Fort de Douaumont

Useful Information

photography — Map, Fort de Douaumont, France. Public Domain.

Location:	D913B, 55400 Douaumont Vaux. (49.2164312, 5.4388476)
Open:	04-FEB to 14-APR daily 10-17:30. 15-APR to 17-SEP daily 10-18:30. 18-SEP to DEC daily 10-17:30. [2023]
Fee:	Adults EUR 5, Children (8-18) EUR 4, Children (0-7) free, Family (2+1) EUR 12. Combo Museum + 2 Forts: Adults EUR 17, Children (8-18) EUR 11.50. [2023]
Classification:	Casemate
Light:	Incandescent Electric Light System
Dimension:
Guided tours:
Photography:	not allowed
Accessibility:	no
Bibliography:
Address:	Fort de Douaumont, D913B, 55400 Douaumont Vaux. Mémorial de Verdun, 1, avenue du Corps européen, BP 60048 - Fleury-devant-Douaumont, 55101 Verdun Cedex, Tel: +33-329-88-19-16. E-mail:
As far as we know this information was accurate when it was published (see years in brackets), but may have changed since then. Please check rates and details directly with the companies in question if you need more recent info.

History

25-FEB-1916	Fort Douaumont entered and occupied without a fight by a small German raiding party.
25-NOV-1970	declared a Historical Monument.
2023	inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Description

Fort de Douaumont was the largest and highest fort of the ring of 19 large forts which protected the city of Verdun since the 1890s. Unfortunately, super-heavy howitzers had easily taken several large Belgian forts out of action in August 1914. The logic conclusion was that even the best-protected forts of Verdun could not withstand bombardments from the German 420 mm Gamma guns. The forts were judged ineffective and partly disarmed, the weapons were redistributed. But the forts were left virtually undefended, and as a result Douaumont was entered and occupied without a fight by a small German raiding party. This was only three days after the beginning of the Battle of Verdun.

The easy fall of Fort Douaumont, though not really unexpected, nevertheless shocked the French Army. It also was a shock for the French public, and when the fort, which was almost completely destroyed by shells, was reconquered it was the reprise. Now, 100 years later, the difference between the heroic reconquering legend and the devastated reality is obvious. We have four pictures to show this kind of one-sided perception. The first picture is a sort of caricature, showing how different the perception of the Fort Douaumont was at the beginning of the war. The Germans feared the fort, tried to avoid it, because it was a bunker full of deadly weapons. The French were pesimistic, in their view, the fort was more like a medieval castle, completely outdated and not sufficient for modern warfare. But when the French recapured the fort, heroic paintings of victorious heroes were created. The next is a caricature published in the newspaper Le Figaro. The Germans get a kick in the ass. But finally, picture four is a photograph which shows the reality. What France actually reconquered is a completely devastated landscape, only bomb craters.