Festival of Prince August of Württemberg

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Entrance to Fort Württemberg

The fortress Prince August von Württemberg , renamed Fort Saint-Privat by the French in 1919 , is a fortress near Metz . It was part of the inner belt around the fortress of Metz . It only received its baptism of fire at the end of 1944 during the Battle of Metz .

Historical

After Alsace-Lorraine fell to Germany as a result of the Franco-Prussian War , the military authorities immediately proceeded to upgrade the city of Metz militarily. Great efforts were made to build both those still planned by France and new fortifications.

The so-called first or inner ring (in contrast to the second or outer ring built later) consisted of the forts:

Most of these works had not yet been completed when the war broke out in 1870, and some were only in the planning phase.

Establishment

The Feste Prinz August von Württemberg (or Fort Wuerttemberg ) was completed by German engineers between 1872 and 1875. It was a so-called detached (independent) fortress based on the Biehler system . The aim was to lay a ring around the city of Metz itself, from which strong artillery forces could be deployed at regular intervals. The Feste Prinz August von Württemberg , so named after Colonel General August von Württemberg , completed the first ring, which the French began in 1870.

use

At the beginning of 1890, the occupation was replaced by the troops of the XVI, who was in Metz and Diedenhofen . Army Corps secured. At the beginning of the First World War , the crew consisted of parts of the King Infantry Regiment (6th Lorraine) No. 145 . After Alsace-Lorraine fell back to France in 1919, the fortress was named Fort Saint-Privat . Soon afterwards, work began on building a military airfield (Base aérienne 128 Metz-Frescaty), including the fort in the military area.

In 1940 it was again taken over by the German troops, who had to leave it again in 1944. The "Fort Saint-Privat" is deactivated today, but not accessible due to its location on a military area.

Fighting in World War II

On September 2, 1944, Metz was declared a Reich fortress by Hitler . The place must be held to the last man. Attacked by troops of the 5th US Infantry Division , the men of the "462. Volksgrenadier-Division "this" Reichsfestung "with great doggedness. During the fighting in early September 1944, the fort was initially defended by a department under the command of SS-Standartenführer Ernst Kemper. During the battle of Metz , the crew was changed several times. Lieutenant General Heinrich Kittel was in command of the 462nd Volksgrenadier Division and fortress commander of Metz .

On November 9, 1944, the defenses and strategic points were massively attacked by the US Army Air Force as a prelude to the offensive on Metz . 1,299 B-17 and B-24 bombers dropped a total of 3753 tons of 500 and 1000 kilograms of bombs. The bombing was carried out without sight from an altitude of 6,000 meters, with most military targets not being hit. 689 bombs fell on the downtown area of ​​Metz instead of the seven forts designated as targets, which again demonstrated the inadequacy of the massive bombing of military targets.

On November 16, 1944, a massive American attack took place south of Metz in an easterly direction. The Germans offered bitter resistance at the Metz-Frascaty airfield and doggedly defended every single aircraft hangar against the 11th Infantry Regiment of the US Army. However, under pressure from the Americans, they ultimately had to fall back on the fort. The attackers lost four officers and 118 men that day. The losses in the German troops were also high. The next day, the fighting was concentrated in the northeast corner of the airfield, where the Germans occupied some of the last buildings. Now, however, the attackers were already under fire from the fort.

At that time, the commandant of the Fort Prince August von Württemberg was the Sturmbannführer of the Waffen SS and Major in the Schutzpolizei Werner Matzdorff (1912-2010). Knowing that the fort would not be able to withstand long, he led a relentless defense and made no move to lay down your arms. The fort still stopped on November 20th. On this day von Matzdorff left the facility with a white flag to inform the commander of the 11th Infantry Regiment that he and his men would fight to the death "if necessary", but asked that 20 of his seriously wounded be out to get to the fort.

On November 21, the fortress commander, Lieutenant General Kittel, was wounded in the mudra barracks and taken prisoner, and the Metz fortress surrendered at 2:35 p.m. the next day. That same evening, men from the fort began to desert and join the Americans. Completely exhausted, they informed the American soldiers that morale in the fort had sunk to a low point. Despite the adverse conditions, the fort at Frescaty Airport, like the others on the eastern fortification section, continued to withstand American attacks.

After another week, however, the situation became increasingly critical. Food and ammunition were running low. On November 29, 1944, von Matzdorff finally had to capitulate and went into captivity with 22 officers and 488 NCOs and men. 80 men of the crew were wounded, they had not been able to receive medical care for a week.

The swastika flag over the air base had been brought down, even if perseverance slogans were painted on the walls like: "The man can fall, the flag never."

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ History of the King Infantry Regiment No. 145 (from 1890 to 1900), P. Müller's Verlagbuchhandlung, 78 pages, Metz approx. 1900 (p. 7).
  2. ↑ René Caboz, La Bataille de Metz , Editions Pierron, Sarreguemines 1984 S. 132nd
  3. ^ Général Jean Colin, Contribution à l'histoire de la libération de la ville de Metz. Les combats du fort Driant (septembre-décembre 1944) , Académie nationale de Metz, 1963, p. 13.
  4. ^ Hugh M. Cole: The Lorraine Campaign , Center of Military History, Washington, DC 1950, p. 424.
  5. ^ Hugh M. Cole: The Lorraine Campaign , Center of Military History, Washington, DC 1950, p. 442.
  6. ↑ Hans Stöber, Helmut Günther, The storm surge and the end. The history of the 17th SS Panzer Division "Götz von Berlichingen" , vol. 2, Munin, Osnabrück 1976, pp. 141-156.
  7. ↑ a b Anthony Kemp, Lorraine - Album mémorial - Journal pictorial: 31 août 1944 - 15 mars 1945 , Heimdal, 1994, pp. 340–341.
  8. ↑ Anthony Kemp, Lorraine - Album mémorial - Journal pictorial: 31 août 1944 - 15 mars 1945 , Heimdal, 1994, p. 400.
  9. ↑ Anthony Kemp, Lorraine - Album mémorial - Journal pictorial: 31 août 1944 - 15 mars 1945 , Heimdal, 1994, pp. 352–353.

Coordinates: 49 ° 4 ′ 55 "  N , 6 ° 8 ′ 33"  E