{"id":55850,"date":"2024-05-13T23:44:11","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T21:44:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/?p=55850"},"modified":"2024-05-19T22:26:01","modified_gmt":"2024-05-19T20:26:01","slug":"a-tour-of-fort-de-mutzig-a-former-german-military-position-in-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.outono.net\/elentir\/2024\/05\/13\/a-tour-of-fort-de-mutzig-a-former-german-military-position-in-france\/","title":{"rendered":"A tour of Fort de Mutzig, a former German military position in France"},"content":{"rendered":"

Germany and France faced each other in the two world wars of the 20th century, but the rivalry between the two went back a long way.<\/p>\n

Zone Rouge: the territory of France that still suffers the effects of the World War I<\/a><\/rel>
\nFort Musil: one of the fortresses of the largest naval base of the Austro-Hungarian Empire<\/a><\/rel><\/p>\n

During the Napoleonic Wars (1803-1815)<\/strong>, the French Empire was confronted with the Kingdom of Prussia and other territories of what would end up being the German Empire in 1871, after a harsh conflict, the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871)<\/strong>, which broke out, curiously, due to a struggle between France and Prussia for the succession to the throne of the Kingdom of Spain<\/strong>, due to the French fear of a rapprochement between it and the Prussian kingdom. This war ended with a humiliating defeat for France, after a siege of several months that culminated in the German capture of Paris.<\/p>\n

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Thanks to that war, the German Empire took over the French region of Alsace-Lorraine, whose capital is the city of Strasbourg<\/strong>, today one of the two seats (with Brussels) of the European Parliament. The end of the war only fueled the rivalry between both countries, which began to prepare for a possible new war.<\/p>\n

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In 1893 Germany fortified Strasbourg with a network of forts called Feste Kaiser Wilhelm II<\/strong>, also known as Fort Mutzig. It was a very modern fort for its time, since its western half was built with concrete<\/strong>, more resistant to artillery than the masonry used until then in this type of fortifications.<\/p>\n

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Fort de Mutzig was armed with 8 150 mm howitzers<\/strong>, 14 105 mm cannons and around twenty smaller caliber pieces. It had an area of 254 hectares and a garrison of 6,500 soldiers.<\/p>\n

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This fortification remained in the hands of Germany during the First World War<\/strong>, hardly seeing any combat, being formally handed over to France in 1919 along with the rest of Alsace-Lorraine.<\/p>\n

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Both the region and Fort Muzig were occupied again by Germany in World War II<\/strong>, returning to French hands in 1945. The French Army continued to use Fort Muzig as a military position until the 1940s. 1960.<\/p>\n

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In 1984, a Franco-German association began restoration work on the Fort de Mutzig<\/strong>, which had been abandoned for many years. This association grew until it had 80 volunteers, who today continue to be in charge of preserving this old military position.<\/p>\n

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In 1995 Fort Muzig was reopened as a museum<\/strong>. It is perhaps the best preserved fortification from the time of the First World War, it even has many of its original artillery pieces.<\/p>\n

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You can get more information about that fascinating museum on its website:<\/strong> fort- mutzig.eu<\/a> (it is in German, French and English). There they explain how the association that has led to the recovery of this historic place came about.<\/p>\n

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A few days ago, the YouTube channel Yeah Probably<\/a> published an interesting video showing the interior and exterior of this fortification:<\/strong><\/p>\n