Fort de Guentrange

Fort de Guentrange
Part of Thionville festen/Fortified group of Thionville
Thionville, France
The central barracks.
Fort de Guentrange
Coordinates	49°22′32″N 6°07′52″E / 49.375639°N 6.131058°E / 49.375639; 6.131058
Type	Fort, Moselstellung
Site information
Owner	City of Thionville
Controlled by	France
Open to the public	Yes
Condition	Preserved
Site history
Built	1899 (1899)
Battles/wars	Lorraine Campaign

The Fort de Guentrange dominates Thionville in the Moselle department of France. It was built by Germany next to the town of the same name in the late 19th century after the annexation of the Moselle following the Franco-Prussian War. The Fort de Guentrange was part of the Moselstellung, a group of eleven fortresses surrounding Thionville and Metz to guard against the possibility of a French attack aimed at regaining Alsace and Lorraine, with construction taking place between 1899 and 1906. The fortification system incorporated new principles of defensive construction to deal with advances in artillery. Later forts, such as Guentrange, embodied innovative design concepts such as dispersal and concealment. The later forts were designed to support offensive operations, as an anchor for a pivoting move by German forces into France.

The Feste Ober-Gentringen, as Fort de Guentrange was called by the Germans, with the Fort de Koenigsmacker and Fort d'Illange, assured the protection of Thionville against French attack. Positioned to the rear of the principal lines of combat in the First World War, the fort never saw combat in World War I. It is the largest of the three Thionville festen. The site overlooks the Moselle valley and its western approaches, as well as the railway lines to the west of Thionville.

The Fort de Guentrange is located about 4 kilometers (2.5 mi) to the northwest of Thionville on a hilltop overlooking the town and the northern railway line. It was defended by a garrison of 2000 men. Like the Fort de Plappeville on the heights of Metz, Fort Ober-Gentringen features two dispersed armored batteries, each armed with four short 100mm guns in single turrets. It possesses a separate four-level barracks and about 3 kilometres (1.9 mi) of underground galleries. The austere simplicity of the fort's façade is characteristic of the forts of the era.

The dispersed, un-walled nature of the later Moselstellung was a significant innovation. Compared to the French Séré de Rivières system forts of the same era, later German fortifications such as Guentrange were scattered over a large area and enclosed chiefly by barbed wire. While certain individual elements presented imposing walls to an attacker, these walls were not continuous. The dispersed nature is evidenced by the official French name: the Groupe Fortifié de Guentrange (Fortified Group of Guentrange). These arrangements were studied and improved upon by the French in the construction of the Maginot Line.