it was offered. I was very impressed. I was also planning on visiting a abandoned ouvrage nearby to see how it compared, but was short on time so had to bypass it. After leaving the Hackenberg I had a three hour drive to Stuttgart. After one spending the night there, I was headed to Bavaria.

Next Set: Berchtesgaden and the Obersalzberg

 

Wonderful , the pictures came out perfectly , thanks for taking your time to download these treasures, they are on my list for a future trip. Can't wait to see the eagle's nest set .

 

Sorry for the delay -- I'm out of the country now and this is the first chance I've had to sort through a few more. It took a while to get some upload issues sorted out as well. Here's the first part of the next set:

Berchtesgaden and the Obersalzberg:

After spending the night in Stuttgart, I headed to Berchtesgaden -- a beautiful area of great historical significance. I arrived just before sunset, as I got sidetracked along the way trying to find some Bachem 'Natter' launch pads about 45 minutes east of Stuttgart. I was in Berchtesgaden three years ago in the winter, but I couldn't see much due to the heavy fog. I not only had more time this trip, but had much better weather.

Most of the WWII sites were here demolished after the war, but ruins are still visible. I stayed at the Intercontinental -- which stands on the site of Herman Goering's house (more on this in a latter post) -- and my room had a view of the Eagle's Nest. From the hotel all of the WWII sites on the Obersalzberg are within walking distance.

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The morning view of the Eagle's Nest from my hotel balcony. The Eagle's Nest ('Kehlsteinhaus') was built by Martin Bormann as a birthday gift to Hitler in 1938. Despite the magnificent location, he never liked it and only visited a few times. I had lunch up there later in the day (pictures to follow).


The hotel is built on the site of Herman Goering's residence, which arguably had the best views on the Obersalzberg. The house was demolished after the war, and the hotel was built in 2003. As you walk around the hotel you come across this building -- the former house of Goering's Adjutant.


A closer view of the house. Its appearance has changed little, making it one of the few Nazi-era structures that survived unscathed.

As you walk down down from the hotel to the main road, you pass by the road leading to the Eagle's Nest (more to follow) and remnants of the extensive air raid shelter network:


Most of these 'tunnels' were demolished or sealed up after the war -- and this is no exception. This emergency exit led either to Bormann's or Goering's house.

Walking further down the road you come to the Hotel Zum Tuerken, which served as the SS headquarters. The building has been here since 1911, but has been modified since 1945.


Looking down the road. The Zum Tuerken is on the left, and the bunker exit shown above is to the right of this photo. Hitler's Berghof stood to the far left of this photo, beside the Zum Tuerken.

Zum Tuerken Tunnels:

Today there are two tunnel networks open to the public: one at the 'Documentation Obersalzberg' museum and one below the Zum Tuerken. I did the museum network last time I was here, and did the Zum Tuerken one on this trip. Both are worthwhile visiting, but I enjoyed the Zum Tuerken one more; its much less commercialized (no signs, no railings, no 'do not touch' signs), much quieter and more authentic (everything is 'in-situ', and has not been modified in any substantial way).

The entrance to these tunnels is at the back of the hotel. After paying a reasonable price, you are free to explore the tunnels that are several stories below ground level.



One of the tunnels. If I recall correctly, there are three levels of tunnels. After descending a spiral staircase in the hotel you come to a group of cells used by the SS. The next level below is the upper level of the tunnels, and the two lower levels contain more tunnels and machine gun nests.


More tunnels. The brackets on the lower left were used to hold utility cables. The dim lighting, although it may not appeal to most toursits, adds to the experience.


Another tunnel. You can see the 'authentic' feel that these have. There are only 'exit' signs on the walls and some hand-painting comments about what section of the bunker you are in. And its very quiet down there (most tourists visit the tunnels at the museum). Its a eiree - yet exciting - feeling to be 'exploring' these tunnels.


The two lower levels are accessed via large staircases. Each had about 80 steps in it (not that I was counting!), so these are very deep underground. At the bottom of each set of stairs was a machine gun nest to keep 'unwanted visitors' out.


A close view of the machine gun nest. These are only accesible from the level below this in the tunnel system (pictures to come).

Next Part: More tunnels. After that, I'll move on to cover the Berghof, the Eagle's Nest, a few other miscellaneous sites near the Obersalzberg/Berchtesgaden.

 

As you move deeper into the bunker system, it becomes more elaborate. You come across several 'rooms' that would have housed Hitler and his entourage.


One 'room' at the top of the lower staircase.

From here you can access the machine gun nests. In order to provide maximum security, these were only accessible from the lower level -- any attacks would have to fight all the way to the bottom before fully neutralizing the internal defenses.


The access to the MG nest. You are free to climb into these.


Looking down from inside the MG nest. These positions are heavily fortified, with concrete walls about 8 inches thick.


This metal bracket would have held a MG42. Pointed right at the stairs, it would have been a significant deterrent. The guns are long gone, but the mounts are still there.


More tunnels. This is the lowest level of the tunnel system.

Although the emergency exits and entrances to the other tunnel systems on the Obersalzberg are sealed, you can still find some interesting things:


Near one of the emergency exits you come across this heavily damaged machine gun nest. American troops fired a bazooka into this in April 1945 to ensure that the tunnels were unmanned.


The same machine gun nest viewed from the emergency exit tunnel. Despite Allied fears of a 'National Redoubt', the Obersalzberg was surrendered without a fight.


Assuming my German is good enough to translate this, this tunnel would have led to Hitler's tunnel network under the Berghof. The tunnels at the nearby Documentation Obersalzberg museum would have been connected to these via Hitler's network. I've wondered how much of the Berghof system remains -- the tunnels directly under the building are certainly demolished, but there is probably something left of the outlying tunnels.

After spending about an hour down here, I headed out.


Looking up one of the staircases towards the exit. The machine gun nest is behind me.

Next: The Berghof

 

Please delete.

 

The Berghof:

Hitler first visited the Obersalzberg in the 1920s. In the early 1930s, he bought Haus Wachenfeld, a small chalet. In 1935, he tore it down and built the extravagent 'Berghof'. It became one of the most well-known and important buildings in the Third Reich. Before the war, he met Neville Chamberlain, Kurt von Schuschnigg and the Duke of Windsor here. During the war, he spent several months here. After the war the house was demolished. There are only small parts remaining visible today.

As you walk around the the Zum Tuerken, you come across this small path. This path used to be the Berghof's driveway.

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The shrub on the left is the remains of a tree given to Hitler by Martin Bormann. The path on the left leads to the site of the Berghof.

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Once you walk the path you come to a clearing. The Berghof would have been located in the trees in the top half of the photo.

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Looking back down the 'driveway'. The Zum Tuerken is on the right. Bormann's house was on top of the hill across the road, and Goering's house was above the Zum Tuerken.

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The only substantial part of the Berghof remaining is the large retaining wall. The house was heavily damaged by bombing in April 1945 and was finally dynamited in the early 50s.

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Standing at the 'entrance' to the Berghof looking 'in'. The site was unmarked until a few years ago (out of fears of attracting Neo-Nazis), but it is now marked by a simple metal sign. It is a quiet spot.

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Another view of the retaining wall. The wall is about 8 feet high, and several feet thick.

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This is as close as you can come to the famous 'picture window' view today. When the Berghof was here all the trees in front were cut down, affording clear views of the Untersberg mountains in the background.

There are a few other items of interest on the site. There is a utility hatch above the retaining wall. Its mostly filled it, but you can make out some of the original tiles. A few bits of the foundation stick up above the fill that was dumped here in the 1990s. On the hill above the retaining wall you can find a bomb crater (I think I posted this in my 'Obersalzberg Then and Now' thread a few years ago), and there's some type of utility shaft above the hill.

Documentation Obersalzberg Museum:

As you contine on the trail that goes up the hill, you end up at the Documentation Obersalzberg Museum. The museum openned a few years ago, and contains several artifacts related to the Obersalzberg. A tunnel in the basement leads to its restored tunnel system.

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The museum as seen from the east. Its tunnel system is located in the hill to the right.

Next Set: The Eagle's Nest