Crestawald Fortress

Entrance to Crestawald Fortress

The Crestawald Fortress is a former artillery work of the Sufers lockout near Sufers , Rheinwald in the canton of Graubünden . The work, created immediately after the start of the war in September 1939, is now a military history museum , in which the original bunkers and artillery pieces from the time of the Second World War are shown.The fortress in the Crestawald played an important role in the Reduit strategy and should be part of one Attack by the Axis powers block the south-north connection there.

In 2000, after decades of extreme secrecy, which also continued during the Cold War , the facilities were released and made accessible to the public.

history

The fortress secured the approaches from the Italian-Swiss border on the Splügen Pass and the San Bernardino Pass from the direction of the Swiss canton of Ticino and protected the Viamala from an attack from the south and southwest. The facility is located between the villages of Sufers and Andeer on the old cantonal road.

Construction of the fortress began in September 1939 under strict secrecy and was completed in June 1941. The centerpiece of the fortress were the two cannons Silvia and Lucretia , which were made from a Swedish license construction of a ship's gun in Swiss manufacture. These cannons had a regular range of 17 km and with reduced accuracy of 23 km. This enabled them to shoot at the heights of the above-mentioned passes without being significantly endangered by the opposing artillery from there. The close defense of the fortress consisted of individual positions blasted into the rocks for machine guns , cannons for anti-tank defense and three anti-aircraft guns. A total of 95 soldiers were stationed in the facility and were on duty around the clock.

In the post-war period, the obligation to maintain secrecy remained in place, while the facilities were further expanded. In 1991 a filter system against chemical warfare agents was installed . The fortress had 10,000 projectiles in storage for the two guns.

From the mid-1990s onwards, many Swiss fortresses were abandoned, including Crestawald. Then an association was founded that turned the facility into a museum.

The service of the soldiers stationed in the fortress was extremely monotonous. A member of the crew reports from his active service:

Crestawald, a basin full of military installations. All fenced in by barbed wire up to ten meters wide. All fortifications more secret than secret. Upon entering as a military officer, one took note of them. They were erased from memory on leaving. Crestawald, a taboo for everyone and everything. For acquaintances, relatives, for women and children, for friends, Jass colleagues, beer table groups. You never talk about it. Those who cannot remain silent are damaging their homeland! You couldn't write about it either. Nothing in your private diary either. Don't take notes. Nothing, but nothing at all. You would have been placed against the wall and shot dead. And today? 60 years after the construction and handover of the military fortifications in the rear Rhine valleys, a meeting of the former is announced. Today, 60 years later, people are even looking for former people who lived in the fortifications during the war years. For war veterans who are even allowed to write and report about it. Who would have dared to dream of this.

Carabiners in the entrance area
Inside stairs and ammunition elevator
10.5 cm fortress gun on a stand mount
Officers' dining room
Engine room
operating room

Special exhibitions

2005 - Wolves in Sheep's Clothing - Special Exhibition (June 4 to October 29, 2005)
2010/2011 - US bombers over Graubünden - Flying fortresses in the Crestawald Fortress Museum

literature

Peter Baumgartner , Hans Stäbler: Fortified Graubünden. Wolves in sheep's clothing. Military History Foundation Graubünden , Chur 2006. New edition Verlag Desertina, Chur 2016, ISBN 978-3-85637-485-3 .