Fort de Pré-Giroud, Military fortress and museum in Vallorbe, Switzerland.
Fort de Pré-Giroud, also called Fort de Vallorbe, is a Swiss artillery fort built 1937–1939 into a steep north-facing hillside east of Vallorbe, guarding the Col de Jougne. Its roughly triangular layout has three multi-level 75 mm artillery casemates in the middle, flanked by machine-gun blocks, with magazines and barracks 50 m deep in the rock. The artillery blocks are camouflaged as rock, the machine-gun blocks as chalets.
Built between 1937 and 1939 as part of Switzerland's Border Line, the fort blocked the Col de Jougne and covered the Mont d'Or railway tunnel. In 1941, after the German assault on Fort Eben-Emael, barbed wire, mines and anti-tank obstacles were added. Deemed tactically obsolete, it was decommissioned in the 1980s and sold to Vallorbe in 1988.
Today the site functions as a memory institution, showing exhibitions about how Swiss soldiers lived and worked during World War II. Visitors learn through personal accounts and documents what daily life was like inside this underground complex.
Visitors can explore the fortress on guided tours that lead through preserved military equipment and installations. The paths are narrow and underground, so wear sturdy shoes and bring a light layer to stay comfortable.
The machine-gun blocks are hidden under wooden superstructures shaped like chalets, while the artillery blocks wear rough rock-shaped shells with metal branch camouflage. The entrance itself is disguised as a chalet and armed with two machine guns. The fort's layout is roughly triangular, with the base at the bottom of the steep slope.
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