Hohrodberg - Linge, World War I battlefield

Park in the car park at the top of Hohrodberg, located along the Route du Linge, just after the Aqua-Viva hotel.

(S/E) Take the path (welcome sign) leading up to the left towards the Glasborn farmhouse inn. The path starts at a German bunker (sign no. 1).

The path crosses halfway up the western slope of the Kleinkopf and Barrenkopf, passing through ‘No Man’s Land’, the area between the two front lines. After about a hundred metres, you will see the course of the German trench on your right, at the edge of the woods (sign no. 2).
When you reach the Glasborn farmhouse inn, take the access road for about twenty metres to join the path that branches off to the left, towards the Col du Wettstein. From here, you enter the French lines, where the trenches and the terrain changes caused by the war are still clearly visible. By taking the designated path, you will be able to visit the first French fortifications on the small ridge (elevation 941) overlooking the Glasborn farmhouse inn.

(1) Leaving the small ridge, turn left and follow the path towards the base of the Hurlin (elevation 939). Turn left.

(2) You will reach a second rocky ridge, at elevation 941, running parallel to the first, situated 300 m behind it.
Leaving this second ridge, turn left and follow the path along the slope of the Hurlin (signpost no. 5). Go round a wooded hillock (elevation 938) to reach the Col du Wettstein and the National Cemetery.

(3) The route continues by skirting the cemetery on the left.

(4) Find a forest track that branches off to the right of the road (follow “Centre de vacances le Vallon”, Yellow Ring). Pass the Madelon spring. At the Y-junction that follows, turn right and, after a few dozen metres, take the path that climbs steeply to the right at a right angle. At the top of the hill, leave the forest to rejoin the D11 road. Turn left towards the Glasborn farmhouse inn.

(5) You will pass the Battle of the Linge memorial.
Take the road leading to the Glasborn farmhouse inn. After a few dozen metres, at a Y-junction, take the path that climbs between two barbed-wire fences towards Schratzmaennele, later known as Schratz by French soldiers. You will reach the infamous Courtine glacis. Shortly after entering the Schratz pine forest, take the path on the right to reach the Courtine trail junction.

:5:: Now retrace your steps for a few metres and turn right (north) onto the wide path that crosses the western slope of the Schratz halfway up (signpost no. 9).
After a 200-metre straight climb, you will reach the German trenches (signpost no. 10).
At this bend in the path, take the ridge path on the left which descends towards the Linge Memorial Museum. Before reaching the Museum and crossing the D11, you will come to the monument to Commanders Colardelle and Barberot (signpost no. 12).
Cross the road and the car park to reach the Memorial (you can visit the museum and the German trenches) and then the viewpoint.

(7) From the Museum, to reach the German cemetery at Baerenstall, take the path leading down to the east of the Museum. It joins a forest track below the D11 road. A little further on, on the heights to the right, you will see the shelter of the Bavarian command post from 1916–1917. The forest track leads to the pass and the German cemetery at Baerenstall.

(8) Turn left, cross the rest area and climb the steep path leading up to the summit of Schratzmaennele (signpost no. 13). At the summit, head diagonally left towards the quarries, following the path that roughly follows the route of the German front line.

After about thirty metres, a sign (no. 15) indicates the large quarry. Take the small access path which will lead you inside the quarry. Then climb back up via the same access point and head off to the left. A few dozen metres further on, you will reach the small fort (signpost no. 16). A few metres further on to the left, there is another structure (signpost no. 17), which is more spacious and can be visited in complete safety.

(9) This structure overlooks the small quarry, which you will discover via the path leading down to the left. Leaving the small quarry, the path descends to the left towards the French lines, emerging at the Courtine crossroads, which you are already familiar with.

(6) Continue straight on (south) towards the Barrenkopf. At the entrance to the Barrenkopf woods, signpost no. 19.
From the Barrenkopf signpost, you will continue the route along the ridge path towards the Kleinkopf and its observation post. After about thirty metres, you will briefly leave the Barrenkopf path to enter the woods and discover a model trench (signpost no. 20).

Return to the Barrenkopf path. All along this ridge, there are numerous concrete remains, trenches and shell holes; you need only stray 5 or 10 metres from the path to spot them. Shortly after passing the summit, you’ll reach the first French line at Barrenkopf in 1916. It lies less than 20 metres from the German trench.

(10) At Barrenkopf, you will once again leave the ridge path to the left to discover the masonry façade of the top station of a small German cable car (sign no. 21). Then return to the ridge path. After a steep descent, the path climbs slightly again to reach a rocky summit. An observation window is still clearly visible from the path; today it is at knee height for walkers, who sometimes pass by without noticing it.

(11) After about a hundred metres of rocky path, you will reach a bare summit called Kleinkopf. Begin the descent to the left towards the television relay mast. Upon reaching the Route du Linge, just below the mast, you will find an orientation table (sign no. 23), situated below the road.

(12) You will then take the path that descends to the left of the orientation table; it will lead you to a small pass called Wahlenstall. Take the forest track to the left, which will allow you to discover the relatively well-preserved remains of several shelters.

(13) From the shelters, retrace your steps.

(12) Leaving the crossroads, climb the small hill in front of you, following the edge of the woods, to find the remains of a German artillery observation post (sign no. 26).
You will now head back down along the edge of the woods to reach the small pass (elevation 803).

(14). You will arrive at a crossroads of paths, where a wooden refuge hut has been built. Take the path leading uphill to the east to reach, via the southern slope, another small pass called Schneiden.

(15) Here, a sign indicates the presence of a major fortification.

Take the forest track to the left (west) to go round the Hoernleskopf on the left and return to the small pass

(14). Take the^second path on the left and stay below the road to reach the car park (S/E).

This route will allow you to discover the many remaining traces of the Battle of the Linge and to better understand the unfolding of this human tragedy.
There are various routes. The suggested route covers all the options and takes in all the sites. The circular route takes 3 hours, and with all the options included, you should allow 5 hours, depending on your stops and your interest in the sites. Stay on the marked path, do not enter the tunnels, and do not collect ammunition.

Equipment: Walking shoes, a torch if you wish to enter the bunkers.
Along the route, information boards explain the history of the area. You can download the commentary and the route at: https://www.cc-vallee-munster.fr/Culture...

Eating: Ferme auberge du Glasborn Picnic areas: Col du Wettstein (shelter), Col du Baerenstall, small pass at 803m (shelter),

Sign 1 The blockhouse located on this corner is a remnant of the front line, fortified by the Germans from the summer of 1915 onwards. It was designed to house two or three men, tasked with defending this line using their rifles or a machine gun. The French trenches were located here more than 100 metres below, near the village of Soultzeren.

Panel 2: The German trench and its two reinforced concrete blockhouses. This trench linked the summit of the Barrenkopf to the fortified position on the Hohrodberg, near the present-day ‘Aqua Viva’ hotel, and constituted an ideal upstream position. It is not uncommon to find rifle bullets or shell fragments on this path, eroded by the rain, as this area was the scene of fierce fighting for over three years of the war.

Panel 3: This ridge was heavily fortified with firing and observation embrasures and criss-crossed by several underground galleries hewn into the rock, all of which are now filled in by rockfalls. The panoramic view here is very clear, and you can see both the great Vosges ridge to your right (towards the west) and the Linge Barrenkopf massif to the left.

Panel 4: This rocky ridge, also occupied and fortified by the French from 1915 to 1918, still bears numerous remains of masonry trenches, tunnels and underground chambers. One of these chambers is still accessible, provided you take the necessary precautions.
Panel 5: The "Hoernleskopf", with its gentle, wooded slopes, served mainly as an observation post and fallback position for the French Alpine Hunters. To simplify matters, they called it "Hurlin", a name that has remained in use to this day.

Panel 6: The Wettstein Pass is a crossroads of numerous paths and roads, where many camps were set up, concealed by the thick pine forest. A French shelter has been reconstructed near the Wettstein car park by the Association du Mémorial du Linge. At the Wettstein Pass lies the Le Wettstein National Necropolis, the cemetery of the French Alpine Hunters. It contains the remains of 3,538 French soldiers, including 1,337 interred in two ossuaries, exhumed from the battlefield and surrounding military cemeteries. The site was developed between 1919 and 1926. It also features the War Memorial to the ‘Diables Bleus’ (1914–1918).

Panel 7: The Battle of the Linge memorial is dedicated to the three infantry divisions that took part in the operations: the 47th, 66th and 129th Infantry Divisions. It was unveiled on 13 August 1939 by General d’Armau de Pouydraguin, former commander of the 47th Infantry Division, at this tragic site known as ‘La Courtine’, where successive waves of Alpine Hunters were mowed down by German machine-gun fire.

Panel 8: La Courtine is situated directly in front of the German trenches. The terrain here bears witness to the intensity of the bombardments endured by these men holed up in their foxholes. At this point, the French and German trenches are 15 to 20 metres apart. Several accounts from soldiers recount that the position closest to the enemy was the least dangerous, as neither side could use their artillery in such close quarters. A touchscreen display will allow you to explore a selection of the various projectiles and other lethal weapons available to both sides.

Panel 9: The Schratz slope was occupied by the French from July 1915 onwards. Soldiers had to climb it under a hail of fire. This immediately gives an idea of the difficulty of these assaults, launched against an enemy dominating the slope and sheltered in their trenches, manned by machine-gunners and grenadiers. The forest, replanted in the 1930s, illustrates here the poor quality of the terrain, riddled with scrap metal and other debris following the intense bombardments. The trunks of the pine trees should normally be twice their diameter at the base.

Panel 10: The German trenches were, as throughout this sector, situated at the most advantageous geographical point. Overlooking the attackers, the German reserve troops, positioned along the ridge line, were protected and out of range of French fire.

Panel 11: The Linge Memorial Museum. You can visit the museum (admission fee applies), the battlefield with its trenches cleared since 1968, and watch the 14-minute film, which uses period footage to recount the history of the Battle of the Linge.

Panel 12: The monument to Commanders Colardelle and Barberot pays tribute to the soldiers of the 5th, 45th and 107th BCP, who fell in great numbers during the Great War.

Panel 13: The summit of Schratzmaennele formed the German front line, which was held here from July 1915 until the Armistice of 1918. Here, the trenches were carefully filled in after the war and the forest replanted, in order to restore the mountain to its natural and peaceful state. One can still see the general disturbance to the ground, as well as the numerous cavities created by the underground shelters that have collapsed after decades of neglect. Note that the entire summit was converted into a veritable concrete fortress, criss-crossed by numerous underground tunnels leading to the outposts of the main trench.

Panel 14: the German cemetery at Baerenstall. At the entrance, a small blockhouse dating from 1917 or 1918 is open to visitors and in perfect condition. The German cemetery was originally located on the other side of the road, on the south-eastern slope of the Schratz, near the mausoleum. It was not until the 1930s that a new cemetery was established to bring together all the German graves from the northern sector of Munster. Several period monuments of very fine quality can be seen there. The mausoleum, erected by the Bavarians in 1916 and restored in the 1980s, still stands in its original location. Several steles carved from the local pink sandstone can still be seen in the cemetery and beside the cemetery entrance.

Panel 15: The large quarry was one of the Germans’ most effective defensive positions, where the remains of German shelters are still visible. Long before the war, the sandstone extracted from this quarry was used in the construction of the Protestant church in Munster between 1867 and 1873.

Panel 16: The small fort, a concrete structure on the summit, was, from 1915 to 1918, the main obstacle to French attacks. This structure illustrates its evolution and successive reinforcements through the addition of layers of concrete. Taking advantage of their commanding position, the Germans had equipped it with a machine gun, making it a virtually impregnable position.

Panel 17: This other, more spacious structure was intended to shelter troops or officers during bombardments.

Panel 18: The small quarry was fiercely contested in 1915 and ultimately remained in German hands until the end of the war. It was notably stormed by the 15th BCP at dawn on 29 July 1915, following a direct-fire attack by a 75mm gun, hoisted by hand onto the small ridge overlooking the Glasborn farmhouse-inn, less than 1 kilometre away. Numerous bullet and shell-fragment marks dot the pink sandstone walls of this quarry, bearing witness to the extreme violence of the fighting.

Panel 19: Le Grand Sapin; here, the German front-line trench heads westwards to join the western salient of the Barrenkopf, thereby commanding views of the northern and western slopes – the only possible access route for the French attackers, who arrived mainly via the small hollow where the Glasborn farmhouse inn is situated.

Panel 20: A model trench built by the Germans after 1915 to test the use of concrete assault ladders (soldiers had previously exited the trench using small wooden ladders).
Panel 21: A small German cableway used to transport cement and heavy equipment to the summit. Two heavily reinforced concrete troop shelters can still be visited near the cableway’s terminus.

Panel 22: An observation post. As the front-line trenches were quite a distance away (around 100 to 200 metres), this served more as a shelter area and a storage point for equipment and ammunition. The granite summit was bored right through to house observers and ammunition stores.

Panel 23: An orientation table will provide information on the names of the many peaks visible on the southern side of the Munster Valley.

Panel 24: German field guns were stationed at the Wahlenstall Pass throughout the war, intended to provide fire cover for the entire Munster and Reichackerkopf area.

Panel 25: Several shelters used by German staff officers, regimental commanders and battalion commanders.

Panel 26: German artillery observation post. Upon reaching the summit, several blocks of a rock formation, modified and facing south and west, are already visible. Just behind these rocks lies a strange, snail-shaped metal sentry box, embedded in the earth and granite blocks, which can still be accessed by going round the rock to the left. Before 1914, this type of standard sentry box was intended for the numerous defensive forts located along the borders (several examples of these sentry boxes can be seen at Mutzig Fort). This one was probably dismantled in 1915 from a fort on the Rhine plain that had become redundant, and then reinstalled here to provide shelter for the observers essential for directing artillery fire.

Panel 27: Important structure. This is the German command post which housed the senior officers for the entire Linge–Barrenkopf sector. The building, which was of the very highest quality, is still, 100 years on, in a very good state of preservation.
White Cross, tribute to the Lancaster crew: On 7 January 1945, the four-engine Lancaster bomber NN 766 (PM-R) took off from Elsham-Wolds airbase in England on a bombing mission to Munich in Germany. This aircraft was to collide over the Vosges with another Lancaster from 460 Squadron. The latter, although damaged, managed to return to base. NN 766, however, crashed near the village of Hohrodberg with its load of high-explosive and incendiary bombs, setting fire to and destroying several houses and barns in the village.
Of the seven crew members, whose average age was 23, six were Canadian and the seventh was British.