After united German forces defeated France in the 1870 war, with the newly formed German Empire seizing the Alsace and Moselle regions, the Kaiser's administration took to fortifying its new frontier. In the past, a very obvious surface fortress would have been built, but with aerial reconnaissance in its infancy, using balloons and photography, a fortress, or at very least the extent of a fortress, needed to be concealed, so the German Empire innovated and built a sprawling, mainly underground complex in the hills above Mutzig.
Construction began in 1893 on what would be the first fort designed around concrete bunkers, with long tunnels connecting them. As warfare evolved in the early 20th century, the fort took these changes into account. For example, the 1905 Russo-Japanese war had shown that ovoid tunnels were more structurally sound against surface bombardment, so the tunnels were modified.
Of course, the weapons evolved too, including some unusual designs such as the above mobile turret. However, when the disastrous all-out conflict in Europe finally broke out, the fort saw very little action. It repelled one attack from the French in 1915, but the front line was elsewhere. The concrete bunkers were still a strategic commodity for France in preparation for World War II, as a fallback of the Maginot line. The Germans again took Mutzig in 1940, so quickly in fact that the news hadn't reached the Luftwaffe, which promptly bombed its own army! By the 1950s, warfare had moved too far on, and the fort, under French ownership, was decommissioned in 1961.
Beyond the military aspects, the fort is also fascinating from a living standpoint. A garrison was stationed here, and in conditions that had been seen in fortresses before. Consider Vauban-style forts like the Strasbourg Citadelle, Neuf-Brisach or Landau: these consisted of walls surrounding barracks and courtyards. But here, the soldiers were living underground, and preparing for a battle during which they would only emerge to go to the gun turrets.
Nonetheless, while spartan by our modern civilian standards, the conditions were rather good for a military complex of the time! It was the first fort to have electricity, generated from Diesel engines, bakeries, kitchens, and a hospital. All this is obviously coupled to a remarkable ventilation system.
As a military site, civilian access was impossible during the fort's period of activity. All passers-by between villages would see were this statue and name plate. Even today, access is limited to the visit of the fort, as the French army continues to use the grounds for training. The fort is managed by an association (link to official page) which works tirelessly on maintaining the accessible areas of this remarkable, rare early 20th century fort - and these areas only account for a small portion of the actual complex.
