Save position
The Spichern position is part of the Siegfried Line near Spicheren between Saarbrücken and Forbach .
It is largely located on French territory. The reason for the unusual course of the position can be seen in the retreat of the French military into the Maginot Line , with which the entire glacis of the line was abandoned. From the perspective of the Nazi regime, the proximity to the industrial plants in Saarland and the large city of Saarbrücken near the border required the capture of the Giffertwald near Spicherns. The mountain ranges had already played an important role in the Battle of Spichern during the Franco-German War .
In December 1939, the first temporary shelters were built on the Spicherer Heights. On December 24, 1939, Adolf Hitler visited the positions accompanied by Erwin von Witzleben , the commander in chief of the 1st Army stationed in the west . One of the shelters was subsequently referred to as the "Adolf Hitler position".
During the seated war , the Spicherer Heights were built with bunkers from January to June 1940 and integrated into the Westwall system.
On February 21, 1945, Spichern was liberated by soldiers of the 70th US Infantry Division ( Trailblazers ).
The bunkers of the Spichern position were not razed . Most of the facilities on the French side are still there today and give a good idea of the typical facilities on the Siegfried Line.
Individual evidence
- ^ Karl August Schleiden : Saarbrücken, as it was. Part 2, Düsseldorf, 1980, p. 32.
- ↑ Gerhild Krebs: The fortifications of the western wall in Saarland. memotransfont, accessed September 3, 2013 .
Web links
- The save positions. saartanisch.de, accessed on September 4, 2013 .
Coordinates: 49 ° 11 ′ 40 ″ N , 6 ° 59 ′ 23 ″ E