Casemate de l’Herbaudière

The Casemate de l’Herbaudière (more accurately the complex known as Batterie Clausewitz or Blockhaus de l’Herbaudière) is a group of German fortifications from the Second World War located at the Pointe de l’Herbaudière, the north-western tip of the Île de Noirmoutier, in the commune of Noirmoutier-en-l’Île, Vendée (Pays de la Loire).

Built between spring 1942 and summer 1944 as part of the Atlantic Wall (Atlantikwall), the battery received the code Wn. Sa 106 and was named Batterie Clausewitz. It was constructed primarily by the Kriegsmarine (German navy). Local inhabitants of Noirmoutier were requisitioned under the Service du Travail Obligatoire (STO) to carry out much of the concrete work. The entire point was mined and protected by a line of beach obstacles.

The site comprises around nine concrete structures of different types, still relatively well preserved:

• an M162a command and observation post (Leitstand) with a 2 cm Flak cupola and Tobruk, featuring two observation levels including a stereoscopic rangefinder;

• an R600 ammunition/shelter bunker;

• an R667 casemate for a 5 cm gun covering the beach to the south;

• several R501 personnel shelters (each for eight sailors, some fitted with anti-aircraft cupolas);

• an R501 equipped for a Fu.MO 2 “Calais 36” marine search radar;

• an R502 crew shelter with 24 berths and a position for a 60 cm searchlight;

• a water tank used for concrete production and a light field kitchen.

Its location at the extreme northern tip of the island, facing Saint-Nazaire and the Loire estuary, made it one of the most strategically important batteries on Noirmoutier. In total the island received some 150 blockhouses and 18 batteries during the occupation.

In July 2017 the Batterie Clausewitz was classified as “Patrimoine remarquable du XXe siècle” (Remarkable 20th-century heritage) by the French Ministry of Culture. The casemates remain freely visible along the coastal footpath that circles the Pointe de l’Herbaudière (a popular 4.5 km loop). They form an important element of the island’s Second World War heritage landscape.