Fort de Brimont

Entrance with bridge, 1914

Entrance with bridge, 2015

The Fort de Brimont was a detached fort and part of the fortress belt around the city of Reims . This belonged to the "Système Séré de Rivières" (also Barrière de fer - Iron Barrier). It lies north of Reims on a ridge and is flanked by the “Battery Loivre” in the west and the “Battery Cran de Brimont” in the east.

It was one of the numerous fortifications that were built after 1870 in the course of the establishment of the defensive bar against Germany after the lost war of 1870/71 . This made Reims a fortress .

investment

The fort is of considerable size and was built in 1876 on the territory of the municipality of Brimont . The construction was only possible through expropriation measures, and the brick factory here was also affected. The place was chosen because here in the north of Reims the valley of the Aisne , the Canal de l'Oise à l'Aisne , the roads to Laon , Rethel and the railway lines to these cities could be controlled. Neighboring forts were Fort de Saint-Thierry in the west and Fort de Fresne in the east .

Aerial view during the First World War
Plan of the fort

description

Inside the double caponier

The entrance to the south is secured by a four-meter-wide moat, a drawbridge and a portcullis . There are several rooms for the security team in the gate building. The entrance leads to the central area of the fort, which housed the forge , stable, kitchen and barracks . These systems had two floors, which were only equipped with windows facing the inner courtyard and were therefore protected against direct fire. The inner and outer trench walls are made of masonry with a height of at least 3 ½ meters. The factory was built from hewn stone between 1875 and 1877 by around 500 workers. The floor plan is symmetrical, from which only the trench capons differ. The powder magazine deviates slightly from the north-south axis.

In terms of architecture, the fort was not bunkered, but rather equipped for defense with seven Canon de 155 mm L modèle 1877 de Bange guns and four mortars on a bank (as freely positioned between hollow cross beams ) . The hollow beams were made of masonry and covered with earth. They served as ammunition rooms.

Central dome

An east-west tunnel leads from the barracks through the interior of the fortress to the caponiers and the ammunition store. In the north you come to a central dome, which is provided with six loopholes for close defense.

The crew consisted of 732 officers, NCOs and men.

Further use

In contrast to the fortifications of Toul or Verdun, the system was neither strengthened nor modernized. In 1910 the fort was demobilized.

Occupied again in 1914 at the beginning of the First World War , it was abandoned by the French when they retreated in September. Most of the time during the war it remained in the hands of the Germans, who housed French prisoners of war here.

Fierce fighting took place here during the Battle of the Aisne , among other things the fort was shot at by a French 400 mm howitzer (whether the fort was hit is not known).

In the inter-war period it served first as accommodation for the families of the destroyed village of Brimont, then as a quarry for the reconstruction of the village.

On June 10, 1940, the 61st Artillery Regiment withdrew to the fort to protect against German Stuka attacks. From 1944 it served as an army depot and as a radar station for Base aérienne 112 Reims-Champagne .

The heavily overgrown area is owned by the municipality of Brimont. Access is not permitted.