Fort you Mûrier

Main entrance

Plan of Fort Mûrier

The Fort du Mûrier (temporary name: Fort Randon ) is a fortification on the territory of the commune of Gières in Isère . It was built between 1873 and 1878 as a result of the lost war against Germany and the associated border shifts to the west. It belonged to the fortress belt of Grenoble and was thus part of the Système Séré de Rivières . It is located at an altitude of 420 meters in the southeast of the village and is one of the few forts that was built exactly according to the specifications of Général Seré de Rivières.

designation

For a short time it was named after General Jacques Louis Randon . By presidential decree of January 21, 1887, the Minister of War, Georges Boulanger , implemented that all forts, fortified artillery installations and barracks of the Système Séré de Rivières had to bear the names of former military commanders. On October 13, 1887, this was reversed by Boulanger's successor, Théophile Ferron, and the fort was given its current name back.

description

Together with the “Fort des Quatre Seigneurs”, it was responsible for monitoring the upper Isèretal and the neuralgic points at “Pinet d'Uriage” and “Combloup”. It also protected the entrances to the “Fort du Bourcet” and “Fort Quatre Seigneurs”. Furthermore it blocked the way to Grenoble by taking the Vallée du Grésivaudan into the crossfire together with the "Fort Bourcet" . It was the strongest fort in the Grenoble region at the time of its planning.

The structures are listed in masonry and only protected against direct fire, it was not designed to protect against indirect fire such as howitzers or mortars . The dry ditch was also bricked on the Contreescarpe, without grave strike . The ditch weirs consisted of two double ditch capons at the shoulder points and two throat ditch weirs next to the fort entrance.

A comprehensive modernization of the kind that took place at the plants that were closer to the German border was not carried out. Only two additional batteries were built - "Batterie Haute" (Upper Battery) and the "Batterie Basse" (Lower Battery) - which were then supplemented by two more during the First World War . In addition, the walls of the wall barracks were reinforced with a layer of concrete and four circular positions for 75 mm anti-aircraft guns were built on the glacis. The fort did not have any armored posts, which means that the guns fired free-standing "over the bank" (on the ramparts), on which there were only four hollow cross beams to cover the sides.

By the time the system was completed, however, the artillery had developed so much that the fort was almost unusable on the day it was put into service. It was never involved in combat operations, but took German prisoners of war in during the First World War and then only served as a depot for war material.

Details

Construction time: April 1875 to May 1879

Construction costs: 1,268,000 gold francs

Crew in 1881: 16 officers, 40 NCOs, 440 men and 46 soldiers in the lower battery

Infirmary: 30 beds

2 powder magazines: a total of 154.8 t of black powder

Cartridge magazine: 1,088,600 cartridges

Bakery: 1 oven with a daily capacity of 380 loaves. (In the event of mobilization, a portable Laspinasse oven system with an additional capacity of 180 loaves per day)

Water supply: 1 cistern with a capacity of 270 m³, a spring in the lower battery and another in the hamlet of "des Mûriens". No well.

Electricity: not available

Telecommunications: no optical connection to the other works in the section.

Armament

1879

On the ramparts	Battery haute & battery basse	Trench defenses	Battery No.3 & No.4
2 × Canon de 155 mm L modèle 1877 guns 10 × guns Canon de 138 modèle 1873–74 (138 mm) 4 × mortars Mortier lisse de 15 (150 mm) 4 × mortars Mortier lisse de 22 (220 mm)	6 × Canon Reffye de 85 mm guns 4 × guns 138	4 × grappling guns	not built yet
Total guns: 34

1884

On the ramparts	Battery haute & battery basse	Trench defenses	Battery No.3 & No.4
2 × guns 155L (155 mm) 10 × guns 138 2 × mortars Mortier lisse de 15 4 × mortars Mortier lisse de 22	10 × Canon Reffye de 85 mm guns 4 × Canon de 120 mm L modèle 1878 guns	4 × Canon Reffye de 85 mm guns	not built yet
Total guns: 38

1890

On the ramparts	Battery haute & battery basse	Trench defenses	Battery No.3 & No.4
2 × 155L guns 12 × guns 138 2 × mortars Mortier lisse de 15 4 × mortars Mortier lisse de 22	10 × Canon Reffye de 85 mm guns 4 × Canon de 120 mm L modèle 1878 guns	4 × Canon Reffye de 85 mm guns	not built yet
Total guns: 40

1913

On the ramparts	Battery haute & battery basse	Trench defenses	Battery No.3 & No.4
8 × Canon de 90 mm modèle 1877 guns 2 × mortars Mortier lisse de 15 4 × mortars Mortier lisse de 22 1 × machine gun division	6 × Canon de 90 mm modèle 1877 guns 4 × Canon de 120 mm L modèle 1878 guns	4 × Canon revolver de 40 mm modèle 1879 (40 mm)	2 × 155L guns 12 × guns Canon Lahitolle de 95 mm
Total guns: 42

1914

On the ramparts	Battery haute & battery basse	Trench defenses	Battery No.3 & No.4
8 × Canon de 90 mm modèle 1877 guns 2 × mortars Mortier lisse de 15 4 × mortars Mortier lisse de 22 1 × machine gun division	6 × Canon de 90 mm modèle 1877 guns 4 × Canon de 120 mm L modèle 1878 guns	4 × Canon revolver de 40 mm modèle 1879	2 × Canon de 155L guns 12 × guns Canon Lahitolle de 95 mm
Total guns: 42

Todays situation

After the armed forces abandoned the property in 1978, it was bought by the municipality of Gières that same year. In the same year, as well as in 1983 and 1993, programs to finance the maintenance of the structure were initiated. Since the first event in 1986, visits, exhibitions, musical performances and other events have been held every year as part of the Journées européennes du patrimoine .

Since 1993 the fort has been included in the list of historical monuments. At the same time, the restoration work was accelerated. 30% of the financing was provided by the state, 16% by the Région Rhone-Alpes, 30% by the Département de l'Isère and 24% by the city of Gières. Before the actual restoration work could begin in 1992, the dense growth had to be removed. Between 2000 and 2006 the facades and interiors were repaired. Since the end of the work, the fort has been used for cultural purposes.

Gun stands on the wall with the hollow trusses and the wall barracks below

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literature

Le Petit Larousse de l'histoire de France , Éditions Larousse
Alain Hohnadel et Philippe Bestetti, La Bataille des forts , Editions Heimdal, Bayeux, 1995 ISBN 2-8404-8087-5

Web links

Commons : Fort du Mûrier - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

^ Note n ° 5285 of March 25, 1886 from War Minister Boulanger to the General Commanders of the Military Regions; Presidential decree of January 21 on the renaming of forts, fortified artillery installations and barracks, as proposed by M. le général Boulanger, Minister of War.
↑ with the note n ° 14980 from the same date
↑ The original name "canon de revolver" is misleading, as it is a multi-barrel gun based on the Gatling system. This is sometimes referred to in French as a mitrailleuse.

45.173333333333 5.7827777777778Coordinates: 45 ° 10 ′ 24 ″ N , 5 ° 46 ′ 58 ″ E

[1] Note n ° 5285 of March 25, 1886 from War Minister Boulanger to the General Commanders of the Military Regions; Presidential decree of January 21 on the renaming of forts, fortified artillery installations and barracks, as proposed by M. le général Boulanger, Minister of War.

[2] with the note n ° 14980 from the same date

[3] The original name "canon de revolver" is misleading, as it is a multi-barrel gun based on the Gatling system. This is sometimes referred to in French as a mitrailleuse.