Ouvrage Schoenenbourg, Military museum and fort in Hunspach, France.
Ouvrage Schoenenbourg is an underground military fort near Hunspach connected by a network of tunnels roughly three kilometers long. Eight separate combat blocks sit about thirty meters below ground, housing barracks, kitchens, and weapons positions throughout the complex.
Built in the late 1920s, the fort came under constant fire starting in 1939 during World War II. The garrison mounted an active defense until German forces broke through the frontier and the position had to be abandoned.
The name comes from a nearby village and reflects how engineers in the 1930s built an entire underground world for soldiers to live and work. Walking through the corridors today, you sense the scale of effort invested in this permanent border defense.
The museum sits in a former war zone and requires sturdy shoes and warm clothing since the underground spaces stay cool year-round. Visits happen in guided groups, so expect other visitors and allow time to move through the entire tour at a leisurely pace.
Preserved underground spaces frozen from the early war period include classrooms, dental rooms, and other chambers left as if recently abandoned. These kept objects allow you to understand how soldiers lived their daily lives in this subterranean world.
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