Heldsberg Fortress

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Entrance area of ​​the fortress with camouflage building
Combat stand for 7.5 cm cannon on a stand mount from the inside
MG 51 machine gun on a fortress carriage
Dormitory

The Swiss Fort Heldsberg is an artillery - Fort from the time of World War II and the Cold War . The Bruggerhorn locking point with the Heldsberg artillery plant and the Stoss locking point are considered to be military-historical monuments of national importance.

Heldsberg Artillery Works

The system was built between 1938 and 1941 in the canton of St. Gallen on a range of hills between St. Margrethen and Au . They secured the confluence of the Rhine with Lake Constance with their cannons and machine guns . The fortress is located directly above the Rhine Valley and has an optimal view of the border crossing from Au to Lustenau ( Austria ) across the Rhine from its fighting stalls.

plant

In its original design, the fort consisted of a total of four semi-automatic cannons with a caliber of 7.5 cm behind bunkered slits made of concrete and steel , which were divided into a north and a south battery. The cannons used were semi-automatic, could fire a shot every five seconds and had a range up to the port entrance of Lindau or to the train station of Bregenz about 10.5 km away. Thus, a potential attacker should be able to be fought when he is deployed. There were also seven machine guns, also under armor, and two observation posts for combat control . The individual bunkers were connected by underground corridors with a total length of 1000 m.

Within the mountain, a center for the production of were electricity , a kitchen , a canteen , a drinking water reservoir with 110,000 liters of drinking water, living rooms for teams, NCOs and officers , ammunition depots , weapons workshops , fire control centers , a small infirmary and two morgues. A total of 200 soldiers were on duty in the fortress and had to share 60 beds every eight hours. The external defense had 400 men. The fortress also had combat stalls for the infantry , which were connected to the fortress by telephone and radio equipment.

The German military valued these and similar Swiss fortresses very highly. During the Second World War there were several German-Italian plans for a military attack on Switzerland ( company Tannenbaum ). In a comment on the Swiss border fortifications on Lake Constance, the German generals said:

"An attack across the Rhine only from an eastward direction between Lake Constance and Sargans is not recommended because of the mountainous terrain and the strong fortifications at Rheineck (Heldsberg) and Sargans ."

The Heldsberg Fortress remained in service well beyond the Second World War. It was not until 1992 that the military gave up the facility with the end of the Cold War . It became the property of the municipality of St. Margrethen , which transformed it into a fortress museum.

  • Artillery Works Heldsberg A 5850 entrance ⊙
  • Gun stand 1 A 5850 Heldsberg ⊙
  • Gun stand 2 A 5850 Heldsberg ⊙
  • Gun stand 3 A 5850 Heldsberg ⊙
  • Gun stand 4 A 5850 Heldsberg ⊙
  • Mgmt and observation post A 5850 Heldsberg ⊙
  • Stand with 2 Mg «single-family house» A 5850 Heldsberg ⊙

  • Gun post 1

  • Gun stand 4

  • Machine gun (Mg) 4, attachment cannons (BK) 3 and (BK) 4

  • Factory entrance

Fortress museum and weapons collection

The Heldsberg Fortress Museum was opened in September 1993. The following collections are the subject of exhibitions:

  • Army, medical and Red Cross service (from field medical service to veterinary medicine)
  • Ordonance weapons (complete weapon collection of all light weapons of the Swiss Army )
  • Heavy weapons (artillery weapons, anti-aircraft and anti-tank weapons, fortress artillery )
  • Telecommunications and encryption equipment
  • Military instruments and aids (observation, measuring, arithmetic, aiming, aiming for shooting, lighting material, AC protective service material)
  • Ammunition (Swiss ammunition and around 1000 cutaway models of various types of ammunition)

Blocking point Bruggerhorn to Thal

With the regulation of the Rhine at the beginning of the 20th century, the Bruggerhorn became a gateway. One railway bridge and three road bridges led from Lustenau in Austria over the Rhine to Switzerland. When Austria was annexed in March 1938, the armed forces with the two bridges near Fußach in Austria already had their foot over the Rhine obstacle because they could not be blown up by the Swiss army.

As a first measure, the 8th Border Brigade, created in 1938, secured all Rhine bridges with light stalls (bunkers of the Schindler "Zuckerstock" type with 2 Lmg) as well as with tank barricades and explosive objects. From 1941 the Heldsberg artillery factory was able to fire on all bridges on the Rhine from Bregenz to Kriessern . For external defense in the approach to the Bruggerhorn, three machine gun and two anti-tank plants were built

The border brigade 8 had the most important road ( A1 ) and rail connections to St.Gallen with the blocking points Rheineck (Army designation No. 840), Steinig Tisch-Thal (No. 808), Halden (No. 805) and Buechstig (No. 864). Gallen and Rorschach and to prevent an air landing at Altenrhein Airport . From 1939 onwards, the two opposite rock works Steinig Tisch (A 5816) and Halden (A 5808) were built. The two largest infantry units of the brigade were continuously modernized until the 1970s (including ten 9 cm anti-tank guns Pak 50/57 in a confined space).

Lightweight in concrete bunker design with machine guns at the border crossing Kriessern (CH) - Mäder (A)

Halden lockout

  • Infantry plant Halden A 5808: 5 Pak, Mg ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Halden Nord A 5809: 2 Lmg ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Halden Süd A 5810: 1 Mg ⊙

Halt-Thal lockout

  • Infantry bunker Loch Nord A 5811: Mg ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Loch Süd A 5812: Mg ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Greifenstein A 5813: 2 Mg ⊙

Lock point stony table

  • Infantry bunker Steinig table A 5814: 3 Mg ⊙
  • Pak cavern Steinig table A 5816: 2 Pak, 5 Mg ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Steinig Tisch Türmli A 5816/1 ⊙

Lock point Rheineck

  • Infantry bunker Burg A 5821 Rheineck ⊙
  • Rheineck infantry bunker A 5823 Anti-tank bunker ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Ruederbach A 5824 Rheineck ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Nebengraben A 5825 Rheineck ⊙
  • Risiwald infantry bunker A 5826 Rheineck ⊙
  • Explosive object Rheineck M 0781 ⊙

Lock point St. Margrethen

  • Infantry bunker A 5828 St. Margrethen West ⊙
  • Infantry bunker A 5829 St. Margrethen West ⊙
  • Infantry bunker A 5830 St. Margrethen West ⊙
  • Infantry bunker A 5831 St. Margrethen West ⊙
  • Infantry bunker A 5832 St. Margrethen West ⊙
  • Schindler bunker A 5833 St. Margrethen ⊙
  • Infantry bunker A 5834 St. Margrethen ⊙
  • Infantry bunker A 5835 St. Margrethen ⊙
  • Infantry bunker A 5836 St. Margrethen ⊙
  • Infantry bunker A 5837 St. Margrethen ⊙
  • Lmg Bunker A 5838 Campsite Bruggerhorn ⊙
  • Double Mg bunker "Pump station" A 5839 St. Margrethen ⊙
  • Lmg bunker A 5840 St. Margrethen ⊙
  • MG bunker A 5841 St. Margrethen ⊙
  • Double Mg bunker A 5846 A13 St. Margrethen ⊙
  • Double Mg bunker "Ottersbach" A 5847 ⊙

Lock point Heldsberg

  • Double-Mg bunker Oberer Heldsberg Nord A 5848 ⊙
  • MG bunker Oberer Heldsberg Süd A 5849 ⊙

Lock point Au

  • Infantry bunker A 5857 Au ⊙
  • Infantry bunker A 5858 Au ⊙
  • Mg bunker A 5859 Haslach Au ⊙
  • Schindler bunker A 5860 Au ⊙
  • Mg bunker Au A 5861 ⊙

Blocking point Berneck

  • Mg plant Berneck A 5862 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker A 5863 Berneck ⊙
  • Infantry bunker A 5864 Berneck ⊙

Lock point Reute AR

  • Infantry factory Sonderegg A 5865 Reute ⊙
  • Infantry factory Föhre A 5866 Reute ⊙
  • Infantry plant Fels A 5868 Reute ⊙
  • Infantry factory Tobel A 5870 Reute ⊙

Lock point shock

The Stoss blocking point of Border Brigade 8 secured the Stoss AR pass crossing from the Rhine Valley into the Appenzell basin . The first locks were planned in 1888. From 1937 barricades and 1940/41 bunkers were built. During Army 61 in 1988/89, 17 modern shelters were built on the St.Gallen-Appenzell canton border.

Cusp line on the Stoss with infantry bunker Warmesberg A 5888
  • Mg bunker A 5874 Marbach ⊙
  • Bunker Blatten A 5876 ⊙
  • Mg bunker Blatten A 5878 Altstätten ⊙
  • Bunker old Stossstrasse A 588x Altstätten ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Rain A 5885 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Stoss Süd A 5887 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Warmesberg A 5888 ⊙
  • GPH Ober-Warmesberg ⊙
  • Double Mg bunker A 5897 Hirschensprung ⊙

literature

  • Benito Boari, Jakob Frigg, Arno Keel: The fortress Heldsberg St. Margrethen, NetzPrint GmbH, Au SG 2007, ISBN 3-9520949-0-0
  • Silvio Keller, Maurice Lovisa, Thomas Bitterli: Military monuments in the cantons of Glarus, Appenzell Inner- and Ausserrhoden and St. Gallen , VBS 2006

Web links

Commons : Heldsberg  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Silvio Keller, Maurice Lovisa, Thomas Bitterli: Military monuments in the cantons of Glarus, Appenzell Inner- and Ausserrhoden and St. Gallen, VBS 2006
  2. ↑ Oberland Fortress: A5850 Artillery Plant Heldsberg
  3. ↑ Little porcupine: AW Heldsberg SG
  4. ^ Exhibition overview , official website, Heldsberg Fortress Museum
  5. ↑ Oberland Fortress: Bruggerhorn barrier
  6. ↑ Fortress Oberland: Lock Stoss

Coordinates: 47 ° 26 '35.7 "  N , 9 ° 38' 35.8"  E ; CH1903:  seven hundred sixty-six thousand two hundred seventy  /  257052