City command Basel

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Georeferencing Map with all coordinates: OSM | WikiMap
Bunkerscharten A 2873 below the old University of Basel

The Basel City Command was an association of the Swiss Army created in the Second World War to defend the city of Basel under the command of Colonel Hans De Bary (1894–1968). The city of Basel with its Rhine bridges was an important strategic base in order to delay an approach of the enemy as long as possible.

The Basel-Rheinufer blocking point is a military historical monument of national importance.

prehistory

Basel city walls
Basel «Dalbeloch»

From 1080 to 1860 the city of Basel was fortified with three city walls (Burkhardsche, Inner and Outer Wall). On the inner and outer city walls, gates and candle arches formed the entrance and exit to the city. Today the St. Johanns-Tor, the St. Alban-Tor and the Spalentor as well as a short section of the wall in the "Dalbeloch", which are under monument protection, still exist . Bunkers from the 20th century are combined with the medieval city wall at the Letzischanze or stand on the former battlefield near St. Jakob an der Birs .

history

Before the general mobilization of war on September 2, 1939 , the border troops were deployed on August 28, 1939 and the Basler Territorial Regiments 73 (Territorial Battalions 127, 129) and 86 (Ter Bat 128, 179) the following day to defend the urban area of ​​Basel. There they began under the command of Border Brigade 4 with the construction of barricades, obstacles and security systems. In mid-September, the territorial troops were subordinated to the Basel City Command, which was newly formed on October 1 and was assigned to the 4th Division.

The city of Basel, Kleinbasel (with the Badischer Bahnhof operated by Deutsche Bahn ) and the communities of Riehen and Bettingen north of the Rhine were before the Swiss Army's first defensive position ( Limmat position ). The city, which was strategically difficult to defend, was to serve as an advanced fortified base with limited use of resources, and the actual national defense was to be implemented in strategically more favorable locations. On April 20, 1940, the army command ordered a reinforced crew to secure the Basel section against raids and coups and to keep Basel on the line of resistance. In an attack, house by house and street by street would have to be defended.

The bridges over the Rhine and the lower Birs and other objects were prepared for destruction. The bridgeheads were greatly expanded on both sides and fortified with infantry bunkers. 526 barriers and positions were erected in the city, 169 of them in Kleinbasel. The task of the troops of the city command consisted of the neutrality position in the control of the borders on all sides, in the tactical position behind the barriers and in the guarding of the vital factories.

Wehrmacht 1940: city plans for Switzerland

In May 1940 the city command was subordinated to the Gempen Division , which was formed ad hoc . On July 3, 1940, the Gempen division was abolished, and on July 6, the troops subordinate to the city command were released. After the army withdrew to the Reduit , Basel was declared an open city and the city command was released on standby, which remained so until the end of the war. The business of the territorial service had to be done by the commandant (mobilization site city of Basel).

After the Allied landing and the advance towards Germany in autumn 1944, the military protection of the Rhine bridges became relevant again. From September 6, Basel experienced the most intensive troop occupation during the war with around one division: troops from the field army and border guards arrived with infantry, artillery, anti-tank and sappers. The commanders of the 4th Division and the 4th Border Brigade were quartered in Basel.

During the Cold War , a city command in Basel was again provided with the TO 51 troop order and a commanding officer was appointed on January 1, 1954 (standby position). With Army 61 (TO 61), the territorial service was reorganized and the Basel city command was formed, which was subordinate to Territorialkreis 21. During the first joint service in May / June 1975 with the command post in Sissach, the city command had a battalion, genius formations, and three fusilier companies, three auxiliary police companies, four guard detachments, ten support detachments and two medical detachments available for the combat mission of the Neutrality Protection Service (NSD).

At the end of 1986, the city command was completely relieved of its combat duties and only had to perform territorial services. On January 1, 1989, the city command was raised to the rank of a district. In the event of an emergency, a combat troop commander with a small staff was put on standby to protect neutrality. From 1939 to 2003, the city of Basel had the only territorial service structure in Switzerland known as the city command.

Evacuation

At the beginning of September 1939, the government council had the civil action Basel (ZEB) organized, which was supposed to enable the financially weak canton residents to go to safe areas of the country. Anyone else who wanted to leave Basel should have done so at their own risk and expense. On May 14, 1940, based on reports from the military intelligence service about German troop movements, the city command expected a German attack every hour and triggered the highest level of alert. Part of the civilian population left the city in panic, there was a large crowd at the train station until May 16, and loaded private vehicles drove inland. When the ZEB evacuation could have started with 27 trains after May 15, the all-clear was given. According to contemporary estimates, around 100,000 people left the northern border areas in May 1940, of which between 20,000 and 30,000 left the city of Basel.

On June 20, 1940, the general issued the following instruction to the population: Anyone who does not receive an order to leave has to stay at his place of residence . Volunteers were allowed as long as the influx of refugees did not hinder military operations. On November 4, 1940, the commander of the 2nd Army Corps issued a secret order to the territorial commanders that unauthorized evacuations were to be prevented. Several companies had taken precautions and brought important files and personnel to the reduit room.

Assigned troops

At the beginning of the German campaign in the west on May 10, 1940, around 12,000 men were under the command of the city command:

  • Territorial Regiment (Ter Rgt) «St. Jakob an der Birs »(Freiburger Ter Bat 164, 165): Defense of Grossbasels
  • Ter Rgt 73 (Basler Ter Bat 127, 129): Securing the five Rhine bridges and the Birs crossings
  • Ter Rgt 86 (Basler Ter Bat 128, 179): Defense of Riehens
  • Mountain Infantry Regiment (Geb Inf Rgt) 10 (Berner Geb Füs Bat 40, 110): Defense of Kleinbasel on the railway bridge-Badischer Bahnhof-Dreirosenbrücke line
  • Geb Inf Rgt 16 (Geb Füs Bat 38, 39)

Existing fortification objects of the city command

The fixed combat infrastructures were mostly built in the first months of the Second World War and hardly used. Many objects have been demolished in the densely built-up urban area.

The "Basel Stadt" blocking point consisted of the following partial blocks:

Birsfelden- Hard, blocking point on Rheinfelderstrasse in the direction of Schweizerhalle :

  • Infantry bunker 1 ⊙ , three notches pointed towards Basel and one notch on the side against the street
  • Infantry bunker 2 ⊙
  • Infantry Bunker 3 Area of ​​the freight yard

Brother wood :

  • Infantry bunker

Elsässerbahn :

  • Terrain tank obstacle Elsässerbahn ⊙

Kleinbasel :

  • Infantry bunker St.Joseph-Kirche A 2882 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker underpass Bäumlihofstrasse A 28XX ⊙
  • Dreirosen infantry bunker ⊙

  • Infantry bunker St.Joseph-Kirche A 2882

Muttenz- Rütihard:

  • Infantry bunker Rothalde A 2826 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Geispel 1 A 2827 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Geispel 2 A 2828 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Geispel 3 A 2829 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Rütihard Ost A 2830 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Rütihard Mitte A 2831 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Rütihard West A 2832 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Rütihard-Nordwest A 2833 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Rütihard A 2834 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Rütihard A 2835 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Rütihard-Fels A 2836 ⊙
  • Sanitary shelter Asprain A 2837 ⊙
  • Infantry cannon shield Rütihardhof ⊙
  • ASU nuclear shelter

  • Bernese Mountain Fusilier Company II / 110 - active service 1940

  • Rütihard-Fels A 2836 infantry bunker

  • Rütihard A 2835 infantry bunker

  • Infantry bunker Geispel 3 A 2829

St. Alban pond :

  • St.Albanteich Ost A 2865 ⊙
  • St. Albanteich Mitte A 2866 ⊙
  • St.Albanteich West A 2867 ⊙
View from the cathedral over the Wettstein Bridge up the Rhine: to the right of the embankment, the Mühleberg A 2871 Mg stand protrudes, further back the Letziturm terrace with the two A 2869, 2870 Mg stands

St. Jacob :

  • Infantry bunker St.Jakob Basel A 2855 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Gellertstrasse A 2856 ⊙
  • St.Jakob Gellertdreieck A 2857 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Gellertdreieck Ostgeleise A 2858 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker A 2859 ⊙

St. Margarethen : The three bunkers were built by the Landwehr Sappeur Company I / 32.

  • Infantry bunker St. Margareten Ost A 2887 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker St. Margareten West A 2888 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker A 2889 ⊙
  • Terrain armor obstacle GPH Pruntruttermatte ⊙

Rheinufer / Wettsteinbrücke : The “Grossbasel-Wettsteinbrücke” barrier with the machine gun bunkers completed in June 1940 was the first effective line of defense against the north in the Basel area.

  • Explosive objects Wettsteinbrücke
  • Infantry bunker Letzischanze Ost A 2869 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Letzischanze West A 2870 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Mühleberg A 2871 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Wettsteinbrücke A 2872 ⊙
  • Infantry bunker Old University A 2873 ⊙

  • Bunker A 2872 at the southwest bridgehead of the Wettstein Bridge

  • Wettsteinbrücke A 2872 infantry bunker

  • Infantry bunker Mühleberg A 2871

  • Infantry bunker Letzischanze West A 2870

Lock point Wartenberg

The Wartenberg blocking point was located on the Wartenberg in the immediate vicinity of the three historic castle ruins above Muttenz Basel-Landschaft and consists of the following fortifications:

  • two infantry cannon shields (Ik shields) A 2809 with shelter A 2810 ⊙
  • Infantry cannons / machine gun stand Heissgländ A 2811 ⊙
  • Observer A 2812 ⊙
  • Command post in the ruins of Vorder Wartenberg A 2813 ⊙
  • Light machine gun stand (Lmg) A 2814 ⊙
  • 8.1 cm mortar position / shelter A 2815 ⊙
  • Lmg stand Wartenberg West A 2816 ⊙
  • Ik-Stand A 2817 (demolished)
  • Infantry bunker A 2818

  • Command post Border Guard Regiment 48 and Rifle Battalion 5, A 2813

  • Observer A 2812

  • Light machine gun stand A 2814

  • 8.1 cm mortar position / shelter A 2815

literature

Web links

Commons : Stadtkommando Basel  - Collection of images, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ^ State archive Basel-Stadt: Stadtkommando Basel. Border occupation 1939/40
  2. ↑ Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (eds.): Silvio Keller, Maurice Lovisa, Thomas Bitterli: Military monuments in the cantons of Solothurn, Basel-Stadt and Basel-Landschaft. Inventory of the combat and command structures . VBS Bern 2001 (PDF file; 7.11 MB)
  3. ↑ Old Basel: Letziturm and machine gun stands Letzischanze
  4. ↑ Gempen Division: Task and Position ( Memento from March 26, 2016 in the Internet Archive )
  5. ^ Christian Brückner: The Basel city command 1939-1989 - review on the occasion of the 50th anniversary . Basel, November 1989
  6. ↑ Caroline Senn: The voluntary evacuation did not have a strong effect on us. Traces of a historical event from mid-May 1940 in the Zurich City Archives. Litzentiat work. Zurich City Archives, Annual Report 2007–2008, pages 271–295. [1]
  7. ↑ Bernerzeitung of May 5, 2013: When the Balôise built their Reduit
  8. ↑ Fortress Oberland: City Command Basel
  9. ↑ Oberland Fortress: Wartenberg Lock Point

Coordinates: 47 ° 33 '34.6 "  N , 7 ° 35' 18.9"  E ; CH1903:  six hundred and eleven thousand two hundred eighty-six  /  two hundred and sixty-seven thousand six hundred and sixty-five