Fortress Strasbourg-Fort V Großherzog von Baden (Frère)

The siege of Strasbourg in 1870 took a severe toll on the city's fortifications. When the city was annexed to Germany, the new rulers decided to rebuild the defences to make the Strasbourg into a modern defensive stronghold, with well-protected access and communication channels. The project was ambitious and set out to build a defensive ring running outside the urban ramparts surrounding the city, thereby extending defences to the suburbs and even to certain neighbouring villages.

12 forts were built between 1870 and 1876, and 2 others between 1876 and 1882, while 5 other defensive structures were built between 1885 and 1890. Three of these buildings are to be found in Germany's Baden region, on the other side of the Rhine, while the others are to be found dotted around the outskirts of Strasbourg. The forts were initially named after German generals, but were changed to French names after 1918.

The forts were all built along the same design, with a parade ground and ammunition store, barracks, service areas (kitchens, infirmaries, etc.), blockhouses and defence systems. A number of them have been restored by local volunteer associations and can be visited (Fort Rapp in Reichstett and Fort Frère in Oberhausbergen, for example), while all of them can be seen from the outside at least, and are on an 85 km long Franco-German cycle track.

Fort V Großherzog von Baden (Frère)

The fort was built by the german army between 1872 and 1875. He's located 5 km west from Strasbourg. It's part of a defensive belt of 12 forts around the city. The original name was fort Grossherzog Von Baden. It was armed by 900 mens and 22 pieces of artillery. The fort was used as a prisonners of war camp by the german army during ww1. After ww1, the french army occupied the fort until the beginning of ww2. A second time, the fort was a prisonners of war camp from mid-1940 to 1944. After ww2, the fort was abandonned to the nature. Since 1999 a group of 30 people decided to bring the fort to life. They spend their free time working at the rebirth of this place. German and french reenactors presented to the visitors the evolution of uniforms and materials from 1914 to 1918.