Festungsmuseum Heldsberg

About

The artillery fortress Heldsberg was part of the border fortifications in the Rhine Valley. Built into a rocky crest and with its four built-in guns of 7.5 cm it dominated the southern part of the Lake of Constance in the north and the bridges over the Rhine up to Montlingen in the south. Seven built-in machine guns and other infantry weapons as well as antitank guns in bunkers outside the fortification covered the approach. With galleries of 1000 m length and a height difference of 160 m, Heldsberg was one of the biggest border fortifications of Switzerland. The garrison counted 200, the one for exterior defence 400 hands. Constructed 1939 - 1941, operating until 1990, the fortress was handed over to the registered association Festungsmuseum Heldsberg in 1993.