Fort Reuenthal is a 20th-century

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internati ...

fortification located in the

Aargau Aargau, more formally the Canton of Aargau (german: Kanton Aargau; rm, Chantun Argovia; french: Canton d'Argovie; it, Canton Argovia), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capit ...

canton near the Swiss border with Germany. Built between 1937 and 1939, the fort overlooks the

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, Al ...

where it bends around the town of

Full-Reuenthal Full-Reuenthal is a municipality in the district of Zurzach in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. History Full is first mentioned around 1303-07 as ''Wulna'', and Reuenthal was mentioned at the same time as ''Ruwental''. Full-Reuenthal becam ...

, and was intended to prevent a crossing of the Rhine at the hydroelectric plant at Dogern. It was a component of the Swiss Border Line of defenses. It is armed with two artillery blocks for 75mm guns and two machine gun blocks. The fort uses camouflage, with house-like superstructures over some positions. Deactivated as a military post in 1988, it is operated as a museum.

Description

Fort Reuenthal is located just south of Full-Reuenthal. It overlooks the Rhine and the hydroelectric station spanning the river at Dogern. It is part of the Border Line defenses built by Switzerland in the late 1930s, prior to a shift in Swiss priorities to the National Redoubt in the

Alps The Alps () ; german: Alpen ; it, Alpi ; rm, Alps ; sl, Alpe . are the highest and most extensive mountain range system that lies entirely in Europe, stretching approximately across seven Alpine countries (from west to east): France, ...

.Kauffmann, pp. 155-156 Work on the fort was started in 1937, and completed in 1939. The fort's armament comprised two artillery blocks with 75mm guns and three machine gun blocks.

Present situation

Fort Reuenthal is operated by the Swiss Military Museum (

Schweizerisches Militärmuseum Full The Schweizerisches Militärmuseum Full is the Swiss military museum, located in Full-Reuenthal, canton Aargau. Collection The museum displays military hardware and uniforms of Swiss and foreign armed forces, mainly from World War II and the ...

), whose display facility is located about away in the direction of the

Leibstadt Nuclear Power Plant The Leibstadt Nuclear Power Plant (german: Kernkraftwerk Leibstadt, KKL) is located near Leibstadt, canton of Aargau, Switzerland, on the Rhine River and close to the border to Germany. Commissioned in 1984, it is the youngest and most powerful ...

Notes

References

*Kauffmann, J.E., Jurga, R., ''Fortress Europe: European Fortifications of World War II'', Da Capo Press, USA, 2002, .

External links

Festungsmuseum Reuenthal
(in German)
Swiss Military Museum
at Reuenthal-Full {{DEFAULTSORT:Reuenthal, Fort Border Line fortifications of Switzerland Cold War museums in Switzerland World War II museums in Switzerland Museums in Aargau 20th-century architecture in Switzerland