Chemin des Dames
The Chemin des Dames (German: Damenweg ) is a striking ridge in the triangle of the cities of Laon , Soissons and Reims in northern France . It runs in an east-west direction north of the Aisne valley . Départementstraße 18 follows the ridge. This can be reached via Route nationale 2 (N 2, Soissons – Paris) and the RN 44 towards Reims.
Names
The name Chemin des Dames comes from the time of Louis XV. who owned the hunting lodge Château de la Bôve in this area. The men taking part in the hunting parties hunted in the valleys and on the slopes, while the women preferred the path to the castle along the ridge.
history
In 1890 the Canal de l'Oise à l'Aisne (dt: Oise-Aisne Canal) was opened. It runs under the Chemin des Dames for a length of 2364 m. The southern tunnel entrance can be found at Braye-en-Laonnois .
Napoleonic Wars
Because of its strategically exposed location (on the way to Paris), this area has repeatedly been the scene of armed conflicts. On March 7, 1814, Napoleon I achieved a final victory over the allied Prussian and Russian troops in the battle of Craonne with great losses . 100 years later, a memorial was erected on the contested Hurtebise Ferme. Another Napoleon statue from the 1870s marks the general's observation site.
First World War 1914–1918
After the retreat from the Marne , the German 1st and 2nd armies moved in on 12/13. September 1914 a collection position on the north bank of the river Aisne and the ridge of the Chemin des Dames towering over it. Although there was initially a gap between the two German armies, the British units pursuing them failed to break through over the ridge. The after the siege and the fall of the fortress Maubeuge rushed to the scene VII. Reserve Corps closed the gap and thus the front, which ran to 1917 between Craonne and Cerny on the comb and between Cerny Aisne in an arc below the ridge. Dozens of tunnels and expanded grottos were built and offered safe quarters for the opposing troops. In an underground quarry near Hurtebise, the dragon's cave between Craonne and Cerny, the German soldiers set up a command post with a first aid station and sleeping quarters for an entire battalion . After the spring offensive of 1917 and until the Germans withdrew to the north bank of the Ailette , the enemy troops faced each other in this underground fortress, separated only by a wall. The German name "Drachenhöhle" was adopted by the French after the war. The cave was later developed for tourism; today there is a museum.
In April 1917 the battle of the Aisne began . The logistically excellently planned but completely underestimating the enemy French offensive of General Robert Nivelle ended in a catastrophic failure, which sparked extensive mutinies in the French army . It was not until October that the French troops were able to take the western part of the ridge; the Germans withdrew to the north and held this position until the beginning of their spring offensive on May 27, 1918.
The Chemin des Dames ridge is one of the most contested regions on the Western Front during the First World War ( zone rouge ); One of the bloodiest material battles of the entire war took place on a few square kilometers .
Most of the villages around the Chemin des Dames were completely destroyed by the end of the war. Many were rebuilt in an international relief effort. The village of Craonne was so badly destroyed that it was not rebuilt after the war, but was rebuilt nearby under the name Nouveau Craonne.
Because of the low military successes and the enormous losses at the beginning of the offensive, mutinies broke out in the French army. The German side did not become aware of their scope and the resulting opportunity. During these mutinies, the so-called Chanson de Craonne was born .
The French writer Gabriel Chevallier wrote the novel la peur (fear) about this battle in 1930 . In it, he describes his personal experiences at the front relentlessly, realistically, stylistically brilliant and without any pathos .
Second World War 1940
During the Western campaign in 1940 , the Damenweg was also fiercely contested during the Second World War . At the beginning of June 1940, French units established themselves there and were able to create a locking bar against the German attackers for several days. Two French tank battalions made an advance towards Laon from the Chemin des Dames. The tanks had already managed to hit the flank of a German infantry division between Vauxaillon and Pinon when they were almost wiped out by Stukas in a small wood. Only a few French tanks made it back to their own lines on the night of June 6th. According to various sources, the Damenweg is said to have been overrun by German troops on June 5th or a few days later. In order to achieve this, the 119th infantry regiment of Württemberg had to cross the Aisne-Oise Canal at dawn . Around 8:30 a.m., the regimental commander Lieutenant Colonel Anton Grasser was able to hoist the war flag on the conquered Fort Malmaison bridgehead. For conquering the Chemin des Dames, Grasser received the Knight's Cross on June 16, 1940 .
Museums and sights
Various displays on hiking trails and numerous military cemeteries from different nations illustrate the battles for the Chemin des Dames. In the underground quarry " Drachenhöhle " (Caverne du Dragon), the misery of the soldier's life in the First World War is illustrated in a museum. A place of remembrance (lieu de mémoire) to the west of the Chemin des Dames is at the intersection of Carrefour du Moulin de Laffaux on Route nationale 2 .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Gabriel Chevallier: Heldenangst , experiences of a front soldier at the Chemin des Dames. First published: 1930, withdrawn: 1938, republished: 2008 by le Dilettante, Paris. German first publication: 2010 by Nagel & Kimche at Carl Hanser Verlag, Munich, ISBN 978-3-312-00441-6 . See also French Wikipedia .
- ↑ World War II. Contemporary history in word, image and sound , Vol. 1: Step across the border . Manfred Pawlak Verlagsgesellschaft, Herrsching 1989, ISBN 3-88199-536-6 , p. 338.
