Blocking point Beatenbucht

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Blocking point Beatenbucht

The Beatenbucht barrier (Army designation No. 2113) with the infantry bunker Fischbalmen (Army designation A 1883) was a defensive position of the Swiss Army . It is located in the municipality of Sigriswil and was the seventh barrier along the right bank of Lake Thun between Thun and Interlaken in the Bernese Oberland .

The lock was part of the operational area of ​​the 3rd Division (Seegruppe) and, from 1947, the Reduit Brigade 21 . The road block was completed in January 1941 and handed over to the Merligen local police in April 1942 . The Fischbalmen cavern was built in 1941/42. The lock was declassified in April 1999 and opened to the public in July 1999.

history

The impetus for the construction of the lock point was given by the new army position in the Reduit ordered by General Guisan (Operation Orders No. 11, 12, 13). The 3rd Division (Bern Division) was withdrawn from the Limmat position and moved from the Fricktal to the new operational area as the Thunersee group on both sides of the Thunersee.

In March 1941, the commander of the 3rd Division divided the Thunersee group into the groups “Grünenberg”, “Sigriswilgrat”, “Kander”, “Gantrisch” and “Seegruppe”.

The patrol boat P-80 could be quickly moved with the boat trailer on the road network

The main task of the lake group, which consisted of the mountain infantry (Geb Inf Rgt) 15, was the defense of Lake Thun and the construction of blocking points:

  • Monitoring of the entire area of ​​Lake Thun by a motorboat detachment .
  • Prevention of enemy troop transfers and landings (seaplanes) on the banks in order to prevent the Sigriswilgrat and Kander groups from being surrounded.

A mountain fusilier battalion was deployed as a reserve in the Aeschi area. The command post was in Därligen .

In December 1942 the first casting exercise took place in the new plants.

During the Cold War , the barrier and the infantry bunker were regularly occupied by troops in refresher courses until the end of 1994.

Blocking point Beatenbucht

The dam site Beatenbucht / Merligen was due to the redeployment of Reduitfront in January 1941 by Zulggraben the Sigriswilgrat the premier position on the right bank of Lake Thun held absolutely had to. Behind the lock there were only explosive objects (SprO) up to the Bödeli near Interlaken. The Eichbühl, Längenschachen, Gunten, Oertli, Stampbach and Merligen barriers were located in front of the Beatenbucht barrier on the right bank of the lake. For fire prevention, the barricade Beatenbucht ⊙ was infantry bunker Fischbalmen A 1883 built.

The sea ​​observer Beatenbucht A 1884 ⊙ had the task of monitoring Lake Thun. The army command had the Reduitseen monitored because they feared amphibious landings by the German armed forces like in Norway . The bunker has an armored observation bell with several lockable hatches, observation telescopes and camouflage as a stone block.

Infantry bunker Fischbalmen

Fischbalmen infantry factory

The infantry bunker Fischbalmen (army designation A 1883) ⊙ belonged to the Beatenbucht lock. In 1941 it was installed in a rock cavern with a 15 meter long tunnel and, in addition to a weapon slot, had an observer slot for fire control. The rest and dining room were in the tunnels behind.

The bunker was equipped with a 4.7 cm infantry cannon (manufactured in Switzerland under license from Böhler Austria) on a pivot mount as a heavy infantry anti-tank weapon. In 1952 the infantry gun (Ik) was replaced by a 4.7 cm anti-tank gun (Pak) 41 and the latter in 1962 by the 9 cm anti-tank gun (Pak) 50 PL, which is available today . The Pak 50 had a range of 500 to 700 m and a rate of fire of 8 to 10 rounds per minute.

The bunker crew consisted of 21 men (1980): a commandant, two works security soldiers, three shifts of six men as door guards inside, outside observers with field telephone 50 , three men at the gun and one man preparing ammunition.

Merligen sickle barrier

Lock point Merligen

The Merligen blocking point (Army designation No. 2112) comprised an infantry bunker, two field cannon shields and an anti-tank obstacle with four road barricades. It was built in the spring of 1942. A second group with two field cannon shields (A 1885, A 1886) and two road barricades (T 1141 Weissenthal, T 1142 Kienigraben) had to prevent the bypassing of the Seestrasse above Merligen. As one of the main bases of the Reduit Line, the blocking point is a military-historical monument of national importance.

  • Field cannon shield Weissenthal (Stillebach) A 1885: 7.5 cm field cannon ⊙
  • Field cannon shield Kienigraben A 1886: 7.5 cm field cannon ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Merligen A 1887 ⊙
  • Field cannon shield I Kirchstrasse A 1888 ⊙
  • Field cannon shield II See A 1889 ⊙
  • Terrain tank obstacle T 1143: 3-row BBB hump obstacle, tank wall with integrated stand ⊙
  • Regimental command post F 16325: The KP including cavern is located above Merligen and was built in the mid-1960s. ⊙

Lock point sickle pass

Lock point sickle pass

The locking point Sichelpass (army designation no. 2113) with five objects is located on the Sichelpass . They blocked the northern entrance to the Reduitz from Schangnau . Construction of the caverns began in August 1942. The factories were manned by the Grünenberg Group with the Mountain Fusilier Battalion 31, reinforced with a battery from Field Gunnery Department 4 and the Medical Company I / 3. At times the mountain fusilier company I / 32 was subordinate.

The Schafloch barrier was created from a natural ice cave in the Sigriswilgrat , which made it possible to cross under the Sigriswiler Rothorn. The approximately 600-meter-long passage was developed as a connecting and logistics tunnel, with entrance defenses and armaments on both sides. Cable cars were built to transport material.

  • Infantry factory Sichel Ost 1 A 1872 ⊙
  • Infantry factory Sichel Ost 2 A 1873 ⊙
  • Infantry factory Sichel West 3 A 1874 ⊙
  • Infantry factory Sichel West 4 A 1875 ⊙
  • Infantry factory Sichel West 5 A 1876 ⊙
  • Schafloch lockout ⊙

Lock point Gunten, Sigriswil

The blocking point (Army designation No. 2108) in Gunten BE consists of:

  • Infantry bunker Pak A 1890 Stampach: 9 cm Pak ⊙
  • Field cannon shield II Gunten-Hang A 1892 ⊙
  • Field cannon shield I Gunten-Bach A 1893 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Pak A 1894 Oertli: 9 cm Pak, camouflaged as a barn ⊙
  • Field cannon shield I Längenschachen A 1896 Strasse ⊙
  • Field cannon shield II Längenschachen A 1897 footpath ⊙
  • Lengthenschachen A Infantry Bunker 1898
  • Lmg stand length chutes GPH T 1153 Aeschlenstrasse ⊙
  • Lmg stand length chutes GPH T 1153 Oberländerweg ⊙
  • Off-road tank obstacle T 1147 Gunten-Bach
  • Terrain tank obstacle T 1153 length chutes ⊙

museum

The infantry bunker Fischbalmen can be visited on fixed tour dates according to the website (group tours on request). The meeting point is in front of the Beatenbucht buffet. Access is via a small path that begins next to the Beatenbergbahn railway bridge and heads west for around 300 m to the entrance.

literature

Web links

Commons : Sperrstelle Beatenbucht  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Hans-Rudolf Schoch: Lock Beatenbucht. Infantry bunker Fischbalmen . Frutigen 2012
  2. ↑ VBS: Merligen-Sichel barrier. In: Military monuments in the cantons of Bern and Friborg, Bern 2006
  3. ↑ Fortress Oberland: Blocking point No. 2112 Merligen BE
  4. ↑ Made by Tschanz, August 2016: Expedition to the Schafloch
  5. ↑ Fortress Oberland: Schafloch lock-up point
  6. ↑ Oberland Fortress: Blocking point No. 2108 Gunten BE
  7. ^ HS publications: publishing house for publications on Swiss fortifications, bunkers and fortresses, Frutigen