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The sole surviving Bismarck tower in France can be found in the commune of Le Ban-Saint-Martin near Metz. The tower was erected in 1902 when the area was part of Alsace-Lorraine, a Reichsland of the German Empire. Though accessible to modern-day visitors, the Bismarck Tower of Metz is currently in a semi-ruined state, damaged by vandals and weathering.
The construction of a Bismarck tower in or around Metz was first proposed in the winter of 1898-1899 by one Lieutenant-Colonel Winterfeld, whose unit was then stationed in the area. Donations were solicited by a special committee, and on 1 April 1901 (Bismarck's birthday) the foundation stone was laid down. For security reasons (as a border town, Metz was one of the most fortified cities in Germany), the tower was not allowed to be constructed at the summit of Mont Saint-Quentin, but rather on its southeastern slope.
The tower was inaugurated exactly one year later, on 1 April 1902, attended by various military and civilian leaders. At 8 pm that same evening, the first fire was lit on the tower.
The Metz Bismarck Tower is 13.5 metres (44 ft) tall, and is one of the first Bismarck towers to be built in the Götterdämmerung style conceptualised by Wilhelm Kreis (squat construction, with a fire beacon at the top). It is thus very similar in design to its sister tower in Stuttgart (1904).
Construction works were carried out by the firm Haase & Schott from Metz. The exterior of the tower is made out of limestone. There is a sandstone relief of Bismarck on the side of the tower facing the town, now riddled with bullet holes. At the top of the tower was a large square brazier upon which fires could be lit on certain festive occasions.
After the tower was opened, there was a proposal by the local newspaper, the Metzer Zeitung, to rename Mont St-Quentin to the Bismarck-Höhe, but the idea was ultimately rejected. [1]
French troops reoccupied Metz in November 1918, after the German defeat in World War I. Alsace-Lorraine was returned to France in 1919. That same year the French authorities removed the brazier from the tower. It was also around this time that the relief of Bismarck was defaced.
Damage to the tower had been noted as early as 1906, when the Vosges Club and Beautification Association recorded fire damage to the column (burnt bricks on the observation deck) and rust on the iron staircase. Renovations were carried out intermittently until early 1914. The tower was effectively abandoned after French sovereignty was restored to the region.
Although officially closed since 2001, tourists may still visit the tower. The structure is currently in need of restoration. More than a century of weathering, wartime damage, and graffiti have taken their toll on the exterior; as of August 2012 it is in a semi-ruined state, covered by dense vegetation.
Metz is a city in northeast France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers. Metz is the prefecture of the Moselle department and the seat of the parliament of the Grand Est region. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany and Luxembourg, the city forms a central place of the European Greater Region and the SaarLorLux euroregion.
Moselle is the most populous department in Lorraine, in the northeast of France, and is named after the river Moselle, a tributary of the Rhine, which flows through the western part of the department. It had a population of 1,046,543 in 2019. Inhabitants of the department are known as Mosellans.
Alsace–Lorraine, officially the Imperial Territory of Alsace–Lorraine, was a former territory of the German Empire, located in modern day France. It was established in 1871 by the German Empire after it had occupied the region during the Franco-Prussian War. The region was officially ceded to the German Empire in the Treaty of Frankfurt. French resentment about the loss of the territory was one of the contributing factors to World War I. Alsace–Lorraine was formally ceded back to France in 1920 as part of the Treaty of Versailles following Germany's defeat in the war, but already annexed in practice at the war end in 1918.
The fortifications of Metz, a city in northeastern France, are extensive, due to the city's strategic position near the border of France and Germany. After the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, the area was annexed by the newly created German Empire in 1871 by the Treaty of Frankfurt and became the Reichsland Alsace–Lorraine. The German Army decided to build a fortress line from Mulhouse to Luxembourg to protect their new territories. The centerpiece of this line was the Moselstellung between Metz and Thionville, in Lorraine.
Lorraine is a cultural and historical region in Northeastern France, now located in the administrative region of Grand Est. Its name stems from the medieval kingdom of Lotharingia, which in turn was named after either Emperor Lothair I or King Lothair II. Lorraine later was ruled as the Duchy of Lorraine before the Kingdom of France annexed it in 1766.
Remiremont is a town and commune in the Vosges department, northeastern France, situated in southern Grand Est. The town has been an abbatial centre since the 7th century, is an economic crossroads of the Moselle and Moselotte valleys, and is also a stepping stone for tourists wishing to explore the Vosges and neighbouring Alsace. Remiremont is also known as La Belle des Vosges.
Metz Cathedral is the cathedral of the Catholic Diocese of Metz, the seat of the bishops of Metz. It is dedicated to Saint Stephen. The diocese dates back at least to the 4th century and the present cathedral building was begun in the early 14th century. In the mid-14th century, it was joined to the collegiate church of Notre-Dame, and given a new transept and late Gothic chevet, finished between 1486 and 1520. The cathedral treasury displays a rich collection assembled over the long centuries of the history of the Metz diocese and include sacred vestments and items used for the Eucharist.
A Bismarck tower is a specific type of monument built according to a more or less standard model across Germany to honour its first chancellor, Otto von Bismarck. A total of 234 of these towers were inventoried by Kloss and Seele in 2007 but more have been discovered since making the total around 240. These towers were built between 1869 and 1934 and some 173 remain today. Quite a few of these towers, including all 47 based on Wilhelm Kreis's Götterdämmerung design, were built as so-called Bismarck Columns (Bismarcksäulen) or were converted into them. This description goes back to the Student Union's competition held in 1899, which was to encourage the erection of as many beacons as possible. But other Bismarck towers, e.g., those that were purely beacons with no observation function, were often called Bismarck columns.
Scy-Chazelles is a commune in the Moselle department in Grand Est in north-eastern France. The town is built on Mont St. Quentin near Metz.
The Fort de Plappeville, or Feste Alvensleben, is a military fortification located to the northwest of Metz in the commune of Plappeville. As part of the first ring of the fortifications of Metz, it is an early example of a Séré de Rivières system fort. While it did not see action during World War I, it was the scene of heavy fighting between American forces and German defenders at the end of the Battle of Metz, in 1944. After Second World War it became a training center for the French Air Force. Fort 'Alvensleben' has been abandoned since 1995.
Metz-Ville station is the main railway station serving the city of Metz, capital of Lorraine, France. Sometimes spoken of as the Station Palace as it displays the apartments of the German Kaiser Wilhelm II, Metz station has been registered as a Historic Monument since 15 January 1975. This designation gives legal protection to the station's facade, the roof, the departure hall, the honorary lounge, and the former station restaurant with its interior decorations.
Château de Salm is a ruined castle overlooking the valley of the Bruche, located in the commune of La Broque in the present-day département of Bas-Rhin, Alsace, France. Construction began in 1205 and was completed around 1400.
The Civil Administration Area of Lorraine was an administrative division of the Gau Westmark from 1940 to 1945.
The Basilica of Saint-Quentin, formerly the Collegiate Church of Saint-Quentin is a Catholic church in the town of Saint-Quentin, Aisne, France. There have been religious buildings on the site since the 4th century AD, which were repeatedly destroyed and rebuilt during the Early Middle Ages. The present basilica was constructed in stages between the 12th and 15th centuries. It was severely damaged in World War I (1914–18), and was only reopened in 1956 after extensive reconstruction.
The Fort de Saint-Julien, renamed Feste Manteuffel in German, is a military installation near Metz. It is part of the first fortified belt forts of Metz and had its baptism of fire in late 1944 in the Battle of Metz.
The Fortifications of Saint-Quentin, or Feste Prinz Friedrich Karl form a fortification group in the Scy-Chazelles municipality located northwest of Metz on the Mont Saint-Quentin. Constituted by forts Diou and Girardin, the group is part of the first fortified belt of forts around Metz and had its baptism of fire in late 1944, when the Battle of Metz occurred.
The Feste Mercy, renamed Feste Freiherr von der Goltz in 1911 and then The Group Fortification Marne in 1919, is a military installation near Metz, in the woods between Jury, Mercy and Ars-Laquenexy. It is part of the second fortified belt of forts of Metz and had its baptism of fire in late 1944, when the Battle of Metz occurred.
The Feste Prinz Regent Luitpold, renamed Group Fortification Yser after 1919, is a military installation near Metz. It is part of the second fortified belt of forts of Metz and had its baptism of fire in late 1944, when the Battle of Metz occurred.
The forts of Metz are two fortified belts around the city of Metz in Lorraine. Built according to the design and theory of Raymond Adolphe Séré de Rivières at the end of the Second Empire—and later Hans von Biehler while Metz was under German control—they earned the city the reputation of premier stronghold of the German reich. These fortifications were particularly thorough given the city's strategic position between France and Germany. The detached forts and fortified groups of the Metz area were spared in World War I, but showed their full defensive potential in the Battle of Metz at the end of World War II.
Mount Saint-Quentin is a summit that lays in Moselle Valley to the west of the Metz area. Due to its location, it played a strategic role in observation, protection, and communication for the city of Metz located below.