Charlemont Fortress

Charlemont Fortress over the city.

Location of the canton of Givet in the Ardennes department

Canton of Givet (red) in the north of the Charleville-Mézières (pink) arrondissement of the Champagne-Ardenne department on the border with Belgium .

Aerial view

The fortress Charlemont (French: Fort de Charlemont ), the “Citadelle Karlsberg”, is a fortress in France in the French Ardennes in front of the Belgian border on the left bank of the Meuse (Meuse) in the so-called “tip of Givet” (Pointe de Givet) east of Givet , a place of particular strategic interest, as evidenced by the construction of impressive fortifications in the deep cut in Belgian territory.

history

The construction of the fortress began in 1555 under Emperor Charles V , under Louis XIV it was expanded by Vauban . Charles V, who wanted to better defend his position on the Meuse, ordered his sister Maria of Hungary to buy the Agimont-Givet estate from the bishops of Liège . Shortly afterwards, construction of the fortress began.

At the time, 3,000 workers were employed, and when the fortress was set up for wartime use, 20,000 soldiers were stationed in the area and a 3,000-strong cavalry force. The troops were commanded by Martin Van Rossem and the construction work was supervised by Charles de Berlaymont , Herr von Hierges . Most of the troops were stationed in the Lieu-dit Au deux Givet . At this time, however, a minor war began, which has gone down in history under the name of the Battle of Gimnée.

During the First World War , the fortress was taken by German troops on August 31, 1914 after a three-day siege.

At the beginning of the western campaign , Charlemont was bombed by German artillery on May 13, 1940 and then abandoned by French troops. After the liberation of Givet on September 7, 1944, 11,000 American soldiers were accommodated in the fortress, who were deployed in December 1944 in the fight against the Ardennes offensive led by General von Rundstedt .

In 1963, under General Massu, a decision was made to set up the first Center d'entraînement commando under the emblem of the 9th Regiment. In 2006 it was renamed and came under the 3rd Paratrooper Regiment. When President Sarkozy reorganized the defense , it was disbanded in the summer of 2009. Since then, it can be visited in groups on request through the Givet City Tourist Office.

Charlemont was included in the famous city atlas Civitates orbis terrarum (Cities of the World) by Braun and Hogenberg . The French Chooz nuclear power plant is not far away.