The Maxstadt circular route, the country fortifications and the Barst Salient

Park in the square by Saint-Jacques Church in Maxstadt.

(S/E) Walk past the church, keeping it on your left, to quickly reach the junction of Rue de la Fontaine and Rue de la Chapelle, where the Saint-Jacques Fountain is located.

(1) Continue straight on along Rue de la Chapelle.

(2) You’ll soon come to the Saint-Odile Chapel on your right. Retrace your steps.

(2) Carry on to the right along the main street. Turn right, walk past the sewage treatment works, then turn left to reach the Weiher.

(3) Continue northwards and cross the River Langenbach. Turn right onto the path and follow the river at a distance to reach the ponds. Continue along the western bank to reach a crossroads.

(4) Turn left at the edge of the woods, then stay on the edge, turning twice to the right and then to the left.

(5) You’ll come out onto a small road; turn left. Head uphill to reach the viewpoint near the Rebberg.

(6) Continue due north to reach the Saillant de Barst.

(7) Return via the same route to the crossroads by the ponds.

(4) Turn left and follow the edge of the woodland. Then turn left at a 90° angle.

(8) Cross a stream and head right to reach another pond.

(9) Turn slightly to the right. Follow Rue de la Forêt and ignore the turn-offs on the right.

(10) At the junction (crossroads), go straight on. Take the^first right, Rue de la Fontaine. You will then come back to the junction you passed on the way out.

(1) Turn left and return to the car park at Saint-Jacques Church (S/E).

(6) You can have a picnic here and enjoy a lovely view.

(S/E) Saint Jacques Church: partly destroyed by German bombing in 1940 and razed to the ground in 1944 by Allied fire, the church dedicated to Saint James the Greater (25 July) was rebuilt in 1956 in a modern style, with the stained-glass windows designed by Schouler in Saint-Avold.
(1) Saint Jacques Fountain: it is topped by a statue of the saint, rebuilt in 1903 by Mayor Schwartz.
(2) Sainte-Odile Chapel: one of the few chapels in the Moselle region dedicated to the great Alsatian saint. The spring located there was venerated by our Celtic ancestors as a healing goddess, its water having been known since time immemorial for curing eye ailments. This chapel was renovated by volunteers between 1996 and 2004. Warning: water not fit for drinking
(3) Weiher Public Area: here stands Blockhouse 2 (or C5B – Weiher 2). This small anti-tank blockhouse is a curiosity that is probably unique along the entire Maginot Line. Indeed, its firing chamber features 60-gauge railway tracks! These rails, arranged at right angles and sharing a turntable, allowed a carriage supporting the mount of a 47 M anti-tank gun to move from one embrasure to another and thus fire alternately in two directions at 90°; this is a pivoting mount. It is not known how the gun’s recoil was absorbed by the carriage.
On the road to the mill: the old Maxstadt pond supplied water to the mill from the^13th century onwards; both have now disappeared. During the Second World War, a new dam was built on this small stream, the Langenbach – a tributary of the German river Nied – and closed off to form a defensive floodplain as part of the ‘Aquatic Maginot Line’ in the Nied valley. This marshy stretch of water followed the contours of the village’s former pond.
(4) Covering an area of 80 ha, the Maxstadt Forest is managed by the National Forestry Office and is being converted into a regular high-forest stand comprising oak (62%), beech (12%), valuable hardwoods (7%), spruce (3%) and hornbeam (16%).
(7) The Barst Salient: this is an area of highly distinctive military architecture. It was converted into a stronghold in 1939–1940 and defended by the^82nd Fortress Infantry Machine-Gun Regiment. A veritable open-air museum of field fortifications awaits you. The site is occasionally brought back to life during re-enactments featuring volunteers from the Barst association dressed in 1940s uniforms.
Former landfill site: now closed, it has been incorporated into the forest land register and is currently managed as a forest plot by the National Forestry Office.
Before (1) on the way back: on Rue de la Fontaine stands one of the region’s last self-service fountains, providing non-potable water. Its main purpose is to supply spring water to the village farmers’ cisterns, which are used to water livestock in the pastures during the summer months.