The Vieil-Armand or Hartmannswillerkopf , an almost intact Great War battlefield, is a hill in the Vosges in the Cernay valley (68) where heavy fighting took place in 1915. Nicknamed Hartmannswillerkopf by the Germans, this battlefield remains largely unknown because it is hidden by the great names of the war, such as Verdun, Artois or the Chemin des Dames. However, it played a non-negligible role and was the scene of some of the deadliest battles of the war. Not by the number of victims - which are estimated at around 30,000 - but by the intensity of the fighting carried out on a real "pocket handkerchief".
Le Vieil Armand:strategic point on the Vosges front
Considered since 1914 by French and German generals as a strategic point entering into the considerations of the plans for the major offensives to come, the Vieil-Armand will gradually be invested by the troops of both countries that will confront each other at the summit for four years, although 1915 is the pivotal year.
Indeed, it was in 1915 that each of the two enemies of the time concentrated on the peaks of the Vosges. A major offensive was launched by the French on December 21, which ended in failure. In 1916, the Vosges front calmed down to the “benefit” of other places such as the Meuse region and Verdun…
Visit the battlefield
With 30,000 victims in 6 km², more than 30 shells per minute fell at the height of the 1915 bombardments and a million visitors per year, the Vieil-Armand battlefield stands out particularly from other theaters of operations such as Verdun, which underwent total reforestation after a decree of 1923 and which have almost disappeared today. The site was left as it was and remained intact, suffering only the onslaught of time and the scrap metal workers who came to use it abundantly until 1968 when it became a site protected by a rehabilitation program, directed by the association Friends of Hartmannswillerkopf.
The main hike:the monument, the cemetery, the cross
When you arrive on the site, you come face to face with the important concrete monument which houses a small museum made up of objects exclusively recovered on the spot. Vieil-Armand battlefield as well as the crypt containing the remains of twelve thousand unidentified soldiers.
Then comes the Silberloch cemetery which contains the remains of 1264 identified French soldiers and six ossuaries of 64 bodies each.
At the bottom of the cemetery, the walker can continue to climb to the top, by the main path, to meet the summit cross. 22 meters high, the cross was illuminated in the 1930s in order to be clearly visible from the valley, but the humidity got the better of the electrical system and it hasn't been working for years.
From the top, you can go to the monument dedicated to the "Red Devils" of the 152nd R.I. of Colmar then "go down" into the forest - either on the French side or on the German side, or both, depending on the time the visitor will have - to explore the system of trenches and fortifications.
At the heart of the battle:visit to the networks of bunkers and trenches
Unlike the Germans who permanently developed the summit from the end of 1914 by massive concrete and building forts and other bunkers (in particular the “Bischofshut”), the French facilities have now almost disappeared, except for the “rocks” Sermet and Mégard. Indeed, the French always remained in the logic of the war of movement:they never buried themselves “as well” as the Germans. The French bunkers, moreover solid, were almost always made of wood and consolidated by materials recovered on the battlefield. Moreover, the Germans occupying the summit, the French were always forced to occupy the slopes of Hartmannswillerkopf, which is not the "panacea" for the construction of networks and concrete bunkers.
When you walk around the German side, you will be surprised by the quality of their facilities. Engineering pioneers brought electricity to the front lines with the development of a power station. They also rode a cable car that carried food, ammunition and building materials directly from the valley, while the French brought everything up on the backs of men and mules...
Tourism for all
We recommend visiting this high place of the Great War because history buffs and/or hikers will be able to discover a place where the traces of the occupation and battles bear witness to the past. If you go deep into the forest, beware of the barbed wire and "pigtails" that still dot the route.
We would add that due to the extreme brutality of the fighting that took place there, the Vieil-Armand is still full of machines underground. As in Verdun, detection is strictly prohibited and is punishable by law.
We will end this "review" with a little anecdote:the author of The Jungle Book, Rudyard Kipling, visited the first lines of the Vieil-Armand in 1916.
To go further
A. Wirth, Les Combats Du Hartmannswillerkopf (Vieil Armand) 1914-1918, Hartmannswillerkopf National Monument Committee, 1977.
Thierry Ehret, 1914-1918, around the Hartmannswillerkopf, Éditions du Rhin, 1988.
Websites
The Association of Friends of Hartmannswillerkopf
(we can see here in the section "photos of the shelters" the glaring difference between the French and German facilities)
A personal site detailing the course of the battle with photos to illustrate the story.