ALSACE VOSGES - Guebwiller - Rimbach - Hirzstein
- by Pierre Grande Guerre
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- 05 Jun, 2019
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Year of visit: 2010
At the western outskirts of the town of Guebwiller we visit the Franco-German war cemetery; the Deutsche Kriegsgräberstätte Guebwiller, and the Nécropole Nationale de Guebwiller.
At the entrance of the cemetery we find this memorial:
In the frame below I tell you more about the backgrounds of this memorial.
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David Bloch |
David Bloch was born at 27 November 1895 in a French, Jewish family in Guebwiller. Bloch worked for a number of years in France. At the outbreak of the Great War Bloch and his parents still officially resided in the German “Reichsland Elsaß-Lothringen”.
Though all French men in the “Reichsland” of Alsace-Lorraine were considered as second rate citizens, they were subject to the German military conscription laws. So, David Bloch was also called for the German military service. Bloch, being a French patriot, stubbornly refused to serve, and instead he enlisted in the famous French “Red Devils” Regiment, the 152 R.I., nowadays based in Colmar.
As Bloch’s health condition was not fit enough to fight, he was placed in a war factory. Out of frustration of not being able to fight he contacted some staff officers at Epinal with an audacious plan. Bloch planned an operation, in which Bloch was dropped by an aircraft on a reconnaissance mission behind the German lines near Mulhouse. Bloch’s plan was to collect intelligence in the German lines and to be picked up after ten days by an airplane at a predefined location.
At 23 June 1916, at 2.30 hrs AM, the airplane left from Belfort with David Bloch. After landing near the village of Merxheim the airplane was severely damaged. Following his orders how to handle in case of these accidents the “Sergeant-Aviateur” set fire to the wreck and released his three pigeons. Bloch went his own way, and hid himself in a nearby wood.
When the morning light arrived, and when Bloch left the wood to orientate himself, the Germans immediately captured Bloch, considering him a spy, and charged him with treason. After a trial at a court-martial in Mulhouse Bloch was executed on 1 August 1916 at the village of Ile Napoléon, nowadays at the north-eastern outskirts of Mulhouse. As he was standing in front of the firing squad, Bloch apparently cried his last words: “Ma patrie me vengera!”, “My fatherland will revenge me!”
The first memorial to David Bloch
Some details of the memorial of David Bloch.
The centre of the circle shaped, military cemetery of Guebwiller is reserved for French soldiers. The outer circle is reserved for the graves of German Soldiers.
We start at the outer circle of the Deutsche Kriegsgräberstätte Guebwiller.
... some ignorant vandals demolished 95 German headstones.
"28 May 2010. Headstones of German soldiers defiled in Alsace Some hundred graves of German soldiers, fallen during the First and Second World Wars, have been defiled on the cemetery of Guebwiller, in Haut-Rhin, as the Préfecture of Hait-Rhin announced last Friday. In total 95 graves of this Franco-German cemetery have been defiled in the night of Thursday to Friday. The Préfecture added that the crosses of several graves have been broken or have been forced to fall down, but it also stated that it does not possess any other details. An offensive expression has been left on one of the graves. The Prefect of Haut-Rhin and even the Mayor of Guebwiller have personally visited the site themselves. The cemetery of Guebwiller contains the graves of 1.238 German soldiers, and approximately the same number of French soldiers." Unfortunately, this despicable phenomenon is not unique. In the same month several graves of the Loos British Cemetery were defaced and severely damaged. |
Annoyed by this stupid vandalism we continue our walk over the cemetery.
The Nécropole Nationale de Guebwiller contains the graves of 457 soldiers. Soldiers are buried in two communal graves. Among these graves there are also 9 graves of Russian soldiers.
Being an aficionado of the French patriot and Alsatian illustrator, Hansi, I immediately recognised the scene in the bronze relief from the original work of Hansi. Watch and compare below the two images of Hansi's work.
Visit also my Special Photo Impression about "Colmar and Hansi, the Illustrator"!
The memorial is also dedicated to all French victims of all wars and conflicts of the 20th century, ...
... including the victims of the war in Indo China, the Resistance, and of the concentration camps of the Second World War.
We first park our car at the eastern outskirts of the hamlet of Rimbach-près-Guebwiller.
The main reason for me to visit Rimbach forms the presence of the “Württembergische Gebirgsschützen” in 1915 and 1916.
After the training period in Baiernfurt near Weingarten, Germany, the “Württembergische Scheeschu- und Gebirgskompanie no. 1”, under command of Major Theodor Sproesser, arrived on 28 January 1915 at the front near Rimbach for their first fighting experiences.
The origins of the Württembergische Gebirgsschützen
At first Berlin refused this offer of the Swabische SchneeschuBund. But in November 1914 General von Gaede requested the Oberste Heeres Leitung for new ski-units with a military training, which was better fit for winter mountain warfare, and which was better able to withstand the tactics of the Chasseurs Alpins.
The “Württembergische Scheeschu- und Gebirgskompanie no. 1”
On 1 October 1915 the unit was renamed in “Württembergisches Gebirgs-Bataillon”. During a training at Münsingen, Germany, the unit was extended to 6 companies, and it existed of 6 mountain machine-gun platoons, a total of 39 officers, 1.620 “Unteroffizieren und Mannschaften“, and 258 horses. After a short stay in Tirol the “Württembergisches Gebirgs-Bataillon” returned on 31 December 1915 for duty in the “Oberelzaẞ” as a component of the 55. Landwehr Infanterie Brigade of the 7. Landwehr Division.
The “Weinachtskämpfen” of the Hartmannswillerkopf
The unit was transferred first to the front of Romania until February 1917. Next the unit fought in Macedonia. From 10 October 1917 the unit played, as a component of the 14 Armée and the “Alpenkorps”, an important role during the Isonzo Battles at the Italian Front.
Oberleutnant Rommel
The most famous officer of the “Württembergische Gebirgsschützen” was the commander of the storm trooper unit, “Abteilung Rommel”, Oberleutnant and Kompanieführer, Erwin Rommel, who would leave the war in 1918 as Hauptmann, Captain. Rommel would later make a splendid career to the rank of “Generalfeldmarschall”, General Field Marshall, until his by the Nazi’s forced suicide on 14 October 1944.
The Hirzstein
In February 1918 the “Württembergisches Gebirgs-Bataillon” returned again to the Vosges front, to the base at the Hirzstein, to defend the lines of the Hartmannswillerkopf front sector. Some companies were detached to assist in the defence of the Hilsenfirst, the Reichackerkopf, and the Barrenkopf until 3 May 1918.
The “Württembergisches Gebirgs-Regiment”
Source: General H. Flaischlen: "Geschichte der Württembergische Gebirgsschützen" (1922)
in the dense vegetation on the south side of the road.
On private premises, which I cannot enter, I detect two bunkers next to each other.
Of course these bunkers have been constructed by Pioniere and Landwehrmänner, and not by the elite fighting troops of the Württembergische Gebirgsschützen.
At the northern side of the road, where we parked our car, a pony-breeder converted a bunker into a stable for his ponies.
The eastern side of the bunker without a roof. It is a rather large bunker with an estimated length of 15 m.
The last doubt of being it a stable or a former bunker vanishes, when I take a closer look at the thickness of the concrete walls. Ponies don't need such thick concrete walls!
At a height of 800 m. we have some landscape views of the former "Rimbachstellung". A view eastward.
... and we continue southward, passing Wuenheim, following the D 5 to the village of Hartmannswiller.
Just when we have left the village of Wattwiller, we find this bunker in the verge of the northern side of the road.
Soldiers humor. Bolwiller is an Alsatian village. The German word “Klotz” knows an extra connotation. It does not only mean block, but it also means klutz or clumsy oaf.
The densely vegetated Hirzstein (570 m.) itself is a quartz rock formation. Hirzstein is also spelled as "Hirtzstein" or Hirzenstein".
Before 25 December 1914 the area of the Col du Silberloch and the Hirzstein was only visited by some reconnaissance patrols of both belligerent parties. For instance at the start of October a Radfahrer Abteilung of the Württembergische Landwehr Infanterie Regiment 123 scouted the Silberloch and the Hirzstein rock without finding any traces of a French presence. On 28 November and on 4 December there were some skirmishes at the outskirts of Wattwiller of French soldiers with respectively some Württemberger Dragoons and cyclists of the L.I.R. 119.
During the attack of 25 December 1914 at Cernay, south of the Hartmannswillerkopf, the 28e Bataillon Chasseurs Alpins, being a component of the 81e Brigade d’Infanterie of the 66e Division d’Infanterie, formed the right flank of the 81e B.I.
Without being noticed by the Germans the Chasseurs occupied at around 10.00 am the line from the Col du Silberloch until the Hirzstein. Deep into German territory two companies of the 28e B.C.A., under command of Capitaine Regnault, established immediately an advanced position on the Hirzstein by cutting trees to create a field of fire and digging trenches. On the same time the 28e B.C.A. kept contact with their left flank, the 115e R.I., which was located at Rimbach.
26 December 1914. First contacts with the Germans
But the next day, on the 26th, sentinel Mathivaud of the 28e B.C.A., made the first contact with the Germans. After firing two shots Mathivaud captured 2 Feldwebels of the I.R. 25, who lost contact with their company. On the same day the Württembergische Landwehr.I.R. 123 installed itself on the Hartmannswillerkopf.
The Hirzstein, 28 December 1914 – 19 January 1915
On 30 December 1914 there were still heavy fights on the summit for the rock of the Aussichtsfelsen on the Hartmannswillerkopf, which also involved the Sudelkopf and the Hirzstein. For both parties the possession of the summit of the Hartmannswillerkopf was of extreme importance. The party, who could get control over the mountain and it’s sub-summits, controlled also the road from the “Crêtes", the summits of the Vosges, to the Rhine Valley and the valley itself.
From January until April 1915 the French 66e D.I. of General Serret, with his two Infantry Brigades (81e and 115e), including the famous Red Devils of the 152e R.I., and 9 batallions of Chasseurs Alpins, tried to conquer the summit of the Hartmannswillerkopf and it's sub-summits several times. They captured the western slope of the mountain and a stroke of land at the summit on 29 March 1915.
The Christmas Battles - 21 december 1915- 9 January 1915
We make jump forward in time of 9 months to the “Weinachtskämpfen”, the Christmas Battles of late December 1915. The “Weinachtskämpfen” for the Hartmannswillerkopf, the Sudelkopf and the Hirzstein, formed the last great battle of the Vosges front until 1918.
17 December 1915
During the preparations for the offensive of 21 December 1915, the Christmas Battles for the possession of the summit of the Hartmannswillerkopf, the 6e Brigade de Chasseurs Alpins lost their commander, Lt. Col. Boussat, on 17 december 1915. While he was on a reconnaissance mission, Lt. Col. Boussat was hit "on the southern slopes of the Hartmannswillerkopf (trench called "Electric Trench"), observing the terrain of the attack of the Brigade". (...) "The 28e. Btn. signals smoke at the edges of the clearance, located south-east of the Hirzstein Rock."
21-23 December 1915
After their conquest of the Hirzstein the Chasseurs immediately started to install themselves in the large tunnel network, which German Pioniere digged in and under the quartz rock during the last 10 months.
28 December 1915 - Change of fighting units
On the same day the 187 Landwehr Brigade, consisting of the I.R. 187, 188, and 189, under command of Oberst von Gundell arrived at the front as a component of the 12. Landwehr Brigade of Armee Abteilung Gaede. It was reinforced with 7 “Minenwerfer Abteilungen”, amongst others the Minenwerfer Kompanie 132, MWK 132, under command of Leutnant Killian with 23 Minenwerfer of various calibres.
New special forces units
Again after a request of General Gaede to the Oberste Heeres Leitung the Armee Abteilung Gaede deployed in the summer of 1915 two new special forces units.
One of these was the unit of Major Reddemann, “Stoẞtruppe Reddemann”, or "Flammenwerfer-Abteilung Reddemann", a light equipped unit, specialised in shock attacks with flame throwers.
8 January 1916 - The I.R. 189 recaptures the Hirzstein
During the war it formed one of the seven contributing districts of men of the Landwehr Infanterie Regiment 56. Remind Krefeld for later on this page!
Together with Westphalia Rheinland forms nowadays the German Bundesland, Nordrhein-Westfalen.
So, this bunker has been constructed by men of L.I.R. 56, a component of the 12. Landwehr Division.
But amongst the modern garbage I still detect a relic: this china electricity cap is still intact.
From the elephant shelter we continue to our last site of this walk. In the wood stands an almost forgotten wartime memorial.
The inscription, "To the brave sons of the city of Krefeld", refers to fallen soldiers of the 2nd Btn. of L.I.R. 56.
There must be many more sites to explore at the Hirzstein, but unfortunately, as more often happens, we ran out of time.
Inleiding: Franz Von Papen & Werner Horn; schaker en pion
Onlangs stuitte ik in een oud boek (1) van 1919 op een opmerkelijk verhaal over een Duitse Luitenant, die in begin februari 1915 een half geslaagde bomaanslag pleegt op een spoorbrug over een grensrivier tussen de Verenigde Staten en Canada. Ook al staat de bekentenis van de dader, Werner Horn, deels in het boek te lezen, de naam van zijn opdrachtgever zal Horn blijven verzwijgen. Na wat verder zoeken vond ik ook de naam van Horn’s opdrachtgever, Franz von Papen, een van de aangeklaagden van het latere Neurenberg Proces in 1946.
In een Grote Oorlog als de Eerste Wereldoorlog is Horn’s aanslag op de brug uiteraard slechts een bescheiden wapenfeit. Toch vermoed ik dat dit relatief onbekende verhaal, dat de geschiedenis is ingegaan als de “ Vanceboro International Bridge Bombing ”, nog interessante kanten kent. Het is onder andere een spionageverhaal over hoe in een groter plan een sluwe schaker zijn naïeve pion offert.
Beknopte situatieschets Canada en de Verenigde Staten in 1915
This trip we start at the Léomont near Vitrimont and we will with some exceptions concentrate on the Battle of Lorraine of August-September 1914 in the area, called, the “Trouée de Charmes”, the Gap of Charmes.
After the Léomont battlefield we continue our explorations to Friscati hill and its Nécropole Nationale. Next we pay a visit to the battlefield of la Tombe to go on to the Château de Lunéville. There we cross the Vezouze to move on southward to the Bayon Nécropole Nationale. At Bayon we cross the Moselle to pass Charmes for the panorama over the battlefield from the Haut du Mont. North-west of Charmes we will visit the British Military Cemetery containing 1918 war victims. From Charmes we go northward to the battlefield of the First French Victory of the Great War, the Battle of Rozelieures of 25 August 1914. North of Rozelieures we will visit the village of Gerbéviller. From there we make a jump northward to visit the ruins of Fort de Manonviller to finish with an interesting French Dressing Station bunker, west of Domjevin.
During this visit, we try to focus on the day that the momentum of the battle switched from the French side to the advantage of the Bavarian side: the day of 20 August 1914, when the Bavarians rapidly re-conquered the territory around Morhange , being also the day of the start of their rather successful “Schlacht in Lothringen”.
We will visit beautiful landscapes of the "Parc Naturel Régional de Lorraine", memorials, ossuaries, and cemeteries. Sometimes we will divert to other periods of the Great War, honouring Russian and Romanian soldiers, who died in this sector. We start our route at the border village of Manhoué, and via Frémery, Oron, Chicourt, Morhange, Riche, Conthil, Lidrezing, Dieuze, Vergaville, Bidestroff, Cutting, Bisping we will finish in Nomeny and Mailly-sur-Seille, where the Germans halted their advance on 20 August 1914, and where they constructed from 1915 some interesting bunkers.
