15-JUN to 15-SEP daily 10-18.
16-SEP to 11-NOV Thu-Sun, Hol 10-18.
[2011]
Groups (10+): Adults EUR 5, Children (6-16) EUR 2.50.
[2011]
World War II Bunker
Hatten Town Hall, Tel. +33-388-800026, Fax: +33-388-800925.
| Location: | Hatten, west of the village. |
| Open: |
MAR to 14-JUN Thu-Sun, Hol 10-18. 15-JUN to 15-SEP daily 10-18. 16-SEP to 11-NOV Thu-Sun, Hol 10-18. [2011] |
| Fee: |
Adults EUR 5, Children (10-16) EUR 3, Children (6-10) EUR 2.50, Children (0-5) free. Groups (10+): Adults EUR 5, Children (6-16) EUR 2.50. [2011] |
| Classification: |
World War II Bunker
|
| Light: | electric |
| Dimension: | |
| Guided tours: | self guided, D=3h |
| Photography: | |
| Accessibility: | |
| Bibliography: | |
| Address: |
Musée de l'Abri de Hatten, Tel: +33-388-801490.
E-mail: Hatten Town Hall, Tel. +33-388-800026, Fax: +33-388-800925. |
| Last update: | $Date: 2011/12/13 08:52:33 $ |
| 1930 | start of construction. | |
| 1936 | completed and manned by french troops. | |
| 1940 | French army defeated, bunker abandoned. | |
| 1994 | museum opened to the public. | |
| JAN-1940 | battle of Hatten-Rittershoffen. |
The Abri de Hatten is a bunker of the Maginot Line, construction was started in 1930 by the French army. The Maginot Line was named after the French Minister of War André Maginot. It was established to provide time for their army to mobilise in the event of attack. It ran along the German and Italian borders, but was rather weak along the Belgian and Luxembourgian borders. This border was much longer and Belgium was intended as a buffer. As a result the Germans invaded Belgium, defeated the French army, and flanked the Maginot Line.
The bunker was designed to shelter a garrison of 220 men. It had a well, a boiler room, an engine room, dorms, toilets, and showers. The bunker was protected against poisonous gas. The front is a 60m long concrete wall, the rest of the bunker is underground. The two massive armored doors are protected by close defense, four machine gun positions, and a ditch or moat in front of the wall. It was designed to collect the blocks of concrete splintering off the facade in case of an attack.
The whole fortification was actually never used. But the villages of Hatten and Rittershoffen were the site of one of the fiercest tank battles in France. The battle of Hatten-Rittershoffen in January 1945 was part of Operation Nordwind, Hitler's last offensive on the western front. The results were 85% destruction and 114 civilian casualties.
The Abri de Hatten is the biggest of 19 bunkers on the territory of Hatten, a village on the Haguenau forest. This is the place where the French-German border, which follows the Rhine river from the south, turns west in a 90 degree angle. So this part of the Maginot line forms a point and was thus of great strategic importnace. The Abri has 28 rooms which are all renovated, 8 are used as exhibition rooms, 14 have been restored to their original state. There is a collection of models of French fortifications, a diorama of the battle of Hatten, memorials to the dead civilians, the Malgré-Nous, Alsace men who were forced into the Wehrmacht after the Alsace was annected. Outdoor display include numerous big machines like a Mirage français 3B, tanks, a Russian military helicopter, cannons, and trucks.
)
| Main Index | France | Alsace |
| Last updated Terms of Use, © Jochen Duckeck. |
Custom Search
|
 |
Maps Alphabetical Index |
|
Contact showcaves.com: |
|
General Information |