ALSACE VOSGES - Reichackerkopf - le Gaschney
- by Pierre Grande Guerre
- •
- 19 Jun, 2019
- •
Year of visit: 2009, 2010



We start with this panorama view south-westward from the Hohrodberg to the Reichackerkopf and the Sattelkopf.


From August 1914 the French troops occupied the Sattel. The Germans positioned themselves at the Reichackerkopf.

Along the D 417, near the village of Stosswihr, north of the Reichackerkopf, stands a demarcation stone, inscripted with "Stosswihr". The inscription is not readable anymore, only "1918". Based on other similar stones, I presume, that it formed the text:

We will visit the Reichackerkopf, starting at the Col du Sattel, a pass between the Sattelkopf (or Sattel) and the Reichackerkopf. A view northward from the Col du Sattel.


The Battles for Munster


General Bataille's 81st Brigade, consisting of the 152e R.I and the 5e and 15e Bataillons Chasseurs à Pied attacked Munster on 15 August 1914, assisted by the 13e Bataillon Chasseurs Alpins in the south. They occupied the Gaschneykopf, the Sattelkopf, the Reichackerkopf and Munster and a part of the Valley of the Fecht on 18 August 1914.
Munster and the ridges west of it would attract of course several counterattacks of the Germans.





Circuit Historique 1914-18 - Gaschney - Reichackerkopf

From the Col du Sattel we will follow two hiking trails, marked as C1 and C2. We skipped the purple route C3.
The C1 route criss-crosses over both the Reichacker summits, over the former French and German first lines. The C2 route concentrates on the German second line, the north, east, and south slopes of the Reichackerkopf.
C3, which also starts at the wintersport village of Gaschney, concentrates on the French positions at the Gaschneykopf and the Sattel.
Though the information panel tells us that walking C1 and C2 in one visit would only take 2.5 hours, we needed more than 5 hours for walking these routes. Of course confusion about the sometimes unclear directions in the dense wood, our photographing, and some rests made us much slower.


A few meters to the left, in front of the track leading upward to the Petit-Reichacker ...




















We follow the track of the Chasseurs Alpins of 6 and 7 March 1915 upward to the Petit-Reichacker.

At the summit of the Petit-Reichacker lies the former grave of Jean Giovanni of the 6e B.C.A..

Chasseur Alpin Giovanni disappeared during the fights of 20 July. His human remains were rather recently discovered in 2004.









Some 10 m. further on we find the entrance at the rear to this "Ladungswerfer"-pit.

Inside the Ladungswerfer-bunker we find a silent witness of the constructors:





Sometimes you may still find on this slope entrances to tunnels and underground "Stollen"-networks.

We follow the forest road around the summit south-eastward to find this sunken bunker; another exit of a tunnel.

Some meters further on the other side of the track; another entrance or exit of a tunnel.

We go around the northern side of the summit of the Grand-Reichacker, ...






We return to the close by Col du Sattel, where we choose another track for route C2, running more north-eastward.





We follow a lower lying track around the Reichackerkopf, to arrive at the northern slope of the mountain for this bunker of the German second line.








A panorama view northward, in the front: the village of Stosswihr. At the horizon right; the Schratzmännele and the Barrenkopf.

At the most northern point of our route there are still relics of a cableway station; “Umgebaut 1. Ldst. Inf. Batl. Freib XIV/7 Aug.1917”.

These "Drahtseilbahne" were important for the transport of supplies and ammunitions. They also transported wounded men downward to the rear of the front.









Some 50 m. more southward, above the communication specialists bunker, ...




Souvenir hunters, please, leave these few relics untouched for the enjoyment of your other fellow travellers.





In case of a rupture of the 1st line this bunker could also serve as a machine-gun post.





We continue westward and upward the Grand-Reichacker again. A panorama view north-eastward.


At this location we find only some debris; concrete relics of bunkers.

We continue south-westward, approaching the vicinity of the Col, and entering again the German first line.




We end our day with this panorama northward from the Col du Sattel.




At the wintersport centre of le Gaschney we have to park the car, and take a walk in the valley between the Gaschneykopf and the Petit Hohneck.




The Memorial is dedicated to the Chasseurs Alpins of the 6e B.C.A., 7e B.C.A., 46e B.C.A., and 47e B.C.A. from Nice, killed, amongst other places, during the combats at the Reichackerkopf.

With a last view at the Petit Honeck we return downward along the D 310, back to Hohrod.

Continue to the next chapter: "Munster Valley - le Petit Ballon" -
Dutch readers, meer weten over de Chasseurs Alpins? Lees meer details over hen in mijn geillustreerde lezing: "De Blauwe Duivels in de Vogezen - Chasseurs Alpins".

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.


