Bödeli artillery plant
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The artillery works Bödeli (army designation "Bödeliwerke" 301) of the Swiss Army consists of five rock works around the Bödeli near Interlaken between Lake Thun and Lake Brienz in the Bernese Oberland .
Instead of retrofitting with 10.5 cm cannons, as was the case with some other artillery works, the works created from 1941 onwards were retired in the 1970s.
history
The impetus for the construction of the plant was given by the new army position in the Reduit ordered by General Guisan (Operation Orders No. 11, 12, 13). This made Lake Thun part of the Reduit border. The firepower on the Bödeli was strengthened due to the new Reduit airfield in Interlaken and the general's headquarters in the Villa Cranz in Interlaken, which the general moved into in April 1941, where the army staff had been located since autumn 1939.
The five artillery works belong to the Bödeliwerke
- Goldswil (A 1860) ⊙
- Aenderberg (A 1861) ⊙
- Wilderswil (A 1862) ⊙
- Lütscheren (A 1863) ⊙
- Kammfluh (A 1864), Harder ob Interlaken ⊙
- The Kaufmannstollen command post (A 1866) in Matten near Interlaken ⊙ , as a common fire control center.
The five works were operated by the artillery crew 301 (from 1942, Commander Elmer), Fortress Artillery Company 78 (from February 1948, Commander Fritz Krähenbühl) Fortress Company III / 14. During the Cold War , the facility was operated by fortress department 14 (later received number 24) and finally by units of fortress artillery department 15.
Armament and infrastructure of the fortresses
The works are located just above the trees in the rock walls around the Bödeli. Access was via steep forest paths or vertical ladders directly on the rock face. The plants were each equipped with two 7.5 cm field cannons 03/22 and were originally to be equipped with 34 mm flab cannons. The guns could be used to shoot panoramic photos.
The five plants were small and cramped and had no ammunition magazines. In addition to the two fighting stalls, there was only one room that had to serve as accommodation, kitchen and fire control center.
The purpose of the originally planned anti-aircraft defenses to intercept enemy aircraft in the air was limited to artillery fire at landed troops and aircraft in the Bödeli.
Artillery Works Kammfluh
The Artillery Works (AW) is located on the Kammfluh in the Harder. Access was outside on the rock face via steep metal ladders.
The plant was equipped with two 7.5 cm field cannons 03/22. Gun 1 had mount No. 41 (Type 3) and Rohr 140, Gun 2 had mount No. 42 and Rohr No. 141. These guns could be used to shoot at panorama panels. The war ammunition was deposited at the gun stands because there were no ammunition magazines. In addition to the fighting stand, there was another room that served as accommodation, kitchen and fire control center. There were no additional caverns for anti-aircraft defenses, as the order was changed and aircraft and troops no longer flying had to be fought with artillery fire. The fire was directed centrally from the command post Kaufmannstollen in Matten.
After the project winter quarters for bats was too expensive, the newly founded association IG Bödeli-Werke prevented the final elimination of AW Kammfluh and began to set up the empty plant again with a 7.5 cm cannon.
Army headquarters
From 1941 to 1944, the headquarters of the Commander-in-Chief of the Swiss Army was in the Villa Cranz ⊙ , today's municipal administration, in Interlaken. In the nearby Wagnerenschlucht a shelter, the Möösli tunnel, was built for the general. ⊙ From 1939 to 1945, the Territorial Battalion 195 (Ter Bat 195) acted as the "General Battalion" and provided guard and orderly for the Army Headquarters (AHQ) and the General's Headquarters (HQ).
There were other command posts on the Bödeli, such as the former command post of Transmission Regiment 1, KP Goldey, Unterseen ⊙ and the command post of Infantry Regiment 80 ( nuclear shelter F 16222 ASU Ried, built in the 1980s) in Wilderswil ⊙ and the Interlaken Reduit airfield .
Museums and guided tours
The interest group Bödeli-Werke was founded in 2012 with the aim of preserving important military installations on the Bödeli as historical witnesses for posterity and making them accessible to the public. So far (2015) she has been able to acquire the Kammfluh artillery factory, the Goldey command post in Unterseen and the command post in Wilderswil.
Guided tours of the Kammfluh and Goldey facilities are possible according to the IG website by prior arrangement. So that the importance of the fortress guard corps is not forgotten, the IG Bödeli-Werke association set up a small museum in the former Goldey command post in Unterseen in 2017.
literature
- Hans Rudolf Schneider: Interlaken Réduit Airport. In: 70 years of the Reduit Airfield St. Stephan . Frutigen 2013.
Web links
- Official website of IG Bödeli-Werke
- IG Bödeli-Werke: A1864 Art Wk Kammfluh
- Oberland Fortress: Interlaken
- Oberland fortress: Bödeliwerke A 1860–64, A 1866
- Jungfrau newspaper from January 11, 2007: Conversion of the Flabstands Kammfluh Unterseen
- Jungfrau newspaper of July 27, 2012: No bats, maybe cannons
- Swiss radio and television: General Guisan's headquarters
- Bernerzeitung of February 1, 2014: Secrets from the Cold War. Goldey-Stollen and KP Ried
Individual evidence
- ↑ In 1978 the voters of Interlaken approved the purchase of the "Villa Cranz" including the park as a new municipal administration
- ↑ Bernerzeitung of September 2, 2009: Guisan moves into Reduit in the Oberland
- ↑ Oberland Fortress of February 6, 2016: 75 years ago - General Guisan moves to Interlaken ( Memento of the original of March 10, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Tages-Anzeiger from December 19, 2014: Guisan's bunker sold
- ↑ Ter.Bat.195. The «General Battalion». Memory book from 1947. New edition, autumn 2016, HS publications [1]
- ↑ Jungfrau newspaper from March 1, 2013: A place steeped in history
- ↑ Fortress Oberland: KP Ried is to be bought in 2015 ( Memento of the original from May 22, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ IG Bödeli-Werke: Visits
- ↑ Fortress Oberland: Reminder of the fortress guard corps ( Memento of the original from March 24, 2018 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link has been inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ HS publications: publishing house for publications on Swiss fortifications, bunkers and fortresses, Frutigen
Coordinates: 46 ° 40 ′ 51 " N , 7 ° 51 ′ 10" E ; CH1903: 631,680 / 170029