Festung Heldsberg in St. Margrethen, Switzerland. This fort was constructed quite quickly at the start of the second World War. It's primary mission was to prevent the Axis from crossing the Rhine as well as keep them off Lake Constance (Bodensee). On exhibit are four 75mm main cannon as well as multiple machine guns and observation posts. There is a machine room, sick bay and operation room, officers quarters, enlisted barracks, kitchen, and several other rooms to experience. Up to 200 soldiers could be stationed here at any given time. The fort operated until 1992 and was turned into a museum in 1993.
One interesting note about this fort is that several of the above ground emplacements are designed to look like civilian buildings. We hiked over to one of the machine gun positions above ground to check it out at the end of the video.
The workers and volunteers were fantastic and answered any questions we had, even if it was a mix of English and terrible (on our part) German! Thank you!
We highly recommend a visit to this fort. If you have any interest in history at all and happen to be near lake Constance, check it out!
Thanks for watching.
0:00 Entrance to the fort disguised as a civilian building 1:00 Entrance guard watch post with machine gun emplacement 1:34 Machine room with generators and electrical panels 2:26 Electrical test equipment 2:55 Firefighting equipment 3:25 Main intersection of the fort tunnels 4:32 Store room 4:53 Operation prep room 5:06 Operation room 5:30 Sick bay 6:08 communications exhibit 6:43 Birb 6:58 Cleaning locker 7:20 Military equipment exhibit 8:01 Map room 8:24 Telephone booth 8:41 Telephone exchange board 9:00 Officer mess 9:11 Officer quarters 9:29 Commander quarters 10:10 Enlisted squad bay 10:47 Kitchen 11:05 Pantry 11:30 Water reservoir 12:25 Sinks and rifles 12:45 dust filter 13:18 Door barricades and grenade chute 14:04 Air-lock chamber 14:40 Alternative exit and entrance 15:21 Machine gun position sleep room 15:56 Machine gun 16:56 grenade chute 18:05 75mm cannon exhibit 19:18 Weapons and ammunition exhibit 20:46 Escape tunnel 21:28 75mm cannon 22:43 Observation telescope 23:38 Second weapons exhibit 24:15 Swiss army knives 25:15 Stairs to lower fort only open by guided tour appointment 25:38 Morgue 26:45 Ammunition loading bench 26:52 Exterior above ground emplacements 28:08 Beautiful Switzerland 28:36 Emplacement disguised as a civilian building 29:08 Thanks for watching
