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Fort Heldsberg
Fort Heldsberg was built 1938–1940 near St. Margrethen in Switzerland, overlooking the Rhine, which forms the Swiss-Austrian border at that location, just south of Lake Constance. The fort was part of the Swiss Border Line defenses, built between 1938 and 1941. Concept In March 1938, Austria was annexed by Germany under the ''Anschluss'', creating a new, potentially hostile section of frontier. The fort at Heldsberg was planned to stop or delay an attack across the nearby Rhine, as well as providing artillery coverage on the southern end of Lake Constance. The German plan for a Swiss invasion, Operation Tannenbaum, noted the presence of the Heldsberg position and concluded: A very desirable approach is to attack from the east at Rheineck, the shortest way to the enemy flank, but the mountainous terrain and the strong fortifications at Rheineck (Heldsberg) promise no success. However, the Border Line fortifications shared common faults, including less-than-thorough attention ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Border Line (Switzerland)
The Border Line defenses of Switzerland were constructed in the late 1930s in response to increasing tensions between Switzerland and its neighbours, chiefly the Axis powers of Germany and Italy. The Border Line was planned to slow or hold an invading force at the border. It consisted of a series of bunkers spaced at short intervals along the French, German and Austrian borders. The bunkers were reinforced by larger multi-blockhouse forts at key points. Most of the positions were within two or three kilometers of the frontier. Description The Border Line bunkers were spaced between and along the northern border of Switzerland.Kauffmann, pp. 155-156 A number were integrated into bridge crossings of the Rhine and other rivers. The large forts were armed with 75mm artillery and anti-tank weapons, and were usually built into the forward slope of a hill. The blockhouses were connected and supported by an underground gallery system giving access and shelter to underground barracks, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Switzerland
; rm, citad federala, links=no). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Lucerne, Neuchâtel, St. Gallen a.o.). , coordinates = , largest_city = Zurich , official_languages = , englishmotto = "One for all, all for one" , religion_year = 2022 , religion_ref = , religion = , demonym = , german: link=no, Schweizer/Schweizerin, french: link=no, Suisse/Suissesse, it, svizzero/svizzera or , rm, Svizzer/Svizra , government_type = Federal assembly-independent directorial republic , leader_title1 = Federal Council , leader_name1 = , leader_title2 = , leader_name2 = Viktor Rossi , legislature = Federal Assembly , upper_house = Counci ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Rhine
The Rhine ; french: Rhin ; nl, Rijn ; wa, Rén ; li, Rien; rm, label=Sursilvan, Rein, rm, label=Sutsilvan and Surmiran, Ragn, rm, label=Rumantsch Grischun, Vallader and Puter, Rain; it, Reno ; gsw, Rhi(n), including in Alsatian dialect, Alsatian and Low Alemannic German; ksh, label=Ripuarian language, Ripuarian and Low Franconian languages, Low Franconian, Rhing; la, Rhenus ; hu, Rajna . is one of the major List of rivers of Europe, European rivers. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein, Swiss-Austrian border, Swiss-Austrian, Swiss-German border, Swiss-German borders. After that the Rhine defines much of the Franco-German border, after which it flows in a mostly northerly direction through the German Rhineland. Finally in Germany the Rhine turns into a predominantly westerly direction and flows into the Netherlands where it eventually empties into the North Sea. It drains an area of 9,9 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lake Constance
Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, called the Lake Rhine (''Seerhein''). These waterbodies lie within the Lake Constance Basin () in the Alpine Foreland through which the Rhine flows. The lake is situated where Germany, Switzerland, and Austria meet. Its shorelines lie in the German states of Baden-Württemberg and Bavaria, the Swiss cantons of St. Gallen, Thurgau, and Schaffhausen, and the Austrian state of Vorarlberg. The actual location of the border is disputed. The Alpine Rhine forms in its original course the Austro-Swiss border and flows into the lake from the south. The High Rhine flows westbound out of the lake and forms (with the exception of the Canton of Schaffhausen) the German-Swiss border as far as to the city of Basel. The most populous towns on the Upper Lake ar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Anschluss
The (, or , ), also known as the (, en, Annexation of Austria), was the annexation of the Federal State of Austria into the Nazi Germany, German Reich on 13 March 1938. The idea of an (a united Austria and Germany that would form a "German Question, Greater Germany") began after the unification of Germany excluded Austria and the German Austrians from the Prussian-dominated German Empire in 1871. Following the end of World War I with the fall of the Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Empire, in 1918, the newly formed Republic of German-Austria attempted to form a union with Germany, but the Treaty of Saint-Germain-en-Laye (1919), Treaty of Saint Germain (10 September 1919) and the Treaty of Versailles (28 June 1919) forbade both the union and the continued use of the name "German-Austria" (); and stripped Austria of some of its territories, such as the Sudetenland. Prior to the , there had been strong support in both Austria and Germany for unification of the two countrie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Operation Tannenbaum
Operation Tannenbaum ("Fir Tree"), known earlier as Operation Grün ("Green"), was a planned but cancelled invasion of Switzerland and Liechtenstein by the Axis Powers during World War II. Background Before the outbreak of the Second World War, Adolf Hitler made repeated assurances that Germany would respect Swiss neutrality in the event of a military conflict in Europe.Leitz, Christian (2000). ''Nazi Germany and Neutral Europe during the Second World War'', p. 14. Manchester University Press. In February 1937, he announced to the Swiss Federal Councillor Edmund Schulthess that "at all times, whatever happens, we will respect the inviolability and neutrality of Switzerland", reiterating this promise shortly before the German invasion of Poland. These were, however, purely political manoeuvres intended to guarantee Switzerland's passivity. Nazi Germany planned to end Switzerland's independence after it had defeated its main enemies on the continent. National Socialist attitude ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Maginot Line
The Maginot Line (french: Ligne Maginot, ), named after the French Minister of War André Maginot, is a line of concrete fortifications, obstacles and weapon installations built by France in the 1930s to deter invasion by Germany and force them to move around the fortifications. The Maginot Line was impervious to most forms of attack. In consequence, the Germans invaded through the Low Countries in 1940, passing it to the north. The line, which was supposed to be fully extended further towards the west to avoid such an occurrence, was finally scaled back in response to demands from Belgium. Indeed, Belgium feared it would be sacrificed in the event of another German invasion. The line has since become a metaphor for expensive efforts that offer a false sense of security. Constructed on the French side of its borders with Italy, Switzerland, Germany, Luxembourg and Belgium, the line did not extend to the English Channel. French strategy therefore envisioned a move into Belgium ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lindau
Lindau (german: Lindau (Bodensee), ''Lindau am Bodensee''; ; Low Alemannic: ''Lindou'') is a major town and island on the eastern side of Lake Constance (''Bodensee'' in German) in Bavaria, Germany. It is the capital of the county ('' Landkreis'') of Lindau, Bavaria and is near the borders of the Austrian state of Vorarlberg and the Swiss cantons of St. Gallen and Thurgau. The coat of arms of Lindau town is a linden tree, referring to the supposed origin of the town's name (''Linde'' means linden tree in German). The historic town of Lindau is located on the island of the same name which is connected with the mainland by a road bridge and a railway dam leading to Lindau station. History The first use of the name Lindau was documented in 882 by a monk from St. Gallen, stating that Adalbert ( count of Raetia) had founded a nunnery on the island. However the remains of an early Roman settlement dating back to the 1st century have been found in the district of Aeschach. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Railroad Switch
A railroad switch (), turnout, or ''set ofpoints () is a mechanical installation enabling railway trains to be guided from one track to another, such as at a railway junction or where a spur or siding branches off. The most common type of switch consists of a pair of linked tapering rails, known as ''points'' (''switch rails'' or ''point blades''), lying between the diverging outer rails (the ''stock rails''). These points can be moved laterally into one of two positions to direct a train coming from the point blades toward the straight path or the diverging path. A train moving from the narrow end toward the point blades (i.e. it will be directed to one of the two paths, depending on the position of the points) is said to be executing a ''facing-point movement''. For many types of switch, a train coming from either of the converging directions will pass through the switch regardless of the position of the points, as the vehicle's wheels will force the points to mov ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Armored Train
An armoured train is a railway train protected with armour. Armoured trains usually include railway wagons armed with artillery, machine guns and autocannons. Some also had slits used to fire small arms from the inside of the train, a facility especially prevalent in earlier armoured trains. For the most part they were used during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, when they offered an innovative way to quickly move large amounts of firepower. Most countries discontinued their use – road vehicles became much more powerful and offered more flexibility, and train tracks proved too vulnerable to sabotage and attacks from the air. However, the Russian Federation used improvised armoured trains in the Second Chechen War of 1999–2009 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Armoured trains were usually fighting systems, equipped with heavy weapons such as artillery. An exception was the US " White Train", the Department of Energy Nuclear Weapons Transport Train, armour ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Border Line Fortifications Of Switzerland
Borders are generally defined as geographical boundaries, imposed either by features such as oceans and terrain, or by political entities such as governments, sovereign states, federated states, and other subnational entities. Political borders can be established through warfare, colonization, or mutual agreements between the political entities that reside in those areas. Some borders—such as most states' internal administrative borders, or inter-state borders within the Schengen Area—are open and completely unguarded. Most external political borders are partially or fully controlled, and may be crossed legally only at designated border checkpoints; adjacent border zones may also be controlled. For the purposes of border control, airports and seaports are also classed as borders. Most countries have some form of border control to regulate or limit the movement of people, animals, and goods into and out of the country. Under international law, each country is generally permitt ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
