Editing Siegfried Line

{{About|the Second World War defensive line|the First World War "Siegfriedstellung" |Hindenburg Line}}
{{short description|German defensive line built during the late 1930s}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox military installation
|name            =The Siegfried Line
|native_name     = {{lang|de|Der Westwall}}
|location        =Western Germany
|image           =Karte westwall.png
|image_size      = 300px
|caption         =Map of the Siegfried Line
|type            = Fortification
|built           ={{Start date|1936}}
|builder         = German Army
* Named (in English) after the [[Hindenburg Line|Siegfriedstellung]] (or Hindenburg Line), a [[First World War]] system of defences.<ref name="MacDonald">{{cite book |last= Macdonald|first= Charles B|date= 1993|title= The Siegfried Line Campaign|url= https://history.army.mil/html/books/007/7-7-1/CMH_Pub_7-7-1.pdf|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120927104942/http://www.history.army.mil/html/books/007/7-7-1/CMH_Pub_7-7-1.pdf|url-status= dead|archive-date= 27 September 2012|publisher=Center of Military History, United States Army |page= 30|isbn=1944961305}}</ref>
|materials       = Concrete, steel
|used            =1939–1945
|battles         = [[World War II]]}}

The '''Siegfried Line''', known in German as the '''''Westwall''' (= western bulwark)'', was a German [[defense_line|defensive line]] built during the late 1930s. Started in 1936, opposite the French [[Maginot Line]], it stretched more than {{convert|630|km|mi|abbr=on}} from [[Kleve]] on the border with the [[Netherlands]], along the western border of [[Nazi Germany]], to the town of [[Weil am Rhein]] on the border with Switzerland. The line featured more than 18,000 [[bunker]]s, tunnels and [[dragon's teeth (fortification)|tank traps]].

From September 1944 to March 1945, the Siegfried Line was subjected to a large-scale [[Siegfried Line campaign|Allied offensive]].

== Name ==
The official German name for the defensive line construction program before and during the [[Second World War]] changed several times during the late 1930s. It came to be known as the "Westwall", but in English it was referred to as the "Siegfried Line" or, sometimes, the "West Wall".<ref name="MacDonald"/> Various German names reflected different areas of construction:

* Border Watch programme (pioneering programme) for the most advanced positions (1938)
* [[Limes (Roman Empire)|Limes]] programme (1938)
* Western Air Defense Zone (1938)
* [[Aachen]]–[[Saarland|Saar]] programme (1939)
* Geldern Emplacement between [[Brüggen, Germany|Brüggen]] and Kleve (1939–1940)

The programmes were given the highest priority, putting a heavy demand on the available resources.

The origin of the name "Westwall" is unknown, but it appeared in popular use from the middle of 1939. There is a record of [[Adolf Hitler|Hitler]] sending an [[Order of the Day]] to soldiers and workers at the "Westwall" on 20 May 1939.<ref>Das kleine Volksblatt, Wien, 20 May 1939, [http://anno.onb.ac.at/cgi-content/anno?aid=dkv&datum=19390520&seite=3 ANNO – AustriaN Newspapers Online], last viewed 1 Dec 2022</ref>

== History ==

=== Minor early role ===
At the start of World War II, the Siegfried Line had serious weaknesses. After the war, German General [[Alfred Jodl]] said that it had been "little better than a building site in 1939" and, when Field Marshal [[Gerd von Rundstedt]] inspected the line, the weak construction and inadequate weapons caused him to laugh.{{cn|date=January 2024}} Despite France's declaration of war against Germany in September 1939, there was no major combat involving the Siegfried Line at the start of the campaign in the West, except for a [[Saar Offensive|minor offensive]] by the French.<ref name="atkin1990">{{cite book |author=Atkin, Ronald |title=Pillar of Fire: Dunkirk 1940 |publisher=Birlinn Limited |year=1990 |isbn=1-84158-078-3 |location=Edinburgh |pages=28}}</ref> Instead, both sides remained in a safe position behind their defences, during the so-called [[Phoney War]].

The [[Reich Ministry of Public Enlightenment and Propaganda]] drew foreign attention to the unfinished Westwall, in several instances showcasing incomplete or test positions to portray the project finished and ready for action.<ref>Kaufmann JE, Kaufmann HW: "Fortress third Reich", page 130–5. DA Capo Press, 2003.</ref> During the [[Battle of France]], French forces made minor attacks against some parts of the line, but the majority was left untested in battle. When the campaign finished, transportable weapons and materials, such as metal doors, were removed from the Siegfried Line and used in other places such as the [[Atlantic Wall]] defences. {{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} <nowiki>The concrete sections were left in place in the countryside and soon became completely unfit for defense. </nowiki>{{Citation needed|date=July 2011}} The bunkers were used for storage instead.

=== Reactivation in 1944 ===
[[File:Westwall1.jpg|thumb|right|300px|Front line in December 1944]]

With the [[Normandy Landings|D-Day landings]] in [[Normandy]] on 6 June 1944, war in the West broke out once more.<ref>{{cite video |url=https://archive.org/details/gov.dod.dimoc.30141 |title=Video: Dragon's Teeth |publisher=[[U.S. Army Pictorial Service]] |access-date=21 February 2012}}</ref> On 24 August 1944, Hitler gave a directive for renewed construction on the Siegfried Line.<ref name="McNab">{{cite book |last1=McNab |first1=Chris |title=Hitler's Fortresses: German Fortifications and Defences 1939–45 |date=20 March 2014 |publisher=Bloomsbury Publishing |isbn=9781782009511}}</ref> 20,000 forced labourers and members of the ''[[Reichsarbeitsdienst]]'' (Reich Labour Service), most of whom were 14 to 16-year-old boys, attempted to re-equip the line for defensive purposes. Local people were also called in to carry out work, mostly building anti-tank ditches.

Even during construction, it was becoming clear that the bunkers could not withstand newly developed [[Armor-piercing shot and shell#Second World War|armour-piercing]] weapons. At the same time as the reactivation of the Siegfried Line, small concrete "[[Defensive fighting position#Tobruk|Tobruks]]" were built along the borders of the occupied area. Those bunkers were mostly dugouts for single soldiers.

=== Clashes ===
{{Main|Allied advance from Paris to the Rhine}}
[[File:Americans cross Siegfried Line.jpg|thumb|right|American soldiers cross the Siegfried Line and march into Germany.]]
[[File:Soldiers at the Siegfried Line, February 1945.jpg|thumb|U.S. soldiers pause for a rest among the ruins of the Siegfried Line in the Rhine Valley, February 1945]]

In August 1944, the first clashes took place on the Siegfried Line. The section of the line where most fighting took place was the [[Hürtgenwald]] (Hürtgen Forest) area in the [[Eifel]], {{convert|20|km|mi|abbr=on}} south-east of Aachen. The [[Aachen Gap]] was the logical route into Germany's Rhineland and its main industrial area, so it was where the Germans concentrated their defence.

The Americans committed an estimated 120,000 troops plus reinforcements to the [[Battle of Hürtgen Forest]]. The battle in the heavily forested area claimed the lives of 24,000 American soldiers, along with 9,000 so-called non-battle casualties — those evacuated because of fatigue, exposure, accidents and disease.<ref>MacDonald, Charles B. (1961). The Roer River Dams. The Siegfried Line Campaign.</ref> The German death toll is not documented. After the Battle of Hürtgen Forest, the [[Battle of the Bulge]] began, a last-ditch attempt by the Germans to reverse the course of the war in the West. The offensive started in the area south of the Hürtgenwald, between [[Monschau]] and the [[Luxembourg]]ish town of [[Echternach]]. German loss of life and material was severe and the effort failed. There were serious clashes along other parts of the Siegfried Line and defending soldiers in many bunkers refused to surrender, often fighting to the death. By early 1945, the last Siegfried Line bunkers had fallen at the [[Saar (river)|Saar]] and [[Hunsrück]].

The British 21st Army Group, which  included US formations, also attacked the Siegfried Line. The resulting fighting brought total US losses to approximately 68,000. In addition, the [[First United States Army|First Army]] incurred over 50,000 non-battle casualties and the [[Ninth United States Army|Ninth Army]] over 20,000. That brought the overall cost of the Siegfried Line Campaign, in US personnel, close to 140,000.<ref>The Siegfried Line Campaign. Charles B. MacDonald. Ch. 27</ref>

=== Postwar period ===
[[File:Westwall05.jpg|thumb|right|Bunker ruins near Aachen]]
[[File:Durmersheim Bunker.jpg|right|thumb|Bunker on the Siegfried line]]
[[File:Westwall06.jpg|thumb|right|The Siegfried Line as a chain of [[biotopes]]]]

During the post-war period, many sections of the Siegfried Line were removed using explosives.

==== Preservation and destruction ====
In [[North Rhine-Westphalia|North Rhine Westphalia]], about thirty bunkers still remain. Most of the rest were either destroyed with explosives or covered with earth. Tank traps still exist in many areas and, in the [[Eifel]], they run over several kilometres. [[Zweibrücken Air Base]] was built on top of the Siegfried Line. When the base was still open, the remnants of several old bunkers could be seen in the tree line near the main gate. Another bunker was outside the base perimeter fence near the base hospital. Once the base was closed, workers, digging up the base's fuel tanks, discovered lost bunkers buried below the tanks.{{cn|date=January 2024}} 

Since 1997, with the motto "The value of the unpleasant as a memorial" (''Der Denkmalswert des Unerfreulichen''), an effort has been made to preserve the remains of the Siegfried Line as a historical [[monument]]. It was intended to stop reactionary [[fascism|fascist]] groups from using the Siegfried Line for propaganda purposes.

At the same time, state funding was still being provided to destroy the remains of the Siegfried Line. Consequently, emergency [[archaeological]] digs took place whenever any part of the line was to be removed, for example for road building. Archaeological activity was not able to stop the destruction of those sections, but furthered scientific knowledge and revealed details of the line's construction.

==== Environmental conservation ====
[[Environmentalism|Nature conservationists]] consider the remains of the Siegfried Line valuable as a chain of [[biotope]]s where, thanks to its size, rare animals and plants can take refuge and [[sex|reproduce]]. That effect is magnified by the fact that the concrete ruins cannot be used for agricultural or forestry purposes.

== Westwall construction programmes ==
[[File:Westwall03.jpg|thumb|Aachen-Saar programme Type 39 "[[Dragon's teeth (fortification)|Dragon's teeth]]" tank barrier with 5 "teeth"]]
[[File:Westwall04.jpg|thumb|right|Water-filled trench near [[Geilenkirchen]]]]

=== Border Watch ===
Small bunkers with {{convert|50|cm|in|abbr=on}} thick walls were set up with three [[embrasure]]s towards the front. Sleeping accommodations were hammocks. In exposed positions, similar small bunkers were erected with small round armoured "lookout" sections on the roofs. The programme was carried out by the Border Watch (''Grenzwacht''), a small military troop activated in the [[Rhineland]] immediately after the region was re-militarised by Germany from 1936 onwards, after having been de-militarised following the [[First World War]].

=== Limes ===
[[File:Westwall colorized.jpg|thumb|Type 10 Limes programme bunker seen from the rear]]

The [[Limes (Roman Empire)|Limes]] programme began in 1938 following an order by Hitler to strengthen fortifications on the western German border. ''Limes'' refers to the former borders of the [[Roman Empire]]; the cover story for the programme was that it was an archaeological study.

Its Type 10 bunkers were more strongly constructed than the earlier border fortifications. These had {{convert|1.5|m|ftin|abbr=on}} thick ceilings and walls. A total of 3,471 were built along the entire length of the Siegfried Line. They featured a central room or shelter for 10–12 men with a [[stepped embrasure]] facing backwards and a combat section {{convert|50|cm|in|abbr=on}} higher. This elevated section had embrasures at the front and sides for machine guns. More embrasures were provided for [[rifleman|riflemen]], and the entire structure was constructed so as to be safe against [[poison gas]].

Heating was from a safety oven, the chimney of which was covered with a thick grating. Space was tight, with about {{convert|1|m2|sqft|abbr=on}} per soldier, who was given a sleeping-place and a [[stool (seat)|stool]]; the commanding officer had a chair. Surviving examples still retain signs warning "Walls have ears" and "Lights out when embrasures are open!"

=== Aachen-Saar ===
The Aachen-Saar programme bunkers were similar to those of the Limes programme: Type 107 double MG <!--Machine gun??? --> [[casemate]]s with concrete walls up to {{convert|3.5|m|ft|abbr=on}} thick. One difference was that there were no embrasures at the front, only at the sides of the bunkers. Embrasures were only built at the front in special cases and were then protected with heavy metal doors. This construction phase included the towns of [[Aachen]] and [[Saarbrücken]], which were initially west of the Limes Programme defence line.

=== Western Air Defence Zone ===
The Western Air Defence Zone (''Luftverteidigungszone West'' or ''LVZ West'') continued parallel to the two other lines toward the east and consisted mainly of concrete [[Anti-aircraft warfare|''flak'']] foundations. Scattered [[MG 42]] and [[MG 34]] emplacements added additional defence against both air and land targets. Flak turrets were designed to force enemy planes to fly higher, thus decreasing the accuracy of their bombing. These towers{{clarify|date=February 2015}} were protected at close range by bunkers from the Limes and Aachen-Saar programmes.

=== Geldern Emplacement ===
[[File:Westwall07.jpg|thumb|right|Geldern Emplacement bunker near [[Kleve]]]]

The Geldern Emplacement lengthened the Siegfried Line northwards as far as [[Kleve]] on the Rhine and was built after the start of the Second World War. The Siegfried Line originally ended in the north near Brüggen in the [[Viersen]] district. The primary constructions were unarmed dugouts, but their extremely strong concrete design afforded excellent protection to the occupants. For [[camouflage]] they were often built near farms.

== Elements ==
Standard construction elements such as large [[Regelbau]] bunkers, smaller concrete "[[Pillbox (military)|pillboxes]]", and "[[dragon's teeth (fortification)|dragon's teeth]]" anti-tank obstacles were built as part of each construction phase, sometimes by the thousands. Frequently vertical steel rods would be interspersed between the teeth. This standardisation was the most effective use of scarce raw materials, transport and workers, but proved an ineffective tank barrier as US bulldozers simply pushed bridges of soil over these devices.

"Dragon's teeth" tank traps were also known as ''Höcker'' in German ('humps' or 'pimples' in English) because of their shape. These blocks of reinforced concrete stand in several rows on a single foundation. There are two typical sorts of barrier: Type 1938 with four rows of teeth getting higher toward the back, and Type 1939 with five rows of such teeth. Many other irregular lines of teeth were also built. Another design of tank obstacle, known as the [[Czech hedgehog]], was made by welding together several bars of steel in such a way that any tank rolling over it would get stuck and possibly damaged. If the contour of the land allowed it, water-filled ditches were dug instead of tank traps. Examples of this kind of defence are those north of [[Aachen]] near [[Geilenkirchen]].

== Working conditions ==
The early fortifications were mostly built by private firms, but the private sector was unable to provide the number of workers needed for the programmes that followed; this gap was filled by the [[Organisation Todt|Todt Organisation]]. With this organisation's help, huge numbers of forced labourers – up to 500,000 at a time – worked on the Siegfried Line. Transport of materials and workers from all across Germany was managed by the ''[[Deutsche Reichsbahn]]'' railway company, which took advantage of the well-developed strategic railway lines built on Germany's western border in [[World War I]].

Working conditions were highly dangerous. For example, the most primitive means had to be used to handle and assemble extremely heavy armour plating, weighing up to {{convert|60|t|ST|lk=on}}.

Life on the building site and after work was monotonous, and many people gave up and left. Most workers received the [[West Wall Medal]] for their service.<ref>Kaufmann JE, Kaufmann HW: ''Fortress third Reich'', page 134. DA Capo Press, 2003.</ref>

== In propaganda ==
German propaganda, both at home and abroad, repeatedly portrayed the Westwall during its construction as an unbreachable bulwark. At the start of the war, the opposing troops remained behind their own defence lines.

As a morale booster for British troops marching off to France, the Siegfried Line was the subject of a popular song: "[[We're Going to Hang out the Washing on the Siegfried Line]]".
A French version by [[Ray Ventura (pianist)|Ray Ventura]] (''"On ira pendre notre linge sur la ligne Siegfried"'') met a great success during the [[Phoney War]] (''Drôle de guerre'').

When asked about the Siegfried Line, General [[George S. Patton]] reportedly said "Fixed fortifications are monuments to man's stupidity."<ref>James F. Dunnigan. The World War II Bookshelf. Citadel Press, 2005 p 110</ref>

== See also ==
=== Similar border fortifications ===
* [[Festungsfront Oder-Warthe-Bogen]] or Ostwall
* [[Atlantic Wall]]
* [[Línea P|Linea P (Spain)]]
* [[Maginot line]]
* [[Czechoslovak border fortifications]]
* [[Alpine Wall]]
* [[National Redoubt (Switzerland)]]
* [[Mannerheim Line]]

=== Surviving elements ===
* [[List of surviving elements of the Siegfried Line]]
* [[Besseringen B-Werk]], museum in a preserved bunker complex
* [[Orscholz Switch]] (aka Siegfried Switch), part of Siegfried Line and scene of heavy fighting between German and US troops
* [[Regelbau]], standard bunker construction
* [[Siegfried Line Museum, Pirmasens]]

== References ==
{{reflist}}

== Further reading ==
* {{Cite book|last1=Andrews|first1=Ernest A.|last2=Hurt|first2=David B.|year=2022|title= A Machine Gunner's War: From Normandy to Victory with the 1st Infantry Division in World War II|publisher=Casemate|location=Philadelphia & Oxford|isbn=978-1636241043}}
* Kauffmann, J.E. and Jurga, Robert M. ''Fortress Europe: European Fortifications of World War II'', Da Capo Press, 2002. {{ISBN|0-306-81174-X}}
* {{cite book| first = Charles B. | last = MacDonald| url =http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/Siegfried/Siegfried%20Line/siegfried-fm.htm| archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20080207102757/http://www.history.army.mil/books/wwii/Siegfried/Siegfried%20Line/siegfried-fm.htm| url-status =dead| archive-date =7 February 2008| title = The Siegfried Line Campaign| publisher = [[United States Army Center of Military History]]| id = CMH Pub 7-7-1 | orig-year = 1990| year = 1963| location = Washington, D.C.| series = United States Army in World War II}} – full text
* {{cite book |last=Makos |first=Adam |author-link1=Adam Makos |date=2019 |title=[[Spearhead (Makos novel)|Spearhead]] |edition=1st |location=New York |publisher=[[Ballantine Books]] |pages=7, 48, 49–50, 54, 62, 225, 236 |isbn=9780804176729 |lccn=2018039460 |ol=27342118M}}

== External links ==
{{Commons|Siegfried Line}}
* [http://www.bunkerblog.eu/ BunkerBlog]: All about German fortifications 1933–1945
* [http://www.bunkersite.com/ Bunkersite.com]: About bunkers built by the Germans during 1933–1945 in the whole of Europe
* http://www.westwallmuseum-irrel.de/
* [http://www.allworldwars.com/German-Doctrine-of-the-Stabilized-Front.html German Doctrine of the Stabilized Front, Report by US Military Intelligence Division, August 1943]
* [http://www.bunkermuzeum.hu/ Bunkers in Europe (include: Siegfried Line)]
* [http://www.lonesentry.com/articles/pillboxwarfare/index.html Pillbox Warfare in the Siegfried Line]
* {{usurped|1=[https://web.archive.org/web/20060223065639/http://efour4ever.com/44thdivision/intro_simserhof.htm Storming Simserhof near Bitche – 1944]}}
* [http://www.huertgenmovie.com »You enter Germany: Bloody Huertgen and the Siegfried Line«] – Documentary by Achim Konejung and Aribert Weis; 2007
* [http://www.der-weltkrieg-war-vor-deiner-tuer.de.tl/WMTS-Wetterau_Main_Tauber_Stellung.htm Der Weltkrieg war vor deiner Tuer] – The little Siegfried line (German: WMTS Wetterau-Main-Tauber-Stellung) in the east of the Siegfried line
* {{Internet Archive film clip|id=gov.archives.arc.39156|description=ALLIES PIERCE SIEGFRIED LINE ETC. (1944)}}

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[[Category:Siegfried Line| ]]
[[Category:German World War II defensive lines]]
[[Category:Historic defensive lines]]
[[Category:Military installations of the Wehrmacht]]
[[Category:World War II sites in Germany]]
[[Category:Rhine Province]]