Reuenthal Fortress
Map with all coordinates: 
The fortress Reuenthal (army designation A 4263) was a border fortification of the Swiss army . It is located in the Swiss municipality of Full-Reuenthal in the canton of Aargau . The fortress and the surrounding blocking points belonged to the area of operations of Border Brigade 5 .
Artillery plant Reuenthal
The artillery plant is located north of Reuenthal, on a hill above the Rhine opposite the German town of Waldshut .
The facility was built from 1937 to 1939 and was the first artillery plant that was operational on the Swiss northern front before the Second World War . An approximately 600 m long system of tunnels connects the two gun positions, Bunker 1 ⊙ and Bunker 2, with factory entrance ⊙ , ammunition and material storage, medical wing, command rooms and switchboard, dining room, kitchen and troop accommodation. Later, a 300 m long escape tunnel with an emergency exit was built under the Bunker Ost (external defense) ⊙ , and by the end of 1941 three outside observers were added.
The plant was manned almost all the time during the Second World War. The artillerymen were mobilized for war and sworn in on August 29, 1939. Initially built for a crew of 90 men, it was increased to 150 men by June 1944. An average of about 100 soldiers were stationed in Reuenthal. On October 30, 1942, General Henri Guisan paid a visit .
The main armament was two 7.5 cm 1938 L 30 attachment cannons (introduced in 1938, barrel length 30 caliber), for which 8,000 grenades with the necessary charges and detonators were stored in the fortress. The semi-automatic guns could fire up to 20 rounds per minute each. The fortress has its own operating theater , a kitchen and several above-ground bunkers for external and local defense.
The factory had the task of preventing the enemy from crossing the Rhine below the Albbruck-Dogern weir , as it was easy to wade through the Rhine there in the summer months when the water level was low. Of the 56 pre-calculated destinations, 48 were on this transition, six on German access roads from the heights of the Hotzenwald into the Rhine Valley, and two on Swiss heights. A total of 29 destinations were on German and 27 on Swiss territory. The shortest destination, the westernmost point of the Fullerfeld on the Rhine, was 1280 m close, the farthest calculated destination ( Hochsal church ) was 9100 m away.
The fortress was decommissioned in 1988 after the Leibstadt nuclear power plant went into operation and the secrecy was lifted.
Layout
stollen
Gun 2 with the camouflage open
Gun 1 with the camouflage closed
Emergency exit of the fortress
The fortress belonged to the area of operations of Border Brigade 5 and was occupied by the following units:
- 1939–1943: Fortress Artillery Detachement 253 (Fest Art Det 253), subordinated to the Border Fusilier Battalion 253
- 1943–1951: Fortress Artillery Company 95 (Fest Art Kp 95), directly subordinate to the Border Brigade 5
- 1952–1961: Fortress Company 95 (Fest Kp 95), subordinated to Fortress Department 21
- 1962–1977: Fortress Company II / 21 (Fest Kp II / 21).
Reuenthal-Full lockout
The lock point is considered a military historical monument of national importance. The blocking point and artillery are located in a large meander of the Rhine around Full-Reuenthal, which begins shortly after the mouth of the Aare. With the three road barricades and six shelters built in the post-war period, it blocks the access roads towards Reuenthal from Leibstadt , Leuggern and Felsenau. In the Fuller Feld, one kilometer behind the Rheinbogen, three machine gun bunkers were built in 1938/39.
In addition to the artillery work, the blocking point includes the following facilities:
- Infantry bunker “Fullfeld-Ost” with two machine guns (Mg) A 4243 ⊙
- Infantry bunker "Reuenthal-Schulhaus" with 3 Mg A 4244 (broken off)
- Infantry bunker "Fullfeld-West" with 3 Mg A 4245 ⊙
- Infantry bunker "Fullfeld-Rhein" with 2 Mg A 4246 ⊙
- Infantry cannon garage "Reservoir" A 4564 ⊙
- Infantry bunker “Bettlerküche” A 4265, built in 1941 ⊙ .
- Shelter F 5153
- Company command post F 5192, nuclear protection shelter (ASU), built in 1983 ⊙
- Shelter F 5197
- "Bull" observation post ⊙
- "Reuenthal-Nagelfluh" terrain armor obstacle T 2243, built in 1939 ⊙ .
- Off-road tank obstacle (GPH) "Reuenthal beggar kitchen" T 2244, built in 1938 ⊙
Felsenau lockout
The Felsenau barrier is located in the hamlet of Felsenau (municipality of Leuggern ) east of Reuenthal and consists of:
- Infantry bunker "Steinbruch" A 4261: 24 mm tank canister, 3 Lmg ⊙
- Infantry bunker "Wald" A 4262: 24 mm tank canister, Lmg ⊙
- Shelter F 5150 ⊙
- Rail obstacles T 2236 ⊙
Lock point Leuggern
In 1940 the cemetery in Leuggern was expanded into a military base by strengthening and building new walls with the installation of 12 loopholes. The four cemetery entrances were prepared for the horizontal installation of T-rails. The cemetery walls were exactly in the line of fire of the two bunkers “Leuggern-Ost” and “Leuggern-West”. A detailed organized evacuation was prepared for the civilian population. As a precaution, the inmates of the retirement and nursing home were evacuated to Muri AG on May 10, 1940.
- Infantry bunker Gippingen Nord A 4280 ⊙
- Infantry bunker Gippingen Süd A 4281 ⊙
- Infantry bunker Leuggern-Ost A 4282 ⊙
- Infantry bunker Leuggern-West A 4283 ⊙
- Infantry bunker Hettenschwil Süd A 4284 ⊙
- Infantry bunker Hettenschwil Nord A 4285 ⊙
- Medical shelter «Immenholz» Irmgard A 4271 ⊙
Lock point Leibstadt
Between Leibstadt and Leuggern, the road in the Strick area was closed by several plants.
- Infantry bunker Kaltentanne Pak A 4266 ⊙
- Cold fir shelter A 4267 ⊙
- Infantry bunker Peterlibuck A 4268 ⊙
- Shelter Leibstadt A 4269 ⊙
- Infantry bunker Rägehalde Pak A 4270 Kirchtanne ⊙
- Bossenhus infantry bunker A 4272 ⊙
- Shelter F 5159 ⊙
- KP company, shelter F 5160 ⊙
Blocking point Bernau
The Bernau blocking point is located on the banks of the Rhine near Bernau ( Leibstadt municipality ) southwest of Reuenthal. It secured the banks of the Rhine and the weir of the Rhine power station Albbruck-Dogern with several systems:
- Infantry bunker "Strahler" A 4247: Lmg, observer ⊙
- Observer Bernau (canceled)
- Infantry bunker "Stauwehr" A 4248: Mg (canceled February 2007)
- Infantry bunker «Station»: Mg
- Infantry bunker "Grossäcker Ost": 2 mg
- Infantry bunker "Grossäcker West": 2 mg
Locking point Schwaderloch
The blocking point secured the banks of the Rhine. In the rear area there were artillery observers ("Wandfluh" Artilleriewerk Reuenthal).
- Infantry bunker Rossgarten A 4300 ⊙
- Infantry bunker Im Sand A 4301 ⊙
- Steg infantry bunker (type Schindler) A 4302 Schwaderloch ⊙
- Infantry bunker Schwaderloch Warte A 4303 ⊙
- Artillery observer "Wandfluh" A 4273 ⊙
Lock point Etzgen
- Infantry bunker Grossmatt A 4304 Etzgen ⊙
- Infantry bunker Zegli A 4305 Etzgen ⊙
- Infantry bunker Zoll A 4306 Etzgen ⊙
- Infantry bunker Etzgen North A 4307 ⊙
- Infantry bunker Etzgen Süd A 4308 ⊙
Lock point Laufenburg
- Infantry bunker Laufenburg Ost A 4311 ⊙
- Infantry bunker Laufenburg Münz A 4312 ⊙
- Infantry bunker Laufenburg West A 4313 ⊙
- Infantry bunker Laufenburg saw A 4314 ⊙
- Infantry bunker Laufenburg power station A 4315 ⊙
- Infantry bunker Kaisterbach Ost A 4316 (broken off) ⊙
- Infantry bunker Kaisterbach West A 4317 ⊙
- Obert A 4318 ⊙
- Infantry bunker Obert Ost A 4319 ⊙
- Infantry bunker Obert West A 4320 ⊙
Full-Reuenthal Military and Fortress Museum Association
The artillery plant is now operated as a fortress museum by the Association Military and Fortress Museum Full-Reuenthal, founded in 1982 . The association also owns the Swiss Military Museum Full .
In addition to the repaired armouring and equipment of the artillery plant, numerous exhibits from European military history of the 20th century are on display in the fortress. In addition, a special exhibition in the former medical wing that changes every two years is dedicated to a special topic.
The association owns around 100 military and historical installations in the canton of Aargau. The military historical witnesses are preserved by the association for posterity in the original or true to original condition and made accessible to the public.
French percussion pistol
Combat knife of the Royal Welch Fusiliers
Swiss machine guns
Invasion maps of the German Wehrmacht
Swiss Nazi leaflet
literature
- Robert Vögeli , Willy Marques, Thomas Hug: Fortress Museum Reuenthal. Reuenthal Fortress Museum Association, Zurich 1989.
Web links
- Official website of the fortress museum
- Fortress Oberland: Sperrstelle Etzgen AG
- Oberland Fortress: Laufenburg AG blocking point
Individual evidence
- ^ Fortress Oberland: A 4263 Artillery Works Reuenthal
- ^ Silvio Keller, Maurice Lovisa, Patrick Geiger: Military historical monuments in the canton of Aargau. VBS, Bern 2006.
- ↑ Fortress Oberland: Reuenthal-Full lock point
- ^ Robert Vögeli: The fortified cemetery of Leuggern AG. In: Stadt- und Landmauern, Volume 1 Contributions to the state of research, vdf Hochschulverlag AG, ETH Zurich 1995, ISBN 3-7281-2055-3
- ^ Fortress Oberland: Lock point Leibstadt
- ^ Fortress Oberland: Schwaderloch lock-up point
- ^ Association Military and Fortress Museum Full-Reuenthal: Directory of military-historical installations in the canton of Aargau
Coordinates: 47 ° 36 '13.6 " N , 8 ° 12' 7.2" E ; CH1903: 657406 / two hundred seventy-two thousand eight hundred forty-five