Ouvrage Lembach, Military fortification in Lembach, France

Ouvrage Lembach is a petit ouvrage of the Maginot Line, built from 1931 on the slope southwest of Lembach village, overlooking the Sauer at about 250 metres while the Grand Kraenberg rises to 402 metres behind it. Its surface consists of three combat blocks and a reduced entry block, linked underground by a deep gallery to barracks, ammunition magazines and a power plant with two 40-horsepower Renault generators. Block 1 and Block 2 are infantry casemates flanking west, each with a JM/AC47 embrasure, a JM embrasure and two GFM cloches; Block 3, the East Block, combines an infantry casemate with an observation role, carrying two JM cloches, a GFM cloche and the VDP observation cloche O 12. Unlike other petit ouvrages, Lembach has no machine gun turret.

The fort was built starting in 1931 as part of the Maginot Line to protect the French border. It suffered damage during 1940 battles and remained under German occupation until 1944.

The fort's name comes from the village of Lembach in the Bas-Rhin. Its underground gallery linked barracks, munitions stores and a power plant with two 40-horsepower Renault generators. Block 1 was refitted externally in the 1980s for Yves Boisset's film Allons z'enfants.

Ouvrage Lembach is privately owned and reported to be in poor condition, so there are no formal visiting arrangements; access should be checked with the owner before any approach. The site lies southwest of Lembach village at about 250 metres altitude, above the Sauer and below the Grand Kraenberg, reached by local roads.

Unlike other petit ouvrages of the Maginot Line, Lembach has no machine gun turret. Its Block 3 instead combines an infantry casemate with an observation role, carrying two JM cloches, a GFM cloche and a VDP observation cloche numbered O 12 and linked to the neighbouring gros ouvrage du Four-à-Chaux.