• Be chevron_right

      Fried egg (sunny side up) - #BerExX181

      pubsub.mercurius.teckids.org / berexx-bergische-explorer · Monday, 12 February, 2018 - 21:40 edit

    Fried egg in a bunker

    (Well, not really… just a stalagmite disguising as a scrambled egg ;)!)

    • Be chevron_right

      Day 3 - #BerExX181

      pubsub.mercurius.teckids.org / berexx-bergische-explorer · Monday, 12 February, 2018 - 21:25 edit

    Today was not so exciting in comparison. We wanted to visit the Ouvrage de Métrich, one of the biggest Maginot sites, again, but the access turned out to be covered with a thick layer of ice, which made entering the site too dangerous.

    We then decided to drive home through Luxembourg and keep up an old tradition - a stop at Terres-Rouges in Esch-sur-Alzette. Not much has changed there, but the site was even a bit more impressive in winter.

    Usines de Terres-Rouges in winter

    View over Terres-Rouges covered with snow

    • Be chevron_right

      Day 2 of #BerExX181

      pubsub.mercurius.teckids.org / berexx-bergische-explorer · Sunday, 11 February, 2018 - 21:32 edit · 1 minute

    Today, we visited two Maginot sites and a pretty run-down industrial site near Bouzonville.

    Abri du Bois de Klang

    First, we visited the Abri du Bois de Klang, a small bunker for around 100 people. Like at many other Maginot sites, the bridge leading to the entrance has been demolished when the site was disused, but some explorers (or maybe copper thiefs) built a makeshift bridge from trees - a fragile, but somehow viable way to enter the site.

    Entering and leaving the Abri du Bois de Klang

    The dormitories feature some paintings (fresks) depicting a view out of a window, because by the nature of the accomodation, that's what was missing most for the soldiers spending weeks and months below ground.

    Fresks in the dormitories

    The corridors are partially under water, and one of the stair cases had turned into a waterfall due to melting snow. We managed to keep our feet dry although we did not use rubber boots.

    Access building in winter

    Atelier de Bouzonville

    The industrial site we visited in the afternoon was a pretty run-down one, consisting of a big hall, a power station and something that looks like an office building.

    We were looking for a geocache here, which was a fun adventure, but not very exciting urbex-wise. Niklas chose to chill out on top of a toilet chamber.

    Niklas on top of toilet chamber

    Petit ouvrage de Berenbach

    Our last visit was to the Petit ouvrage de Berenbach. The unique attribute about this site is that it was never finished - an unfinished building from the 1930s! One of the blocks was discontinued when the staircase was drilled, but before adding any stairs; the second one has stairs, but those were also discontinued (leaving out the handrails) hald way down. Going down there was probably the most spooky adventure today.

    • Be chevron_right

      Ouvrage du Mont des Welches - #BerExX181

      pubsub.mercurius.teckids.org / berexx-bergische-explorer · Sunday, 11 February, 2018 - 07:47 edit

    Yesterday at night, we explored the fort Mont des Welches. We already paid it a visit last year, but as the entrance is only a small ventilation hole at the top at the old entrée des munitions, plus some other hazards, we were not so sure we should try it. This year, we did, and it was actually very easy to do.

    Power plant

    The bunker is in quite good shape - all copper was stolen just a few days after it was disused, just like in all other forts. But the rest of the power plant, kitchen, etc. are still there. Some idiots completely demolished the lifts and filled the shafts with amo boxes.

    Rico exploring one of the tourelles

    I took a few pictures of the lift motor, but will do a post about the transport technology in the Maginot forts later!

    Between all the graffiti, we found a note that seems to be from World War 2 on one of the walls - a hand-written note on short wave frequencies of various military radio stations.

    Note on frequencies

    • Be chevron_right

      Heading to Ouvrage du Mont des Welches - #BerExX181

      pubsub.mercurius.teckids.org / berexx-bergische-explorer · Saturday, 10 February, 2018 - 19:03 edit

    Ligne Maginot : MONT des WELCHES - A21 (Ouvrage d'artillerie) par wikimaginot.eu
    Heading to Ouvrage du Mont des Welches - #BerExX181
    • Be chevron_right

      Ouvrage Hackenberg - #BerExX181

      pubsub.mercurius.teckids.org / berexx-bergische-explorer · Saturday, 10 February, 2018 - 08:41

    Home -

    As first stop on our trip, we will be visiting the museum at Ouvrage Hackenberg.

    • Be chevron_right

      #BerExX181: Visiting the Maginot line again

      pubsub.mercurius.teckids.org / berexx-bergische-explorer · Wednesday, 7 February, 2018 - 14:45

    This weekend, Niklas, Martin, Enrico and Nik (me) will be visiting the Maginot line again. While we have some other places to visit, we decided that Thionville, the area where we use to stay on our trips to France, fits best for a trip of only 2½ days.

    We will be exploring some structures we did not enter yet, and also revisit one or two of the huge forts we explored last time.

    Subscribe to this community if you want to follow along!

    • Be chevron_right

      Dokumentation Maginot-Linie

      pubsub.mercurius.teckids.org / berexx-bergische-explorer · Sunday, 8 October, 2017 - 11:24

    Hier ist eine ganz spannende Dokumentation über die Maginot-Linie, inkl. einiger zeitgenössischer Videoaufzeichnungen.