Castels fortress
Map with all coordinates: 
The fortress Kastels or Castels (army designation A 6400) was a rock for the fortress artillery of the Swiss army on the hill Castels near Mels . The plant, completed at the end of 1943, was repealed as a combat facility with the Army Reform 95 .
history
In prehistoric times there was already a fort on Castels with a fortress wall around the hill plateau, to which two watchtowers in the west ⊙ and east ⊙ were built.
In 1939, Kastels was planned as the central plant with the guidance systems of the Sargans fortress. The fortress artillery was to receive 10.5 cm tower cannons for the first time . Together with the Furggels fortress and the Magletsch fortress, it formed the cornerstones of the Sargans fortress and, together with the counterwork for the Passati fortress , belonged to the Seeztal barrier . The fortress area of Sargans, together with the fortifications of Saint-Maurice and St. Gotthard, was one of the most important and largest fortress areas of the Reduit defense system in the Second World War .
Plant and fortress troops
The work was carved into the rock above Mels ⊙ . The turrets were camouflaged as rocks and barns. The war command post of the entire fortress area (later fortress brigade 13) was located on the lower floor and was first occupied on September 12, 1943 ( Allied landing in southern Italy ). In the event of war, the plant would have been operated by the fortress artillery company II / 27 (Fest Art Kp II / 27).
In January 1940, Castels corps assembly point for the staff of the fortress artillery department 11 and the fortress artillery companies 31 and 32. Company 32 was responsible for Castels (345 men) and the Passatiwand plant (130 men).
Kastels served as a barracks for the recruits of the fortress troops of the Mels recruiting school and was used for the shooting training of the fortress artillery . Apart from the Magletsch plant, it was the only one in the region from which the 10.5 cm turret cannons could fire sharply.
Armament
The artillery plant has three 10.5 cm turret cannons as main armament ⊙ ⊙ ⊙ . In addition, the work was armed with two bunker cannons with a caliber of 7.5 cm. Construction began in 1939 and the fortress was completed in 1942.
Two tower cannons were ready to fire at the end of October 1940. A third tower cannon was put into operation at the end of July 1941. The bunker cannons were not handed over to the troops until the end of February 1943. Eight 20 mm flab cannons W + F 38 on a base mount took over the air protection. During the Cold War, four fortress mine launchers 8.1 cm 1956/60 A 6400 were added ⊙ .
External installations of the Castels artillery plant
The outdoor facilities for close-range defense, including the command post, consisted of infantry obstacles with barbed wire, various infantry bunkers, permanent weapon positions and crew shelters. The infantry bunker Runggalina A 6412-6414 ⊙ , the shelter A 6415 and the infantry bunker Lisbeth A 6416 are directly assigned to the Seeztal barrier.
- Infantry bunker Schlings A 6401: two machine guns (MG)
- Infantry bunker Wiesen A 6402: two Mg
- Infantry bunker St. Martin Nord A 6403: two Mg ⊙
- Infantry bunker St. Martin Ost A 6404: Mg, light machine gun (Lmg), observer (ob) ⊙
- Shelter A 6405: 20 men
- Infantry bunker Rüfe 2 A 6406: Mg, Ob ⊙
- Infantry bunker Rüfe 1 A 6407: two Mg, ob ⊙
- Ik-Schild / Garage Seezbrücke Mels A 6408: mobile infantry cannon (Ik) ⊙
- Infantry bunker Glashütte A 6409: Mg (dismantled)
- Infantry bunker Grotto A 6410: two Lmg
- Infantry plant Bödeli A 6411: Mg, ob ⊙
- Infantry bunker Bödeli A 6418: Lmg
- Infantry bunker battery West A 6419: two Lmg
- Infantry bunker retaining wall A 6420: three Lmg
Infantry bunker Rüfe 2 A 6406
Infantry bunker St. Martin Ost A 6404
Kastels Bödeli
Anti-aircraft base
- Shelter cavern U8 Kastels A 6421: 12 men
- Shelter cavern U1 Kastels A 6422: 12 men
- Shelter cavern U2 Kastels A 6423: 12 men
- Shelter cavern U3 Kastels A 6424: 12 men
- Shelter cavern U4 Kastels A 6425: 12 men
- Shelter cavern U10 Kastels A 6426: 12 men
- Shelter cavern U11 Kastels A 6427: 12 men
- Shelter cavern U12 Kastels A 6428: 12 men
- Shelter cavern U6 Kastels A 6429: 12 men
- Shelter cavern U13 Kastels A 6430: 12 men
- Shelter cavern U9 Kastels A 6431: 12 men
- Shelter cavern U7 Kastels A 6432: 12 men
- Shelter cavern U5 Kastels 6433: 12 men
- Shelter cavern Flab FU4 Kastels A 6434: 20 men
- Shelter cavern Flab FU5 Kastels A 6435: 20 men
- Shelter cavern Flab FU3 Kastels A 6436: 20 men
- Shelter cavern Flab FU2 Kastels A 6437: 20 men
- Shelter cavern Flab FU6 Kastels A 6438: 20 men
- Shelter cavern Flab FU1 Kastels A 6434: 20 men
Todays use
The secrecy was lifted after the end of the Cold War . Part of the facility is still occasionally used as underground troop accommodation and as a command center for the protection of the World Economic Forum in Davos
literature
- Walter Gabathuler: Sargans Fortress 1944: Sargans-West: Troops, defense works, war command post, infrastructures and evacuation organization in the event of war: Part of the combat group "Northern Front": Seeztal-Ost / Seeztalsperre, Kastels artillery and Passatiwand: Area of the combat group "Western Front" ": Seeztal-West and lock Nideri, Central Surgical Field Hospital in Lochezen . AFOM publishing house, Artillerie-Fort-Magletsch-Verein, Oberschan 2007
- Walter Gieringer (Ed.): Remembrance of the Fortress Brigade 13th Bündner Buchvertrieb, Chur 2004.
Web links
References and comments
- ^ Silvio Keller, Maurice Lovisa, Thomas Bitterli: Military monuments in the cantons of Glarus, Appenzell Inner- and Ausserrhoden and St. Gallen. Inventory of the combat and command structures. Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (Ed.), Bern 2006 [1] (pdf, 2.6 MB)
- ↑ Notice board on site
- ↑ Southeastern Switzerland of January 28, 2009: The protection of the WEF is also guaranteed deep in the mountain
- ↑ Vilan 24 of February 4, 2010: Mels and Hinwil are now working together
Coordinates: 47 ° 3 '6.8 " N , 9 ° 24' 23.4" E ; CH1903: 749508 / 213 080