The Schoenenbourg Fort

Open to visitors since 1978, Schoenenbourg Fort in Hunspach is the biggest Maginot Line artillery fortification open to the public in Alsace. Its 3 kilometres of underground tunnels, 30 metres deep, help visitors understand how a Maginot Line fortification worked.

This large structure or "gros ouvrage" was completed in 1935, after four years of construction work. This proved to be particularly difficult, due to the difficult terrain, the changes that had to be made and consequent revisions to the budgets. Its function was to prevent access to Northern Alsace, and it could accommodate up to 630 men. It still has all its original equipment: kitchens, electrical plant, infirmary... It was reputed to indestructible, and indeed it held up well during the German attacks of June 1940, protecting the men it housed to the end. It was the most heavily bombed Maginot Line fortification.

However, during the Liberation, the German forces' explosives destroyed part of the installations. It was restored between 1947 and 1953 and has pride of place in the region's historical and military heritage. You can take a detour of 12 kilometres to see its neighbour, the Four-à-Chaux in Lembach, another important structure of the Maginot Line.