Westwall bunker (leases)

dome

The Westwall bunker (leasing) is a preserved bunker of the Westwall facility in Dillingen . Its excavation and restoration began in 2004 and was completed in 2008. The bunker has been a listed building since 2006 and is open to the public as a museum bunker . It is located on Annastrasse in the district of Pachten .

Historical context

Bunkers still visible to passers-by today. A detailed representation can be found in the history cards.

Construction activities in Dillingen only began after the construction of the west wall was well advanced. When around 50 plants had already been built in 1937, a new list of standard structures was drawn up in 1938. The intensification of the expansion of the Siegfried Line was announced on October 9, 1938 in Saarbrücken on the Liberation Field. The bunkers listed have now only been built in construction strengths B and A. The construction work began in 1939 and lasted until 1940. With 165 systems on an area of around 40 km², a high density of fortifications was created.

On December 6th, 1944 at 2:30 a.m., the third battalion of the 358th US Infantry Regiment marched from Oberlimberg down the steep slope to the bank of the Saar. The battalion lost itself on the descent and was only able to gather again at 5.15 a.m. to then cross over with 8-man assault boats south of the ferry (at the level of today's sports harbor) . Since the Germans did not expect an attack at this point, the Americans reached Wilhelmstrasse without any problems. When all the companies had crossed at 7:50 am and reached leases, they were set under fire, presumably from bunkers 20 and 17. They bypassed the bunkers and waited for the pioneers to shut down the bunkers with explosive charges. In the weeks that followed, bitter fighting broke out in Pachten and Dillingen, with heavy losses on both sides. Many bunkers were re-occupied by the Germans several times, only to be taken again by the Americans. When Dillingen was almost completely taken, the American units were withdrawn from the town by December 22nd to be used in the Ardennes offensive .

The bunker

Crew room

The bunker is a standard type 114 b and bears the designation WH-Nr. 20. However, it differs from the standard design because it has a staircase. These special constructions with staircases were built especially in the western part of the bunker chain, as they were in the flood area of the Saar . The crew was 12 men. The base lies at a depth of 6 m. The tower is a 20P7, has six notches and weighs 51 t. The turret was equipped with 2 MG34 machine guns, the optical sight of which enabled the stock to be offset laterally . This protected the shooter's head from enemy fire. The site was observed using three angled optics (made by Busch ), each with a 150-degree field of view, as well as a central optic that was fixed in the center of the tower and rotatable through 360 degrees. A vertical shaft with a rectangular cross-section was provided as an emergency exit. Evacuation was then possible through a steel door at the top of the shaft that is accessible today.

restoration

The reason for the restoration of the bunker was its imminent demolition by its administrator, the Federal Agency for Real Estate . As a result, the restoration of the bunker in the form of a museum was initiated as part of the activities of the Dillinger history workshop. Soon after the excavations began in 2004, the Westwall project association was founded in 2005 .