Reduit Brigade 22nd

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Base station of the Blattiberg plant
Room of the Reduit Brigade 22 in the 1992 basic disposition

The Reduit Brigade 22 (R Br 22 “Ob- und Nidwalden, Oberhasli”) was one of three Reduit Brigades of the fortress troops of the Swiss Army , which were newly created in 1947. With Army 61 they were subordinated to Mountain Army Corps 3 and abolished in 2003 with Army XXI .

prehistory

During the Second World War , the formation of the Swiss Army was continually and temporarily adapted in rapid succession to the course of the war with the corresponding operational (Op Bf) and supplementary orders. The orders to the army corps, defense front, section boundaries and troop positions were changed. The key position of the reduction entrance to Lake Lucerne was affected several times.

The bulk of the 5th Division was deployed in the Reduit in the Bürgenstock - Pilatus - Engelberg area from May 1941 , the 4th Infantry Regiment was moved to the Schwyz basin , where it was subordinate to the 4th Army Corps until autumn 1944. As part of the 2nd Army Corps, the 5th Division had to block the Reduitz access to the Brünig Pass . In the spring of 1943, most of the division was subordinated to the 4th Army Corps in order to secure the Reduitz access on both sides of the Rigi in the Schwyz basin.

The entrances from central Switzerland to Brünig in the area of ​​the fortresses Grimsel / Wallis and Thunersee (Reduit Brigade 21) were on active duty in the operational area of ​​the 8th Division and the 2nd Army Corps .

The fortresses at the Reduite entrances within sight of Lucerne with the Mühlefluh / Vitznau , Ober- and Unter Nas , Fürigen , Kilchlidossen , Klein-Durren , Mueterschwanderberg (Zingel, Drachenfluh, Blattiberg), Wissiflue and Ursprung factories formed the greatest concentration of artillery works in the Switzerland. They closed the bottle necks of the Reduite entrances between Rigi, Bürgenstock and Pilatus .

Reduit Brigade 22nd

Special troops were to be assigned to the fortresses in the Reduit. With the Troop Order 47 (TO 47), the Reduit Brigades 21 (Bernese Oberland), 22 (Ob- and Nidwalden, Oberhasli), and 24 (Central Switzerland) were created. They each had a fortress artillery regiment.

While the obstacles and field fortifications from the Second World War were dismantled, the remaining permanent systems were expanded to increase combat value and the weapons were modernized. Among other things, the 4.7 cm infantry cannons were replaced by 9 cm anti-tank cannons and the Mg 11 machine gun with the Mg 51 . Various artillery works were only completed after the war and continuously improved and the armament and equipment modernized. Instead of the 7.5 cm cannons, there were the 12 cm fortress mine throwers. There were also modern shelters and protected command posts.

With Army Reform 61 (TO 61), the three fortress brigades and three reduit brigades were subordinated to the newly created Mountain Army Corps 3.

The reorganization of Army XXI led to a significant reduction in stocks in 2003. The Mountain Army Corps, the large units, and the Reduit and Fortress Brigades were abolished.

Mission and type of threat

The Reduit Brigade 22 had the task of blocking access to the Brünig in the Stansstad -Lopper section , the Entlebuch transversal and the Schüpfheim - Sörenberg axis .

For an opponent, the Swiss Alpine region came into question less as a primary operational objective than as a bypass area or the safeguarding of a north-south connection.

Operations room, command post, artillery works and barriers

The Reduit Brigade 22 area extended from Lake Lucerne to Lake Brienz. It bordered Field Army Corps 2 in the northwest, Reduit Brigade 21 in the southwest, Reduit Brigade 24 in the east and Fortress Brigade 23 ( Gotthard ) in the south . The works and barriers of the Reduit Brigade 22 were in the cantons of Nidwalden, Obwalden and Lucerne:

  • Command post: KP Chabisstein of the 78th Infantry Regiment (Chappelwald, Ennetmoos )
  • Artillery works: A2230 Ob Langentannen, A2231 Ob Hofur, A2242 Ursprung, A2250 Wissiflue, A2255 Fürigen, A2261 Kilchlidossen, A2287 Kleiner Durren, A2288 Mueterschwanderberg

  • Fürigen fortress : camouflaged gap

  • Fürigen: Gun stand 1

  • Mueterschwanderberg: Scharte Blattiberg

  • Mueterschwanderberg: camouflaged entrance

  • Fat and edible oil storage replenishment base Giswil OW

  • Infantry work barrier Hergiswil LU

  • Shelter A 2284 Renggpass

Outline (1994)

The troops of Reduit Brigade 22 included Infantry Regiment 78, Mountain Infantry Regiment 7, Fusilier Battalion 189, Mountain Fusilier Battalion 47, Fortress Regiment 22 with Divisions 10 (Company I / 10, II / 10 and III / 10), 16 (Company I / 16, II / 16, III / 16 and IV / 16), 23 (fortress infantry company I / 23, fortress artillery company II / 23, festival D company III / 23 and fortress company IV / 23), factory company 27, engineering department 62.

The fortress department 10 (1991) operated the plants Kilchlidossen (company I / 10, staff fortress department 10), Kleiner Durren (company II / 10), Vitznau (company II / 10). The fortress fire control company 10 operated the three fire control stations in the plants.

Museum in the operational room of the Reduit Brigade 22

literature

  • Johannes Gerber et al., Command Reduit Brigade 22 (Ed.): Mission accomplished - Die Reduit Brigade 22 . Engelberger printing shop, Stans 1994.
  • Silvio Keller, Maurice Lovisa, Patrick Geiger: Military monuments in the cantons of Nidwalden, Obwalden and Lucerne . VBS 2001.
  • Hansjakob Burkhardt: Fortification "Seesperre Nas" and Swiss Navy on Lake Lucerne . Nidwalden Museum, Stans 2005.
  • Gregor Bättig et al .: The military efforts in the Nidwalden area 1939–95 , a contribution to the history of Nidwalden. 150 years of Nidwalden Officers' Association, 1857–2007. Aktiv Verlag, Stans 2007.

Web links

Commons : Reduitbrigade 22  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hansjakob Burkhardt: Fortification "Seesperre Nas" and Swiss Navy on Lake Lucerne . Nidwalden Museum, Stans 2005
  2. ^ Military monuments in the cantons of Nidwalden, Obwalden and Lucerne
  3. ↑ Fortress Oberland: Reduitbrigade 22 ( Memento from July 4th 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  4. ↑ bunker Friends: A 2,425 infantry blockhouse Müli, 1960
  5. ^ Nidwalden Museum: Fürigen Fortress