Fort Reuenthal is a 20th-century

Swiss Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

fortification located in the

Aargau Aargau ( ; ), more formally the Canton of Aargau (; ; ; ), is one of the Canton of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capital is Aarau. Aargau is one of the most nort ...

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

Rhine The Rhine ( ) is one of the List of rivers of Europe, major rivers in Europe. The river begins in the Swiss canton of Graubünden in the southeastern Swiss Alps. It forms part of the Swiss-Liechtenstein border, then part of the Austria–Swit ...

where it bends around the town of

Full-Reuenthal Full-Reuenthal is a municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in the district of Zurzach (district), Zurzach in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Aargau in Switzerland. History Full is first mentioned around 1303-07 as ''Wulna'', and Reuen ...

, and was intended to prevent a crossing of the Rhine at the hydroelectric plant at

Dogern Dogern is a municipality in the district of Waldshut in Baden-Württemberg in Germany. Twin towns Dogern is twinned with: * Le Grand-Lemps, France, since 1988 See also * List of cities and towns in Germany This is a complete list of t ...

. It was a component of the Swiss Border Line of defenses. It is armed with two artillery blocks for 75 mm 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Redoubt A national redoubt or national fortress is an area to which the (remnant) military forces of a nation can be withdrawn if the main battle has been lost or even earlier if defeat is considered inevitable. Typically, a region is chosen with a geogra ...

in the

Alps The Alps () are some of the highest and most extensive mountain ranges in Europe, stretching approximately across eight Alpine countries (from west to east): Monaco, France, Switzerland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Germany, Austria and Slovenia. ...

.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 75 mm guns and three machine gun blocks.

Present situation

Fort Reuenthal is operated by the Swiss Military Museum (

Schweizerisches Militärmuseum Full The Swiss Military Museum () is located at Full-Reuenthal in the Canton of Aargau. History of the museum The origins of the museum go back to the ''Verein zur Förderung eines wehrtechnischen Museums'' ("Association for the Promotion of a Mili ...

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

Leibstadt Nuclear Power Plant The Leibstadt Nuclear Power Plant (, KKL) is located near Leibstadt, canton of Aargau, Switzerland, on the Rhine and close to the border with Germany. Commissioned in 1984, it is the youngest and most powerful of the country's four operating ...

Gallery

File:Eingang Festung Reuenthal IMG 1607.jpg, alt= File:Stollen Festung Reuenthal IMG 1612.jpg, alt= File:G2 aussen Festung Reuenthal IMG 1761.jpg, alt= File:G1 aussen Festung Reuenthal IMG 1764.jpg, alt= File:Notausgang Reuenthal.jpg, alt= File:Eingang IMG 1600.JPG, alt=

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