Lock point St. Antönien
Map with all coordinates: 
The St. Antönien barrier (barrier no. 1284) with the main barrier at Fröschenei-Gadenstätt-Chrüz-Stelserberg was a border fortification of the Swiss Army . It is a barrier erected during the Second World War to prevent any bypassing of the Sargans Fortress via the passes near St. Antönien . The barrier was operated in succession by the Mountain Brigade 12 , the Sargans Fortress and the Border Brigade 12 . With the dissolution of Border Brigade 12, the facilities of the barrier were declassified and lifted in 1994.
prehistory
The strategic importance of the border area became evident as early as 1799 when the Austrians under General von Hotze invaded the Prättigau from the Schruns area over the passes near St. Antönien and Luzein during the French wars.
The planned construction of the Sargans fortress also required the fortification of the Prättigau passes, which could be used as bypass routes. In June 1939 the first reconnaissance took place and in November the office for fortifications (BBB) commissioned the excavation of caverns near the large and small Chrüz to private construction companies.
Chrüz inside gallery
Foundation of the construction cableway at the eastern foot of the Chrüz
Second World War
In May 1940, the commander of Gebirgsbrigade 12 decided to reinforce the blocking point with twelve bunkers and troop shelters. In the defense system in the canton of Graubünden, all barriers were built up to 10 km from the border in order to be able to weaken the enemy in the foreland near the border in a delayed battle with mobile infantry and to be able to hinder his supplies by blowing up the transport infrastructure (bridges).
In St. Antönien, a simpler fortification of the pass crossings and bottlenecks near the border was dispensed with and a pre-barrier was created at the Ascharina valley. Due to the lack of a bottleneck, the main barrier, which was moved back, had to be built on a 3 km long valley flank from Gadenstätt in the direction of Stelserberg. The construction site for the bunker construction was in Luzein-Boden. From there the military cable cars MSB111 / 114 led to the east foot of the Chrüz summit. A military road from Luzein via Pany to Gadenstätt was built by internees. At the beginning of 1941 the first stands were ready to fire and in 1943 the works were completely finished.
Lock at St. Antönien Platz
The pre-barrier was built in 1940:
- St. Antönien infantry bunker on the right A 7740, 1 machine gun (Mg), 1 light machine gun (Lmg), 10 men ⊙
- Infantry bunker St. Antönien left A 7741, 1 mg, 8 men ⊙
St. Antönien Süd / right A 7740
Main barrier Fröschenei-Gadenstätt-Chrüz-Stelserberg
The main dam was built in 1940:
- Infantry bunker Froschenei A 7742, cavern, 1 mg, 1 Lmg, 10 men ⊙
- Infantry bunker Gadenstätt A 7743, 1 mg, 8 men ⊙
- Infantry bunker Gadenstätt in the back A 7744, 1 mg, 7 men ⊙
- Infantry bunker Gadenstätt above A 7745, 1 mg, 8 men ⊙
- Infantry bunker Valpun A 7755, cavern 1940, 1 MG, 8 men ⊙
- Mountain cavern Chrüz southwest ridge A 7751 ⊙
- Mountain cavern Chrüz Gafäll A 7751 ⊙
Gadenstätt A 7743
Valpun A 7755
Chrüz tunnel southwest ridge
- Infantry bunker Boden Kuppe A 7746, 1 Mg, 1 Lmg, 12 men ⊙
- Infantry bunker Boden West A 7747, 1 Mg, 1 Lmg, 12 men ⊙
- Infantry bunker Oberer Boden Ost A 7748, 1 Mg, 2 Lmg, 12 men ⊙
- Infantry bunker Oberer Boden West A 7749, 1 Mg, 1 Lmg, 10 men ⊙
Luzein Boden Kuppe A 7746
Luzein Boden West A 7747
Luzein Oberer Boden Ost A 7748
Luzein Oberer Boden West A 7749
- Infantry bunker Stelsersee A 6288, 1 mg, 2 Lmg, 8 men ⊙
- Infantry bunker Stelserberg A 6289, 1 mg, 1 Lmg ⊙
- Infantry bunker Stelsersee West ⊙
Stelsersee A 6288 entrance and Ostscharte (right)
Stelsersee A 6288 Westscharte
Stelserberg A 6289 Nordscharte
From the Mountain Brigade 12 to the Border Brigade 12
The Mountain Brigade 12 initially had the task of maintaining the St. Antönien Castels - Tschuggen barrier, the Fröschenei - Gadenstätt barrier and in the Kreuz - Stelserberg area in order to prevent an enemy advance. With the operational order No. 13 of July 12, 1943, the section border between the 3rd and 4th Army Corps was shifted, whereby the blocking of the accesses from the Montafon to the Prättigau including between Sulzfluh and east of the Schlappiner Joch means that the Sargans fortress (southern front, Fortress Brigade 13). Their extended defense mission now read: Immediately after the state of war has entered the Montafon, and there disrupt the enemy's movements . With Troop Order 51, the lock was assigned to the newly created Border Brigade 12.
literature
- Peter Baumgartner, Hans Stäbler: Fortified Graubünden. Wolves in sheep's clothing. Military History Foundation Graubünden, Chur 2006 ISBN 978-3-85637-321-4 . Extended edition Verlag Desertina, Chur 2016, ISBN 978-3-85637-485-3 .
- Silvio Keller, Maurice Lovisa, Thomas Bitterli: Military monuments in the canton of Graubünden. Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (Ed.), Bern 2003
Web links
- Fortress museum Sperre Trin: Sperrstelle 1284 St. Antönien
- Overview map with angle of fire
- Fortified Graubünden in 1941